Of this corruption Christ must have participated, if he had been born in the way of other men : for " who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one c," says Job: and again, " How can he be clean that is born of a woman d?" In this case, he could not have been " a Lamb without spot or blemish ;" and consequently not a proper sacrifice for sin. He must be without sin himself, if he is to take away the sins ofotherse; and " offer himself without spot to God," if he is to purge away the guilt of a ruined world f.]
3. That the Scriptures might be fulfilled in him —
[The very first promise which announced his future birth, designated him as exclusively " the Seed of the woman g." We might not perhaps have so limited the import of that passage, if subsequent prophecies had not thrown the true light upon it : but Isaiah expressly says, that " a virgin shall conceive, and bring forth a Son, and shall call his name Emmanuel11; and an inspired Apostle assures us, that this Scripture had an exact and literal accomplishment in the birth of Jesus1. The Pro- phet Jeremiah also, encouraging the Jews to return to their native land, tells them, that " God would create a new thing there, namely, A woman should compass a mank;" that is, should bear a man-child in her virgin state, which had never taken place from the foundation of the world, and which would in a peculiar manner require the exercise of his all-creating power. Now the Scriptures cannot be broken : if therefore Jesus was to be the Messiah spoken of in the prophets, he must be born in this very manner ; and the honour of bearing him must be enjoyed in this way alone.]
From the conferring the honour, we are naturally led to consider, II. Her acceptance of it —
Here, while we behold her virgin modesty, un- alloyed with any mixture of pride or boasting, we are of necessity called to admire,
1. Her faith in the promise —
[When Zacharias, an aged and pious priest, had been informed by the angel that he should have a son in his old age, he doubted the truth of it, and required a sign for the confirmation of his faith1: but when this holy Virgin was told of a thing far less credible, she doubted not one single moment: her question was, not for the assuring of her mind about the
c Job xiv. 4.
d Job xxv. 4.
e 1 John iii. 5
f Heb. ix. 14.
s Gen. iii. 15.
h Isai. vii. 14.
1 Matt. i. 22, 23.
k Jer. xxxi. 22.
1 ver. 18—20.