Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 1:35

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

35. shall overshadow thee ] as with the Shechinah and Cloud of Glory (see on Luk 2:9, Luk 9:34). See the treatise on the Shechinah in Meuschen, pp. 701 739. On the high theological mystery see Pearson On the Creed, Art. iii. See on Luk 2:9.

that holy thing ] “Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,” Heb 7:26. “Who did no sin,” 1Pe 2:22.

which shall be born of thee ] Rather, which is in thy womb. Gal 4:4, “born of a woman.”

the Son of God ] This title is given to our Lord by almost every one of the sacred writers in the N. T. and in a multitude of passages.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee – See Mat 1:20.

The power of the Highest … – This evidently means that the body of Jesus would be created by the direct power of God. It was not by ordinary generation; but, as the Messiah came to redeem sinners – to make atonement for others, and not for himself it was necessary that his human nature should be pure, and free from the corruption of the fall. God therefore prepared him a body by direct creation that should be pure and holy. See Heb 10:5.

That holy thing … – That holy progeny or child.

Shall be called the Son of God – This is spoken in reference to the human nature of Christ, and this passage proves, beyond controversy, that one reason why Jesus was called the Son of God was because he was begotten in a supernatural manner. He is also called the Son of God on account of his resurrection, Rom 1:4; Act 13:33, compared with Psa 2:7.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 35. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee] This conception shall take place suddenly, and the Holy Spirit himself shall be the grand operator. The power, , the miracle-working power, of the Most High shall overshadow thee, to accomplish this purpose, and to protect thee from danger. As there is a plain allusion to the Spirit of God brooding over the face of the waters, to render them prolific, Ge 1:2, I am the more firmly established in the opinion advanced on Mt 1:20, that the rudiments of the human nature of Christ was a real creation in the womb of the virgin, by the energy of the Spirit of God.

Therefore also that holy thing (or person) – shall be called the Son of God.] We may plainly perceive here, that the angel does not give the appellation of Son of God to the Divine nature of Christ; but to that holy person or thing, , which was to be born of the virgin, by the energy of the Holy Spirit. The Divine nature could not be born of the virgin; the human nature was born of her. The Divine nature had no beginning; it was God manifested in the flesh, 1Ti 3:16; it was that Word which being in the beginning (from eternity) with God, Joh 1:2, was afterwards made flesh, (became manifest in human nature,) and tabernacled among us, Joh 1:14. Of this Divine nature the angel does not particularly speak here, but of the tabernacle or shrine which God was now preparing for it, viz. the holy thing that was to be born of the virgin. Two natures must ever be distinguished in Christ: the human nature, in reference to which he is the Son of God and inferior to him, Mr 13:32; Joh 5:19; Joh 14:28, and the Divine nature which was from eternity, and equal to God, Joh 1:1; Joh 10:30; Ro 9:5; Col 1:16-18. It is true, that to Jesus the Christ, as he appeared among men, every characteristic of the Divine nature is sometimes attributed, without appearing to make any distinction between the Divine and human natures; but is there any part of the Scriptures in which it is plainly said that the Divine nature of Jesus was the Son of God? Here, I trust, I may be permitted to say, with all due respect for those who differ from me, that the doctrine of the eternal Sonship of Christ is, in my opinion, anti-scriptural, and highly dangerous. This doctrine I reject for the following reasons: –

1st. I have not been able to find any express declaration in the Scriptures concerning it.

2dly. If Christ be the Son of God as to his Divine nature, then he cannot be eternal; for son implies a father; and father implies, in reference to son, precedency in time, if not in nature too. Father and son imply the idea of generation; and generation implies a time in which it was effected, and time also antecedent to such generation.

3dly. If Christ be the Son of God, as to his Divine nature, then the Father is of necessity prior, consequently superior to him.

4thly. Again, if this Divine nature were begotten of the Father, then it must be in time; i.e. there was a period in which it did not exist, and a period when it began to exist. This destroys the eternity of our blessed Lord, and robs him at once of his Godhead.

