r unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a
Saviour, which is Christ, the Lord.' And for a sign of the truth of the
message, they were to find the child wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying
in a manger in Bethlehem. And they went with haste and found Mary and
Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger; and when they had seen it, they
made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
God had raised up to Himself witnesses among the people to testify that
Messiah was born, that the hope of Israel was fulfilled. But there were
classes of people among the Jews whom these lowly shepherd witnesses
could not reach, and had they been able to reach them, the story of the
angel's visit, and the concourse of angels singing the magnificent song
of 'Peace on earth, good will to men,' would doubtless have been
accounted an idle tale of superstitious folk, deceived by their own
over-wrought imaginations or idle dreams. Hence God raised up another
class of witnesses--the 'wise men from the east'--witnesses that could
enter the royal palace of proud King Herod and boldly ask: 'Where is he
that is born king of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east,
and are come to worship him'; a testimony that startled Herod and
troubled all Jerusalem. So that indeed God raised up witnesses for
Himself to meet all classes and conditions of men--the testimony of
angels for the poor and the lowly; the testimony of wise men for the
haughty king and proud priests of Judea. So that of the things
concerning the birth of Messiah, no less than of the things of His death
and resurrection from the dead, His disciples could say, 'these things
were not done in a corner.'"

6. The Year of Christ's Birth.--In treating this topic Dr. Charles F.
Deems (_The Light of the Nations_, p. 28), after giving careful
consideration of the estimates, calculations, and assumptions of men who
have employed many means in their investigation and reach only
discordant results says: "It is annoying to see learned men use the same
apparatus of calculation and reach the most diverse results. It is
bewildering to attempt a reconciliation of these varying calculations."
In an appended note the same author states: "For example: the birth of
our Lord is placed in B.C. 1 by Pearson and Hug; B.C. 2 by Scalinger;
B.C. 3 by Baronius and Paulus; B.C. 4 by Bengel, Wieseler, and Greswell;
B.C. 5 by Usher and Petavius; B.C. 6 by Strong, Luvin, and Clark; B.C. 7
by