26 And in the sixth month the an^l Gabriel was sent from God unto'a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David ; and the virgin's name wot Mary.
28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly fevoured, the Lord is with thee : bles- sed art thou among women.
29 And when she saw Aim, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this
should 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 thv womb, ana bring forth a son, and snalt 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 :
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever ; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
We have in ikese verses^ the announcement of the most maryellous event that ever happened in this world, — ^the incarnation and birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a passage which we should always read with mingled wonder, love and praise.
We should notice, in the first place, the hwly and unassuming manner in which the Saviour of mankind came amongst us. The angel who announced His advent, was sent to an obscure town of Galilee, named Nazareth. The woman who was honoured to be our Lord's mother, was evidently in a humble position of life. Both in her station and her dweUing-plaoe, there was an utter absence of what the world calls '^greatness."
We need not hesitate to conclude, that there was a wise providence in all this arrangement. The Almighly eounsd, which orders all things in heaven and earth, eould just as easily have appointed Jerusalem to be the place of Mary's residence as Nazareth, or could as easily have chosen the daughter of some rich scribe to be our Lord's mother, as a poor woman. But it seemed good that it should not be so. The first advent of Messiah was to be