5thly. To say that he was begotten from all eternity, is, in my opinion, absurd; and the phrase eternal Son is a positive self-contradiction. ETERNITY is that which has had no beginning, nor stands in any reference to TIME. SON supposes time, generation, and father; and time also antecedent to such generation. Therefore the conjunction of these two terms, Son and eternity is absolutely impossible, as they imply essentially different and opposite ideas.

The enemies of Christ’s Divinity have, in all ages, availed themselves of this incautious method of treating this subject, and on this ground, have ever had the advantage of the defenders of the Godhead of Christ. This doctrine of the eternal Sonship destroys the deity of Christ; now, if his deity be taken away, the whole Gospel scheme of redemption is ruined. On this ground, the atonement of Christ cannot have been of infinite merit, and consequently could not purchase pardon for the offences of mankind, nor give any right to, or possession of, an eternal glory. The very use of this phrase is both absurd and dangerous; therefore let all those who value Jesus and their salvation abide by the Scriptures. This doctrine of the eternal Sonship, as it has been lately explained in many a pamphlet, and many a paper in magazines, I must and do consider as an awful heresy, and mere sheer Arianism; which, in many cases, has terminated in Socinianism, and that in Deism. From such heterodoxies, and their abetters, may God save his Church! Amen!

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The Holy Ghost (who is also called here the power of the Highest) shall come upon thee; it is a phrase which signifieth a special and peculiar influence of the Holy Spirit: thus we read of the prophets, that the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, 2Ch 20:14, &c., which argued a special influence of the Holy Spirit on them, efficacious, so as it put them upon a present prophesying. There is a common influence of God upon the forming of all children in the womb, Job 10:8; Psa 139:15. But this phrase denotes an extraordinary special influence of the Spirit, changing the order and course of nature, and giving a power to the blood of the virgin by him sanctified, to coagulate alone to the forming of the body of a child: this is more mysteriously yet expressed, by the term overshadow thee, which I take to be a modest phrase, signifying only a supply of mans act, by a Divine creating power, in a most miraculous manner.

Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God, as Adam was called the son of God, Luk 3:38, God (by his creating power) supplying as to him the place of father and mother, and to Christ supplying the place of the father, though not of the mother, for (saith the angel) he shall be

born of thee. But yet that mass of flesh shall be a holy thing, because, though born of thee, and flesh of thy flesh, yet of thy flesh first sanctified, by the Holy Ghost coming upon and overshadowing of thee. He shalt be called so, not that he was not so by eternal generation, (of which the angel here speaks not), but the Word, the eternal Son of God, which was in the beginning, being thus made flesh, and personally united to thy flesh, the whole person shall be called

the Son of God.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

35. Holy Ghost(See on Mt1:18).

power of the highesttheimmediate energy of the Godhead conveyed by the Holy Ghost.

overshadowa wordsuggesting how gentle, while yet efficacious, would be this Power[BENGEL]; and itsmysterious secrecy, withdrawn, as if by a cloud, from human scrutiny[CALVIN].

that holy thing born oftheethat holy Offspring of thine.

therefore . . . Son ofGodThat Christ is the Son of God in His divine and eternalnature is clear from all the New Testament; yet here we see thatSonship efflorescing into human and palpable manifestation by Hisbeing born, through “the power of the Highest,” an Infantof days. We must neither think of a double Sonship, as somedo, harshly and without all ground, nor deny what is here plainlyexpressed, the connection between His human birth and His properpersonal Sonship.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And the angel answered and said unto her,…. The angel gave her an account of the manner in which what he had said should be effected, as well as observed some things for the strengthening of her faith.

The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee. The words, “upon thee”, are left out in the Syriac and Persic versions; but are retained in others, and in all copies: the formation of Christ’s human nature, though common to all the three persons, yet is particularly, and most properly ascribed to the Spirit; not to the first person, the Father, lest it should be thought that he is only the Father of him, as man; nor to the second person, the Son, since it is to him that the human nature is personally united; but to the third person, the Spirit, who is the sanctifier; and who separated, and sanctified it, the first moment of its conception, and preserved it from the taint of original sin. His coming upon the virgin must be understood in consistence with his omnipresence, and immensity; and cannot design any local motion, but an effectual operation in forming the human nature of her flesh and substance; and not in the ordinary manner in which he is concerned in the formation of all men, Job 33:4 but in an extraordinary way, not to be conceived of, and explained. The phrase most plainly answers to , in frequent use with the Jews x, as expressive of coition.

