Reflections on the appearance of the angel to Zacharias. 23 And it came to 35 at Jerusalem; a circumstance wisely ordered by SECT. occurrence. And, after this appearance of the angel to him, 23 pass that, as soon as the it came to pass that, when the remaining days of were accomplished, he his ministration were fulfilled, he departed to his days of his ministration departed to his own own house. house. 24 And after these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and hid herseif five months, say ing, 25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me, in away my reproach among men. Luke I. 23. And quickly after these days were ended, Eli- 24 zabeth his wife conceived, according to the prediction of the angel; and, apprehending her condition, she concealed herself five months in an obscure retirement, not only that her conception. might more certainly appear, but chiefly that she might enjoy opportunity for those extraordinary devotions which this wonderful favour of Providence demanded: nor could she, under such a circumstance, refrain from saying, The most solemn acknowledgments well be- 25 the days wherein he come me, because the Lord himself hath thus milooked on me, to take raculously interposed, and done this great work for me, in his own good time, even in the days in which he hath graciously looked down upon me, to take away my reproach of barrenness among men1. For barrenness was accounted a peculiar reproach among the Jews, who looked upon it as a singular happiness to be instrumental in multiplying the holy seed, according to the promises which God had made them relating to it. IMPROVEMENT. How amiable is the character of this pious pair, who were found Ver. walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blame-6 less! May our behaviour be thus unblameable, and our obedience thus sincere and universal! And let those, whose office leads them 1 My reproach among men.] That barrenness was so amongst the Jews, appears from Gen. xxx. 23. 1 Sam. i. 11. Isa. iv. 1. liv. 1, 4. and many other passages. That a branch of the family of Aaron should fail, would also be looked upon as a particular calamity, and might, by ignorant and uncharitable people, be interpreted as a judgment: and so much the rather, considering the many promises God had made to increase the families of his obedient people, Exod. xxxii. 13. Lev. xxvi. 9. Deut. vii. 13. and Psal. cxxvii. 3, 4, 5.—I will here digress so far as to observe, that, consider ing how the whole Jewish policy was interwoven with those arts of religion which were to be performed by the priests alone, it nearer might seem wonderful that no provision at a Nazareth.] 36 The angel appears to the Virgin Mary, SECT. nearer to God than others, remember their peculiar obligation to imitate such an example. 111. Ver. Let us observe, with pleasure, that the prayers which such wor13 shippers offer come up with acceptance before God; to whom no costly perfume is so sweet as the fragrancy of a character like this. -An answer of peace was here returned when the case seemed to be most helpless. Let us learn to wait patiently for the Lord, and leave it to his own infinite wisdom to chuse the time and manner in which he shall appear for us. Zacharias, accustomed as he was to converse with the God of 12 heaven, was nevertheless, as we see, thrown into great consternation at the appearance of his angelic messenger. And may we not regard it, therefore, as an instance of the goodness as well as wisdom of God, that he determines that the services which these 13, 19 heavenly spirits render us should be generally invisible?--It is delightful to observe that amiable condescension with which Gabriel, the courtier of heaven, behaved on this occasion. Let it teach us with pleasure to pursue the humblest offices of duty and love which God may assign us towards any of our fellow-servants, even in the lowest stations. 17 Happy was the holy Baptist in being employed in this blessed work of preparing men's hearts to receive a Saviour, and reducing the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. May we be inspired with some degree of zeal like his, in our proper sphere, to pursue so noble a design! 18, 20 We see, in the instance of Zacharias, that some remainders of unbelief may be found even in a faithful heart let us guard against them, as remembering they will be displeasing to God, and hurtful to ourselves.