have felt that as the advent of the
Lord whom they sought was nigh, that of his messenger must be nearer
still. They started at every footfall. They listened for every voice.
They scanned the expression of every face. "Behold, he shall come,"
rang in their hearts like a peal of silver bells. At any moment might
a voice be heard crying, "Cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the
stones; lift up an ensign for the peoples. Say ye to the daughter of
Sion, Behold, thy salvation cometh." Those anticipations were realized
in the birth of John the Baptist.

II.

The House of Zacharias.

(LUKE I.)

"There are in this loud stunning tide
Of human care and crime,
With whom the melodies abide
Of the everlasting chime;
Who carry music in their heart
Through dusky lane and wrangling mart
Plying their daily task with busier feet,
Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat."
KEBLE.

Early History of the Baptist--God's Hidden Ones--The Hill Country of
Judea--A Childless Home--The Forerunner Announced.

To the evangelist Luke we are indebted for details of those antecedent
circumstances that ushered John the Baptist into the world. He tells
us that he had "traced the course of all things accurately from the
first." And in those final words, "from the first," he suggests that
he had deliberately sought to examine into those striking events from
which, as from a wide-spreading root, the great growth of Christianity
had originated. Who of us has not sometimes followed the roots of some
newly-discovered plant deep into the black mould, intent on pursuing
them to their furthest extremity, and extricating them from the
clinging earth without injuring one delicate radicle? So this good
physician, accustomed by his training to accurate research and
experiment, went back to scenes and events anterior to any which his
brother Evangelists recorded. He compensated for the authority of an
eye-witness by the thoroughness and care of his investigation.

What were the sources from which the third Evangelist drew his
information? We cannot be sure, but may hazard a suggestion, which is
supported by the archaic simplicity, the indescribable grace, the
almost idyllic beauty of his two opening chapters. Critics have
repeatedly drawn attention to their unique character, and insisted that
they are due to some other hand than that which has given us the rest
of the story of