Bible Commentaries

PART FIRST

The Miraculous Birth and Normal Development of the son of Man

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FIRST SECTION

EVENTS PREPARATORY TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST

Luke 1:5-80

A. Annunciation of the Birth of His Forerunner Luke 1:5-25

5There was, in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias,¹³ of the course of Abia: and his wife was [he had a wife]¹⁴ of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth 6 And they were both righteous before God, walkingin all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless 7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren; and they both were now well stricken [far advanced] in years 8 And it came to pass, that, while he executed the priest’s office [ἐν τῷ ἱερατεύειν] before God in the order of his course, 9According to the custom of the priest’s office [of the priesthood, τῆς ἱερατείας],¹⁵ his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time11[the hour, τῇ ὥρᾳ] of incense. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him 13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a Song of Solomon, and thoushalt call his name John 14And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoiceat his birth 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God 17 And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias [Elijah], to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

18And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken [far advanced] in years 19 And the angel answering, said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show [bring] thee these glad tidings 20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not [didst not believe, οὐκ ἐπίστευσας] my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

21And the people waited [were waiting, ἦν ὁ λαὸς προσδοκῶν] for Zacharias, and marvelled22[wondered, ἐθαύμαζον] that he tarried so long in the temple. And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless 23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished [completed], he departed to his own house 24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, 25Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein He looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luke 1:5. In the days of Herod.—See remarks on Matthew 2:1.

A certain priest.—Zachariah has been supposed, on insufficient grounds, to have been the high-priest. It is worthy of remark, how the meaning of both the names (Zachariah, i.e, the Lord remembers; and Elisabeth, i.e, God’s oath) was explained and fulfilled by what happened to those who bore them.

Of the course (class) of Abijah.—The descendants of Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron, were exclusively called to the service of the sanctuary, and divided into four and twenty classes or orders ( 1 Chronicles 24), each of which ministered in the temple during a week. The descendants of Eleazar, the elder Song of Solomon, formed sixteen of these classes or courses; those of Ithamar, the younger, only eight,—that of Abijah being ( 1 Chronicles 24:10) the eighth. From the days of Song of Solomon, these four and twenty courses relieved each other weekly in the temple-service; it is, therefore, not to be wondered at, that attempts have frequently been made to ascertain the exact time of the year at which the Lord was born, by means of the chronological date of the week of the course of Abijah. The result of these researches, made chiefly by Scaliger, Solomon van Til, and Bengel, is communicated and criticised by Wieseler (Chronologische Synopse, pp140–148). It is, however, self-evident, that all such calculations must be uncertain and rash, until it can first be proved that the pregnancy of Elisabeth commenced immediately on the return of Zachariah, and that the several courses continued, each suo loco et tempore, to perform their services in unintermitted succession.

Luke 1:6. Righteous before God.—A declaration not only of their truly Israelitish and theocratic character, but also that they were persons to whom the divine approval pronounced upon Noah, Genesis 7:1, might rightly be applied, and who knew, from their own experience, the “blessedness” of which David sung in Psalm 32. When the promise made to Abraham is on the point of fulfilment, we suddenly find that the true Abrahamic character ( Genesis 15:6; Genesis 17:1), however rare, has by no means utterly disappeared in Israel.

Luke 1:9. According to the custom of the priesthood.—In the service of the sanctuary, nothing was left to accident, or to human arrangement. The lot determined who was to perform each separate portion of the sacred service, and, especially, who was each morning and evening to burn incense before the Lord. This office was considered exceedingly important and honorable. According to Josephus (Antiq. Jud. xiii10), a heavenly vision was also vouchsafed to John Hyrcanus during its performance. It seems impossible, however, to determine whether the vision of Zachariah took place at the time of the morning or evening offering.

Luke 1:10. Were praying.—The pious were accustomed to unite in the outer court (ἔξω) in silent supplication, while the priest in the sanctuary offered the incense, which was ever regarded as the symbol of acceptable prayer. Comp. Psalm 141:2; Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:3-4.

Luke 1:11. There appeared unto him.—It may be taken for granted, that the quiet and solitary sojourn of Zachariah in the Holy Place had both quickened and elevated his susceptibility for beholding the angelic appearance; yet the narrative certainly bears no traces of any ecstatic state, properly so called. Indeed, the fact which he must have told himself, that he saw the angel, “standing at the right side of the altar of incense” (which he may have considered a good omen), vouches for his clearness of perception, and sobriety of mind.

Luke 1:13. Thy prayer is heard.—It is generally thought, that the secret prayer of Zachariah for a Song of Solomon, known to God, and long uttered in vain, is here intended. But would the aged Zachariah have limited himself to this request? Did no higher aspiration, than a merely personal one, arise from the heart of a priest in the Holy Place? Must not Zachariah have been among the προσδεχόμενοι λύτρωσιν ἐν Ἰερουσαλήμ, spoken of Luke 2:38? And is it not therefore probable, that the chief matter of his prayer might be expressed by the words of the Psalmist ( Psalm 14:7): “Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Sion?” For all these reasons, we conclude, with Meyer, that the prayer of the priest had special reference to the coming of Messiah. A twofold answer to this prayer is promised: first, that Messiah shall indeed appear in his days; and secondly, that he shall himself be the father of the forerunner, who was to prepare His way ( Malachi 4)—an honor he could not have ventured to anticipate. Zachariah sought first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things—earthly joy of a father, etc.—are added to him ( Matthew 6:33).

John.—Hebr.: Jochanan (i.e, God is gracious; equivalent to the German Gotthold). According to an old Greek glossary: Ἰωάννης, ἐν ᾧ ἐστιν ἡ χάρις. The name of the forerunner, as well as that of Jesus ( Matthew 1:21), was prescribed before his birth. Was this distinction vouchsafed also to the mother of our Lord, whose name has since been so idolized?

Luke 1:15. He shall be great in the sight of the Lord.—Truly great, then; for just what a man is in God’s eyes, that is he indeed, neither more nor less. A silent hint also, that no earthly greatness is to be expected; for “that which is highly esteemed before men is an abomination in the sight of the Lord.”

He shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.—Plainly referring to the condition of the Nazarites, for the origin and laws concerning whom, see Numbers 4. Acts 21:24 shows that such vows were not unusual in Israel in New Testament times. This appointment places the forerunner, in this respect also, on a level with Samson and Samuel, who, as well as himself, were born to their parents contrary to all natural hopes and expectations.

From his mother’s womb;—i.e., not merely inde a puero, according to Kuinoel’s lax interpretation, but before he shall have seen the light of life (comp. Luke 1:41), from his earliest origin.

Luke 1:17. In the spirit and power of Elijah.—An evident reference to the last of the prophets, Malachi 3:1; Malachi 4:5-6, whose words are thus endorsed by the angel. The expression, “the Lord their God,” Luke 1:16, alludes not exclusively to the Messiah, but to the Jehovah of Israel, of whom it is said, that He Himself should appear in glory when the divinely commissioned Messiah should come into the world. The true subjects of Messiah are also the “people prepared for the Lord” the God of Israel.

To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.—The feeling of the paternal relationship had grown cold in many hearts, in the midst of the moral corruption of Israel: when the forerunner lifts up his voice, the ties of family affection shall be strengthened. Others interpret this, to restore to the children the devout disposition of their fathers.

Luke 1:18. For I am an old man.—According to the law of Moses the Levites were not permitted to serve beyond their fiftieth year, Numbers 4:3; Numbers 8:24. But this law did not apply to the priests, and Zachariah was probably much older than fifty. His objection seems, in itself, as natural as that of Mary, Luke 1:34; but the Lord, who sees the heart, knows how to distinguish between the objections of unbelief, and the natural questionings of innocence.

Luke 1:19. I am Gabriel.—An answer full of dignity, and at the same time perfectly intelligible to a priest well instructed in the Holy Scriptures, who would recognize, by this name, the heavenly messenger, revealed to Daniel ( Luke 8:16; Luke 9:21) as one admitted to very intimate relations with the Godhead. The belief in different classes of angels, though a development of later days, was the fruit of direct revelation. They who look on the Book of Daniel as the invention of a later age, cannot credit his angelology; and the angelic world, which was opened to Zachariah and to Mary, is closed to them, as a punishment of their unbelief.

Luke 1:20. Thou shalt he dumb, and not able to speak.—This is no mere repetition, but the first member of the sentence is the consequence of the second. The notion, that a natural dumbness, arising from an apoplectic stroke, is here meant, is one of those curiosities of Rationalism, which have only an antiquarian interest.

Luke 1:21. And the people were waiting for Zachariah.—According to many interpreters, they were waiting to receive the blessing. It does not, however, appear that this was always the office of the priest who offered incense. It seems more probable, that, not being accustomed to find the priest remain longer in the sanctuary than was strictly necessary, some might have feared, when Zachariah had been some time expected in vain, that some misfortune, or sign of the divine displeasure, had befallen him.

