^ Assuming, as we reasonably may, that Joseph died some time before Jesus was thirty years old, we may find in this fact some new points of contact with the sympathy of Christ. The father being dead, Jesus as eldest son would become the head of the household. On Him would now devolve the charge of supporting Mary and those who were still children, and He would become the guide and counsellor of those nearer to Him in age. How blessed, then, in all our hours of lonely anguish, to remember that Jesus lived as a son with the widow, and as a brother with the fatherless, and that all their griefs were mingled in the cup He drank on earth ! ^
1. This is the consecration of the family. — We have often been told that the first thirty years were the long and patient training for His life-work. Is it not rather that these thirty years were the patient doing of that work ? Was it not as a lad of twelve that He said, " Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ? " And from that hour assuredly He ever did His Father's business. We see Him in that little home. Eising early He hastens to help His widowed mother with such household service as He can render. He hurries to bear the pitcher to the well. All day He seeks to bring into the home some bit of sunny brightness, some cheery confidence, some holy peace. And in His work He is able to make things such as every carpenter makes — things that minister to the pleasure and service of men. Thus is He doing the business of His Father in heaven day after day and year after year through all those thirty years. For us the great lesson is this — that the only religion a man has, is what he has always, not some- times— what he is in everything, not just now and then.
In this connection another thought occurs. As stepping into Joseph's place, Jesus would become not only the chief 1 G. Jackson. =* T. V. Tymms.
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bread-winner and comforter of the family, but on Him would fall the duty of conducting the daily worship which was never omitted in the home of devout Jews. We may think of Him, therefore, as reading the Scriptures, offering prayer, and at special seasons maintaining all those religious rites which were of a private character.
^ We who are brothers and sisters, are we doing what we can to make the home all that it ought to be? Do we diligently cultivate what some one has happily called the "art of living together " ? " Is he a Christian ? " asked some one of Whitefield concerning another. " I do not know," was the answer ; " I have never seen him at home." ^
2. It is also the creation of a larger family. — When " one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking to speak to thee, he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother ? and who are my brethren ? And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren ! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother." He that doeth the will of my Father in heaven — he is the man who stands nearest to Christ. Others might call James " the Lord's brother " ; he called himself the " servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ." The new relationship was deeper, more sacred even than the old. And that same fellowship, with all of Divine blessedness that goes with it, is open to us to-day. Let us come to God, let us lay our hands in His, let us say to Him, " Lo, I come to do thy will," and even of us Jesus will say, " Behold my brother, and sister, and mother."
III.
Jesus was a Cause of Offencb.
"They were offended in him." What was the cause of offence ?
1. He could not he measured hy the stature of His family. — The question shows us that these men in Nazareth thought that one can account for a man simply by knowing his parents
^ O. Jackson.
158 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
and brothers and sisters. There was nothing wonderful in Joseph nor anything extraordinary in Mary, and therefore there could be nothing great in Jesus. But in reasoning thus these people were mistaken. There was nothing wonderful about the parents of Muhammad, or of Luther, or of Goethe, or of Shakespeare. You cannot tell wliat a man is, simply by knowing what his parents were. God has something to do with the making of a man. These people in Nazareth supposed that under equal circumstances characters must be equal. They adopted the principle that one child must be as bright as another, and that one boy must be as good as another if they grow up in the same home. All of which is of course an error. These people overestimated the importance of circum- stances, and forgot that God has something to do with the making of a man. Their great mistake was that they left out God.