-And, to conclude, when Providence 24 favours us with any peculiarly gracious interpositions, let us attentively remark the hand of God in them; and let religious retirement leave room for serious recollection and devout acknowledgments. SECT. iv. Luke SECT. IV. The angel Gabriel is sent to the virgin Mary, to inform her of the conception of Christ by her, in which she humbly acquiesces. Luke I. 26-38. LUKE I. 26. IN the sixth month after Elizabeth had conceived, the same angel Gabriel, who had been the messenger of such good news to Zacharias, 1. 26 was sent from God to small and inconsiderable city of Galilee, which was called Nazareth; be27 ing charged with an important commission to a a Nazareth.] A city in the tribe of Zebulan, which was reduced to so low and virgin, LUKE I. 26. AND in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from lilee, named Nazareth. 27 To a virgin es poused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; said, Hail, thou that art And foretells her conception of Christ. iv. 37 I. 28. virgin, who was contracted, according to the Jew. SECT. ish method of espousals, to a man whose name was Joseph: a descendant of the royal house of David; Luke and the virgin's name which illustrious family was now reduced to so zas Mary. low a condition, that Joseph followed the employment of a carpenter: and the virgin's name 28 And the angel was Mary, of the same lineage. And the angel came in unto her, and entered in to the room, in which she was alone; highly favoured; the and, standing before her, surrounded her with an Lord, is with thee: extraordinary lustre, he addressed himself unto blessed art thou among her, and said, Hail, O thou distinguished favourite of heaven! I congratulate thy happiness; for the Lord is with thee, and is about to manifest his condescending regard in a manner which shall oblige all around thee to acknowledge that thou art blessed among women, the greatest and happiest of thy sex. women. 29 And when she saw him she was trou bled at his saying, and this should be. Now the pious and modest virgin, when she 29 saw this appearance of [the angel,] and heard his cast in her mind what message, as she plainly perceived it to be somemanner of salutation thing of a very extraordinary nature, was much disturbed at his discourse; and, not imagining herself at all worthy of such applause and congratulation, she reasoned with herself, for a while, what kind of salutation this could be, and from what original it could proceed. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And behold, thou womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his shalt conceive in thy name Jesus. And the angel, immediately perceiving it, to 30 disperse the doubt she was in, said unto her again, Fear not, Mary; for I am a messenger sent from heaven to tell thee that thou hast found signal favour with God. And behold and observe 31 it with due regard, for I assure thee, in his name, that from this very time thou shalt be with child, and at the proper season shalt be delivered of a son, and shalt call his name Jesus, the divine Saviour; for he shall come on that important errand, to save men from the tyranny of sin and 52 He shall be great, the displeasure of God. He shall be incompa-32 Son of the Highest; rably great and glorious, insomuch that he shall and the Lord God shall justly be called the Son of the Most High God; give unto him the and the Lord God shall give him the throne of throne of his father David his father, from whom thou art descended; so that, like David, he shall be the Sovereign of God's chosen people, and possess that extensive empire and shall be called the David: b She was disturbed at his discourse.] Some would render Tw how avlx, on account of him; and Heinsius hath abundantly shewn how common this manner of speaking is in the sacred writings. VOL. VI. C What kind of salutation.] She seems to have suspected it might possibly proceed from the artifice of some evil spirit, to inspire her with sentiments of vanity and pride. a Hos 38. SECT. iv. Luke He confirms her faith in his message. 33 And he shall Jacob for ever, and of empire which was promised to the seed of that holy patriarch: (2 Sam. vii. 12, 13. Psal. ii. 7, 8. and Psal. cxxxii. 11, 12.) And he shall inherit 1. 33. the kingdom, with this circumstance of superior reign over the house of glory, that, whereas David is now sleeping with his kingdom there shall his fathers, this exalted Prince shall rule over the be no end. house of Jacob, even all the true Israel of God, for ever; and, though the most potent monarchies of the earth will be successively dissolved, yet of his kingdom there shall be no end, even as long as the sun and moon endure. See Psal. Ixvii. 5, 17. Isa. ix. 7. Dan. vii. 14. 