Luke 1:22. They perceived that he had seen a vision.—Dumbness having fallen upon him in the temple, it was a natural supposition, that this might be the result of an angelic appearance. Zachariah makes signs that the supposition is correct. Interpreters have given due prominence to the symbolic signification of this moment in the sacred history. Bengel says: “Zacharias, mutus, excludebatur tantisper ab actionibus sacerdotalibus. Prœludium legis ceremonialis finiendœ, Christo veniente.”—Chemnitz: “When the voice of the preacher ( Isaiah 40) is announced, the priesthood of the Old Testament becomes silent. The Levitical blessing is silenced, when the Seed comes, in whom ‘all the families of the earth are blessed.’ ”

Luke 1:24. And she hid herself five months.—Neither, as it seems to us, from shame on account of her advanced age, nor to secure rest, nor from unbelief, nor for the sake of observing an ascetic retirement, and then suddenly making her situation known; but to leave to God, through whose extraordinary intervention she found herself in this condition, the care of making it manifest, and of taking away her reproach among men (comp. Luke 1:25). There is a remarkable coincidence in the frame of mind of Elisabeth and Mary, under similar circumstances. Elisabeth was συγγενής to Mary, not merely κατὰ σάρκα, but also κατὰ πυεῦμα.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. “Introite, et hic Dii sunt,” seems to resound in the ear of the believer, as Luke leads him into the sanctuary of the gospel history. We are indebted to the fact, that he begins his previous narrative at an earlier period than Matthew, for the advantage of recognizing fresh proofs of the “manifold wisdom of God,” in the course of events which preceded the birth of the Lord. The new revelation of salvation begins in the days of Herod, when sin and misery had reached their climax, and when the yearning for Messiah’s appearance was more intensely felt than ever. The temple, so often the scene of the manifestation of the glory of the Lord, becomes again the centre, whence the first rays of light secretly break through the darkness. Every circumstance, preceding the birth of John, testifies to a special providence of God. He is born of pious parents, and of priestly blood, that the genuine theocratic spirit may be awakened and produced in the forerunner of the Lord. He is trained for his high destination, not in corrupt Jerusalem, but in the retirement of a remote city of the priests ( Luke 1:39). It is not revealed to all, that the voice of “him that crieth” shall soon resound over hill and valley. The first witness to this is only the pious old man, who greets the prophet as his child. An angel assures Zachariah of the distinction conferred upon him. What human tongue could have foretold, it to him; or how could he have ventured to hearken to the voice of his own heart, without direct revelation? The angel appears to him in the retirement of the sanctuary, while he is employed in the faithful discharge of his priestly office, and standing on the right side of the altar, he intimates that the days are past in which the appearance of beings from another world betokened death and destruction to mankind. To enhance his enjoyment of it, the blessing is announced as an answer to prayer; and the very name given to the child, speaks to him of the graciousness of his God. As a son begotten in old age, John ranks with Isaac; as granted to the barren in answer to prayer, with Samson and Samuel. His office and mission are stated in words which must have recalled to Zachariah the prophecy of Malachi; while the description of his habits, as those of a Nazarite, and of his character, as in the spirit of Elijah, must have pointed out to his father a life of sorrow and strife. And when the astonished priest desires a sign, his want of faith is visited with a proof of the severity, but at the same time of the goodness, of God. As faith is to be the chief condition of the new covenant, it was needful that the first manifestation of unbelief should be emphatically punished; but the wound inflicted becomes a healing medicine for the soul. Zachariah is constrained to much silent reflection, and, according to the counsel of God, the secret is still kept for a time. The sight of the priest struck dumb, awakens among the people an expectation of some great and heavenly event; and soon will “the things” done in the priest’s house be “noised abroad throughout all the hill-country of Judæa” ( Luke 1:65).

2. So many traces of divine wisdom are apparent in the narrative, that scepticism itself has no exceptions to make, but to its miraculous character. In this case the appearance of an angel is especially offensive to the tastes and notions of modern criticism. This being the first account of the kind, which we meet with in Luke’s Gospel, we may be allowed the following remarks. The existence of a higher world of spirits, can as little be proved, as denied, by any a priori reasoning; experience and history can alone decide the point. Now it is certain, on purely historical and critical grounds, that angels have been both seen and heard by well known and credible individuals; and if this be Song of Solomon, a higher world of spirits must exist. It has, indeed, been said (by Schleiermacher), that belief in the existence of angels has no necessary basis and support in the religious self-consciousness (or subjective experience) of the believer;¹⁶ but the question here is merely concerning the historical truth of biblical angelology, and not concerning the subjective experience it produces. Angels are not merely “transient emanations and effulgences of the divine essence” (Olshausen); but personal, conscious, holy beings, related, like men, to the Father of spirits. God, being the supreme and absolute Spirit, is able to employ such λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα in His service; and man, having received a spiritual element from God, cannot lack the ability of perceiving, with an enlightened eye, the appearance of beings so nearly related to himself. It is not when the bodily eye has been directed to the material world, but when a higher and more spiritual organ has been developed, and the ear opened to the voice of God, in the hours of prayer and solitude, that angelic appearances have been perceived. This power of perception, produced by God Himself, must be distinguished from the trance or vision, properly so called, wherein angels have sometimes, but by no means always, been perceived. Comp. Acts 10:10; 2 Corinthians 12:1 ff. The angelic apparitions were by no means the fruit of an overstrained imagination, but objective revelations of God, by means of personal spirits; yet only capable of being received under certain subjective conditions. With respect to the angel who appeared to Zachariah, if unbelief, on hearing his name, should cavil, and doubt whether such definite names are borne in heaven, this conclusion cannot be escaped under the pretext, that Gabriel (the hero of God) is no nomen proprium, but merely an appellativum; and we have only to answer, neganti incumbit probatio.

3. There is a remarkable coincidence between Zachariah and Abraham on the one side, and Elisabeth and Sarah on the other; not only in the fact of their unfruitfulness during so many years, but also in the frame of mind in which they at length received the glad tidings. But in these parallel histories, it is, in the Old Testament, the man who is strong, the woman weak, in faith ( Genesis 18:12); while here, on the contrary, it is the man whose faith falters. Even in the very first chapter of Luke, woman, who had so long been thrown into obscurity in the shadow of man, begins, in the persons of Mary and Elisabeth, to take her place in the foreground, by the heroism of a living faith; as if to show that she is no longer the slave of man, but a fellow-heir with him of the grace of life ( 1 Peter 3:7). It is, however, quite in keeping with divine wisdom that in this case unbelief in view of the rising sun of the gospel salvation is much more severely punished than under the old dispensation. The clearer the light, the more intolerable the shade in the eyes of God. On the psychological ground of the doubt of Zachariah, compare the fine remarks of Dr. Lange, Leben Jesu, ii1, p65 (German ed.).

4. It is a striking proof of the divine Wisdom of Solomon, that John is announced as the second Elijah. This name gives the earliest indication of his mission, as reformer, in an extremely corrupt nation; of his struggle, in resisting single-handed the false gods of his age, as Elijah did Ahab and Jezebel; of his fate, in being first persecuted and rejected, but afterward honored. The likeness of John the Baptist to Elijah, strikes us not only in his outward appearance, his clothing, and way of living, but in his spirit and character, as a preacher of repentance. The difference between them—consisting chiefly in the fact, that the second Elijah performed no miracles—is explained by the peculiarity of his relation to the Messiah. If the latter were to appear as a prophet mighty in word and deed, His forerunner could do no miracles, without dividing the attention, and provoking a comparison, which must have been to the prejudice of one or the other. He who would cavil because the head of the greatest of the Old Testament prophets is encircled by no halo of miracles, will find his answer, John 10:41.

5. On the formerly often-questioned genuineness of the two first chapters of Luke, comp. Credner, “Einleitung in das N. T. ” p131; on the whole of Luke’s narrative of events preceding the birth of Christ, J. P. Lange, “On the Historical Character of the Canonical Gospels, especially on the History of the Childhood of Jesus,” Duisburg, 1836; and (though with critical discrimination) “Die Jugendgeschichte des Herrn,” by Dr. E. J. Gelpke, Bern, Chur (Coire), and Leipzig, 1842.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The announcement of the birth of John the Baptist, appointed by divine Wisdom of Solomon, received in human weakness, confirmed by striking signs, crowned with surprising results.—God’s way in the sanctuary: 1. The dark sanctuary, or dwelling-place of the Infinite; 2. the divine, where His glory is manifested.—The answer to the prayer of Zachariah was: 1. Earnestly desired, 2. long delayed, 3. promised in a surprising manner, 4. incredulously waited for, and5. gloriously vouchsafed.—The happiness of pious couples, even when the blessing of children is denied.—The high value of tried fear of God in the eyes of the Lord.—The life of faith a continual priesthood.—A lonely old age cheered up and made serene by the light of the Lord.—God’s revelation hidden from the eye of the world.—The holy angels present, even now, in the Lord’s house.—The fear with which the revelation of great joy fills the heart of a sinner.—John a gift of God.—The birth of John still a matter of rejoicing to many.— John, the second Elijah: their similarity and dissimilarity.— John, great in the sight of the Lord: his superiority to all the Old Testament prophets, his inferiority to our Lord.—The gift of abstinence even under the new covenant.—No meetness for the kingdom of heaven, without sincere repentance.—The desire to see signs and wonders: 1. Easily explicable; 2. very reprehensible; 3. entirely superfluous, where a greater sign has already been vouchsafed.—The angel who stands in the presence of God: his mysterious name, exalted work, and hidden origin.—Zachariah dumb, yet preaching to believers and unbelievers.—The announcement of the birth of John the Baptist, a proof of the truth of the prophetic word ( Isaiah 45:15): 1. God, a God that hideth Himself; 2. the God of Israel; 3. the Saviour.—Elisabeth, a type of the faith which receives God’s blessing, enjoys God’s peace, and waits God’s time.—When the reproach of his people is taken away, the Lord has been looking down on them favorably.—The Lord’s second coming is, like His first, openly announced, incredulously doubted, patiently expected.—The Lord will give more to His people than He withholds from them.—Does Zachariah tremble at the sight of an angel? Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear, when the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints?—The punishment of unbelief is in the end a blessing.—The less, the preparation for the greater.—Who hath despised the day of small things? Zechariah 4:10.—“Children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.”—Gabriel standing in the presence of God in heaven, and John great in the sight of the Lord on earth.—The interest of the angels in the coming of God’s kingdom on earth.—Even in times of the greatest corruption, there are still houses which are temples of God.—“The vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” Habakkuk 2:3.