And the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. By “the power of the Highest” is not meant the Lord Jesus Christ, who is sometimes called the power of God; but rather the Holy Ghost, as before, who is styled the finger of God, and power from on high, Lu 11:20 unless it should be thought that the perfection of divine power common to all the three persons is intended: and so points out the means by which the wondrous thing should be performed, even by the power of God; and which should not only be employed in forming the human nature of Christ, but in protecting the virgin from any suspicion and charge of sin, and defending her innocence and virtue, by moving upon Joseph to take her to wife. In the word, “overshadow”, some think there is an allusion to the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters, in Ge 1:2 when, , he brooded upon them, as the word may be rendered; and which is the sense of it, according to the Jewish writers y as a hen, or any other bird broods on its eggs to exclude its young: and others have thought the allusion may be to , z, “the nuptial covering”: which was a veil, or canopy, like a tent, supported on four staves, under which the bridegroom and bride were betrothed; or, as Dr. Lightfoot thinks, it is a modest phrase alluding to the conjugal embraces, signified by a man’s spreading the skirt of his garment over the woman, which Ruth desired of Boaz, Ru 3:9 though the Jewish writers say a, that phrase is

expressive of the act of marriage, or taking to wife. The phrase of being “overshadowed”, or “covered with the spirit of prophecy”, as the virgin also was, is used by the Targumist, on 1Ch 2:55

therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. The human nature of Christ is here called a “thing”; for it was not a person; it never subsisted of itself, but was taken at once into union with the person of the Son of God, otherwise there would be two persons in Christ, whereas he is God, and man, in one person; and it is said to be “holy”, being free from that original pollution and sin, in which all that descend from Adam, by ordinary generation, are conceived, and brought forth; and is, moreover, said to be born of a virgin, “of thee”, or “out of thee”. Christ’s flesh was formed out of the Virgin’s; he took flesh of her; his body did not descend from heaven, or pass through her, as water through a pipe, as some heretics of old said: nor did his human nature, either as to soul or body, pre-exist his incarnation; but in the fulness of time he was made of a woman, and took a true body of her, and a reasonable soul, into union with his divine person; and “therefore should be called the Son of God”: not that he was now to become the “the Son of God”; he was so before his incarnation, and even from all eternity; but he was now to be manifested as such in human nature: nor does the angel predict, that he should, for this reason, be called the Son of God; for he never was, on this account, so called, either by himself, or others: nor is the particle, “therefore”, causal, but consequential: the angel is not giving a reason why Christ should be the Son of God, but why he should be owned, and acknowledged, as such by his people: who would infer, and conclude from his wonderful conception and birth, that he is the “Emmanuel”, God with us, the child that was to be born, and the Son given, whose name should be Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, c. Isa 7:14. Moreover, the word, “also”, is not to be overlooked and the sense is, that seeing that human nature, which should be born of the virgin, would be united to the Son of God, it likewise should bear the same name, being in personal union with him, who was so from all eternity.

x Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7, sect. 4. & passim alibi y R. Sol. Jarchi, R. Aben Ezra, & R. Levi ben Gerson in Gen. 1. 2. z T. Bab. Sota, fol. 49. 2. Vid. David de Pomis, Lex. Heb p. 67. 2. a Targum, Jarchi, & Aben Ezra in loc.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Shall overshadow thee (). A figure of a cloud coming upon her. Common in ancient Greek in the sense of obscuring and with accusative as of Peter’s shadow in Ac 5:15. But we have seen it used of the shining bright cloud at the Transfiguration of Jesus (Matt 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:34). Here it is like the Shekinah glory which suggests it (Ex 40:38) where the cloud of glory represents the presence and power of God.

