Luke 2:52

REFLECTIONS

Reader! how little did the Roman Emperor Augustus, or his deputy Cyrenius, conceive, that the over-ruling power of God so arranged the taxation, that the chief object to which it should minister, should be to bring the Virgin Mary to Bethlehem, and mark the precise period of the birth of Christ! How unconscious were the Jewish shepherds, when keeping watch over their flocks by night, until the message from heaven informed them of the wonderful event of the arrival of the Savior! And oh! the astonishing mystery, when God, who hath recorded from all eternity the names of his redeemed in the book of life, brings them acquainted with the unspeakable mercy, and manifests himself to them otherwise than he doeth to the world. Reader! can You and I mark down our personal knowledge of these things, so as with Simeon or Anna declare, our eyes have seen Christ's salvation; and speak of the Lord Jesus to all them that look for redemption in Jerusalem?

Precious Lord Jesus! when I behold thy obscure birth, thy low circumstances and mean accommodation, a manger only to receive thee in thine entrance into this our world, and no room for thee in the inn; oh, what a lively representation was there in this, of all the future circumstances of thy life. Truly didst thou say, and the truth holds equally good in all ages; Blessed is he whosoever is not offended in thee! My soul! delight thou more and more in the sweet testimonies of thy Lord's humanity, while beholding him at the same time possessing all the proofs of Godhead. For by both only could Jesus be suited for thee as thy Surety, Husband, and Savior. Oh! the preciousness of that mystery, which without controversy is great, God was manifest in the flesh.