Evangelists of Art: Picture-Sermons for Children

by James Patrick

The Bible story from which the text is taken has been illustrated by a famous picture. The artist is Mr. Holman Hunt, who has painted many pictures on Bible subjects, and has spent many years in Palestine in connection with his work. His painting of "The Finding of Christ in the Temple" is well worth seeing for the rich beauty of its colouring and the delicate fineness of its workmanship, and every one who loves the Bible must feel that it is still more worth seeing for the sake of the scene which it represents.

As you look at the picture you have before you the interior of a spacious portico in the Temple at Jerusalem. The roof is supported on graceful pillars, and from it there hang many lamps of beautiful metal-work. The farther end is closed by an ornamental lattice-screen. At the right hand side a wide doorway opens on the steps which lead down to one of the Temple courts. A beggar sits on the steps just outside the opening, and beyond him there are workmen busy at the building of the Temple, which, as you know, was not finished for many years after the boyhood of Jesus. You remember that when He had grown to manhood, the Jews said to Him, Forty and six years was this Temple in building,[[1]] and even then we know that it was not completed. In our picture we see the scaffolding of the masons, and one of the cranes by which they raised the stones into position. The workmen themselves are engaged with a large marble block which is lying on the ground, and for which there is a vacant space in the wall above. Beyond the unfinished building there is a grove of trees, and in the further distance we get a glimpse of the roofs of the city and of the hills behind. Coming back to the interior of the portico we see an interesting group of figures at the farther end. A father and mother have come to present their child in the Temple, and they have bought a lamb to offer in sacrifice. The father, with the lamb on his shoulder, and the mother, with the little one in her arms, are following a priest and another attendant who are leading the way further into the Temple, while the man who has sold them the lamb is holding back the mother-sheep. Doves are flying in by the doorway or hovering about inside. They are among the

"Happy birds that sing and fly
Round Thine altars, O Most High."

A boy near one of the pillars is waving a long streamer in the air to frighten them away. But our attention is principally drawn to the foreground of the picture. This part of the portico is richly carpeted, and here a number of Jewish Rabbis—the doctors or teachers of the Law—are sitting in a half-circle, facing the doorway. They are grave men, with long beards and flowing robes. Many of them are old and grey. The Rabbi nearest us has a specially withered face, and eyes that have become sightless with age. The one next him holds in his hand a little metal box with leather thongs hanging down from it. This is a phylactery, containing texts of Scripture written on parchment, and the thongs are for fastening it on the forehead. Another of the group wears his phylactery in its proper position. The blind Rabbi clasps in his arms a great roll of the Law, richly mounted and carefully wrapped up. A little boy, with a brush to drive away the flies, kneels beside him, and another boy behind him is reverently kissing the covering of the roll, which he has raised to his lips. One of the younger Rabbis holds a smaller roll spread out before him. An attendant is pouring out wine from a jar under his arm, for one of the older men to drink. The Temple musicians, with youthful faces, and with various instruments in their hands, stand behind the Rabbis and watch the scene with much interest. But the central figure in the picture is the boy Jesus, who has risen from the place where He has been sitting, and is preparing to go away with Joseph and Mary. He stands just inside the doorway, tightening His girdle with one hand, while the other hand clasps His mother's arm. His bright, earnest face is turned a little away from her, and His eyes glance towards the Rabbis as if He were eager to hear the last of their words. Mary is smiling with gladness because she has found Him, and is drawing Him gently and lovingly away. Behind her, Joseph, a powerful and noble-looking man, holds with one hand the broad strap by which his wallet is slung over his shoulder, while his other hand rests beside Mary's on the shoulder of Jesus. Just above his head there is a large sun-shaped design on the side of the doorway, around which run the words, both in Latin and in Hebrew, The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His Temple.[[2]]

Now there are at least two lessons which the story and the picture teach us. There are two things in which the boy Jesus sets an example to the boys and girls of to-day.

I

First of all, there is Love of heavenly wisdom. You can well understand that there must have been many places and many things in the great and ancient city of Jerusalem which would be full of interest for a boy of twelve, who had just come for the first time from His distant village home. But there was no place so attractive to Jesus as the Temple of God. There was nothing that pleased Him so much as to hear what the wise men of the Temple had to say about God's truth and God's service. He had thought a great deal about these matters Himself though He was only a boy. He had a great many questions to ask. Three days had not been long enough for Him to find out all that He wanted to know. He thought that Joseph and Mary would have understood what He liked best, that they would have known exactly where to find Him, that they would never have thought of looking for Him in any other place than His Father's house.

You see that the love of heavenly wisdom is as natural and as beautiful in a young mind as in an older one. The picture that I have been describing shows Jesus with a real, bright, boyish face, which is earnest and thoughtful at the same time. And you boys and girls who read these pages will be able to make the best of the happy days of your youth if you love your Heavenly Father and His house, if you are eager to know and to obey His will.

II

Secondly, there is Obedience to earthly parents. It was not with any intention of disobeying Joseph and Mary that Jesus stayed behind in the Temple. He did not think of their losing Him, or of their being anxious about Him. He did not mean to grieve or vex them. He was so carried away by His interest in the teaching of the wise Rabbis that He thought about nothing else. This was just like a boy, and Jesus was a real boy. But as soon as Joseph and Mary found Him and called Him, He obeyed them. He rose from His seat among the doctors and went with His parents towards the doorway. He would have liked to stay longer, and He could not help looking back and listening to the last. But He never once dreamed of remaining against Mary's or Joseph's will. He never thought of making His love for God's wisdom and truth an excuse for disobeying them. He went down with them, and came to Nazareth: and He was subject unto them.[[3]]