manger, because there An angel appears to the shepherds. X. 65 and laid him in a no other conveniency near, she laid him in a SECT. was no room for them manger which belonged to one of the stalls there; because (as we have just now said) there Luke was no room for them in any of the chambers II. 7. belonging to the inn. in the inn. 8 And there were in herds abiding in the night: 9 And lo, the an gel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And there were some shepherds in that country 8 the same country shep- who were then lying out in the field and watchficid, keeping watch ing, in their turns, over their flocks by night; over their flock by which it was necessary they should do, to guard against the wolves and other beasts of prey which were common there. And, behold, on a 9 sudden, an angel of the Lord came upon them, and appeared in a visible form, standing in the air over their heads; and their eyes were immediately directed to it by the glory of the Lord, which shone round about them with such incomparable lustre, as had in former ages been the usual symbol of the Divine Presence: And they were exceedingly terrified at so uncommon and so 10 And the angel awful an appearance. And, while they stood 10 said unto them, Fear in silent amazement, the angel said unto them, in not; for behold, I bring the mildest and most condescending manner, Be great joy, which shall not affrighted, O ye shepherds! for the design be to all people: you good tidings of of my appearance to you hath nothing terrible to speak confidently; but that the different character, which distinguishes the divine tert from my fallible, though upright attempts to illustrate it, must guide him in determining what is certain, and what only probable, and perhaps, after all, very doubtful. A manger which belonged to one of the stalls there.] Though Heinsius has learnedly proved that palin sometimes signifies a stall, yet it is certain that more frequently it signifies a manger; and the manger was the most proper part of the stall in which the Infant could be laid. If (as tradition says) this stable was cut out of a rock, the coldness of it must, at least by night, have greatly added to its other inconveniences. i Watching in their turns over their flock by night.] The original qudasooles punawas as vul, might more literally be rendered, keeping the watches of the night; For 11 Saviour, which intimates their taking it by turns to k There is born unto you.] That one of 1 Glory 66 X. The angel's song upon the birth of Christ. SECT. Saviour, who is even Christ the Lord, that Illustrious sovereign, whom you have so long been Luke taught to expect, by the title and under the II. 11. character of the MESSIAH: He is even now born in the neighbouring city of David his royal father; and I call you to offer him your earliest homage. Go, therefore, into the town without any farther delay, and inquire after him: for 12 [this shall be] a sign unto you, by which you will easily know him you will find him an infant in swaddling bands, lying in a manger belonging to 13 14 one of the inns. a 12 And this shall be sign unto you; ye shall find the Babe clothes, lying wrapped in swaddling manger. in a there was with the And immediately, to confirm them in the belief 13 And suddenly of so strange a truth as that this illustrious Prince angel a multitude of should be born in such mean circumstances as the heavenly bost, he had now described, there was seen with the praising God, and sayangel that spake to them a great multitude of ing, the celestial army praising God, and saying, in the most cheerful and harmonious accents, Glory be to God in the highest heavens, and let all the angelic legions resound his praises in the most exalted strains: for with the Redeemer's birth peace and all kinds of happiness come down to dwell on earth; yea, the overflowings of divine benevolence and favour are now exercised towards sinful men, who, through this Saviour, 1 Glory to God in the highest; and peace on earth; benevolence and favour towards men.] I am well aware of the ambiguity of these words. I do not mean as to the reading: For though the Alexandrian, and other manuscripts, instead of doxia, give it eudoning, as if the angels were proclaiming peace to men of favour and good-will, or unto those who were the objects of the divine benevolence and complacency; (which is a reading that has been approved by many learned men, and in particular by Beza;) yet I think the authority of that is overborne by the more general consent of the most ancient manuscripts, as well as by the versions of the oldest date, and the quotations of the fathers in the most early ages, which almost universally oppose it. (See Mill and Grotius on the place.) But, taking the original as it stands, sofa mv udiças Ox, xai En gas uphin, o arjannis eudoxia, we must allow it to be capable of different senses.