The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 27

gladness with Lhe emotion ancl experience of the Church; the same losing of self in the sense of an unspenknble loving-kindness; the same boasting in the Lord as he who "fills the hungry with good things, and sends the rich empty away." Mary WB-9 familiar with this song. Her thought would naturally take shape in utterance charged with its spirit nncl imagery, even as it represents the purest forms of Hebrew piety. Yet who can fail to see that her utterance is lifted to a higher plane, and is thrilled by e. higher inspiration? 2. The song of Mary marks the transition from Old Testament to New Testament praise. The Old Testament is present, not only in the language employed throughout, but also (vers. 54, 55) in the earnest laying bold of the singular providence of God towards Israel, and the covenant made with Israel's fathers-" with Abraham &nd bis seed for ever." But the germ of the New Testament is manifest in the special thanksgiving (vers. 48, 49). God the Saviour has appeared, and his might is to be declared in the Son because of whose birth all generations shall call her blessed. Thus the two covenants are united in &ii true Christian praise. The Old Testament is not a thing past; it is completed, and therefore more than ever one posaession ill. Christ. "All the promises of God in him &re yea." " Both theirs and ours thou art, As we and they are thine; Kings, prophets, patriarchs, &11 have put Along the sacred line." 3. Finally, the 11ong of Mary illustrates Ps. :tl. 1-8 : whoso waits patiently for the Lord will, like Mary, know that he inclines to and hears the cry of the soul; and a new song will be givPn to the lips, even praise to our God. The new l!t>ng of the redeemed soul bas its prototype in that which arose Crom the hillside dwelling ill. the uplands of Judah. - Vere. 59-80.-The name-giving, anti whae followed ii. There is a quiet, gentle beauty in the picture of the home life given in ver. 58. The touches of nature in it make us feel our kinship with all the ages. We are told of the flood of congratulations and kind messages which surges towards the happy mother; how the cousins of the priestly families in and around Hebron, and the neighbours scattered over that part o{ northern J udrea, hastened to express their gladness to Zacharias and Elisabeth. Th}. birth of a son of the old age ls the talk of the whole country-side. Our attention is more particularly drawn to the ceremonial connected with the circumcision. Observe-- I. THE IMPOBTAN0E ATTA0BED TO THE NAME IN THE BIBLE. Both in his word to Zacharias and his annunciation to the Virgin the angel is explicit as to the name. So, backwards in all the Hebrew records, the name is regarded as full of significance-e.g. Cain, Abel, Seth, Noah. Changes in character and destiny are marked by changes of name-e.g.,Abram changed into Abraham; Jacob into Israel; Oshea. into Jehoshua; Saul into Paul. The force of the names given to individuals should always be noticed -e.g. Isaac, Ishmael, Jehoshaphat. It is a sign of the deep religious feeling of the Hebrew nation that, in the name, there is so often a part of the ever-adorable name of God-e.g. Elijah, Eli11ha, Jehoshua. The na.me is the witness for personal responsi- bility and personal immortality, a reminder that each of us stands fully out, and alone, before God; that be deals with us separately. Moreover, as the Roman no less than the Hebrew understood, there is a capacity of acting on the imagination and, through the imagination, on the will, in the name. Note, with regard to the name, an interest- ing conjunction between Christian and ,Tewish habits. It was the Jewish custom to declare the name on the day of circumcision; it is a Chrislian custom to declare the name on the day of baptism. As the Hebrew word was the covenant n11roe--that by which the child was to be recognized and individualized in midst of the covenant people-so, theoretically, the name which the parent bestows (not the surname) is that by which the child is individualized in the blood-bought Church of Christ. II. THE DEPARTURE FROM "UBE AND WONT" AT THE CIRCUMCISION OF ZACHABUB's BABE. A practice which had its root in a healthy instinct had come to be an accepted institution-the, naming of the child after one of" the kindred." What should be the name of the ba.be? Surely that of the honoured father. "Not so,~ interposes the mother, who had been instructed by her husband, now dumb and deaf; "he shall be LUKE, 0  18 TITE GOSPEL ACCORDIKO TO ST. LUKE. [u!t. I, 1-flO,