Holy, the Son of God (H ). Here again the absence of the article makes it possible for it to mean “Son of God.” See Mt 5:9. But this title, like the Son of Man (H ) was a recognized designation of the Messiah. Jesus did not often call himself Son of God (Mt 27:43), but it is assumed in his frequent use of the Father, the Son (Matt 11:27; Luke 10:21; John 5:19). It is the title used by the Father at the baptism (Lu 3:22) and on the Mount of Transfiguration (Lu 9:35). The wonder of Mary would increase at these words. The Miraculous Conception or Virgin Birth of Jesus is thus plainly set forth in Luke as in Matthew. The fact that Luke was a physician gives added interest to his report.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Shall overshadow. “Denoting the mildest and most gentle operation of divine power, that the divine fire should not consume Mary, but make her fruitful” (Bengel). Compare Exo 33:22; Mr 9:7. Compare the classical legend of Semele, who, being beloved of Jove, besought him to appear to her as he appeared in heaven, in all the terrors of the thunderer, and was consumed by his lightning. The metaphor in the word is taken from a cloud, in which God had appeared (Exo 40:34; 1Ki 8:10).

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “And the angel answered and said unto her,” (kai apokritheis ho angelos eipen aute) “And replying, the angel said to her,” to her earnest and honest inquiry, not only for her benefit but also for that of all men for all times to follow, to explain how Jesus could be born free from sin, Heb 7:26.

2) “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,” (pneuma hagion epeleusetai epi se) “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,” brood over you, as He did to bring form, order, and life to the present creation, Gen 1:2-3; Job 26:13; Job 33:4; Psa 104:30.

3) “And the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee,” (kai dunamis hupsostou episkaisei sli) “And the dynamic power of the most High will overshadow you,” the energy power of the Godhead (the Holy Spirit) who is active in all creation and giving and sustaining of life, will gently come over you like a cloud.

4) “Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee:” (dio ksi to gennomenon hagion) “Wherefore, or as a result also, the Holy one being born “to you,” under these Spirit controlled and veiled conditions, Mat 1:18-25.

5) “Shall be called the Son of God.” (klethesetai huios theos) “Will be called the Son of God,” Miraculously born, Mat 4:3; Mar 1:11; Rom 1:4, for He was and is,” Joh 3:16; For this is the “how” that God’s Son was “made of woman,” the “seed of woman,” for redemptive purposes, Gen 3:15; Gal 4:4-5; 1Ti 3:16. The birth of the second Adam need not seem strange any more than the creation of the first Adam.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

35. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee The angel does not explain the manner, so as to satisfy curiosity, which there was no necessity for doing. He only leads the virgin to contemplate the power of the Holy Spirit, and to surrender herself silently and calmly to his guidance. The word ἐπελεύσεται, shall come upon, denotes that this would be an extraordinary work, in which natural means have no place. The next clause is added by way of exposition, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: for the Spirit may be regarded as the essential power of God, whose energy is manifested and exerted in the entire government of the world, as well as in miraculous events. There is an elegant metaphor in the word ἐπισκιάσει , overshadow. The power of God, by which he guards and protects his own people, is frequently compared in Scripture to a shadow, (Psa 17:8; Psa 57:1; Psa 91:1.) But it appears to have another and peculiar meaning in this passage. The operation of the Spirit would be secret, as if an intervening cloud did not permit it to be beheld by the eyes of men. Now, as God, in performing miracles, withholds from us the manner of his proceedings, so what he chooses to conceal from us ought to be viewed, on our part, with seriousness and adoration.