34 And Mary replied to the angel, O thou heavenly 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 dow thee: therefore Son of God. And the angel, answering, said unto her, There is nothing in that objection, great as it may seem, her, The Holy Ghost for this whole affair is to be a scene of miracle: shall come upon thee, the Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power and the power of the of the Most High God shall thus overshadow thee Highest shall overshaby an amazing energy, to produce an effect also that Holy Thing hitherto, from the foundation of the earth, un- which shall be born of known: and therefore that holy Offspring of thine thee shall be called the shall, with regard to this miraculous conception, as well as another and yet greater consideration, 36 be called the Son of God. And behold, to confirm thy faith in a declaration which might seem so hath also conceived a incredible, I farther assure thee that thy cousin son in her old age: and Elizabeth also hath, by the miraculous power of this is the sixth month God, conceived a son, though she be now in her with her who was calold age; and this is the sixth month of pregnancy with her who hath long been called barren, and spoken of as one who could have no hope of being a mother. And scruple not to believe what I have told thee with regard to thyself as S6 And, behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she led barren. d How can this be,-since I am as yet a virgin?] Some would render this, What! shall this be if I have no intercourse with a man? as if she would be resolved whether this birth were to be produced in a common or a miraculous manner. But I think it is more natural to suppose that she understood the former words as an intimation that the effect was immediately to take place, to which her present circumstance seemed, humanly speaking, an invincible objection. Our English version, I know not a man, is more literal than what is here given; but I do not apprehend that the strictest fidelity requires to render the Hebraism so exactly; the sense is evidently the same. e Who hath been called barren.] I cannot think (with some learned and judicious persons) that to be called and to be, signify entirely the same thing, so as that the former should be thought a mere pleonasm, and rendered just as the latter. The phrase seems to signify, in the language of scripture, not only that the thing shall really be what it is called, but also that it shall be taken notice of in that view: which I think will appear from an attentive consideration of the chief terts which have been produced to establish the opposite opinion. Compare Isa. i. 26. ix. 6. xxxv. 8. xlvii. 1, 5. lvi. 7. Ixi. 3, 6. Mat. v. 9, 19. xxi. 13. Mark xi. 17. 1 John iii. 1. f Mary possible. Reflections on Mary's conception of Christ. iv. 37 For with God as well as her; for thou well knowest that no- SECT. nothing shall be im- thing is, or ever will be, impossible to God, whose almighty power operates with equal ease in the most miraculous as in the most common pro- I. 37. ductions. 38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. of the Lord, be it unto And, strange as the message was, Mary firmly 38 Then the angel, having executed his commis- 39 Luke IMPROVEMENT. WITH what holy wonder and pleasure should we trace this Ver. notice of an incarnate Redeemer? and how thankfully should 26, 27 we adore his condescending goodness, that for us men, and for our salvation, he did not despise the womb of so obscure a virgin? We too are ready in our thoughts, with Gabriel, to congratu- 23 late her on so distinguished an honour, and to say, as one did to Christ, in the days of his flesh, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, O Lord, and the breasts which thou hast sucked! (Luke xi. 27.) But let us remember there is yet a nobler blessedness than this attending those, in whose hearts he is so formed by divine grace, that they hear his word and do it. Let us hear it, with joy, that he is Jesus the Saviour; but let 31, 32 us also consider that he is Christ the anointed Sovereign, who is to rule over God's people for ever. Remember, O my soul, that of his kingdom there shall be no end; and esteem it thine unspeakable honour and happiness to be enrolled amongst his faithful subjects. Mary firmly believed it.] It is worthy of our remark, that Mary, though a young virgin, should so readily believe an event, in itself so much more wonderful than that which Zacharias, though an aged priest, had found it so difficult to credit. And it may be observed, that the sacred writers are particularly careful to record instances of this kind in which God doth, as it were, out of the mouths of babes and sucklings perfect his praise. Resign my reputation, and even my C 2 The life.] For both these, humanly speaking, a Mary |