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25 lines
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<p>We have here notice given us of all that it was fit we should know concerning the incarnation and conception of our blessed Saviour, six months after the conception of John. The same angel, Gabriel, that was employed in making known to Zacharias God’s purpose concerning <i>his son</i>, is employed in this also; for in this, the same glorious work of redemption, which was <i>begun</i> in that, is <i>carried on</i>. As bad angels are none of the redeemed, so good angels are none of the redeemers; yet they are employed by the Redeemer as his messengers, and they go cheerfully on his errands, because they are his Father’s humble servants, and his children’s hearty friends and well-wishers.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">I. We have here an account given of the mother of our Lord, of whom he was to be born, whom, though we are not to pray to, yet we ought to praise God for.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">1. Her name was <i>Mary</i>, the same name with <i>Miriam</i>, the sister of Moses and Aaron; the name signifies <i>exalted</i>, and a great elevation it was to her indeed to be thus <i>favoured</i> above all the daughters of the house of David.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">2. She was a daughter of the royal family, lineally descended from David, and she herself and all her friends knew it, for she went under the title and character of the <i>house of David</i>, though she was poor and low in the world; and she was enabled by God’s providence, and the care of the Jews, to preserve their genealogies, to <i>make it out</i>, and as long as the promise of the Messiah was to be fulfilled it was <i>worth keeping</i>; but for those now, who are brought low in the world, to have descended from persons of honour, is not worth mentioning.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">3. She was <i>a virgin</i>, a pure unspotted one, but <i>espoused</i> to one of the same royal stock, like her, however, of low estate; so that upon both accounts there was (as it was fit there should be) an equality between them; his name was Joseph; he also was <i>of the house of David</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Matt.1.20" href="/passage/?search=Matt.1.20">Matt. 1:20</a>. Christ’s mother was a <i>virgin</i>, because he was not to be born by ordinary generation, but miraculously; it was necessary that he should be so, that, though he must partake of the nature of man, yet not of the corruption of that nature: but he was born of a <i>virgin espoused</i>, made up to be married, and contracted, to put honour upon the married state, that that might not be brought into contempt (which was an ordinance in innocency) by the Redeemer’s being born of a virgin.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">4. She lived in Nazareth, a <i>city of Galilee</i>, a remote corner of the country, and in no reputation for religion or learning, but which bordered upon the heathen, and therefore was called <i>Galilee of the Gentiles</i>. Christ’s having his relations resident there intimates favour in reserve for the Gentile world. And Dr. Lightfoot observes that Jonah was by birth a Galilean, and Elijah and Elisha very much conversant in Galilee, who were all famous <i>prophets of the Gentiles</i>. The angel was sent to her from Nazareth. Note, No distance or disadvantage of place shall be a prejudice to those for whom God has favours in store. The angel Gabriel carries his message as cheerfully to Mary and Nazareth in Galilee as to Zacharias in the temple at Jerusalem.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">II. The <i>address</i> of the angel to her, <a class="bibleref" title="Luke.1.28" href="/passage/?search=Luke.1.28">Luke 1:28</a>. We are not told what she was doing, or how employed, when the angel came <i>unto her</i>; but he surprised her with this salutation, <i>Hail, thou art highly favoured</i>. This was intended to raise in her, 1. A value for <i>herself</i>; and, though it is very rare that any need to have any sparks struck into their breast with such design, yet in some, who like Mary pore only on their <i>low estate</i>, there is occasion for it. 2. An expectation of great news, not from abroad, but from above. Heaven designs, no doubt, uncommon favours for one whom an angel makes court to with such respect, <i>Hail thou</i>, <b><i>chaire</i></b>—<i>rejoice thou</i>; it was the usual form of salutation; it expresses an esteem of her, and good-will to her and her prosperity.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">(1.) She is dignified: “Thou art <i>highly favoured</i>. God, in his choice of thee to be the mother of the Messiah, has put an honour upon thee peculiar to thyself, above that of Eve, who was the mother of <i>all living</i>.” The vulgar Latin translates this <i>gratiâ plena—full of grace</i>, and thence gathers that she had more of the inherent graces of the Spirit than ever any had; whereas it is certain that this bespeaks no other than the singular favour done her in preferring her to conceive and bear our blessed Lord, an honour which, since he was to be the <i>seed of the woman</i>, some woman must have, not for <i>personal merit</i>, but purely for the sake of <i>free grace</i>, and she is pitched upon. <i>Even so, Father, because it seemed good unto thee</i>.