30 And the angel said un- shall give unto him the throne of his father David: to her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. g 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. h 32 He shall be great, i and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God g Isa. 7. 14; Matt. 1. 21.-h Chap. 2. 21. i Mark 5. 7.-k 2 Sam. 7. 11, 12; Psa. 132. 11; Isa, 9. 6, 7, & 16. 5; Jer. 23. 5; Rev. 3. 7. 30. Fear not He prefaces his announcement to Mary, as to Zacharias, with an encouraging fear not. The Gospel dispensation opens with a dismissal of fear and a promise of salvation. 31. Jesus-See note on Matt. i, 21. 32. Throne of his father David-See note on Matt. i, 20. The throne of the theocracy, or ancient kingdom of God. The Jewish nation, as a chosen people of God, constituted this theocracy during the Mosaic dispensation. On the throne of this theocracy David was a representative king. When the Jewish race ceased to be the theocracy by the taking of the kingdom of God from them, that kingdom was established on a new basis, by which every man, Jew or Gentile, was admitted to form part of that kingdom by faith. On the throne of that theocracy sits Jesus, the eternal successor of David. 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shalĺ be no end. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, m The Holy be taken in the strict sense of eternity. Shall be no end-For though its probationary mediatorial form shall cease, yet its substance shall be eternal. Christ shall be eternal king, and so his reign and throne shall be endless. 34. How shall this be?-Zacharias requires proof of the angel's statement before he will believe the thing will be done; Mary accepts that the thing will be done, and modestly asks how? One is a case of presumptuous unbelief; the other is a case of faith asking to be further instructed. "I accept in full faith the fact; but by what process (since the natural process is impossible) shall it be accomplished?" The angel now declares the process. Instead of an impure and sexual agency, a holy, unsexual, omnipotent power shall as purely produce the new being as the first germ of plant and tree was originally formed and developed "before it grew." Gen. 33. The house of Jacob-Both of Jacob's natural and spiritual descend-ii, 5. ants. "For," says Grotius, "just as David the king of Israel did by conquest amalgamate the Edomites and other nations with his kingdom, so also this Messiah-king, by gospel conquest, shall incorporate the Gentiles into his kingdom and naturalize them as true Israel. Isa. xiv, 1. The stranger shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob." And, xliv, 5, of the same stranger it is said he "shall call himself by the name of Jacob." For ever-This term being applied here to no earthly or mere human subject, must 35. The Holy Ghost-The definite ar. ticle is not in the Greek. The phrase holy spirit here designates not the third person in the trinity; for, then, he would be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; but the same holy spirit of Deity which brooded upon chaos and produced the creation. Come upon thee -See Acts i, 8. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee-The pure Spirit of God should sanctify her nature and render her the holy mother of the Son of God. Overshadow thee-By an act of power as pure as the shadow of a cloud shed 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. ceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible. 38 And Mary said, Behold 36 And, behold, thy cousin the handmaid of the Lord; be Elisabeth, she hath also con- it unto me according to thy n Matt. 14. 33, & 26. 63, 64; Mark 1. 1; John 1. 34, & 20. 31; Acts 8, 37; Rom. 1. 4. down upon thee, shall God be the creative father of thy holy son. The holy thing-That totality which is born of thee, including both human and divine, is holy, a holy thing. Its human flesh and blood, though drawn from a fallen source, shall, as they form into his being, be pure as the first Adam, by association with the divine. Him hath God sanctified and sent through the ordinary pathway of birth into the world. John x, 36. So that Christ taking our nature took not its sin. Shall be called the Son of God-Because the second person in the Trinity is by this divine operation, and this human conception and birth, incarnated in his perUndoubtedly the production of the human birth by Deity entitles even the human person of our Saviour to the appellation Son of God. Yet primarily this title, taking its starting point from the divinity, descends to include the humanity. On the other hand, the title Son of man, beginning with his humble humanity, takes in its glorified state, and even its union with the divine. son. The idea of a god become incarnate, and thus a god-man, it is often said abounds in heathen mythology, and so in Christianity is a plagiary. But though heathenism has her gods incarnate, she never rose to the thought of the infinite and eternal God assuming humanity upon his divinity. That Hercules should be begotten of Jove, or Achilles be born of the goddess Thetis, are small fables, bearing no analogy to the true Incarnation. And even the incarnations of Vishnu in Hindoo mythology are merely the goings forth of the god himself under the mere shape o Gen. 18. 