Therefore also the holy thing which shall be born This is a confirmation of the preceding clause: for the angel shows that Christ must not be born by ordinary generation, (29) that he may be holy, and that he may be the Son of God; that is, that in holiness and glory he may be high above all creatures, and may not hold an ordinary rank among men. Heretics, who imagine that he became the Son of God after his human generation, seize on the particle therefore as meaning that he would be called the Son of God, because he was conceived in a remarkable manner by the power of the Holy Spirit. But this is a false conclusion: for, though he was manifested to be the Son of God in the flesh, it does not follow that he was not the Word begotten of the Father before the ages. On the contrary, he who had been the Son of God in his eternal Godhead, appeared also as the Son of God in human flesh. This passage not only expresses a unity of person in Christ, but at the same time points out that, in clothing himself with human flesh, Christ is the Son of God. As the name, Son of God, belonged to the divine essence of Christ from the beginning, so now it is applied unitedly to both natures, because the secret and heavenly manner of generation has separated him from the ordinary rank of men. In other passages, indeed, with the view of asserting that he is truly man, he calls himself the Son of man, (Joh 5:27😉 but the truth of his human nature is not inconsistent with his deriving peculiar honor above all others from his divine generation, having been conceived out of the ordinary way of nature by the Holy Spirit. This gives us good reason for growing confidence, that we may venture more freely to call God our Father, because his only Son, in order that we might have a Father in common with him, chose to be our brother.

It ought to be observed also that Christ, because he was conceived by a spiritual power, is called the holy seed For, as it was necessary that he should be a real man, in order that he might expiate our sins, and vanquish death and Satan in our flesh; so was it necessary, in order to his cleansing others, that he should be free from every spot and blemish, (1Pe 1:19.) Though Christ was formed of the seed of Abraham, yet he contracted no defilement from a sinful nature; for the Spirit of God kept him pure from the very commencement: and this was done not merely that he might abound in personal holiness, but chiefly that he might sanctify his own people. The manner of conception, therefore, assures us that we have a Mediator separate from sinners, (Heb 7:26.)

(29) “ Christum opportere absque viri et mulieris coitu nasci.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(35) The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee.See Note on Luk. 1:15. Here, however, the context would suggest to one familiar with the sacred writings, another aspect of the Spirits work, as quickening the dead chaos into life (Gen. 1:2), as being the source of life to all creation (Psa. 104:30).

The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.The divine name is used in obvious harmony with the Son of the Highest in Luk. 1:32.

Therefore also . . . shall be called the Son of God.The words appear to rest the title, Son of God, rather on the supernatural birth than on the eternal pre-existence of the Son as the Word that was in the beginning with God and was God (Joh. 1:1), and we may accept the fact that the message of the angel was so far a partial, not a complete, revelation of the mystery of the Incarnation. It gave a sufficient reason for the name which should be given to the Son of Mary, and more was not then required.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

35. The Holy Ghost The definite article is not in the Greek. The phrase holy spirit here designates not the third person in the trinity; for, then, he would be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; but the same holy spirit of Deity which brooded upon chaos and produced the creation.

Come upon thee See Act 1:8.

The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee The pure Spirit of God should sanctify her nature and render her the holy mother of the Son of God.

Overshadow thee By an act of power as pure as the shadow of a cloud shed down upon thee, shall God be the creative father of thy holy son.

The holy thing That totality which is born of thee, including both human and divine, is holy, a holy thing. Its human flesh and blood, though drawn from a fallen source, shall, as they form into his being, be pure as the first Adam, by association with the divine. Him hath God sanctified and sent through the ordinary pathway of birth into the world. Joh 10:36. So that Christ taking our nature took not its sin.

Shall be called the Son of God Because the second person in the Trinity is by this divine operation, and this human conception and birth, incarnated in his person. Undoubtedly the production of the human birth by Deity entitles even the human person of our Saviour to the appellation Son of God. Yet primarily this title, taking its starting point from the divinity, descends to include the humanity. On the other hand, the title Son of man, beginning with his humble humanity, takes in its glorified state, and even its union with the divine.

The idea of a god become incarnate, and thus a god-man, it is often said abounds in heathen mythology, and so in Christianity is a plagiary. But though heathenism has her gods incarnate, she never rose to the thought of the infinite and eternal God assuming humanity upon his divinity. That Hercules should be begotten of Jove, or Achilles be born of the goddess Thetis, are small fables, bearing no analogy to the true Incarnation. And even the incarnations of Vishnu in Hindoo mythology are merely the goings forth of the god himself under the mere shape of animal or man. They are not a real divinity in a real humanity, a unity of the two complete personal natures, perfect God and perfect man, constituting one God-man.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And the angel answered and said to her,

“The Holy Spirit will come on you,

And the power of the Most High will overshadow you,

For which reason also he who is born will be holy,

He will be called the Son of God.”

