The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 18

Hebrew girl WB8 a desoend1mt of Davi.-!. In throne of Dl\vid, of a kingdom In Jacob to re•peot to the virgin's family, we read th,,t which ehould con1e no en,!. The people, she was a couein or kinswoman of Elisabeth. through all the ohl\niiing fortune of crupil'es, Thie would at least ally her closely to the have been indeed stranply kept dietinct priestly raoe. Dean Plumptre quotes one and separate, ready for tlle mighty ohm1go: out of the many ancient apocryphal legends but the eventful hour still tarries. It baa current respecting Mary of Nazareth, deem- been well observed how St. Luke'■ report of in,: it worthy of mention 68 having left ite the angel's words here could never hnve been impress on Christian art. " The name of the a forgery-ns ono school of critire nseorts- virgin's mother was Anne. Mary mrpasscd of the second century. Would nny writer in the maidellB of her own age in wiedom. the second oentury, after the failure of Jesus There were many who early sought her in among the Jews was well known, when the marriage. The sui ton agreed to decide fall of Jerusalem had alre11dy ta.Ice a pla.ce, their claims by laying their rode before the have me.de an angel prophesy what is ex- holy plROe, and seeing whioh budded. Ii pressed here? wu thus that Joseph became betrothed to Ver. 35.-The Holy Ghost ahall oome upon her." The same scholar adds. "The absenoe thee, and the power of the Highest shall of any mention of her parents in the Gospel■ overshadow thee. Again the angel make• suggests the thought that she was an orphan, use of the term " Highest" when alluding and the whole narrative of the nativity pre- to the eternal Father. The expression of 1upposes poverty I The name Mary is the Ga.briel, "the power of the Highest shall IIBJDe as Miriam or Marah." (On the ques- overshadow thee," reminds us of the openin tion of the genealogy recorded by St. Luke, words of Genesis. where the writer describes see note on oh. iii. 23.) the dawn of life in crention in the words, Ver. 28.-Rail, thou that art highly fa. "The Spirit of God moved [or, 'brooded 'l ,rourecl. The p ~ gratia of the Vulgate, over the face of the deep." "The Word eaid and sung so often in the virgin's famous was conceived in the womb of a woman, not hymn, ii an inaccurate rendering. Ratller, after the manner of men, but by the singular, "gratil cumul,ata," as it has been well ren- powerful, invisible, immediate operation of dered." Having been much graced (by God)" the Holy Ghost, whereby a virgin was, is the literal translation of the Greek word. beyond the law of nature, enabled to eo!}• Bleued &rt thou amo:a.g women. These words ceive, nnd that which was conceived in her must Le struck out; they do not exist in the was originally and completely sanctified " older authorities. (art. iii., Bishop Pearson on the Creed). Ver. 29.-She was troubled; more accu- Ver. 38.-Behold the handmaid of the rately, she wa, greatly troub1.ed. Different Lord ; be it 11.Ilto me aocording to thy word. to Zacharias, who evidently doubted in the "God's message," writes Godet, " by the mission of the angel, and who required some mouth of the o.ngel wo.s not o. command. sign before he could believe, Mary simply The part Mary had to fulfil ma,le no demands wondered at the strangeneas of what was on her. It only remained, therefore, for about to happen. Her terror at the sudden Mary to ronsent to the conscq uences of the appearance of the angel, wbo probably ap- Divine offer. She gives thi~ consent in a peared to her DB a young man clad in garments word at once simple and sublime, which of a strange dazzliug whiteness, is most involved the most <.:xtraor,linury act of faith nature.I. that a wom11n ever consented to nccomplish. Ver.31.-JESUS; the ordinary Greek form, !hry accepts the sacrifice of that which is &he well-known Hebrew Jehosltua, the short- dearer to a young maiden tho.n her very ened Joshua, "The Salvation of Jehovah." life, and thereby becomes pre-eminently the Ver. 32.-The Son of the Highest. It ii heroine of Israel, the ideal daughter of Zion." eingnle.r that thi.i! title, given by the angel Nor was the immediate trouble and sorrow to the yet unborn child, was the one given which she foresaw would soon compass her to the Redeemer by the evil spirit in the round by any means the whole burden whit'h case of the poor possessed (see Mark v. 7). submission to the angel's message wou.1d Is this the title, or one of the titles, by which bring upon the shrinking NaHreth maidej1. our Master is known in that greater world The lot proposed to her would bring probe.b y beyund our knowledge? The throne of hia in its wake unknown suff~rings as well ea father David; clearly indicating that Mary untold blessedness. We may with all re- herself was of royal linooge, although this verenoe think Mary already feeling the first is nowl,ere defillltely stated (see Ps. cx.xxii. piercings in her heart of that sharp sword 11 ). 1'hese words of the angel are as yet which was one day to wound so deeply the unfulfilled. 1'hey clearly speak of a restora- mother of sorrows; yet in spite of all this, in tion of Israel, still, as far as we can see, very full view of the present woe, which submis- diste.11t. Nearly nineb"1in centuries have sion to the Divine will would forthwith bring lJRM0il siu01, Guhriel spoke of a restored upon her, with an rmknown future of sorrow Cl!, I. 1-80,) THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. 9