when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the son of the highest: and Jehovah God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore, also that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold, the handmaid of Jehovah; be it unto me according to thy word."* Nothing was more natural, than that a young and inexperienced female should take the earliest opportunity of communicating with some married female of her family, upon so extraordinary, and yet so interesting an occasion; and especially as it is very probable that she had heard of the miraculous dumbness of Zacharias, and the former communication of the angel Gabriel to Elizabeth. Mary, therefore, arose in those days, and went into a hill country with haste, in a city of Judah; and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: and she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou Luke, i. 28-38. among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from Jehovah.* And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. his mercy is on them that fear him, from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.† And The pious language of these two daughters of Israel shews abundantly that amidst all the demoralizing influence of a vicious and profligate court, and a half pagan government, there were still some left who not only had not quite forgotten the institutions of Jehovah, but to whom the peculiar strain of the children of God was even familiar. Zacharias still remained dumb, but when his wife was de In the use of the word Jehovah, in the New Testament, I have followed the example of the Rev. Thos. Fry, the Rector of Emberton, Bucks, the learned editor of the Hebrew translation; the only edition of which that is to be depended upon, is the original one published in 1813, when Mr. Fry and the Rev. W. B. Collyer, were joint secretaries of the London Society for promoting Christianity amongst the Jews. See the Latin Preface, &c. to that edition. + Luke, i. 39-55. livered, and on the day appointed for the circumcision of the child, Elizabeth, remembering the words of the angel, would have him named John, whereas his kinsfolk and acquaintance wished him to be called after his father. Zacharias, however, upon being appealed to, had no sooner expressed his will by writing the name of John upon a tablet, and thus shewn his faith in the promise of God, than his tongue was loosed, and he praised God. And fear came on all that dwelt round about them; and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of Jehovah was with him. And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. And thou shalt be called the pro phet of the highest: for thou shalt go before the face of Jehovah to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the day spring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.* * Luke, i. 65-79. See all difficulties upon this mysterious event, examined and refuted in Bell's Inquiry into the Incarnations The prophet Micah had long before declared* that the Messiah should be born at Bethlehem, and in order that that prophecy might be accomplished, it pleased him to whom a thousand years are but as one day, that the Roman emperor should issue a proclamation for a cestus,† and taxation of the whole world, that is, of the whole Roman empire, and the provinces which were tributary to it. When the decree came into operation in Judea, it became necessary that Joseph and Mary, who then resided at Nazareth, should go up to Bethlehem, the city of David, of whose house and lineage they were. And here it was, and whilst sojourning there and lodging in a stable, because the concourse of strangers was so great that they could obtain no other accommodation, that the Divine Redeemer was born, and thus was that great and important event announced. There were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over the flock by night. And, lo, the angel of Jehovah came upon them, and the glory of Jehovah shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ, the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, let us now go even into Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which Jehovah hath made known to us. Micah, v. 2. And + See the origin and particulars of this proceeding. Prid. ii. 750. they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad this saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it, wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned glorifying, and praised God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.† But this was not the only illustrious testimony with which it pleased God to honour the birth of his only begotten Son. For at his circumcision his parents having brought him to Jerusalem to present him in the temple, or to Jehovah, two holy persons of great age, whose lives had probably been spared for this especial purpose, distinctly recognised the infant Jesus as the promised Redeemer of his people; for behold there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the anointed of Jehovah. And he came by the spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought * See a critical note as to the year of our Lord's birth, in Prid. ii. 734. Luke, ii. 8—20. Crevier, i. 243 To him, when cold decrepid age had spread And for sad Israel's wish'd redemption pray'd, And bids the aged father not despair! For though so short his thread of life were spun, Him, vainly threat'ning, death could not surprise, |