ness to which they had been respectively called. And now, when Elisabeth was about to become a Mother, they parted; and we are not informed that they ever met again.

57, 58, 59 Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the LORD had showed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her. And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.

Rather, "they were for calling him," "They wanted to call him." Compare St. Matthew iii. 14.

60, 61, 62 And his Mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his Father, how he would have him called.

They "made signs" to Zacharias, because he was now deaf as well as dumb. See the note on verse 20.

63, 64 And he asked for a writing-table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.

As Unbelief had bound him, so Faith now set him free. And, as an ancient writer remarks, it was but reasonable that when the voice of the WORD came forth, -see St. John i. 23,-the tongue of his Father should have been loosed likewise.

65, 66 And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judæa. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the Hand of the LORD was with him.

67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the HOLY GHOST, and prophesied, saying,

The first purpose in which he employed the recovered gift of speech seems to have been the pouring out of that Inspired Hymn,-the "Benedictus," which Holy Church has since adopted as a part of her daily utterance. Well may she have done so for every word here, prophetically spoken, has reference to the Spiritual Reign of MESSIAH; and the blessings commemorated, belong not to the nation of the Jews only, but, in the full extent of their signification, to all the people of GOD.

68 Blessed be the LORD GOD of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people,

See how his prophetic speech glances on to the last page of the Gospel! And yet, it is not to be supposed that the inspired speaker had any conception of the sublime mystery which his words enfolded. He opened his lips to praise the God of Israel for having at last "visited,"—that is, "looked graciously upon," "-His people; and wrought for them the long-promised deliverance from their enemies: but he knew not the true nature of that deliverance, though he was divinely guided to call it by its proper name,-Redemption. See Ephes. i. 7: Coloss. i. 14: Rev. v. 9. 69 and hath raised up an Horn of Salvation for us in the house of His servant David;

Or, as it stands in the Prayer-book, "a mighty Salvation;" for "a horn" is the emblem-because, with certain animals, it is the instrument—of strength. Hence

such expressions as are found in Jeremiah xlviii. 25, Psalm lxxv. 4, 10, cxii. 9, &c. Compare 1 Sam. ii. 10, and Psalm xviii. 2: but especially Psalm cxxxii. 17.

Note also, that here and elsewhere, Kingly power is chiefly intended; whence "horns" actually stand for "Kings" in the Book of Daniel, and other parts of Scripture.(8)

70 (as He spake by the mouth of His holy Prophets, which have been since the World began:)

For the whole volume of the Old Testament is but one long prophecy of CHRIST; 'Yea, and all the Prophets, from Samuel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days." (t)

To speak more truly, it was GOD, (as we learn from this place,) who spoke by their mouth. Compare the language of Acts i. 16, and see the note on St. Matth. i. 22. Our own Hooker has said on this subject,-"They neither spake nor wrote any word of their own, but uttered syllable by syllable as the SPIRIT put it into their mouths; no otherwise than as the harp or the lute doth give a sound according to the discretion of his hands that holdeth and striketh it with skill." . . . . It is remarkable that the very word for a Prophet, in Hebrew, is thought by the learned to imply one who speaks as another moves him.

....

This appeal to God's "holy Prophets of old" is introduced parenthetically: verses 69 and 71 must be taken together.

71, 72 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;

According to the mind of the SPIRIT, the reference in this place is, of course, to ghostly, not to bodily, enemies. CHRIST,-the Horn spoken of in ver. 69,-is declared, in ver. 71, to be "Salvation from our enemies," &c. And thereby, in the verse which follows, it is prophetically foretold that the LORD GOD of Israel was about "to show mercy to our Fathers, and to remember His holy covenant" with them.

73, 74, 75 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.

Here, the HOLY SPIRIT is His own interpreter. The reference is to God's great oath to Abraham, contained in Genesis xxii. 16 to 18,-and alluded to in Hebrews vi. 13, 14. Compare the language of Psalm cv. 8 to 10.

It seems then, that those famous words,-"I will bless thee, and . . . . multiply thy seed as the stars of Heaven," (u)—were fulfilled, in their highest sense, when it was "granted unto" men, that is, Power was given them, (x) to serve GoD in Holiness and Righteousness (y) all the days of their life. For consider, that this was brought about by the outpouring and gift of the HOLY GHOST; whereby GoD procured to the Father of the Faithful, in CHRIST, a spiritual seed, numerous as the stars of Heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore. Compare Galatians

iii. 14.