Starke:—In prayer, we should remember the presence of angels.—Even one of the holiest of men cannot stand before an angel.—Even the true servants of God are not without infirmities.—Nothing is great, but what is great before God.—God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, Ephesians 3:20.—The more intimate the communion of a Christian with his God, the more certain his chastisement when he offends Him.—He who sins with his mouth, is punished in his mouth.—God has an eye upon His people, though no one else should see them.—There are times when the children of God bear reproach; there are also times when God takes away their reproach before men: in both His grace is shown.

Footnotes

B. Annunciation of the Birth of the Messiah. Luke 1:26-38

(The Gospel for the day of the Annunciation of Mary.)

26And in the sixth month¹⁷ the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee,named Nazareth, 27To a virgin espoused [betrothed] to a man, whose name wasJoseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary 28 And the angel [he]¹⁸ came in unto [to] her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured [thou highly favoured!κεχαριτωμένη],¹⁹ the Lord is [be] with thee: blessed art thou among women.²⁰ 29And when she saw him,²¹ she was troubled at his [the] saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should [might] be 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Song of Solomon, and shalt call His name JESUS 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: 33And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.

34Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35And 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,²² shall be called the Son of God 36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was [is] called barren 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible 38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luke 1:26. Nazareth.—See remarks on Matthew 2:23.

Luke 1:27. To a virgin.—Joseph is the most prominent person in Matthew’s narrative of events preceding the birth of Christ, Mary in Luke’s; an indication that in all probability she was, whether mediately or immediately, the source whence he derived the account of these facts. (Comp. Acts 21:17.)

Of the house of David.—These words, relating solely to Joseph, show that he was also of the blood-royal. That they by no means deny the descent of Mary from David, will appear hereafter.

Luke 1:28. And [the angel] came in unto her.—Here is no mere apparition of an angel in a dream, as to Joseph; but a visit in open day, although, of course, in a quiet hour of retirement, as more befitting and satisfactory under the circumstances.—The words, the angel, although wanting in the best manuscripts, is intended. The substitution of any human being is inadmissible.

Highly favored.—It is apparent from Luke 1:30 that this is not spoken of the external beauty of Mary, but of the favor or grace she had found in God’s sight. The same epithet is bestowed upon all believers, Ephesians 1:6, orig.

[The greeting of the angel in Luke 1:28 is called the Angelic Salutation or Ave Maria, and forms the first part of the famous Roman Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary:

“Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.”

The second part of this prayer is taken from the address of Elisabeth to Mary, Luke 1:42 :

“Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”

To this was added, in the beginning of the sixteenth century (1508), a third part, which contains the objectionable invocation of the Virgin:

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

The concluding words, however, nunc et in hora mortis, are a still later addition of the Franciscans. Even the first two parts of the Ave Maria were not used as a standing form of prayer before the thirteenth century.—P. S.]

Luke 1:29. She cast in her mind.—A proof of her serenity and presence of mind at a critical hour. How different were Zachariah, and many before him!

Luke 1:32. Shall be called;—i.e., not only shall be, but shall one day be publicly recognized as what He really is.

The Son of the Highest.—This name seems here used by the angel, not in a metaphysical, but a theocratic sense. It points to the anointed King, so long foretold by the prophets, and to whom the words, 2 Samuel 7:14; Psalm 2:7; Psalm 89:28, so fully applied. Very deserving our consideration is the following observation of O. von Gerlach: “It is worthy of remark, that the proper divinity of her son was not definitely revealed to Mary: otherwise, neither she nor Joseph could have been in a position to bring up the child; for the submission, which was a necessary condition of His humanity, would have been submission only in appearance. But this promise, while it by no means abolished the parental relationship, would yet direct the reverential attention of the parents toward the child. From the very beginning of our Lord’s incarnation, we see that the knowledge of His divinity was not to be communicated in an external and awe-inspiring manner, but to be gradually manifested by His humanity and His work of redemption.”—For Mary, who was so intimately acquainted with the Old Testament, this prophecy would contain the essence of the most remarkable Messianic promises: 2 Samuel 7; Isaiah 9; Micah 5, etc.

Luke 1:33. Over the house of Jacob.—The announcement of His universal spiritual reign would have been, at this time, even more incomprehensible to Mary. It lies hidden, however, in the promise: “Of His kingdom there shall be no end.” We must not regard these words of the angel as an accommodation merely to the exclusively Jewish expectations then prevailing, concerning the kingdom of Messiah. Salvation is really of the Jews, and will one day return to Israel.

Luke 1:34. How shall this be? etc.—A natural objection, and a question as much allowed by the angel, as that of Zachariah ( Luke 1:18) was arbitrary and blamable. Comp. Numbers 31:17; Judges 11:39; Matthew 1:18.

Luke 1:35. The Holy Ghost—the power of the Highest.—The parallel between these two expressions, exacts that the one should be interpreted by the other; and their mutual light teaches, that the Holy Spirit has verily a life-producing power, but by no means, that He is only power, without personality.

Shall come upon thee—shall overshadow thee.—Again two phrases reflecting light upon each other. Both point to the supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit, in bringing to pass that which ordinarily occurs only through conjugal intercourse. The word ἐπισκιάσει can no more be understood to denote a special divine protection (Kuinoel), than a cohabitation (Paulus, the rationalist).

Therefore also.—His miraculous birth is here spoken of as the natural, but by no means the only reason, why Hebrews, who had no human father, should receive the name of the Son of God.

Luke 1:36. Thy cousin, or: kinswoman (ἡ συγγενής σον).—It does not quite appear what was the relationship between Mary and Elisabeth, the daughter of Aaron ( Luke 1:5). This relationship, however, whatever it might be, proves nothing against Mary’s descent from David, as different tribes might be united by marriage. ( Numbers 36:6 offers no difficulty, as it relates only to heiresses, whose family was in danger of becoming extinct.) There is, therefore, no reason to conclude that Mary, by reason of her relationship to Elisabeth, was of the tribe of Levi (as in the Testam. XII Patriarcharum, p542, and Schleiermacher’s Lukas, p26).

Luke 1:37. . With God nothing shall be impossible.—Nothing, i.e., no word (ῥῆμα) of promise. A powerful support for Mary’s faith, who might infer from the mirabile the possibility of the miraculum. It is at the same time the last, and indeed the only sufficient, answer to the horror of the miraculous, which characterizes modern criticism.

Luke 1:38. Be it unto me.—Not only the utterance of obedient submission, but also of patient, longing expectation. The heart of Mary is now filled with the Holy Spirit, who can also prepare her body to be the temple of the God-Man.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Concerning the person of Mary, her youth, and legends of her after history, see Winer in voce “Mary.” The beauty of her character, as “the handmaid of the Lord,” and the chosen instrument of the Holy Spirit, strikes us at the first glimpse at her. (A. H. Niemeyer gives a short but beautiful description of her, in his Characteristik der Bibel, i. pp40–42.)

2. Two views, which have obtained in the Christian world, concerning the person and character of Mary, are condemned by these early pages of Luke’s Gospel. The first is that of the Roman and Greek Church, which transforms the handmaid of the Lord into the queen of heaven; the mother of Jesus into the mother of God; the redeemed sinner into the mediatrix and intercessor. The other is that of Rationalismus vulgaris, which deprives the humble bride of the carpenter of the chastity and purity which were her richest dowry, and necessarily rejects the miracle of the supernatural birth; there being no reason for concluding that Jesus was the son of Joseph. The first idea was chiefly supported by the apocryphal Gospels, which surrounded the head of her, upon whom the light of the divine favor had indeed richly fallen, by a halo of celestial glory. Its result was an almost heathen apotheosis of the virgin-mother, producing all the follies of an unlimited Mariolatry. The second notion was first conceived in the brain of the heathen Celsus, who derides the mother of Jesus, as the victim of seduction; while the Jewish version of this fable names one Panthera or Pandira as her seducer. To the shame of Christendom, we have seen this blasphemy revived, in various forms, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Bahrdt, and, in some degree, Paulus and others). Its own intrinsic beauty, truth, and sublimity commend the Gospel narrative, in opposition to both these products of a diseased imagination.

