oughts of Him. Thus much we do know, that, "He grew in wisdom and
stature" not only, but also "in favor with God and man."

It has been finally said; "Only one flower of anecdote has been thrown
over the wall of the hidden garden, and it is so suggestive as to fill
us with intense longing to see the garden itself. But it has pleased
God, whose silence is no less wonderful than His words, to keep it
shut." That "one flower" refers to Jesus' visit to Jerusalem just as He
was passing from childhood to youth, when He tarried in the Temple with
the learned Rabbis, asking them questions with which His mind was
full, and making answers which astonished them.

[Illustration: THE PROPHET ISAIAH _Sargent_ Page 50]

A most interesting question arises in connection with that visit; Did
Jesus then and there learn that He was the Messiah? When He asked His
mother, "Wist ye not that I must be in My Father's house," or, "about My
Father's business?" did He have a new idea of God as His Father Who had
sent Him into the world to do the great work which the Messiah was to
perform?

There were eighteen silent years between His first visit to Jerusalem,
and the time when, at thirty years of age, he made Himself known as the
Messiah. They were spent as a village carpenter. He was known as such.
No one suspected Him to be anything more. In His work He must have been
a model of honesty and faithfulness. We can believe that "all His works
were perfect, that never was a nail driven or a line laid carelessly,
and that the toil of that carpenter's bench was as sacred to Him as His
teachings in the Temple, because it was duty."

In His home He was the devoted eldest son. It was of that time that the
poet sings to Mary;--

"O, highly favored thou, in many an hour
Spent in lone musings with thy wondrous Son,
When thou didst gaze into that glorious eye,
And hold that mighty hand within thine own.

"Blest through those thirty years when in thy dwelling
He lived as God disguised with unknown power,
And thou His sole adorer, His best love,
Trusted, revering, waited for His hour."
--_H.B. Stowe_.

Joseph had probably died, and the care of Mary fell especially on Jesus.
But in the carpenter's shop, in the home, and wherever He was, He had
thoughts and feelings and purposes hidden from all others. They were
such as no mere human being could have. He was alone i