Helen Braun Hojt - The Story of Jesus The Christ

© Helen Braun Hojt, 2019

ISBN 978-5-0050-0692-9

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Adapted for Children

PREFACE

The story of the life of Christ has been written time and

time again, yet it is one that is ever fresh and attractive.

Little children love to hear it if it is told in language which

their minds are able to grasp, and the aim of this book has

been to tell the story so simply that the youngest child can

enjoy it because he can understand it.

The account recorded in the four gospels has been closely

followed, and the order of events is that accepted by the greatest

thinkers and writers. Many of the laws and customs of the

times have been introduced to make the text more clear; and,

that the lessons taught may be more attractive and better

remembered, the book is abundantly illustrated.

The writer does not claim originality, but, knowing that all

children love to read or hear a good story, she has tried to tell

this old, old story in a way that will make them love it and

absorb into their own beings the elements of true living which

only the life and teachings of the Christ can give.

THE STORY OF JESUS-THE CHRIST

Far away over the sea, on the continent of Asia, is the land

of Palestine, which is also called the Holy Land. If you look

for it on the map you will find that it is a very small country.

Yet, though it is so small, such great things have happened

there that all the world knows of Palestine. This story will tell

you why it is called the Holy Land, and why so many people

love it.

Very many years ago there lived in Palestine a man by the

name of Jacob, who was the son of Isaac, and the grandson of

Abraham. He had twelve sons, each of whom was the head of a

large family called a tribe. The twelve tribes together made a

nation which was known either as the Jews, or as the Children

of Israel. Israel was another name given to Jacob after he was

a man.

The Jews were better than any other people living at that

time, just because they worshipped God. There were a good

many people then, as there are now, who did not know about the

true God in heaven. They made images, or idols, of wood or

stone, which they called gods. They prayed to these idols, asking

them to take care of them. They even thanked these gods

for giving them life and health, and so many beautiful things.

They were heathen, for that is what we call those who pray to

idols.

2

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not heathen; they knew

and loved the true God, and taught their children to do the

same. But the Jews were not always good. They did wicked

things over and over again, but after they had done wrong they

were sorry for it, and asked God to forgive them. Then they

started over again, and tried to do better.

When Jacob was an old man, he and his children and grand¬

children went to live in Egypt, and lived there happily a good

many years. But the time came when the Children of Israel

were not happy; for the kings who were then on the throne were

not kind to them. They made slaves of them, and the Jews had

to work so hard and so long that they almost forgot their God.

But at last a child was born who had a different life from the

rest of his people. He was named Moses, and was brought up

by the king’s daughter, in the king’s palace. He was very wise

and learned. He thought a great deal about his people. He

could see how badly they were treated, and how unhappy they

were, and his greatest wish was to set them free and take them

back to Palestine. The time came when God allowed him to do

this.

It was hard to get so many people started, and harder yet to

make them do as God would have them. They found fault with

everything if things did not please them: with Moses, and even

with God. There were many years of very hard work for Moses

and their other leaders before they were at last settled in their

own country, in homes of their own.

For a great many years God was really their king. He gave

them laws through Moses, and all their leaders were chosen by

God. They all talked with God, and learned from him what to

do for the people. But the time came when they wanted to be

like the other nations around them and have a king whom they

could see, and who could go before their army when it went to war.

3

The first king was not a good raler; but after he died a young

man named David came to the throne, and David was a good

king. He tried to do as well as he could himself, and tried to

teach the people to obey the laws of their God.

David belonged to the tribe of Judah, and was born in Beth¬

lehem. He was only a shepherd boy when he was chosen to be

king, and for that reason he is often called the Shepherd King.

Although he left his country home and went to Jerusalem to live

when he was quite a young man, he never forgot the lessons he

learned in the fields of Bethlehem. He wrote beautiful songs that

show that while he stayed with the sheep, hour after hour, his

thoughts were about God and his goodness. It was thousands of

years ago that David lived, yet ever since that time people have

read and sung these songs, and we can read them now in that

part of the Bible called the Psalms. One of them begins, u The

Lord is my shepherd.» Perhaps you know it.

After David died, his son Solomon became king. He was very

rich, and knew so much that he has been called the wisest man

that ever lived. He built for the people a beautiful temple where

they could meet to worship God. When this temple was built

the people promised to always love and obey the God who had

been so good to them and to their fathers. If they had remem¬

bered this promise, and kept it, they would have been a strong

nation even now; but very soon they began to break God’s laws.

Some of them even began to pray to idols.

After King Solomon died things grew worse and worse, until

at last the Jews were conquered by other nations, their cities de¬

stroyed, and the people carried away to other countries. After a

time some were allowed to go back to Palestine to live, but there

has never been a real Jewish nation since that time, and that was

a great many years ago.

But the Jews kept up their courage; for their prophets had

4

told them that they should have a king who should rule the

whole world, and who should reign for ever and ever. Prophets

are men who tell what is going to happen long before it does

come; they foretell things. We have men whom we call

weather-prophets. By studying the sky, the clouds, and the

winds, they can tell what sort of weather we are likely to have.

But these Jewish prophets talked with God, and he told them

what to foretell, so they never made any mistakes.

These prophets did not all live at one time; nor did they all

tell the same things about the king. One said he was to be born

in Bethlehem, and was to belong to David’s family. Another

said when he should be born; and others told something else

about his life. Still another said that before he came God would