ON MODERN UNREST AND THE BIBLE. 



341 



of other Eoyal Princes, the succession of Imperial Durbars and 

 Proclamations at Delhi, the magnificence of the scale on which 

 the Eoyal Camp was being got ready, the centripetal motion of 

 all authority and rank from all parts of the Empire, prepared 

 the millions of India to respect the Majesty of their Emperor. 

 Potentate and peasant bowed in homage, not to a devastating 

 conqueror, but to a Sovereign, whose love was felt, because it 

 had brought him from far, and was returned, because it was 

 real. It is not the least tribute to the sympathy, which 

 underlies British administration, that the Emperor's path to this 

 throne in the hearts of his Eastern peoples was smoothed by 

 the unselfish devotion to duty of many an unknown officer. 



So the preparation for the birth of Jesus was long and 

 elaborate. Lights from the old Testament illuminate every 

 part of the road from Bethlehem to Calvary. The words and 

 acts of Jesus were first thrown upon the screen of Old 

 Testament character, whence has come whatever light there is 

 in the heathen teaching of antiquity. How constantly it is 

 repeated that every detail of His life was the fulfilment of 

 Scripture. Jesus is the Good Shepherd because, as Christ, He 

 led Israel like a flock ; He is the Living Water because, as the 

 Eock, He sustained Israel in the Desert ; He is the Living 

 Bread, because, as Christ, He fed Israel with food from above ; 

 He is the True Vine, because, as Christ, He planted Israel in a 

 very fruitful hill. We only understand the words of Jesus by 

 reference to the dealings of Christ with Israel. 



Thus John the Baptist, the last of the prophets of the Old 

 Testament and the herald of the New, in one brief cry to the 

 multitude epitomised the Old and foreshadowed the New 

 Testament : " Behold the Lamb of God." A lamb had but one 

 destiny, to be slain for the sins of the people. But who is the 

 Lamb of God ? There could be but one answer : " the Lamb, 

 whom God will provide." Abraham prophesied when he replied 

 to Isaac, " God will provide Himself a Lamb." John the Baptist, 

 as he looked on Jesus, saw the Lamb whom God had provided 

 to take away the sin of the w^hole world, and he proclaimed that 

 Jesus would take the place of Isaac — a brief journey and then 

 a sacrificial death. 



Erom the time when Abel confessed his belief in the 

 substitute God would provide, and so received the righteousness 

 of a life laid down, sacrifice never ceased. It passed through 

 the Flood with Noah and reminded God, as the Eainbow 

 assured man, that Love would overcome in Judgment. It has 

 been remarked that the eight-fold lightning of the " Woes " in 