3. With respect to the descent of Mary from David, it is undeniable that the words, ἐξ οἴκου Δαβίδ, Luke 1:27, refer exclusively to Joseph; yet they by no means assert, that our Lord did not descend from David on His mother’s side. We shall soon see that Luke 3. presents us with the genealogy of Mary, as Matthew 1. does with that of Joseph. The angel, too, who announces to her that she shall conceive a Song of Solomon, through the power of the Holy Spirit, could not possibly have added: “The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David,” had not Mary herself been a daughter of David. Her song of praise, also, clearly shows what expectations she cherished for the house of David, and can only be fully understood, psychologically, when it is regarded as uttered by the daughter of a royal house, who, though that house was then in the depths of degradation, was yet looking forward to the elevation of the rightful dynasty, and the abasement of the foreign tyrant who then usurped the throne. The Magnificat (as Mary’s Psalm is called) is as unambiguous a proof of Mary’s royal descent as the genealogy, Luke 3.

4. The miraculous conception of our Lord, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is related by Luke, as a fact which cannot be doubted, and leaves no room for the hypothesis that we have here a myth or legend. It has often been said, but never proved, that the Jews of those days were expecting that Messiah would be born of a virgin, in some miraculous manner; but even then, it would not follow that the narrative was composed merely in obedience to the dictates of such an expectation. The analogy of certain heathen theogonies may perhaps prove the possibility of inventing such a narrative, in a polytheistic or pantheistic sense; but its reality, in a Christian and theistic sense, can by no means be thus accounted for. A comparison with the accounts in certain apocryphal Gospels on this point speaks more for, than against, the historical fidelity of Luke. Our Lord Himself, indeed, so far as we know, never spoke of this miracle; but His silence may be satisfactorily accounted for. His mother’s honor, the nature of the circumstance, the enmity of the Jews, all forbade Him to bring to light a mystery, for the truth of which He had only His own or Mary’s word to offer. Nor need it astonish us, that His contemporaries speak of Him as the son of Joseph ( John 1:45); nor that Mary, speaking of her husband to Jesus, then twelve years of age, should say, “Thy father” ( Luke 2:48); nor, least of all, that His brothers should not believe in Him ( John 7:5); for, from all in the domestic circle, except Mary and Joseph, the affair was concealed with profound secrecy. We have already seen that Matthew also speaks of a miraculous birth; while Mark passes over in silence the history of Christ previous to His entry upon His public ministry, although he presents the person of our Lord in so divine a light, as naturally to lead to the supposition of His heavenly origin. John is also silent on the subject, though, in his description of the children of God, as born οὐκ ἐξ αἱμάτων, οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκὸς, οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρός, immediately before the words, ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο, there seems contained a latent reminiscence of what he must have undoubtedly heard from Mary during his long and intimate intercourse with her. For if he says, that “that which is born of the flesh is flesh,” and that the λόγος δς ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, became flesh, we must, according to this Evangelist also, believe that this took place in some other way than through the θέλημα σαρκός. Nevertheless, though the conception by the power of the Holy Spirit may be deduced from his doctrine concerning the Logos, he certainly does not expressly declare it. Paul also contents himself with the general statement, that the Lord was born of a woman, and of the seed of David ( Romans 1:4; Galatians 4:4); and it seems clear that this miracle, though an indispensable element of gospel history, did not originally belong to the apostolic κήρυγμα, which, according to Acts 1:21, began with the baptism of John.

5. This does not, however, interfere with the fact, that the miraculous conception stands on a firm historical foundation, and is of great dogmatic importance. For the first assertion, they who deny it, a priori, as absolutely impossible, deserve no other answer than: πλανᾶσθε μὴ εἰδότες τὰς γραφὰς μηδὲ τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ Θεοῦ [ Matthew 22:29]. Yet, far rather than say, with a modern theologian (Karl Hase), that “birth of a virgin cannot be proved to be impossible,” would we comfort ourselves with the words of the angel [to Mary, Luke 1:37]: ὅτι οὐκ ἀδυνατήσει παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ πᾶν ῥῆμα. The laws of nature are not chains, wherewith the Supreme Lawgiver has bound Himself; but cords, which He holds in His own hand, and which He can lengthen or shorten as His good pleasure and wisdom dictate. And surely, in the present case, an end worthy of divine interference justified the deviation. When the Eternal Word was, in “the fulness of the time,” to take upon Him the form of a servant, the new member could only be introduced into the human series in an extraordinary manner. Hebrews, who was in the beginning with God, and who came of His own will to sojourn in this our world, could hardly enter it as one of ourselves would. Hebrews, who was the light and life of men, must surely see the light of day, not by carnal procreation, but by an immediate exercise of omnipotent power. Besides, how could He be free from every taint of original sin, and redeem us from the power of sin, if He had been born by the fleshly intercourse of sinful parents? The strong and healthy graft which was to bring new life into the diseased stock, must not originate from this stock, but be grafted into it from without. To deduce hence the need also of an immaculata conceptio, in the case of Mary, would be to lose sight of the fact, that we do not lay the chief stress upon the article “natus e virgine M.,” but upon the preceding “conceptus e Sp. S.” From the moment of our Lord’s conception, the Holy Spirit certainly continued to influence and penetrate the mind and spirit of Mary, to suppress the power of sin, and to make her body His consecrated temple. If it be said (by Schleiermacher) that Christian consciousness is perfectly satisfied by accepting the fact, that God removed from the normal development of the Son of Man all the pernicious influences and consequences attending an ordinary human birth, the question here is not, What can the Christian consciousness of an individual bear? but, What saith the Scripture? We believe, on the authority of Luke, who took all pains and had the best means of reliable information (comp. Luke 1:1-4), that the power of the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary in a mysterious manner. The moment of conception is simply hinted at by the words, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord,” and seems to coincide with the departure of the angel.²³ Moreover, the true humanity of the Son of Man is by no means abolished, but rather explained by this miracle; for was Adam no real man, because he also, in a physical view, was a υἱὸς Θεοῦ? In short, the miraculous conception is a σκάνδαλον to those alone who will see in our Lord nothing more than His pure humanity, and who put the sinlessness of the perfect man Christ Jesus in the place of the real incarnation of God in Him. To us, who believe in the latter, His miraculous conception is the natural consequence of His superhuman dignity, the basis of His normal development, and a symbol of the ἄνωθεν γεννηθῆναι, which must take place in every member of the kingdom of God. Compare J. J. van Oosterzee: Disputatio Theologica de Jesu e virgine Maria nato. Traj. ad Rh1840.

6. The conception of the Son of God, by the Holy Spirit, is the beginning of the intimate union between the λόγος ἔνσαρκος and the πνεῦμα οὐκ ἐκμέτρου, John 3:34. Thirty years later, the Spirit descended upon Him in a bodily shape; and after He was glorified, He sent the Spirit upon all that believed on Him. The same Spirit who formed the body of Christ, forms also the corpus Christi mysticum, the Church.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The calm, unostentatious entrance of the Divine into the world of man.—God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.—The true veneration of Mary: 1. Exhibited; 2. justified; 3. carried out.—The present worship of Mary [in the Roman and Greek Churches] judged before the tribunal of Gabriel: 1. Mary is called by him, highly favored; by her worshippers, the dispenser of favors; 2. by him, blessed among women; by them, raised above women; 3. by him, the handmaid of the Lord, a sinful daughter of Adam; by them, the Queen of angels [and saints]; 4. in his eyes, a sinful daughter of Adam [nowhere exempt in the Bible from the general depravity of Adam’s posterity]; now [according to the papal dogma proclaimed in1854], conceived without sin (immaculate concepta).—Mary a type of faith; in her just astonishment, natural fear, gentle boldness, quiet reflection, and unlimited obedience.—The blessed among women: 1. Poor, yet rich; 2. “troubled,” yet meditative; 3. proud as a virgin, yet obedient as a wife; 4. first doubtful, then believing.—The angelic appearances to Zachariah and Mary compared.—Jesus a gracious gift: 1. To Mary; 2. to Israel; 3. to the world.—The greatness of Jesus, and the greatness of John, compared ( Luke 1:15; Luke 1:32): 1. Jesus greater than John in Himself; 2. a greater gift of God; 3. therefore worthy of our greater appreciation.—The throne of David: 1. Raised up after deep abasement; 2. raised up amongst Israel; 3. raised up amongst us; 4. raised up to fall no more.—The question: “How shall this be?” may be asked: 1. In a sense lawful for man, and reverential toward God; or2. in a sense unlawful for man, and dishonoring God.—The operation of the Holy Spirit in creation ( Genesis 1:2), and in redemption or the new creation ( Luke 1:35), compared: 1. In both, a long and silent preparation; 2. in both, a life-giving and fructifying operation; 3. in both, a new world created.—The support which those, who are “highly favored,” find from contemplating others also highly favored: This support perfectly lawful, often indispensable, always limited, and the highest, and often the only, support of faith, in a power to which nothing is impossible.—With God nothing shall be impossible, an answer by which: 1. Unbelief is put to shame; 2. weak faith strengthened; 3. and faith excited to thankful adoration and unlimited obedience.—Behold the handmaid of the Lord! 1. Her hidden conflict; 2. her complete victory; 3. her full reward; 4. her happy peace.—The messenger of Heaven and the child of earth united, to perform the counsel and good pleasure of God.—The greatest miracle in the world’s history, encompassed with the thickest veil of obscurity.