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">(2.) She has the presence of God with her: “<i>The Lord is with thee</i>, though poor and mean, and perhaps now forecasting how to get a livelihood and maintain a family in the married state.” The angel with this word raised the faith of Gideon (<a class="bibleref" title="Judg.6.12" href="/passage/?search=Judg.6.12">Jdg. 6:12</a>): <i>The Lord is with thee</i>. Nothing is to be despaired of, not the performance of any service, not the obtaining of any favour, though ever so great, if we have <i>God with us</i>. This word might put her in mind of the Immanuel, <i>God with us</i>, which a virgin shall <i>conceive</i> and <i>bear</i> (<a class="bibleref" title="Isa.7.14" href="/passage/?search=Isa.7.14">Isa. 7:14</a>), and why not she?</p>
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<p class="tab-1">(3.) She has the blessing of God upon her: “<i>Blessed art thou among women</i>; not only thou shalt be accounted so by men, but thou shalt be so. Thou that art so <i>highly favoured</i> in this instance mayest expect in other things to be <i>blessed</i>.” She explains this herself (<a class="bibleref" title="Luke.1.48" href="/passage/?search=Luke.1.48">Luke 1:48</a>), <i>All generations shall call me blessed</i>. Compare it with that which Deborah saith of Jael, another that was the glory of her sex (<a class="bibleref" title="Judg.5.24" href="/passage/?search=Judg.5.24">Jdg. 5:24</a>), <i>Blessed shall she be above women in the tent</i>.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">III. The consternation she was in, upon this address (<a class="bibleref" title="Luke.1.29" href="/passage/?search=Luke.1.29">Luke 1:29</a>). <i>When she saw him</i>, and the glories with which he was surrounded, she was <i>troubled</i> at the sight of him, and much more <i>at his saying</i>. Had she been a proud ambitious young woman, that aimed high, and flattered herself with the expectation of great things in the world, she would have been <i>pleased</i> at his saying, would have been puffed up with it, and (as we have reason to think she was a young woman of very good sense) would have had an answer ready, signifying so much: but, instead of that, she is <i>confounded</i> at it, as not conscious to herself of any thing that either <i>merited</i> or <i>promised</i> such great things; and she <i>cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be</i>. Was it from heaven or of men? Was it to amuse her? was it to ensnare her? was it to banter her? or was there something substantial and weighty in it? But, of all the thoughts she had as to <i>what manner of salutation it should be</i>, I believe she had not the least idea of its being ever intended or used for a prayer, as it is, and has been, for many ages, by the corrupt, degenerate, and anti-christian ages of the church, and to be ten times repeated for the Lord’s prayer once; so it is in the church of Rome. But her thoughtfulness upon this occasion gives a very useful intimation to young people of her sex, when addresses are made to them, to consider and <i>cast in their minds</i> what manner of <i>salutations</i> they are, whence they come, and what their tendency is, that they may receive them accordingly, and may always <i>stand on their guard</i>.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">IV. The message itself which the angel had to deliver to her. Some time the angel gives her to <i>pause</i>; but, observing that this did but increase her perplexity, he went on with his errand, <a class="bibleref" title="Luke.1.30" href="/passage/?search=Luke.1.30">Luke 1:30</a>. To what he had said she made no reply; he therefore confirms it: “<i>Fear not, Mary</i>, I have no other design than to assure thee that <i>thou hast found favour with God</i> more than thou thinkest of, as there are many who think they are more favoured with God than they really are.” Note, Those that have <i>found favour with God</i> should not give way to disquieting distrustful fears. Doth God favour thee? Fear not, though the world frown upon thee. Isa. he for thee? No matter who is against thee.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">1. Though she is a <i>virgin</i>, she shall have the honour of being a <i>mother</i>: “<i>Thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son</i>, and thou shalt have the naming of him; thou shalt <i>call his name Jesus</i>,” <a class="bibleref" title="Luke.1.31" href="/passage/?search=Luke.1.31">Luke 1:31</a>. It was the sentence upon Eve, that, though she should have the honour to be the <i>mother of all living</i>, yet this mortification shall be an allay to that honour, that <i>her desire shall be to her husband</i>, and he <i>shall rule over her</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Gen.3.16" href="/passage/?search=Gen.3.16">Gen. 3:16</a>. But Mary has the honour without the allay.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">2. Though she lives in <i>poverty</i> and <i>obscurity</i>, yet she shall have the honour to be the mother of the Messiah; her son shall be named <i>Jesus—a Saviour</i>, such a one as the world <i>needs</i>, rather than such one as the Jews <i>expect</i>.