14; Jer. 32. 17; Zech. 8. 6; Matt. 19, 26; Mark 10. 27; chap. 18. 27; Rom. 4. 21. of animal or man. They are not a real divinity in a real humanity, a unity of the two complete personal natures, perfect God and perfect man, constituting one God-man. 36. Thy cousin Elisabeth-Mary was of the tribe of Judah, and Elisabeth of the tribe of Levi. That is, their fathers probably were; for it was the father's descent which assigned any family to its tribeship. The two women, therefore, may have been cousins by the mother's side, by their mothers having been sisters. But the word rendered cousin may signify kindred of any degree. 37. Nothing shall be impossible-Ages ago (Gen. xviii, 14) "The LORD” had said in a similar announcement to Abraham, "Is any thing too hard for the Lord ?" The angel refers to the analogous case of Elisabeth as proof to Mary that miraculous birth is an event that may now occur. The birth of an immortal being into existence is the greatest of natural events. The birth of an immortal being, without a human father, by a divine interposition, is one of the greatest of miracles. The birth of a human being from a true divine paternity, placing a God-man upon earth, is pre-eminently THE miracle of which all other miracles are but the subordinates and attendants. But all things are possible with God. To perform a contradiction is, indeed, not a possibility even with omnipotence. But then a contradiction is really nothing at all, and so does not come into the number of all things. God is fully able to suspend by miracle the laws of nature, and even reverse them all. For the laws of nature are nothing more than word. And the angel departed from her. 39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, Pinto a city of Judah; 41 And it came to pass, that. when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, a Blessed 40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elis-art thou among women, and abeth. p Josh. 21. 9, 10, 11. the ordinary action of the divine will, which God can vary just as easily as he can hold them uniform. The incarnation is just as easy a work with God as a maintenance of the ordinary laws of birth. blessed is the fruit of thy womb. g Verse 28; Judg. 5. 24. journeyed with camels from Hebron to Jerusalem in an hour and fifteen min· utes, and from thence to Nazareth with mules in nearly thirty hours. camel travels about ten miles an hour; a mule three. City of Judah-The city A $ 5.-VISIT OF MARY TO ELISABETH, is by many supposed to be Hebron. In 39-56. Elisabeth concealed herself for five months, (verse 24;) and the annunciation was made to Mary in the sixth month, (26;) and Mary visits Elizabeth for three months, making about nine months. The conception of the Messiah, doubtless, took place before Mary's departure. The revelation of the fact to Joseph took place after her return. There are many passages in the word of God which modern delicacy desires to avoid, and at which modern scepticism utters its scoffs. But in all such passages, be it noted, the holy word seeks to pander to no impure or sensual passion. On the contrary, the expressions that occur indicate that the sacred writer was unconscious of impurity, and is, as it were, unknowing of the applications and perversions which a depraved heart makes of his words. Its words, therefore, are utterances of highest purity. With the guilty is the guilt. The Holy Spirit need not hesitate to name what the Omnipotent Spirit does not hesitate to create; and that naming and that creating are equally pure. 39. Into the hill country-See note on Matt. ii, 1. See also the map. With haste-The action of eager interest. If we may suppose Hebron to be Elisabeth's residence, Mary's journey would be about one hundred miles. Robinson Joshua xxi, 11, is mentioned "Arba, which is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah." It was a residence of priests, and so very probably of the priest Zacharias. Modern tradition, traceable back no further, however, than the sixteenth century, finds his residence in Ain Karim. This is a prosperous village within the hill country, where now stands the convent of St. John in the Desert. According to tradition, Mary, in her visit to Elisabeth, found her at Zacharias's rural abode, one mile from the village, where the interview took place. The place was marked by a chapel built by the Empress Helena, of which the ruins still remain. The spot is called The Visitation. But some of the best scholars suppose that Judah is but a softened name for Juttah, a city mentioned in Joshua xv, 55; xxi, 16, and which exists at the present day. 41. Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost-It would seem that the pure and blessed Spirit rested divinely upon the person of the future mother of the Messiah; and her voice became, as it were, the conductor by the blessed sympathy of that spirit to the body, soul, and spirit of the future mother of the Baptist. Hence the words that Elisabeth now uttered were impregnated with inspiration, and she was enabled to address Mary with prophetic words. 