Nazareth had an existence
anterior to Nazareth, and previous to his birth of the village maiden.
He recognised that his goings had been of old, even from everlasting,
that He was the mighty God, the Father of the Ages, and the Prince of
Peace. As for himself, he was of the earth, and of the earth he spoke;
as for this One, He came from above, and was above all. It is not
surprising, therefore, that one of his disciples, catching his Master's
spirit, wrote: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by Him."

(2) _He rightly apprehended the sacrificial aspect of Christ's work_.
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Was
it that his priestly lineage gave Him a special right to coin and use
this appellation? It was, without doubt, breathed into his heart by
the Holy Spirit; but his whole previous training, as the son of a
priest, fitted him to receive and transmit it. An attempt has been
made to limit the meaning of these words to the personal character of
Jesus, his purity, and gentleness; but, to the Jews who listened, the
latter part of his exclamation could have but one significance. They
would at once connect with his words, those of the Law, the Prophets,
and the Psalms. "The goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities
unto a solitary land." "He bare the sin of many." "He is led as a
lamb to the slaughter."

From the slopes of Mount Moriah, a young voice has expressed the
longing of the ages, "Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the
lamb?" This has been the cry of the human heart in all generations.
From the days of Abel men have brought the firstlings of their flocks,
laying them on the altar, and consuming them with fire; but there was
always a sense of failure and insufficiency. Through the ages, and in
every clime, priest after priest offered the lamb upon the altar, but
by the very fact of continual repetition, bore witness to the
insufficiency of its propitiation. "Every priest, indeed," is the
comment of inspiration, "standeth day by day ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, the which can never take away sins."
Must not the hearts of hundreds of saintly priests have been filled
with the same inquiry, Where is the lamb? As the prophets understood
more clearly the nature of God's dealing with man--as, for instance,
Micah saw that even the offeri