It appears further, that the words,-"Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies," besides their obvious, historical sense, which was fulfilled in the days of King David,―received their perfect fulfillment in the days of the Gospel; when, by our SAVIOUR'S Advent, the Human Race were "delivered out of the hand of their enemies,"-Sin and Death. See Rom. vi. 18, 22. 1 Cor. xv. 24 to 26; also 55 to 57. Titus ii. 14. 2 St. Peter i. 4. 1 St. John v. 4, 5.-Take notice, by the way, that these, (which Zacharias mentions,) were the two great heads of Blessing which Eliezer seems to have recounted to Laban and Bethuel, when they sent away Rebekah to become Isaac's wife. See Genesis xxiv. 60.

And thus, it is declared that the entire fulfillment of all the glorious promises which God had once made to the Fathers, was now at length about to be performed to them;-for, as it is elsewhere said by CHRIST Himself,-"; 'all," (that is, all the (t) Acts iii. 24. Compare Acts x. 43. (y) Compare Eph. iv. 24.

(*) Daniel vii. 7, 8. Zech. i. 18. Rev. xiii. 1.
(u) Gen. xxii. 17.
(x) Compare Rev. xi. 3.

Fathers, for He was speaking of them,—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,) "live unto Him."(z)

'Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There hath not failed one word of all His good promise which He promised by the hand of Moses His Servant."(a) In such terms could the wise King of Israel express his sense of God's Faithfulness, Constancy, and Love. Where shall we find language adequate to the expression of ours,-we, “on whom the ends of the World are come?" (b)

76 And thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the LORD to prepare His ways;

The Father turns, in his prophetic rapture, to address his infant child; foretelling that he should "be," (for that is the meaning of "being called,") "the prophet of the Most High" GOD. (c) We have here, besides, an allusion to Isaiah xl. 3; so that the Gospel itself is briefly summed up in this inspired Hymn.

77, 78, 79 to give knowledge of Salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our GOD; whereby the Dayspring 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.

66

Dayspring" is here a name of CHRIST; whether it should be translated the "East," or the "Sun-rising," (d)-or the "Branch," as in Zech. iii. 8. There is here an evident allusion to Isaiah ix. 1, (quoted in St. Matth. iv. 16:) but the reason of the expression "the shadow of Death" will best appear by a comparison with Psalm xxiii. 4; where, as Hammond beautifully points out, it is implied that the sunlight lingers longest on the hills, the valleys being all the while veiled in gloom, and wearing soonest a funereal shadow.

80 And the child grew, and waxed strong in the spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.

The former of these two statements, we shall presently find repeated with respect to the MESSIAS. See ch. ii. 40.-The "deserts" here spoken of do not necessarily imply such a howling wilderness as that of Jordan. In Judæa every tract of waste, uncultivated country was called a desert; whether its barren surface produced nothing but "reeds shaken by the wind,"(e) or whether there happened to be "much grass in the place."(f) What is meant therefore probably, is, that the youthful Nazarite was brought up in solitude and retirement,-remote from all the influences of the Town. There, he increased in stature, and waxed strong in spirit; and, by "enduring hardness," (g) prepared himself for the wondrous office to which the good Providence of God had designed him from his Mother's womb.

For, instead of raiment, he wore a hairy garment and a leathern girdle. Moreover, GoD fed him with locusts; and "satisfied" him, from day to day, "with honey out of the stony rock."(h) And thus, the Baptist grew to manhood; (for we hear no more of him until he had attained the age of thirty years;) an Orphan, doubtless, from his earliest youth. But be sure that "when his Father and his Mother had forsaken him, then the LORD took him up."(i)

THE PRAYER.

We beseech Thee, O LORD, pour Thy Grace into our hearts; that, as we have known the Incarnation of Thy Son JESUS CHRIST by the message of an Angel, so, by His Cross and Passion, we may be brought unto the Glory of His Resurrection; through the same JESUS CHRIST our LORD. Amen.

(z) St. Luke xx. 38.

(c) Compare verse 32.

(a) 1 Kings viii. 56.
(d) Compare Malachi iv. 2.

(f) Compare St. Matth. xiv. 13, 15, with St. John vi. 10. (h) Psalm lxxxi. 16. Compare St. Matth. iii. 4.

(b) 1 Cor. x. 11.
(e) St. Matth. xi. 7.
(g) 2 Tim. ii. 3.
(i) Psalm xxvii. 10.

CHAPTER II.

1 Augustus taxeth all the Roman empire. 6 The nativity of CHRIST. 8 One Angel relateth it to the Shepherds. 13 Many sing praises to GOD for it. 21 CHRIST is Circumcised. 22 Mary purified. 28 Simeon and Anna prophesy of CHRIST. 40 Who increaseth in wisdom. 46 Questioneth in the Temple with the Doctors. 51 And is obedient to His parents.