43 And whence is this to me, | performance of those things that the mother of my Lord which were told her from the should come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a Ruth 2. 10; 1 Sam. 25. 41; Phil. 2. 3.-3 Or, which believed that there. 43. Mother of my Lord-Mother of the human nature of the Incarnate. But there is something that grates painfully upon our heart as we survey the phrase of the Romish Church, "Mary the mother of God." 44. Leaped in my womb for joy-As if even before birth joyfully predicting by the Holy Spirit the Messiah at the approach of the Messiah's future mother; as if indicating that hereafter his own joy would be fulfilled in the Messiah's fulness. It seems most plainly accordant with the mind of the inspired writer, that, upon this occasion, the unborn harbinger salutes with joy the unborn Messiah at his first approach. From before his birth he was to be filled with the Holy Ghost. That Spirit now filled the mother because of the spirit of the child. 45. She that believed-The believing Mary, whose faith stood in contrast with Zacharias's unbelief, and should be rewarded with the performance. 46-55. The Magnificat, or triumphal hymn of the Blessed Virgin. This hymn has been called the Magnificat, from the first word of the Latin version; the Hymn of Zacharias (68-79) is called the Benedictus; and that of Simeon the Nunc Dimittis. Like one of the prophets of old, Mary, in the moment of inspired exaltation, pours forth her joy in rhythmical utterances. As in such cases of excitement memory is doubly powerful, it was easy to record with verbal accuracy the entire hymn. Lord. 46 And Mary said, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48 For the hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: s 1 Sam, 2. 1; Psa. 34, 2, 3, & 35, 9; Hab. 3. 18. God's strange grace upon her own II. 50-53. A recognition that it is ever III. 54, 55. The blessed result is, that humble Israel is now to be exalted according to God's ancient promise to Abraham. I. Recognition of God's grace to her humility. Compare the song of Hannah upon a similar occasion, the birth of a future prophet and judge of Israel. This is formed upon the same model of that, as proof that the new dispensation is the outgrowth of the old, and that the same spirit, in different ages and persons, breathes the same holy strains. But the song of the latter is gentler, grander, opening into a far sublimer prospective. 48. Low estate of his handmaiden- It is divisible into three parts. 1 Ꮓ 54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, din remembrance of his mercy; 55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. 56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house. 51 He hath showed strength 57 ¶ Now Elisabeth's full with his arm; a he hath scat-time came that she should be tered the proud in the imagina- delivered; and she brought tion of their hearts, forth a son. 58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her. 59 And it came to pass, that 5. 11; Psa. 113. 6. c 1 Sam. 2. 5; Psalm 34. 10.-d Psa. 98. 3; Jer. 31. 3, 20.- Gen. 17. 19; Psa. 132. 11; Rom. 11. 28; Gal. 3. 16.——— Verse 14; Rom. 12. 15. of the son of this Nazarene maiden will subdue the Roman empire, and the throne of Augustus shall be inherited by his worshippers. So does God put down the mighty from their seats, and exalt them of low degree. u Mal. 3, 12; chap. 11. 27. Psa. 71. 19. & 126. 2, 3. Psa. 111. 9. Gen. 17. 7; Exod. 20. 6; Psa. 103. 17.- Psa 98. 1. & 118. 15; Isa. 40. 10, & 51. 9, & 52. 10.a Psa. 33. 10; 1 Pet. 5. 5,-b 1 Sam. 2. 6 &c.; Job sentiment that a great deliverer was soon to be born, arising from the prophecies of the Messiah. But the worldly poet preferred to find his mother for the Messiah in the wife of a Roman consul. So differs the wisdom of God from the folly of man. All generations shall call me blessed-Here is prophecy; and how wonderfully has it been fulfilled! 54, 55. And this law of wondrous Sad it is, indeed, to think that even the vicissitudes and reverses is now accruChristian Church has made her the ob- ing to the behalf of Israel. Sad has ject of idolatry. But let that not pre-been his humiliation; from a high vent our uttering the epithet blessed to a low estate has he been brought; upon her whom God deigned to honour but the time of his re-exaltation has above all her sex. now arrived, and the old Abrahamic II. Recognition that God ever exalts covenant is now come to its ful the lowly. filment. Holpen-Old English for helped. III. So God shall exalt his humble Israel. 55. To Abraham-The promise was that in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed. Genesis xii, 3; xxii, 18. 50-53. From her own case, Mary now generalizes that thus does God ever deal; debasing the proud, exalting the humble. The past tense of the verbs here is intended to express past, present, and fiture. Paganism, now reigning supreme in the Roman empire, § 5.-BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST, is destined to give way before the religion of the despised cross. In two or three passing centuries the power on Matt. iii, 1. 57-80. 57. Brought forth a son-See note |