Starke:—God knows where to find His children, however hidden they may be ( 2 Timothy 2:19).—God is wont to bestow His favors in times of quiet and retirement, Isaiah 30:50.—All believers are the “blessed” of the Lord ( Ephesians 1:3).—The holier, the humbler.—The “troubles” of holy minds always end in comfort.—The members of Christ’s kingdom have in Him an everlasting King, an everlasting support, and an everlasting joy.—Let even thy nearest and dearest forsake thee, so thou make sure the Lord Jesus be with thee, and abide in thee.

Heubner:—Mary and Eve: their similarity and dissimilarity, their relation to the human race.—Mary the happiest, but also the most sorely tried, of women.—Christians born of the house of Jacob, according to the Spirit.—Humility the best frame of mind for the reception of grace.—Our birth is also a work of God.—The miraculous birth of Jesus, a glorification of the whole human race.

Wallin:—The angel’s salutation of Mary may be applied to Christians in all the holy seasons of life: baptism, confirmation, the time of chastening, the day of death.

Fr. Arndt:—How does the time of regeneration begin in the world, and in the heart? By an announcement of the grace of God, which is: 1. Heard in humility; 2. received with patience and entire self-resignation.

Van Oosterzee [in sermons previously published]:—Mary the handmaid of the Lord. This saying the inscription of the history of Mary, as maid, wife, and widow.—Her character presents a rare combination of: 1. Genuine humility, with joyful faith; 2. of quiet resignation, with active zeal; 3. of faithful love, with unwavering heroism.—That the Word was made flesh, is: 1. An undoubted fact; this proved by: (a) the life, (b) the words, (c) the works of the Lord; 2. an unfathomable miracle; (a) the unprecedented, (b) the intimate, (c) the voluntary, nature of the union of the Divine Word with flesh; 3. an ever-memorable benefit; for this incarnation is: (a) the glory, (b) the light, (c) the life of mankind. To conclude, the questions: Do you believe in the fact? adore the miracle? highly esteem the benefit?

Footnotes

C. Hymns of Praise, with which the expectation of the Messiah’s Birth, and the actual Birth of the Baptist, were greeted. Ch. Luke 1:39-80

( Luke 1:57-80, the Lesson for the day of John the Baptist, 24th of June.

Luke 1:67-79, the Gospel for the first day of Advent in the Grand-Duchy of Hesse and elsewhere.)

39And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill-country with haste, into a city of Juda; 40And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth 41 And it came to pass, that, when²⁴ Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost [Spirit]: 42And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb 43 And whence is this to me,²⁵ that the mother of my Lord should 44 come to me? For, lo [behold], as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mineears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.²⁶ 45And blessed is she that believed: for [believed that]²⁷ there shall be a performance [fulfilment, τελείωσις] of those things which were told her from the Lord.

46 And Mary said,

My soul doth magnify the Lord,

47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. [,]

48 For [In that] He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden; [handmaid.]²⁸

for [For], behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

49 For He that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is His name. [,]

50 And His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation.²⁹

51 He hath showed [wrought] strength with His arm:

He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats [princes from thrones],

and exalted [raised up] them of low degree.

53 He hath filled the hungry with good things;

and the rich He hath sent empty away.

54 He hath holpen [helped] His servant Israel , His servant],

in remembrance of His mercy; [,]

55 As He spake to our fathers, [(As He spake to our fathers)]³⁰

to Abraham, and his seed for ever [to A. and his seed, for ever].³¹

56And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

57Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought fortha Song of Solomon 58And her neighbours and her cousins [kindred, συγγενεῖς] heard how the Lord, had showed great mercy upon [toward] her; and they rejoiced with her.

59And 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 60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John 61And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name 62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called 63 And he asked for a writing-table [tablet, πινακίδιον], and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all [they all wondered]. 64And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised65[blessing, εὐλογῶν] 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 66 And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! [What then will this child, be?]³² And [For]³³ the hand of the Lord was with him.

67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,

68 Blessed be the Lord [, the, ὁ ] God of Israel;³⁴ [,]

for [that] He hath visited and redeemed His people,

69 And hath raised up an [a] horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David [of David, His servant, Δαβὶδ τοῦ παιδὸς, αὐτοῦ];

70 As He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began [of His holy prophets of old];³⁵

71 That we should be saved [salvation, σωτηρίαν]³⁶ from our enemies,

and from the hand of all that hate us;

72 To perform the mercy promised [to show mercy, ποιῆσαι ἔλεος] to our fathers,

and to remember His holy covenant,

73 The oath which He sware to our father Abraham [to Abraham, our father],

74 That He would grant [to grant] unto us,

that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear,

75 In holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life [all our days].³⁷

76 And [also] thou,³⁸ [O] child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest:

for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways;

77 To give knowledge of salvation unto His people,

by [in, ἐν] the remission of their sins,³⁹

78 Through the tender mercy [mercies, διὰ σπλάγχνα ἐλέους] of our God;

whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us,

79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace.

80 And the child grew, and waxed [became] strong in spirit, and was in the deserts

till the day of his showing [manifestation, ἀναδείξεως] unto Israel.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luke 1:39. Into a city of Juda.—It does not seem probable that these enigmatical words denote so much as a city of the tribe of Judah, much less that they point out Jerusalem or Hebron. The supposition, that Ἰούδα has been substituted for Ἰούτα (mentioned Joshua 15:65), is far more credible; nor is it unlikely that this less strictly correct orthography is derived from Luke himself. Juta is to this day a considerable village, inhabited by Mohammedans. See Röhr’s Palestine, p187.

Luke 1:39-40. Mary arose—and entered.—According to Jewish customs, it was improper, or at least unusual, for single or betrothed females to travel alone. Mary, however, may have undertaken this journey with Joseph’s consent, and, perhaps, partly in the company of others. Extraordinary circumstances justify extraordinary measures, and Lange correctly remarks: “the obedience of the cross makes truly free.”—The supposition, that Joseph had taken his betrothed bride to his home, after a public solemnization of their nuptials, before this journey (Hug, Ebrard), seems improbable; but still more Song of Solomon, that Mary had already apprised him of the fact of the angelic visitation. Her part throughout was to announce nothing, but simply to wait till Hebrews, who had destined her to the highest honor ever bestowed, should, in His own good time, also make clear her innocence to the eyes of her husband and the world. By this state of affairs only, can Luke’s account be reconciled with Matthew’s, who, after the wordsεὑρέθη ἐν γ. ἔχ., describes the discovery of Mary’s state as an unexpected, and hence a disquieting, discovery to Joseph. Mary leaves it simply to God to enlighten Joseph, as He had enlightened her. Nor does she undertake a journey to Elisabeth to consult with her, or to avoid her husband, but to seek that confirmation of her faith pointed out to her by the angel.

Luke 1:41. And it came to pass.—The salutation of Mary, the ecstasy of Elisabeth, and the leaping of the babe in her womb, are three circumstances occurring at the same moment. At Mary’s arrival, Elisabeth is filled with joy, and her babe moves. Luke mentions the latter circumstance first, as being the most extraordinary, although, in itself, it was rather the consequence than the cause of the emotion felt by Elisabeth at Mary’s salutation. The aged woman, filled with the Holy Spirit, recognizes, by the extraordinary movement of the child, the presence of the future mother of her Lord; and thus the yet unborn John already offers involuntary homage to the καρπὸς τῆς κοιλίας of Mary.

Luke 1:42. Blessed art thou—and blessed is the fruit, etc.—The first beatitude of the New Testament, and, in a certain sense, the root of all the rest. Elisabeth, while extolling the blessedness of Mary on account of her faith and obedience, was undoubtedly reflecting with compassion on the condition of Zachariah, whose unbelief had been reproved with loss of speech, while the believing Mary was entering her house with joyful salutations.

Luke 1:45. For there shall he a fulfilment, etc.—It is grammatically possible, yet not logically necessary, to refer the ὅτι to the object of Mary’s faith (“which believed that there,” marg.). The assurance, that verily the things promised should be fulfilled without exception, though not indispensable in Mary’s case, must yet have been a confirmation of her faith, which she would most gladly welcome. It is self-evident how much the abruptness of the sentences in which Elisabeth pours out the fulness of her heart, enhances the beauty of this passage. A Psalm -like tone, better felt than expressed, seems to resound in her words, forming a prelude to Mary’s “Magnificat.”

