340 



SIR ANDEEW WINGATE, K.C.I.E._, 



Peter and Paul preached nothiDg else. And because of this 

 public confession, which impressed both believers and heathen, 

 the disciples in Antioch were called " Christians " — not Jesus- 

 ites, as one w^ould have anticipated, and as is actually the case in 

 Korea to-day. Those races to whom only the Xew Testament 

 has been given are not rooted in any depth of soil. Questions 

 must soon be asked : why was Jesus born a Jew ? why did He 

 not come sooner ? While those nations from whom the Old 

 Testament is being taken away are like a tree drying up from 

 the roots. 



As w^e cross the threshold of the Kew Testament we find 

 ourselves standing in the gateway of the Old Testament. 

 St. John writes : " In the beginning was the Word." The first 

 chapter of Genesis is open before him. He sees the light 

 shining in darkness and creation taking form and bringing forth 

 life. And, as he recognizes the Christ — transforming chaos 

 into order — he beholds Jesus, born into the spiritual ruin of 

 mankind, to be the true Light ; the Christ made flesh and 

 dwelling among us, bringing eternal life to a corrupt and dying 

 world. 



So St. Matthew, also going back to Genesis, commences with 

 the words : " The book of the generation of Jesus," because he is 

 about to add the finishing chapter to the Old Testament record 

 of the generations of the first man, culminating in the second 

 man, the Son of God. To the western, who but slightly 

 remembers his grandfather, St. jVIatthew's introduction to his 

 Gospel conveys nothing. But a Chinaman, as he passes through 

 the long ancestry — as the commanding figures and great events 

 of the past rise into view — is conscious that a highway, cast up 

 with such care through all the preceding centuries, must lead to 

 a Teacher of supreme importance. 



No genealogy compares with that of the King of the Jews. 

 Like the star, it guides the wise from the dim east of Eden and 

 halts for ever over the cradle of Bethlehem. Because here was 

 fulfilled the promise made to Eve — to the woman, not to the 

 man, for Jesus was born of a Virgin. Xor could the genealogy 

 continue, because this Sovereign carried with Him, through 

 death, the Crown of David. Above the Cross was placed His 

 title, the King of the Jews, and there it remains till He come. 



In the East, people are familiar with the construction of a 

 highway before a great man when he travels. The advents of 

 lesser dignities act like flashes of unusual light to startle the 

 stagnant multitude to expectancy. Thus, the visit of the 

 Prince of Wales, nearly four decades ago, followed by the tours 



