THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
THE POOL OF SILOAM.
As the life of Jesus Christ on earth is the most important not only in all Bible history, but in all human history as well, it is desirable that the Bible student, and especially the Bible teacher, should obtain a clear understanding of its leading events, associate them with the places where they occurred, and arrange them in chronological order. Of the 150 principal events, about 100 are fixed as to their chronological order by the common consent of the leading harmonists; about 25 are agreed upon by the majority; while the remaining 25 are altogether uncertain. In the outline here given, the authorities most relied upon are Andrews, Robinson, Geikie, and Strong, yet no one of them is exclusively followed. We divide the earthly life of Jesus into nine periods, to each of which is given a separate map, so that the student may not be confused among the various lines of the Saviour's journeying.
The periods are as follows:
I. Period of Preparation, 30 years, from the Birth to the Baptism of Jesus.
II. Period of Inauguration, 15 months, from the Baptism to the Rejection at Nazareth.
III. Period of Early Galilean Ministry, 4 months, from the Rejection at Nazareth to the Sermon on the Mount.
IV. Period of Later Galilean Ministry, 10 months, from the Sermon on the Mount to the Feeding of the Five Thousand.
V. Period of Retirement, 6 months, from the Feeding of the Five Thousand to the Feast of Tabernacles.
VI. Period of Judæan Ministry, 3 months, from the Feast of Tabernacles to the Feast of Dedication.
VII. Period of Peræan Ministry, 4 months, from the Feast of Dedication to the Anointing at Bethany.
VIII. Period of the Passion, 8 days, from the Anointing at Bethany to the Resurrection.
IX. Period of the Resurrection, 40 days, from the Resurrection to the Ascension.