[ Luke 1:46-55. The Magnificat of the Virgin Mary (so called from the old Latin version of Μεγαλύνει, Luke 1:46 : Magnificat anima mea Dominum), and the Benedictus of Zachariah, Luke 1:68-79 (so called from its beginning: Εὐλογητός, Luke 1:68, Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel), are the Psalm of the New Testament, and worthily introduce the history of Christian hymnology. They prove the harmony of poetry and religion. They are the noblest flowers of Hebrew lyric poetry sending their fragrance to the approaching Messiah. They are full of reminiscences of the Old Testament, entirely Hebrew in tone and language, and can be rendered almost word for word. Thus μεγαλεῖα corresponds to גְּדֹלֹות ( Psalm 71:19; Psalm 106:21; Psalm 136:4); ὁ δυνατός to גִּבּוֹר ( Psalm 24:8); εἰς γενεὰν καὶ γενεάν (as Cod. Sin. reads) to לְדֹר וָדֹר. It is worth while to read the first two chapters of Luke in the Hebrew translation of the New Testament. These hymns form a part of the regular morning service in the Anglican liturgy, and resound from Sabbath to Sabbath in Christian lands. Dr. Barrow says of the Magnificat: “This most excellent hymn is dedicated by a spirit ravished with the most sprightly devotion imaginable; devotion full of ardent love and thankfulness, hearty joy, tempered with submiss reverence.” Wordsworth: “This speech, full of Hebraisms, has a native air of originality, and connects the eucharistic poetry of the gospel with that of the Hebrew dispensation. … Thus the voices of the Law and the Gospel sound in concert with each other; and utter a protest against those who would make the one to jar against the other.”—The Magnificat is divided into four stanzas, each of which contains three verses, viz.: (1) Luke 1:46-48 (to αὐτοῦ); (2) Luke 1:48 (from ἰδού) to Luke 1:50; (3) Luke 1:51-53; (4) Luke 1:54-55. The Benedictus of Zachariah contains five stanzas, each with three verses. So Meyer and Ewald. See Ewald’s translation in his: Die drei ersten Evangelien, pp98,99, where he divides the Magnificat into12, the Benedictus into15 lines.—P. S.]

Luke 1:46. And Mary said.—The angel’s visit was vouchsafed to Mary later than to Zachariah, yet her song of thanksgiving is uttered long before his: faith is already singing for joy, while unbelief is compelled to be silent. The Magnificat is evidently no carefully composed ode, but the unpremeditated outpouring of deep emotion, the improvisation of a happy faith. It was easy for Mary, a daughter of David’s royal race, well acquainted with the lyrics of the Old Testament, favored by God and filled with the Holy Spirit, to become in an instant both poetess and prophetess. The fulfilment of the angel’s words with respect to Elisabeth, in which she saw a pledge and token of the full performance of his other promises, and of the realization of her most cherished hopes, seems to have been the immediate cause of this song of praise.

My soul doth magnify the Lord.—Mary’s hymn recalls, besides the song of Hannah ( 1 Samuel 2:1), several passages in the Psalm, especially in Psalm 113. and126. The beginning plainly refers to Psalm 31:8, according to the Septuagint. The whole may be divided into three or four strophes, forming an animated doxology. The grace of God ( Luke 1:48), His omnipotence ( Luke 1:49-51), His holiness ( Luke 1:49; Luke 1:51; Luke 1:54), His justice ( Luke 1:52-53), and especially His faithfulness ( Luke 1:54-55), are here celebrated. It sounds like an echo, not only of David’s and Hannah’s, but also of Miriam’s and of Deborah’s harps; yet independently reproduced in the mind of a woman, who had laid up and kept in her heart what she had read in Holy Scripture.

Luke 1:47. God my Saviour.—Undoubtedly Mary was looking for civil and political blessings, through the birth of the Messiah; but we overlook the clearness of her views, and the depth of her mind, by thinking that her expectations were only, or chiefly, fixed upon these. The temporal salvation which she expected, was in her eye only the type and symbol of that higher salvation, which she desired above all things.

Luke 1:48. The low estate.—Not humility, or lowliness of mind, but of condition, humilis conditio.

From henceforth.—The first beatitude, uttered by Elisabeth, is a token of an unutterable number, of which one at least is recorded, Luke 11:27 : “Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which Thou hast sucked.”⁴⁰

Luke 1:49. And holy is His name—No mere apposition to δυνατός (Kuinoel), but a new and independent sentence (comp. 1 Samuel 2:2).

Luke 1:52. The mighty (δυνάστας).—Mary would have been no true daughter of David, if she could have spoken these words without primary reference to Herod; but no believing Israelite, if she had thought of Herod alone. The overthrow of all anti-Messianic power seems, in her imagination, to begin with the fall of the Idumæan usurper.

Luke 1:53. He hath filled the hungry with good things.—The supposition, that only the good things of this world are here alluded to (Meyer), is as little to be entertained, as that the satisfying of a spiritual hunger is exclusively intended (de Wette). Such an alternative is certainly unnecessary in the case of Mary, whose earthly hunger and nourishment were both the type and resemblance of a higher need and a higher satisfaction, and who had certainly felt what Goethe afterward sung: “Alles Vergängliche ist nur ein Gleichniss.”⁴¹ At this time, the spiritual craving was most powerfully felt among the outwardly needy. How exclusively materialistic, or how exclusively spiritualistic, would Mary have been, if she could have wholly confined her meaning to either of these ideas!

Luke 1:55. Abraham and his seed.—A remarkable proof that Mary’s expectations concerning the Messiah’s appearance were not of a particularistic and exclusive, but of a universal nature. For the seed promised to Abraham was to be a blessing to the whole world.

Luke 1:56. And returned to her own house.—To keep silence before Joseph, as she had broken silence before Elisabeth. Even the distasteful manner in which what passed between the betrothed pair is embellished in apocryphal literature (Protevang. Jac. Luke 11, 12; see Thilo’s Codex Apocr. N. Ti, p215), is better than the opinion that Mary made a sort of confessio auricularis to her husband. To suppose it psychologically and morally impossible that Mary kept silence and waited, even after her visit to Elisabeth, betrays a very superficial appreciation of her frame of mind. Hers was no transient kindling of mere enthusiasm, but a constant and steadily burning flame of divine inspiration.

Luke 1:59. To circumcise the child.—On the origin, intention, and sacredness of circumcision, see de Wette, Archœologie, § 150 [also Jahn’s Archœology, and the Bibl. Cyclopædias of Winer, Kitto, Smith, Herzog, etc, sub voce]. According to Genesis 21:3-4, the performance of circumcision, and the bestowing of a name, had been simultaneous from the very origin of the rite. It is remarkable how much the custom of giving the name on the seventh or on the eighth day after a child’s birth has been practised in the East, even where the rite of circumcision has been unknown. According to Ewald, Israel. Allerthümer, p110, the first of these practices is found to exist among the Khandi in India, and the second among the Negroes; he also connects their use with the ancient sacred division of time into weeks. Among the Greeks and Romans also it was customary to name the child on the day of purification.

Luke 1:60. And his mother answered.—Ex revelatione, according to Theophylact, Euthym. Zigabenus, Bengel, and Meyer. But it is not said here, that she was filled with the Holy Spirit; and it is highly improbable that Zachariah should have kept the matter concealed from her during so many months. Needless multiplication of the miraculous is quite as censurable as arbitrary denial.

Luke 1:62. And they made signs.—Certainly not because he was also deaf, as Ewald and many ancient writers have supposed; for the very fact that a sign was considered sufficient for Zachariah, shows that he had already silently heard the friendly contention.

Luke 1:63. A writing-tablet.—Tertullian well says: “Zacharias loquitur in stylo, auditur in cera;” and Bengel: “Prima hœc scriptura N. T. incipit a gratia.” [ΙΙ ινακίδιον was “a tablet smeared with wax, on which they wrote with a style.”—P. S.]

Luke 1:64. And his mouth was opened immediately.—Neither by the force of joyful emotion (Kuinoel), nor by his breaking a voluntary silence (Paulus), but by a miracle, whereby the word of the angel ( Luke 1:20) was fulfilled at exactly the right time. Now that his soul is fully released from the chains of unbelief, his tongue is released from the chains of dumbness. His first use of his recovered faculty is not to utter a complaint, but a doxology: a proof that the cure had taken place in his soul also.

Luke 1:65. And fear came on all.—Not a remark in anticipation of the history (de Wette), but the first immediate impression produced by what occurred at the birth and naming of the child. The Evangelist does not say that Zachariah uttered his song of praise on this eighth day. In the whole of Luke’s previous history, as well as in other parts of Holy Scripture, fear has always been the first effect produced upon man by the consciousness that heavenly beings are entering into nearer and unusual intercourse with him ( Luke 1:12; Luke 1:29; Luke 2:9). This fear, which now spread only through the hill-country of Judæa, afterward’ filled the heart of all Jerusalem. It was undoubtedly kept up, as well as the expectation of some greater thing to follow, by the unusual manner in which the child John was brought up.

Luke 1:66. For the hand of the Lord was with him.—An evident reference to the prophecy of the angel ( Luke 1:15), and a summing up of the whole history of John’s childhood. With Lachmann and Tischendorf, we prefer the reading καὶ γὰρ χείρ to καὶ χεὶρ of the Recepta. The question of surprise is thus modified, and the surprise indirectly expressed as constantly increasing.

