l neither Hebrew nor Gentile influences e.ccount forJesus, and by Ehowing the originality of the che.re.cter end plan of Jesus, hie sinlessness, his authority, his self-assertion. II. 'l'IIE TRUE HUMANITY OF Jl!:sus. The Son of God did not come e.nd assume for I\ year or two the appearance of a man in his prime. He was born a human Cl,ilu, as truly human e.s any of us, with all bume.n appetites, necessary emotions, and liabilities. Human birth ushers human beings into an existence out of which they cannot retire. So it we.s with our Lord. Ilc lived under the limitations and restrictions which neces- sarily attend human nature. His was a real humanity. "He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one." We think of liitn as for the mcst p:irt a spectator marking the conduct of others and caring for them, but having no ri2-hteousne53 of his own to maintain and continue. We are very conscious of the difficulties of the sancti- fied, but e.re apt to forget that be who sanctifies had the same temptations and the same difficulties. He as well as they had to watch and pray, to cry for aid and for relief, to put from him the views of the world which tempted him to abandon his high purpose. Miraculous birth is not necessarily an incarnation of God. But no miracu- lous birth recorded in the Bible was produced similarly to this. And the preparation thus made for the Incarnation is obvious. The mode of the Incarnation, as well a~ much else regarding it, is obscure; but it may be right to point here to one or two of' its chief lessons or results. 1. Jesus is a Divine Person. That self which has enr been the same in all its acts is Divine. He may act now through his human nature- ee.ting, sleeping, dying-or he may act through his Divine nature; but he who does so is not a man, but God the Son. What we find in Christ is God fumishmg himself with a human body, mind, aud soul, through and in which he as truly lives and works as through and in his Divine nature. Being the same Person after his incarnation as before, he took our nature " that he might taste death for every man ; " that he might, that is, he who was already existing before he became Man. His Divine nature could not die, but he means to taste death, and therefore takes a nature which can suffer death. In tht death on the cross no person died but the Son of God. 2. Another lesson of the Incarnation, if not of the Nativity, is too important to overlook. If we would learn how to benefit our fellow-men, we must study our Lord's method. Looking upon us who were infinitely beneath him, e.nd desiring to bring us up more nearly to bis level, he saw that the way to do so was to become one of us; to come among us and share with us in all but sin. There is probably more in this example than we are alwn.ys willing to admit. We spee.k of raising the masses. One would take Christ's way of doing so who should himself become a sharer in their condition; who should give up his own pleasant, healthy residence and live e.mong those he desires to benefit; who should give up his own lucrative profession and engage in the en.me kind of labour they are engaged in; who should put himself, with his education, his right views of what life should and might be, at their disposal; and should thus be among them a con'.inual exe.mple and help. He would thus muke their wrongs hi.s own wrongs, and e.s he raised himself raise his class.-D.
Vers. 1-17.-Tlie pedigree. "The book of the genealogy," etc. This is not the general title of the First Gospel, but rather the particular title of these sixteen or seven- teen verses. The scroll, or writing of divorcement, which the Talmudists say consisted exactly of " twelve lines," is called e. ln"blion, or "book" ( eh. xix. 7). So the "book of Ibe genealogy of Jesus Christ" mny be understood to describe the single skin on which the words immediately before us were originally written. Vitringa remarks that the expression concerning tho "names" in the "book of life," in Rev. iii. 5, alludes to the genealogical tables of the Jewish priests (see Ezro. ii. G2; Nch. vii. G4), as the" white 1·aiment" mentioned there does to the priestly dress. - I. Tms 18 THE GENEALOGY OF JEsus Al\. THE CHRIST. 1. This ia implied in his description, "'l'be Son of David, the Son df Abre.be.m," (1) David had many sous. So had he very many descendants. Abraham had e. still more numerous posterity. But amidst all the sons of David and of Abraham Jcsull is" the Son" (see Bishop Middleton, 'Gr. Art.,' p. 163). So likewise is he "the Sou·;,{ man." Here is a mark 22 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTIIEW. [cu. 1. 1-26.