The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

FRIDAY; -DECEMBER 24, -1948 #7 THE DAILY TIMES-GAZETTE By CLARK. KINNAIRD Now when Jésus was born in Saying, Where is He that is the Jews? for we star in the east, are come to worship Him. .. Herod could be compared to Ab- dullah, the ruler of Transjordan to- day, in some respects. Herod, whose racial origin was Arab, was a ruler in the homeland of the Jews by sufference of a foreign power. In his case it was Rome. Once he was driven out of Palestine. He took refuge in Rome, made friends and weént back under Rome's pro- tection, bearing an appointment from Marc Antony. Whereupon he proceeded to make himself master of Judaea and Jerusalem. When Herod the king had heard all these things, he was Aruuble, and all Jerusalem with And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he de- manded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unte him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, "And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, are not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Gov- ernor, that shall rule my people Israel." It has been remarked as pecu- liar that Bethlehem, which was the place where David the great ideal king, hero and poet of the Jewish people, was born and grew up and which had other cherished associa- tions, never rose to any influence or became capital of Judaea, but re- mained "an ordinary village." There seemed no particular reasen why, instead, Hebron or Jerusalem be- came capital. Though more isolat- ed than those two places, Bethle- hem was no more so than Gibeon, Ramah and others similarly situat- ed whith became famous. Never- theless, it was unimportant and small--"O little town of Bethlehem" in that year 747 by the Roman calendar. Then Herod, who had privily called the wise men, enquired of shu diligently what time the And he sent them to Bethle- hém, and sald, Go and search diligently for the young Child; and when ye have found Him, bring me word again, that I nay come and worship Him When they "had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the "And lo, the star which they saw In the east, went before them, till they came and stood over where the young Child was." A drawing which illustrated a Christmas greeting a hundred years ago. east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. Many conjectures have been offered regarding this. unique star of Bethlehem -- that it was a conjunction of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn; that it was a comet; that it was a nova, or exploding star. But it may just as well have been what Christians prefer to believe--a miracle that oc- curred once and will not occur again, a mystery just as precious and inexplicable to mankind as the Jblade of grass was to Darwin. ' When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great Joy. H "Christmas Holders, Friends and New Year. £ : : & & : : & FIAVANAVARAAAARAARAVAVRAA Greetings Once again it 'is our privilege to extend the Season's Best Wishes to all and old. May the Spirit of Christmas bring to all the very best as well as a Very Happy Yours Sincerely, ANDREW E. MURDOCH A. HAYWARD MURDOCH LAA 2 J > -" our Policy Acquaintances, young tl > a + And when they came into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His Mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts: gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. According to one tradition these wise men, or Magi, were named" Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar. In the east of that time, such per- fumes and incenses as myrrh and frankincense were, like spices, as precious as gold--luxuries only for | the rich 'and royalty. But the| gifts also had an intentional sym- | bolism: gold was the emblem of royalty; frankincense a token of | divinity, and myrrh was a pro-| phetic allusion to the persecution | unto death which awaited the Man | of Sorrows. It was not just the Jews of the homeland. who waited hopefully for the Messiah promised by the pro- phet Isaiah. Throughout the lands immediately to the east, men were looking fer the advent of a great king 'who would rise among the Jews. The country whence came the Magi is a matter of conjecture, | but their following the guidance of a star suggests they came from thegq region of Chaldea, where astron- omy was highly developed at that time. The people of that region were most like the Jews, in re- ligion, of all nations in the world. They believed in one God, they had no idols, they worshipped light as the best symbol of God. Hence their affinity with the Jews in their expectations regarding the coming of a Saviour. Hence the signifi- cance they immediately attached to the appearance of the phenom- enal star. In coming to seek Him, the wise men from the east expressed a feeling which, we know from the | Roman writers Virgil, Tacitus and Suetonius, also had been for a long time diffused through the West. (Virgil says a child of heaven was looked for, who would re- store the golden age and take away sin.) So the hope had fer- mented in the minds of all men, not just jews alone, and they were ready to welcome Jesus as the Christ who had come in accord- ance with their expectations. IRARARARRVAR ARAVA ARAY 01104Y REFTINGS To everyone whom we are privileged to call "friend and neighbor" go our heartfelt ex- pressions of thie Season's joyous Mitchell's DRUG STORE 9 SIMCOE N. sentiments. And being warned of God in" a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they were depart- ed, behold, the angel of 'the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young Child and His mo- ther, and flee into Egypt and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the - Young Child to destroy Him. When he arose, he took the young Child and His Mother by night, and departed into E- gypt. Herod did have all children t years and ynder in Bethlehe slain, But within a year, he was no longer the tyrant who could order that all nobles whom he called to him in his last moments be exe- cuted (to insure that his death would be attended by mourning). He died at Jericho in April, aged "| 69, of what is chronicled as "a 'terrible disease." And Judaea-- and the world--had a Saviour. And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be ful- filled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt have I called my Son." . So we learn from the death- less story chronicled by Mat- thew. Matthew was not, one of the scribes or professional writ-| ers. His occupation was the col- lection of 'taxes and customs du- ties at -Capernaum; these were exacted from persons and goods crossing the Sea of Galilee, and fiom ravelets and commerce on the high road to Damascus. Mat- thew -must have been a man pf influence, for such responsible posts as tax gollectors have never been given to humble men by any politicians since an- tiquity. He certainly was a man of wealth, for we know he made &' great feast in 'own house, to introduce his former associates and friends to Jesus. His name was originally Levi; Matthew probably was adopted as his new name when Jesus converted and baptized him. Matthew is mentioned by name after the Resurrection, and he must have labored long as an apostle, for there is evidence that his Goss, pel was written at least 20 years after the Resurrection. There is reason to believe he spent most of this time in Jerusalem, after which he went as missionary to Chaldea, or Persia, whence came the wise men . .. saying "where is He that is born King?" Copyright, 1948, King Featrues Syn- dicate, Inc. GOOD CHRISTIAN MEN 1 Good Christian men rejoice With heart, and soul, and voice; Give ye heed to what we say. News! News! Jesus Christ is born today! 3 Ox and ass before Him bow, And He is in the manger now. Christ is born today, Christ is born today. 2 Good Christian men rejoice With heart, and soul, and voice; Now ye hear of endless bliss: - Joy! so Jesus Christ was born for "this i . He hath ope"d the heavenly door, And man is blessed ever more. Christ was born for this, Christ was born for this. 3 Good Christian men rejoice With heart, and soul, and voice; Now ye 'need not fear the grave; Peace) Peace! Jesus Christ was born to save. Calls you one and calls you all, To gain His everlasting hall: Christ was born to save, - Christ was born to save. wees i J "Caristmas Wises There's no tin¥e like Christmas time to wish all of out friends-- Good Cheer, Good Health and Peace. . HORNSBY 'STUDIO 3 SIMCOE ST. S. PHONE 4139W "4 The Yuletide season with its multitude of joys and manifestations of good cheer, is with us again. Once more it offers us the opportunity. to set aside the routine of - every-day business and in real sincerity wish all our friends the blessings of A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. McCALLUM TRANSPORT LIMITED 25 RITSON RD. NORTH °~ OSHAWA PHONE 563 eg