Luke 1:67. And prophesied.—This word, both here and in many other places, must not be understood in the sense of vaticinium edere, but of uttering inspired words of praise to God. The last prophecy concerning Christ before His birth, by the mouth of Zachariah, has the character, not of an oracle of Delphi, but of a psalm of David. It can scarcely be better described than in the words of Lange, Leben Jesu, ii. p. Luke 90: “The song of praise now uttered by Zachariah, had so gradually and completely ripened in his soul, that he could never forget it in future. This song depicts the form and stature of his faith; it is the expression of the gospel, as his heart had received it. It is with a truly priestly intuition that Zachariah sees the reconciliation and transformation of the world in the advent of the Messiah. The coming Christ appears to him the true altar of salvation for His people, who henceforth, delivered from their enemies, shall perform true, real worship, celebrating the service of God in perpetual freedom. It is this that is his heart’s delight as a priest. His heart’s delight as a father is, that his son John shall be the herald of the Lord, to give the knowledge of His salvation, even to them who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.”

Luke 1:68. For He hath visited and redeemed.—Here, as also in Mary’s Song of Solomon, the aorist is most properly used to express the prophetic consciousness, to which the salvation, still partly hidden in the future, appears already present. In the eyes of Zachariah, all the benefits to be bestowed by the Messiah are summed up in the one word λύτρωσις; and this λύτρωσις is the fruit of the gracious look, which God has just cast (ἐπεσκέψατο) upon Israel. Zachariah passes over from speaking of Israel only, in Luke 1:68, to describe these benefits as bestowed generally ( Luke 1:79) on all those who sit “in darkness and the shadow of death:” a beautiful climax, and worthy of notice.

Luke 1:69. A horn of salvation.—The well-known Biblical meaning of קֶרֶן ( 1 Samuel 2:10; Psalm 132:17, and elsewhere) must be here understood, and not the horns of helmets, nor the horns of the altar. A strong, powerful defender is pointed out; nor does Zachariah forget that this horn is to spring from David’s race, though it is remarkable how much less the Davidic element prevails in his song than in Mary’s.

Luke 1:70. As He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets.—Zachariah is here taking up the golden thread which had dropped from Mary, Luke 1:55.

Luke 1:71. Salvation (σωτηρίαν) from our enemies.—Undoubtedly the political element was chiefly present to Zachariah. The priest is at the same time the patriot in the best sense of the term, deeply moved by the sight of Roman tyranny. But he chiefly prizes this political liberation as the means to a higher end, the reformation of divine worship: Luke 1:74-75.

Luke 1:72. The mercy promised to our fathers.—The fulfilment of the promises concerning Messiah, is not only a matter of rejoicing for the present, and a source of hope for the future, but also a healing balm for past sorrows. The fathers had, for generations, wept over the decay of their nation, and were now living with God to look down from heaven upon the fulness of the time. Comp. Luke 20:37-38; John 8:56.

Luke 1:74. That He would grant unto us.—We are not to understand here the matter of the oath, but the púrpose for which God once swore it, and was now about to fulfil it. For the oath itself, see Genesis 22:16-18.

Without fear.—Not the fear of God, which is rather the Old Testament token of piety, but the fear of enemies, which had often made Israel incapable of serving the Lord with joy. “How many times had the Macedonians, especially Antiochus Epiphanes, and the Romans, hindered the Jews in the exercise of their worship!” (De Wette.)

Luke 1:75. In holiness and righteousness before Him.—Ὁσιό της and δικαιοσύνη are so far different, that the former refers more to piety considered in itself, the latter to piety with respect to God. [This expression sufficiently proves that the song of Zachariah looks by no means simply to the temporal greatness of the Messianic kingdom, but to the spiritual also.—P. S.]

All the days of our life, or rather all our days.—Both the number and weight of critical authorities justify us in expunging the words τῆς ζωῆς from the Greek text. Zachariah, then, is here speaking, not of the lives of individuals, but of the continuous national existence of highly favored Israel. Uninterrupted national prosperity, based upon true religion, is the ideal of his aspirations.

Luke 1:76. And also thou, O child—Zachariah, as a prophet of God, now begins to foretell the career of the last and greatest of the prophets. A striking proof of the prevalence of the theocratic over the paternal feeling in his Song of Solomon, is seen in the fact, that the Messiah is always placed in a more prominent position than His forerunner. Zachariah, however, at last, cannot forbear speaking of the latter, and with evident reference to Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 4. He is to go before the face of the Lord (Jehovah), whose glory appears in the advent of the Messiah. The foundation of the salvation which he proclaims is forgiveness, and the conditio sine qua non of this forgiveness is the knowledge of salvation: comp. Hebrews 8:11-12.

Luke 1:78. The day-spring from on high.—An emblematic allusion to Messiah and His salvation, again referring to Malachi 4:2. There is a remarkable coincidence between the last Messianic prophecy of the Old Testament, and the very last before the incarnation of the Divine Word.

Luke 1:79. Those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death.—The glance of the prophet here takes a far wider range than Israel. He beholds very many, deprived of the light of truth and life, sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, but sees in spirit the Sun of Righteousness rising upon them all: Isaiah 9:2; Isaiah 60:1.

To guide our feet.—The end for which the day-spring should “give light” as this again was the end for which it “visited” our dark world. The hymn concludes with a boundless prospect into the still partly hidden future.

[Alford: “Care must be taken, on the one hand, not to degrade the expression of this song of praise into mere anticipations of temporal prosperity, nor, on the other, to find in it (except in so far as they are involved in the inner and deeper sense of the words, unknown save to the Spirit who prompted them) the minute doctrinal distinctions of the writings of St. Paul. It is the expression of the aspirations and hopes of a pious Jew, waiting for the salvation of the Lord, finding that salvation brought near, and uttering his thankfulness in Old Testament language, with which he was familiar, and at the same time under prophetic influence of the Holy Spirit. That such a song should be inconsistent with dogmatic truth, is impossible: that it should unfold it minutely, is in the highest degree improbable.”—Augustine (Medit.): “O blessed hymn of joy and praise! Divinely inspired by the Holy Ghost, and divinely pronounced by the venerable priest, and daily sung in the church of God; Oh, may thy words be often in my mouth, and the sweetness of them always in my heart! The expressions, thou usest, are the comfort of my life; and the subject, thou treatest of, the hope of all the world.”—P. S.]

Luke 1:80. And the child grew.—A summary description of the twofold development of the youthful Nazarite, both in mind and body. Thirty years passed before the “fear” which arose at his birth ( Luke 1:65), was replaced by the universal agitation caused by his powerful voice. It is certainly possible, but neither certain nor probable, that during his sojourn “in the wilderness,” he came in contact with the Essenes who dwelled in the neighborhood of the Dead Sea (Plinius: Hist. Nat. v17). [Comp. the similar conclusion on the physical and spiritual development of the child Jesus in Luke 2:40.—P. S.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. The new covenant is greeted, at its first appearance, with hymns of joyful praise. What a contrast to the fear and terror accompanying the introduction of the Old! These songs present a happy interfusion of the letter of the Old, with the spirit of the New Testament. That of Mary is more individual, that of Zachariah more national, in its character. The former is more nearly akin to David’s thanksgiving after the promise made to him, 2 Samuel 7:18; the latter, to his hymn of praise at Solomon’s anointing, 1 Kings 1:48. It is worthy of remark, how entirely in the spirit of the Old Testament are the Messianic expectations expressed in both Song of Solomon, and how pure and free they are from narrow and exclusively Jewish notions.

2. The three songs of Elisabeth, Mary, and Zachariah contain important contributions to the right understanding of their Christology. Each is thoroughly persuaded that the Messiah is to be the head of the prophetic brotherhood, the source of temporal as well as spiritual prosperity to Israel, the highest blessing to the world, the highest gift of grace, the supreme manifestation of the glory of God. We may easily disregard the absence of metaphysical speculations in the compositions of those whose views are so purely theocratic. Their hopes are just as material as might be expected from pious Israelites of their times, but at the same time so indefinite, that they could only belong to the period of the beginning of the sacred narrative. The relative want of originality in the song of Mary, which is full of reminiscences, offers a psychological proof of its authenticity. Such songs as these would never have been composed so many years after the appearance of Jesus. Indeed, they may be considered as representative of the state of Messianic expectation just before the “rising of the Sun of Righteousness;” and are, in tone, form, and spirit, much older than the apostolic preaching of Christ’s spiritual kingdom. At what other time could such lays have gushed forth, than just at that happy season, when the most exalted poetry became reality, and reality surpassed the ideal of poetry?

3. It is striking, that while it is said of both Elisabeth and Zachariah, before they uttered their Song of Solomon, that they were filled with the Holy Spirit ( Luke 1:41; Luke 1:46), the same is not said of Mary. The Spirit seems no longer to have come upon her, after the Old Testament manner, for a few moments, but to have dwelt in and acted upon her in the gospel manner. The royal spirit is. more expressed in her song; the priestly character, in that of Zachariah. In his, the Old Testament type, in hers the New, prevails.

