Literature.  The information necessary to understand these topics may be found in any one of the better Bible dictionaries, in Josephus and more or less in text books on Biblical history such as Blakie.

Chapter XVIII.

From the Birth to The Ascension of Jesus.

The Four Gospels.

The Story of this Period.  It is common to designate this period as the “Life of Christ,” meaning the time he spent on earth.  There is, however, no scripture life of Jesus.  The gospels do not claim to present such a life.  They do, however, give us a vast amount of material and though different in purpose and consequently in content, they do present the same general picture of Jesus.  The matter of arranging the material in an orderly way presents much difficulty.  If a topographical outline is attempted it can only be approximately correct because at some points the gospels leave us in uncertainty or in ignorance.  If a chronological outline is attempted there is no less of uncertainty.

The following outline, however, may be accepted as a scheme of study for the period. (1) The childhood and youth of Jesus.  From the birth of Jesus, B.C. 4 to the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist, A.D. 26. (2) The beginning of Christ’s ministry.  From the beginning of John’s ministry to Christ’s first public appearance in Jerusalem, A.D. 27. (3) The early Judean ministry.  From his first public appearance in Jerusalem to his return to Galilee, A.D. 27. (4) The Galilean ministry.  From the return to Galilee to the final departure for Jerusalem, A.D., 29. (5) The Perean Ministry.  From the departure from Galilee to the final arrival in Jerusalem, A.D. 30. (6) From the final arrival in Jerusalem to the resurrection, April, A.D. 30. (7) The forty days.  From the resurrection to the ascension.  May, A.D. 30.

The Childhood and Youth of Jesus. (1) The long preparation for his coming.  The prophets had most emphatically proclaimed his coming and all things had from the beginning been divinely directed so that preparation might be made for his advent.  His human ancestry had been selected and prepared.  When the time drew near for him to appear, the coming of John the Baptist his forerunner, was announced to Zacharias his father (Lu. 1:5-25).  This was quickly followed by the announcement of the birth of Jesus to Mary his mother (Lu. 1:26-38) and soon thereafter to Joseph, the espoused husband of Mary (Matt. 1:18-25).  The beautiful story of his birth is told in the second chapter of Luke.

(2) The infancy.  Of Jesus infancy we have several facts and incidents, (a) The appearance of the angels to the shepherds and the shepherds’ visit to the babe, Lu. 2:8-20. (b) The circumcision at eight days old, Lu. 2:21. (c) The presentation in the temple where he was recognized by Simeon, Lu. 2:22-32. (d) The visit of the wise men (Matt. 2:1-12) and (e) The flight into Egypt, Matt. 2:13-23.