THE LIFE of JESUS CHRIST

The life of Christ is an exhaustless theme. It reveals a character of greater massiveness than the hills, of a more serene beauty than the stars, of sweeter fragrance than the flowers, higher than the heavens in sublimity and deeper than the seas in mystery. As good Jean Paul has eloquently said, "It concerns Him who, being the holiest among the mighty, and the mightiest among the holy, lifted with His pierced hands empires off their hinges, turned the stream of centuries out of its channels, and still governs the ages." Christ in history is undoubtedly more marvelous than Christ in Galilee; but to understand His relation to all subsequent time, and to the course of human events, His brief earthly career, and briefer ministry must be carefully studied and thoroughly mastered. Since His visible presence faded from human sight, he has swayed a worldwide scepter, and has wrought more stupendous miracles than He performed in Syria. There and then He merely opened the eyes of a few blind men, restored to health some who were sick, fed occasionally a hungry crowd, and raised from among the dead an inconsiderable number to life; but since His ascension He has removed from nations the veil of mental darkness, has imparted moral health to entire communities, has satisfied the longings of millions for the imperishable bread, and has rescued tribes, races, and peoples from the dreariness of spiritual death.