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">(1.) He will be very <i>nearly allied</i> to the <i>upper world</i>. He <i>shall be great</i>, truly great, incontestably great; for he shall be called <i>the Son of the Highest</i>, the Son of God who is <i>the Highest</i>; of the same nature, as the son is of the same nature with the father; and very dear to him, as the son is to the father. He shall be <i>called</i>, and not <i>miscalled</i>, the <i>Son of the Highest</i>; for he is himself <i>God over all, blessed for evermore</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Rom.9.5" href="/passage/?search=Rom.9.5">Rom. 9:5</a>. Note, Those who are the children of God, though but by adoption and regeneration, are <i>truly great</i>, and therefore are concerned to be <i>very good</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="1John.3.1,1John.3.2" href="/passage/?search=1John.3.1,1John.3.2"><span class="bibleref" title="1John.3.1">1 John 3:1</span>, <span class="bibleref" title="1John.3.2">2</span></a>.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">(2.) He will be very <i>highly preferred</i> in the <i>lower world</i>; for, though born under the most disadvantageous circumstances possible, and appearing in the form of a servant, yet <i>the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Luke.1.32" href="/passage/?search=Luke.1.32">Luke 1:32</a>. He puts her in mind that she was <i>of the house of David</i>; and that therefore, since neither the <i>Salique law</i>, nor the right of primogeniture, took place in the entail of his throne, it was not impossible but that she might bring forth an heir to it, and therefore might the more easily <i>believe</i> it when she was told by an angel from heaven that she <i>should</i> do so, that after the sceptre had been long <i>departed</i> from that ancient and honourable family it should now at length return to it again, to remain in it, not by succession, but in the same hand to eternity. His people will not <i>give him that throne</i>, will not acknowledge his right to <i>rule them</i>; but the <i>Lord God</i> shall give him a right to <i>rule them</i>, and set him as <i>his king</i> upon the <i>holy hill of Zion</i>. He assures her, [1.] That his kingdom shall be <i>spiritual</i>: he shall <i>reign over the house of Jacob</i>, not <i>Israel according to the flesh</i>, for they neither came into his interests nor did they continue long a people; it must therefore be a <i>spiritual</i> kingdom, the house of Israel <i>according to the promise</i>, that he must <i>rule over</i>. [2.] That it shall be eternal: he shall reign <i>for ever</i>, and <i>of his kingdom there shall be no end</i>, as there had been long since of the temporal reign of David’s house, and would shortly be of the state of Israel. Other crowns endure not <i>to every generation</i>, but Christ’s doth, <a class="bibleref" title="Prov.27.24" href="/passage/?search=Prov.27.24">Prov. 27:24</a>. The gospel is the <i>last</i> dispensation, we are to look for no other.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">V. The further information given her, upon her enquiry concerning the birth of this prince.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">1. It is a just enquiry which she makes: “<i>How shall this be</i>? <a class="bibleref" title="Luke.1.34" href="/passage/?search=Luke.1.34">Luke 1:34</a>. How can I now presently conceive a child” (for so the angel meant) “when I <i>know not a man</i>; must it therefore be otherwise than by ordinary generation? If so, let me now <i>how</i>?” She knew that the Messiah must be born of <i>a virgin</i>; and, if she must be his mother, she desires to know how. This was not the language of her distrust, or any doubt of what the angel said, but of a desire to be further instructed.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">2. It is a satisfactory answer that is given to it, <a class="bibleref" title="Luke.1.35" href="/passage/?search=Luke.1.35">Luke 1:35</a>. (1.) She shall conceive by <i>the power of the Holy Ghost</i>, whose proper work and office is to <i>sanctify</i>, and therefore to sanctify the virgin for this purpose. The Holy Ghost is called the <i>power of the Highest</i>. Doth she ask how this shall be? This is enough to help her over all the difficulty there appears in it; a divine power will undertake it, not the power of an angel employed in it, as in other works of wonder, but the power of <i>the Holy Ghost</i> himself.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">(2.) She must <i>ask no questions</i> concerning the way and manner how it shall be wrought; for the Holy Ghost, as the <i>power of the Highest</i>, shall <i>overshadow</i> her, as the <i>cloud</i> covered the tabernacle when the glory of God took possession of it, to conceal it from those that would too curiously observe the motions of it, and pry into the mystery of it. The formation of every babe in the womb, and the entrance of the spirit of life into it, is a mystery in nature; none knows <i>the way of the spirit, nor how the bones are formed in the womb of her that is with child</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Eccl.11.5" href="/passage/?search=Eccl.11.5">Eccl. 11:5</a>. We were <i>made in secret</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Ps.139.15,Ps.139.16" href="/passage/?search=Ps.139.15,Ps.139.16"><span class="bibleref" title="Ps.139.15">Ps. 139:15</span>, <span class="bibleref" title="Ps.139.16">16</span></a>. Much more was the formation of the child Jesus a <i>mystery</i>; without controversy, <i>great was the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="1Tim.3.16" href="/passage/?search=1Tim.3.16">1 Tim. 3:16</a>. It is a <i>new thing created in the earth</i> (<a class="bibleref" title="Jer.31.22" href="/passage/?search=Jer.31.22">Jer. 31:22</a>), concerning which we must not covet to be <i>wise above what is written</i>.