— Some chus to render it Glory to God in the highest, (that is, in heaven,) and on earth; peace, yea favour, towards men: Eut then, I think, instead of 4155, it rather would have been a açar; for so it is always usual to express," in heaven and upon earth, (Compare Mat. vi. 10. Luke xi 2. 1 Cor. vii. 5. Eph. i. 10. iii.-15. Col. i. 16. 20. become 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men. Rev. v. 3, 13.)-Others have given as the sense of it, that the good-will, or favour, which is now shewn to men, is the glory of God in the highest, and is the peace or happiness of those that dwell on earth: And this indeed is an important sense, and the original well enough will bear it. But thus to change the dorology into a kind of proverb or aphorism, seems to destroy much of its beauty.—I rather think that they are all to be considered as the words of a rejoicing acclamation, and that they strongly represent the piety and benevolence of these heavenly spirits, and their affectionate good wishes for the prosperity of the Messiah's kingdom. (Compare Mat. xxi. 9. Mark xi. 10. and especially Luke xix. 38.) The new translation that has been lately published, where it is rendered, to men on earth, felicity in the divine favour, does indeed express the sense of the two latter clauses, but by no means with equal ardour. The shouts of a multitude are 26nevrally broken into short sentences, and are commonly elliptic; which is the only cause of the ambiguity here. As this beauty could not be preserved in a paraphrase, t have repeated the words, after they had been explamed. The shepherds come and find him in a manger. 15 And it came to pass, as the angels X. 67 Luke II. 14. become the objects of his complacential de- SECT. light Echo it back, O ye mortal abodes, to ours!"Glory to God in the highest! on earth peace! benevolence and favour unto men!" And it came to pass that, as soon as the angels 15 were gone away from departed from them, and returned back into heathem into heaven, the ven, the shepherds said one to another, Come let shepherds said one to us go immediately to Bethlehem, and see this go even unto Bethle- great thing which is done, even this wonderful hem, and see this thing and important event which the Lord hath so which is come to pass, graciously made known unto us. another, Let us now which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. And, accord- 16 ingly, with one consent, they came in haste, before the night was over, leaving their flocks to the care of Providence; and, entering into the town, they followed the direction which the angel gave them, and quickly found Mary and Joseph, and the new-born Infant with thein, just in the circumstance which had been described, lying in a manger. And, when they had viewed ins scene 17 of wonders and had attentively considered [it,] they humbly paid their dutiful respects unto their new-born Saviour; and having acquainted his parents with the marvellous vision they had seen, they immediately published abroad a full account of this remarkable occurrence, and gave a particular relation of the whole of that which had been told them, in so wonderful a way, concerning this Child. And, upon hearing this strange ac- 18 count there was a general surprise; and, though they were prevented, by the meanness of his birth, from shewing a due regard to one that made no better an appearance, vet all that heard [it] were astonished at those things which were related to them by the shepherds on this subject. But 19 Mary in particular treasured up all these things, and carefully retained them in her memory; and though she did not blaze them abroad among the populace, or make any vain boast of such extraordinary favours and testimonies, yet she attentively regarded all these wonderful events, entering into the meaning [of them] in the secret reflections of her heart", and improving them all, as a further confirmation of what had been before revealed to her, and a foundation for the early acting of her faith and reverence towards her Davine Son. And Entering into the meaning, &c.] l'ap- this sense of the word auμfaxa, in his prehend Elsner has abundantly vindicated note on this place. 63 SECT. X. Luke Reflections on the birth of Christ. And the shepherds returned glorifying and 20 And the sheppraising God for all the things which they had herds returned glorifying and praising heard and seen at Bethlehem," so perfectly agree- God for all the things 11. 