4. The enthusiasm of faith attains its highest point just before the time of vision begins ( Luke 10:23-24). It makes the aged Elisabeth young; transforms the youthful bride of the carpenter into the inspired prophetess of her future Son; renders the priest the herald who announces the coming of the forerunner; and even communicates its rapture to the child unborn. The dogmatizer has as little right to build upon this latter circumstance a doctrine of fides infantium (as Calovius, a strict Lutheran divine of the seventeenth century, did), and thus make the exception the rule, as the neologian has, to deride a phenomenon of a history, whose religious importance and world-wide influence he is utterly unable to appreciate. Comp. also Aristot. Hist. Anim. vii3, 4.

5. The song of Zachariah is a proof how much his spiritual life, and his insight into the divine plan of salvation, had increased, during the months of silence which succeeded his reception of the angelic message.

6. Theologians who deny the existence of Messianic prophecies so called—i.e., of special promises given by God Himself, with respect to the coming of Christ—should take a lesson from Mary and Zachariah. In their view, “God spake by the mouth of His holy prophets;” spake for centuries past; spake to Abraham and to his seed, of the coming Christ; spake Song of Solomon, that all future ages should believe, and expect, that all that was yet unfulfilled, would surely come to pass in due season. We have here a complete outline of Old Testament Christology, to be remembered by the divines and preachers for all time to come.

7. “And (John) was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation unto Israel,” Luke 1:80. Here we see combined the wisdom of temporary retirement (the truth underlying the monastic system), and the duty of public usefulness in society (which the system of Protestant ethics makes most prominent). The former is a preparation for the latter. “Es bildet ein Talent sich in der Stille, sich ein Character in dem Strom der Welt” (Goethe). On temporary retirement Bishop Horne (On the Life and Death of John the Baptist) remarks: “He who desires to undertake the office of guiding others in the ways of wisdom and holiness, will best qualify himself for that purpose by first passing some time in a state of sequestration from the world; where anxious cares and delusive pleasures may not break in upon him, to dissipate his attention; where no skeptical nor sectarian spirit may blind his understanding, and nothing may obstruct the illumination from above; where every vicious inclination may be mortified through grace, by a prudent application of the proper means, and every fresh bud of virtue, sheltered from noxious blasts, may be gradually reared up into strength, beauty, and fragrance; where, in a word, he may grow and wax strong in spirit until the day of his showing unto Israel. Exodus 3:1; Ezekiel 1:1-3; Daniel 9:3; Daniel 9:23; Revelation 1:9; Acts 7:23.” On the other hand, Milton (Areopagitica) justly censures the permanent monastic retirement of idleness or selfish piety in these words: “I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race, where the immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat. Assuredly, we bring not innocence into the world; we bring impurity much rather: that which purifies us is trial; and trial is by what is contrary.”—P. S.]

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The silence of faith and the silence of unbelief contrasted in the cases of Mary and Zachariah.—Meeting of Elisabeth and Mary, emblematic of that of the Old and New Covenant at their respective limits.—Mary’s greeting a comfort to Elisabeth in her sorrow, at her husband’s loss of speech.—The Holy Spirit in the yet unborn John glorifying the Divine Word, before His birth in the flesh.—The great hymn of praise of the dispensation of grace begun.—Humility perplexed at the ineffable manifestations of grace.—The blessing pronounced: 1. Upon her who first believed; 2. in her, upon all believers of the New Covenant.—Faith leads to sight; sight to increase of faith.—Mary’s song of praise: 1. The climax of all the hymns of the Old, 2. the beginning of all the hymns of the New, Covenant.—Deep conviction of the reception of the highest favors combined with personal humility.—The manifestation of righteous retribution combined with unlimited grace.—All the perfections of God glorified in the gift of the Saviour: 1. Grace2. power, 3. holiness, 4. mercy, 5. justice, 6. faithfulness.—The new day of salvation, the fruit of ancient promises.—The fruit of faith in Christ’s salvation is joy; which is: 1. A thankful joy; 2. an humble joy; 3. a hopeful joy; 4. a God-glorifying joy.—A heart devoted to God, the best psalter.—Mary and Eve: Faith in God’s word the source of supreme joy; unbelief of God’s word the source of deepest sorrow.—Mary, the Hannah of the New Testament, and, like her, despised, exalted, rejoicing.—The coming of Jesus is: 1. The exaltation of the lowly; 2. the putting down of the mighty; 3. the satisfying of the hungry; 4. the leaving empty of those who regard themselves as spiritually rich.—God’s faithfulness and Israel’s unfaithfulness.—The mercy of God shown: 1. To Mary; 2. through Mary to Israel; 3. through Israel to the world.

The three months of Mary’s sojourn with Elisabeth, an emblem: 1. Of the communion of saints on earth; 2. of the intercourse of the blessed in heaven.—The birth of John, a sign of God’s faithfulness and truth.—The silence of Heaven at the birth of John, and the rejoicing of the angels at the birth of Jesus.—The import of bestowing a name: 1. In the case of the forerunner; 2. generally.—Every child a gift of God.—The obedience of faith, in the case of Zachariah: 1. Tried, 2. shown, 3. rewarded.—The Hallelujah of man succeeds the Ephatha of God.—The “report” of God attentively received, at first awakens a just fear, and afterward drives away all fear.—A question and answer at the birth of a child: 1. The natural question, What manner of child shall this be? 2. the satisfactory answer, The hand of the Lord will be with him.

The true father also a priest: the true priest filled with the Holy Spirit; the true fulness of the Holy Spirit manifested in words of praise to God.—Redemption, a visit made by God to His people, by Heaven to earth.—Novum Testamentum in Vetere latet, Vetus in Novo patet [St. Augustine].—No national prosperity without the fear of God; no fear of God unaccompanied with beneficial effects upon national prosperity.—Redemption, God remembering His God-forgetting people.—The true service of God is a service without fear: 1. Without timid fear of man; 2. without slavish fear of God.—No salvation without forgiveness of sins; no forgiveness of sins without knowledge of the truth; no knowledge of the truth without divine revelation; no divine revelation without divine mercy, grace, and faithfulness.—The rising sun an emblem of Christ: 1. The darkness preceding both; 2. the light spread by both; 3. the warmth given by both; 4. the fruitfulness caused by both; 5. the joy with which both are hailed.—Darkness and the shadow of death: 1. cast down, 2. enlightened, 3. dissipated.—The Prince of Peace, the guide into the way of peace.

The threefold hymns of praise.—Variety and oneness in the minds of those who here glorify the grace of God in Christ.—Mary begins with what is individual, and ascends to what is general; Zachariah begins with what is general, and descends to what is individual; Elisabeth must precede, before Mary can follow.—In the case of Zachariah, the silence of unbelief is exchanged for the song of praise; in that of Mary, the song of praise is exchanged for the silence and expectation of faith.—All three sing on earth the first notes of a song which shall perfectly and eternally resound in heaven, the one song of an innumerable multitude of voices.

The hidden growth of one designed for a great work in the kingdom of God.—Solitude the school of the second Elijah.—The last silence of God, before the first words of the desert preacher.

Starke:—Christians should not travel from sinful curiosity, but for some good purpose.—The loving salutation of the children of God.—When the heart is full, the mouth overflows.—We may well be filled with grateful astonishment, that the Lord should come unto us in His incarnation, in His Supper, through His word, and through faith.—As we believe, so it happens to us.—Mary says, My Saviour: the is then a sinner, needing a Saviour like any other child of Adam.

Quesnel:—The more God exalts an individual, the more should he humble himself.—Langii Op. Bibl.:—Pride of heart the greatest sin before God.—Zeisius:—Christians should give their children names which tend to edification.—Brentii Op.:—God makes the speaker dumb, and the dumb man to speak.—Osiander:—Hymns of praise, from sanctified hearts, are the most acceptable sacrifice to God.—Compare Luther’s exposition of the Magnificat, for Prince John Frederick of Saxony (Werke, vii1220–1317), wherein he well says: “It is the nature of God to make something out of nothing; therefore, when any one is nothing, God may yet make something of him.”

Heubner:—The faith of the less (Elisabeth) may strengthen the stronger (Mary).—Mary the happiest of all mothers.—Religion the foundation of true friendship.—Pious mothers a blessing to the whole race of man.—The Spirit must open a man’s lips, or he is spiritually dumb.—John a guide into the way of peace, because a guide to Christ.—God carries on His work in secret.—Mature preparation for public work, especially for the work of the preacher.

Arndt:—Mary’s visit to Elisabeth: 1. How it strengthens her faith; 2. how it called forth her praise.

Palmer:—To the art of praising God ( Luke 1:46-55) belong: 1. A clear eye to estimate the works of God; 2. a joyful heart to rejoice in them; 3. a loosened tongue to express this joy aright. (The first might also be exemplified in Elisabeth, the second in Mary, the third in Zachariah, and thus the theme and parts be applied to the whole pericope, Luke 1:39-80.)

Schroter (in a baptismal sermon on Luke 1:66):—In what sense was this question asked? How ought it to be asked?—F. W. Krummacher:—The dayspring from on high.—The festival at Hebron.—The Benedictus of Zachariah. (Adventsbuch, Bielefeld, 1847, pp140–172.)

Footnotes