1 AND it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

A decree for a general enrolment and numbering of names, rather than for a Census of property, seems to be here spoken of. And the expression, "all the world," probably does not mean all the Roman Empire, but only the whole of Palestine.

2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

Volumes have been written on this verse of Scripture. A person named Varus was President of Syria at the time here spoken of. Cyrenius (or Quirinus) did not succeed to the office till about eleven years after; but, (what is remarkable,) on coming to his Presidentship, he certainly did conduct a census. To reconcile the statement of the Evangelist with the known history of the period, has been felt to be a task of great difficulty.

But, it is to be observed, that St. Luke does not say that Cyrenius was President of Syria at the time of the "taxing." He merely says that he was, then, governor of the province; and this, Cyrenius may very well have been, although the Presidentship was in other hands. St. Luke's authority on a point of history is, of course, more trustworthy than that of any uninspired writer; and when he asserts, (as here he seems to do,) that "the taxing" at the time of the Nativity proved the first [of two] taxings which were made while Cyrenius governed Syria,-what difficulty need we feel in accepting the blessed Writer's assurance on the subject?These remarks shall suffice; but the Reader is referred to the note on St. Luke iii. 1: also to the notes on St. Matthew i. 16, and St. Luke iii. 36.

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

This seems to imply the careful record which every Jewish family preserved of its descent; whereby they were enabled, on an occasion like the present, to repair to the city from which the founder of their line had originally come.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem;

Bethlehem was the true "City of David:" for his father, Jesse, was of that city.(a) It appears also from a comparison of verses 11 and 15, that the Shepherds knew it by that name. But Jerusalem, as the Seat of David's Royalty, was now almost exclusively so called.

(because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

As St. Luke himself shows in the next chapter,-making use, it may be, of the

(a) 1 Sam. xvi. 1 and 4. Compare St. John vii. 42.

genealogy which the records of Bethlehem furnished. See also St. Matthew's first chapter.

5 to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. The Blessed Virgin went up to be taxed, as well as her wedded husband. She was, therefore, herself "of the house and lineage of David." See the note on St. Matthew i. 16.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

The Bible may be regarded as a Book which removes the veil from History, and reveals the reason of it. The Providence of GoD is there discovered to us, overruling the actions of mankind, and adapting them to ends and purposes of which their authors were little conscious. Thus, the present "taxing," whether dictated by the ambition, or the curiosity, or the avarice of the Roman Emperor,-is shown to have furnished an occasion for drawing this holy pair from their remote home in Nazareth of Galilee, to Bethlehem of Judæa; the village which the finger of Prophecy had long before pointed out as destined to be the place of MESSIAH's birth. The season of the taxing is found, moreover, to have corresponded exactly with the date of the Nativity. Thus, the official return of the Bethlehemites, stored up among the Roman Archives, will have become documentary evidence of the most unquestionable kind, concerning the very foundation of the Faith. So entirely was Augustus ministering to the Divine pleasure, while, in the exercise of Imperial power, he followed the dictates of his own unfettered will.

7 And she brought forth her first-born Son,

"First-born,"-because none had been born before Him. The word is not used to imply that any were born after. See the first note on St. Matthew i. 25.

and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger: It has been said,—“No man will have cause to complain of his coarse robe, if he remembers the swaddling-clothes of this Holy Child: nor to be disquieted at his hard bed, when he considers JESUS laid in a manger."

Since this blessed Mother, after she had brought forth her first-born Son, swathed Him herself, and with her own hands deposited His infant limbs in a manger, as St. Luke seems clearly to imply;-it is reasonable to infer that His Nativity was, as His sinless Conception had been,-out of the course of Nature, and miraculous; and that the holy Mother, by a painless birth, had experienced the reversal of the sorrowful sentence passed on our Mother Eve,-recorded in Genesis iii. 16.

What is, at least, quite certain,-hereby was reversed the calamity which our first Mother had brought upon the Human Race. As, by a woman, Death had been conveyed to all mankind,-so was a woman now made the blessed Instrument whereby He who is our Life came into the world.

because there was no room for them in the Inn.

"No room for them in the Inn!" No room found for Him who filleth all things. And is it not so still? Do we not find room for all other things; yet no room is found for CHRIST?

8 And there were in the same country Shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

By the invitation of these poor shepherds to Bethlehem, we are taught that none are fit to come to CHRIST but those who are poor in spirit, despisers of the world, guileless, simple-hearted. And with reference to the pastoral Office, a pious writer has said concerning those who watch their flock as well by night as by day,"these are Shepherds who first converse with Angels, and finally shall enter into the presence of the LORD."