20. able in every circumstance to the account they that they had heard had received but just before, as it was told unto them by the angel; admiring the mercy of God in sending such a Saviour and his condescension in favouring them with such early discoveries of him. 21 Ver. and seen, as it was told unto them. the angel before he was And when eight days from the birth of this 21 And when eight Holy Infant were fulfilled, (that is, when the ed for the circumcising days were accomplisheighth day was come,) his pious parents failed of the Child, his name not, according to the Mosaic law, under which was called JESUS, they were placed, to circumcise the Child, that which was so named of so, though he had not any corruptions of nature conceived in the womb. to mortify, which was in part represented by that institution, he might nevertheless, in a regular manner be initiated into the Jewish Church and thereby be engaged to the duties and intitled to the privileges of a son of Abraham, according to that covenant. And his name was called JESUS that is, the Divine Saviour; a name by which the angel had called him before he was conceived in the womb of his virgin mother. IMPROVEMENT. With what bumble amazement should we contemplate this 6, 7 first appearance of our Incarnate Redeemer! Surely all the angels of heaven might justly have admired his condescension in assuming such a nature as ours and wearing a mortal frame, though it had been attended with all the ornaments and splendors earth could have given it. Though, at his entrance into our low world, he had been born of an imperial family, placed under a canopy of velvet and gold, or laid to repose on pillows of down, all this had been deep abasement in the eyes of those who had beheld the glories of his celestial throne and the honours paid him by cherubims and seraphims: But, behold, the Son of God, and the Heir of all things, is not merely in the abodes of men, but in a place destined for beasts, and, while, wrapped in swaddling-clothes, is laid in a manger! n Which they had heard and seen at Bethlehem.] Joseph and Mary would, no doubt, upon such an occasion, give them an account of those particulars, which the sacred historians have recounted above, relating to the conception of this Divine Infant; and this interview must greatly confirm and comfort the minds of all con cerned. Yet, • His name was called Jesus.] Grotius thinks there might be an assembly of most of the remainders of David's family on this occasion; but surely, had there been many of them inhabitants of Bethlehem, their kinswoman would not, in such circumstances, have been reduced to the necessity of lodging in a stable. a Her Reflections on the birth of Christ. X. 69 Yet, O blessed Jesus, how much more venerable was that stable SECT. and manger, when graced with thy sacred presence, than the most magnificent palace, or most shining throne of earthly princes! Luke How ill doth it become thy disciples to seek for themselves great II. 21. things in this life, or to be proud of its pomp and grandeur! Give us, O God, the simplicity of children and make us willing to be conformed to the birth of thy Son as well as to his death! Yet, mean as his birth might appear, his Heavenly Father did not leave him without witness. We see him, in this wonderful 9 account that the Evangelist hath given us, surrounded with a brighter lustre than a court or a crown could have afforded. Angelic legions are employed as heralds to proclaim the new-born 11 King. And to whom are they sent? To humble pious shepherds,8 diligently employed in the duties of their proper calling and watching by night for the security of their flocks. Who would not gladly have shared in their poverty and fatigue, to have heard with them these good tidings of great joy? 10 Let us observe with what delight these courtiers of heaven 13, 14 undertook the happy embassy to these lowly mortals. Let us with pleasure attend to the anthem of these benevolent spirits. Far from envying the favour that was done us, they ascribe glory to God for it, and take their part in the joy they give. Let this love of the whole heavenly host to us awaken our love to them and our longing for that blessed world where we and they shall surround our dearest Redeemer, not in such a form of abasement as that in which he here appeared, but clothed in that celestial lustre with which God hath rewarded the humiliations of the manger and the cross. In the mean time let our more intimate concern in this great salvation engage us more cordially to join with these blessed angels in their hallelujahs; ascribing glory to God in the highest for 14 this peace on earth, this good-will towards men, the great fountain of our present tranquility and future hope! Above all, if Divine Grace hath conquered all the foolish prejudices of our hearts against Christ, and taught us with humble faith to apply to him, let us, with the shepherds, bless God for the things which have 20 been shewn us, and make it our care to spread abroad the favour 17 of his name, that others may join with us in paying their homage and their praises to him! SECT. G VOL. VI. |