SECT. 17,18.| THE ONLY TRUE AND PROMISED MESSIAH. 381
it is he who is here prophesied of: “Out of thee shall come forth mar onda any Wt yo 1s nw * Ny,”—“ unto me the Messiah; for he shall be of the seed of David, who was of Bethlehem.” He grants, I say, that it is the Messiah that is here prophesied of, though, against Rashi, the Targum, and the text, he would deny that he should be born in Bethlehem. But his interpretation is fond, and forced to serve the present turn, because the Jews know that the Lord Jesus was born there. God speaks to Bethlehem, the city of David, and gives an account how greatly he will magnify it beyond what it then seemed to deserve; and this he will do by raising out of and from that place (not merely from David, who was born at that place) the Messiah, who was to rule his people Israel. This, then, was the place of old designed for the birth of the Messiah, and there was our Lord Jesus born, at the appointed time, of the tribe of Judah and family of David. And there are sundry circumstances giving weight unto this consideration :—
18. First, Whereas the parents of Jesus were outwardly of a mean condition, and living in Galilee, it may be supposed that they were very little known or taken notice of to be of the lineage and off- spring of David; nor, it may be, in their low estate, did they much desire to declare that which would be of no advantage, and per- haps of some hazard unto them: but now their coming unto Beth- lehem, and that whether they would or no, upon the command of public authority, made their house and kindred known unto all the Jews, especially those of the family of David, who were then all of them gathered together in that place. Secondly, There is no just nor appearing reason to be given that should move the Roman emperor to decree that description and enrolment of persons which brought them unto Bethlehem. A matter it was of great charge and trouble to the whole empire, which at that time enjoyed the . greatest peace and tranquillity; the temple of Janus was then shut, and all things in quietness in all parts of the world. Neither was there afterwards any public use made of that enrolment; nor is it certain that it was accomplished in any other nation. But the infinite, holy, wise Governor of all the world puts this into his mind, and incites him on this work, to set mankind into a motion, that two persons of low condition might be brought out of Galilee into Bethlehem, that Jesus might, according unto this prophecy, be born there. Thirdly, It is not likely that Joseph and Mary had any thoughts at that time about the place where the Messiah should be born, and so, probably, had not the least design of removing their habitation unto Bethlehem; or if they had so, yet their doing of it of their own accord might have given advantage unto the Jews to say that the mother of Jesus did not indeed any way belong unto Bethlehem, but only went thither to be delivered, that she might
382 JESUS OF NAZARETH [EXERC. XVII.
report her son the better to be the Messiah. But by this admirable providence of God, all these, and sundry other difficulties of the like nature, are removed out of the way. Their minds are determined ; a journey they must take,—and that at a time very unseasonable for the holy Virgin, when she was so near the time of her delivery,— and be publicly enrolled of the family of David, upon the command of him who never knew aught of that business, which yet none but himself could be instrumental to accomplish. Fourthly, Not long after this, that town of Bethlehem was utterly destroyed, nor hath been for a thousand and six hundred ‘years either great or small among the thousands of Judah. And all these circumstances give much light unto this characteristical presignation of the person of the Messiah from the place of his birth or nativity.
19. The exceptions of the Jews unto the evangelist’s citation of the words of the prophet concern not the testimony itself, nor are, indeed, of any great importance; for,—First, The evangelist intended no more but only to direct unto that testimony which was given unto the nativity of the Messiah at Bethlehem, reciting so much of the words, and in such manner, as to prove by them that which he intended. He took not upon him to repeat every word as they were written by the prophet (which he might easily have done had he designed it, and that without the least disadvantage unto what he aimed at), but only to declare how the assertion was proved, that the Messiah was to be born at Bethlehem.
Secondly, He useth the words to no other purpose than that for which, by the Jews’ acknowledgment, they were recorded by the prophet; neither, in the alterations that are made in this recital, is there one letter taken from the prophet’s words or added unto them used by him to the advantage of his assertion: which is the whole that the utmost scrupulosist can require in the recital of the words of another by the way of testimony.