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">(3.) The child she shall conceive is a <i>holy thing</i>, and therefore must not be conceived by <i>ordinary generation</i>, because he must not share in the common corruption and pollution of the human nature. He is spoken of emphatically, <i>That Holy Thing</i>, such as never was; and he shall be called <i>the Son of God</i>, as the Son of the Father by eternal generation, as an indication of which he shall now be formed by the Holy Ghost in the present conception. His human nature must be so produced, as it was fit that should be which was to be taken into union with the divine nature.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">3. It was a further encouragement to her faith to be told that <i>her cousin Elisabeth</i>, though stricken in years, was <i>with child</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Luke.1.36" href="/passage/?search=Luke.1.36">Luke 1:36</a>. Here is an age of wonders beginning, and therefore be not surprised: here is one among thy own relations truly great, though not altogether so great as this; it is usual with God to advance in working wonders. <i>Greater works than these shall ye do</i>. Though Elisabeth was, on the father’s side, of the <i>daughters of Aaron</i> (<a class="bibleref" title="Luke.1.5" href="/passage/?search=Luke.1.5">Luke 1:5</a>), yet on the mother’s side she might be of the house of David, for those two families often intermarried, as an earnest of the uniting of the royalty and the priesthood of the Messiah. <i>This is the sixth month with her that was called barren</i>. This intimates, as Dr. Lightfoot thinks, that all the instances in the Old Testament of those having children that had been long barren, which was above nature, were designed to prepare the world for the belief of a virgin’s bearing a son, which was against nature. And therefore, even in the birth of Isaac, Abraham saw Christ’s day, foresaw such a miracle in the birth of Christ. The angel assures Mary of this, to encourage her faith, and concludes with that great truth, of undoubted certainty and universal use, <i>For with God nothing shall be impossible</i> (<a class="bibleref" title="Luke.1.37" href="/passage/?search=Luke.1.37">Luke 1:37</a>), and, if nothing, then not this. Abraham therefore staggered not at the belief of the divine promise, because he was strong in his belief of the divine power, <a class="bibleref" title="Rom.4.20,Rom.4.21" href="/passage/?search=Rom.4.20,Rom.4.21"><span class="bibleref" title="Rom.4.20">Rom. 4:20</span>, <span class="bibleref" title="Rom.4.21">21</span></a>. No <i>word</i> of God must be <i>incredible to us</i>, as long as no <i>work</i> of God is <i>impossible to him</i>.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">VI. Her acquiescence in the will of God concerning her, <a class="bibleref" title="Luke.1.38" href="/passage/?search=Luke.1.38">Luke 1:38</a>. She owns herself, 1. A believing subject to the divine authority: “<i>Behold, the handmaid of the Lord</i>. Lord, I am at thy service, at thy disposal, to do what thou commandest me.” She objects not the danger of spoiling her marriage, and blemishing her reputation, but leaves the issue with God, and submits entirely to his will. 2. A believing expectant of the divine favour. She is not only content that it should be so, but humbly desires that it may be so: <i>Be it unto me according to thy word</i>. Such a favour as this it was not for her to slight, or be indifferent to; and for what God has <i>promised</i> he will be <i>sought unto</i>; by prayer we must put our <i>amen</i>, or <i>so be it</i>, to the promise. <i>Remember</i>, and perform <i>thy word unto thy servant, upon which thou has caused me to hope</i>. We must, as Mary here, <i>guide</i> our desires by the word of God, and <i>ground</i> our hopes <i>upon</i> it. Be it unto me <i>according to thy word</i>; just so, and no otherwise.</p>
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<p class="tab-1">Hereupon, <i>the angel departed from her</i>; having completed the errand he was sent upon, he returned, to give an account of it, and receive new instructions. Converse with angels was always a transient thing, and soon over; it will be constant and permanent in the future state. It is generally supposed that just at this instant the virgin <i>conceived</i>, by the <i>overshadowing power</i> of the Holy Ghost: but, the scripture being decently silent concerning it, it doth not become us to be <i>inquisitive</i>, much less <i>positive</i>.</p>
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