December 23, 2015 (Wednesday)
The recent blogs have named two cities: Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, and Jerusalem, where he died, was buried and rose from the dead. Where did Jesus go during his lifetime? We have knowledge only of his trip to the Temple in Jerusalem at age 12 to account for his activities until he was 30 years of age. We know he was raised in Nazareth, a small village in Galilee. He evidently began his ministry in Capernaum, a beautiful city on the Sea of Galilee. His ministry was in Galilee and Judea, with shorter visits to Samaria, Syria, and the provinces east of the Jordan. He never traveled very far but his mission was to the whole world, even those places that were unknown to the people who lived in those days. “For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, and whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but has eternal life” (John 3:16). His uniqueness is described in a beautiful essay attributed to James Allan Francis (1864-1928).
One Solitary Life
ONE SOLITARY LIFE
Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of His divine manhood. While still a young man, the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying–and that was his coat. When he was dead He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life.