As we consider this verse we have to pause in hushed reverence, for none of us can even begin fully to appreciate its significance. It is beyond human thought and understanding. It was not a man who would come on her and cast his shadow over her, but the Holy Spirit, the power of the Most High. That is why the One to be born would be the ‘Son of the Most High’. And the result would be that conceived within her by that great creative power would be One Who was ‘holy’ or ‘a holy thing’, Who would be a man and yet ‘called the Son of God’. And why would He be called the Son of God? Because He was begotten of the Holy Spirit, because He was the begotten of God (compare Joh 1:14; Joh 1:18; 1Jn 5:1). This is the clear implication. So in these combined sets of words of the angel we have a clear indication of the supernatural birth and status of the One Who was coming, as well as the clear indication that He would be the Messiah, and more than the Messiah. In Marks’ words He would be ‘the Son of God’. In John’s words, He would be the eternal ‘Word made flesh’.

But we should note that we are simply told of what will happen. No attempt is made to describe Mary’s actual experience. This was no crude event susceptible to man’s description. It was rather the result of God’s creative and active power bringing about conception, probably without Mary at the time even being aware of it. She would probably not even know the moment when conception took place.

The Holy Spirit was to fill John from his mother’s womb, but the One described here comes because the Holy Spirit comes on Mary and works within her in divine power, before He is in the womb, producing One Who is in His manhood ‘of the Spirit’ even in His conception. For the idea of ‘overshadowing’, compare the cloud which overshadows both Jesus and His three Apostles in Luk 9:34. It is a way of indicating that God is present and acting.

John and Jesus are in fact seen as contrasted in a number of ways:

The messenger is call Yo-annen (YHWH is gracious – Luk 1:13), the Son is called Ye-sous (YHWH is salvation – Luk 1:31).

The messenger is called ‘the prophet of the Most High’ (Luk 1:76), the Son is called ‘the Son of the Most High’ (Luk 1:32).

The messenger is filled with the Holy Spirit after he is conceived (Luk 1:15), the Son is conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luk 1:35).

The messenger comes to proclaim the One Who is coming, the Son comes in order to be the Coming One, the everlasting King.

The messenger would be ‘great in the sight of the Lord’ (Luk 1:15), the Son would essentially  be  great (Luk 1:32), great in every way.

Excursus: The Question of ‘The Virgin Birth’.

We do not have time here to enter into a full discussion of this subject and those who are studying the Bible with the help of this commentary for devotional reasons may pass this note over. But for some for whom it may be a problem, because of the way in which the idea has been inflated, we would say a few words.

For eighteen hundred years there was no doubt about the exegesis of this passage except by those who approached it with their minds already made up, and with a determination to excise the idea of birth through a virgin. We must not read back modern scholarship to those attempts. And the only way in which it can now be interpreted in any other way is by excising the ‘inconvenient’ verses and phrases. But the trouble is that those verses and phrases are really inconvenient, for they are full of characteristic Lucan terminology. It is impossible to believe that an interpolater would make them so Lucan. And as we have seen they are part of a chiastic construction which forbids us to remove them. So it may well be argued that if they are rejected, it is not for sound scholastic reasons, but because they are inconvenient.

However, one point we must make before we continue is that these verses are speaking of something unique. They are not speaking of a ‘virgin birth’ is any sense understood elsewhere. They are not really dealing with ‘a virgin birth’ in any sense in which the term is used elsewhere, but with the supernatural way in which God brought Himself into the world as ‘made man’ through a virgin. It is never spoken of in Scripture as ‘the virgin birth’ as though that was somehow a central teaching. That He did it through a virgin was seen as necessary so that He might be called ‘holy’, for no ‘used’ channel could produce a ‘holy thing’. But this was not to speak of a ‘virgin birth’ like any of those others so often cited. Those were stories of intercourse between gods in the form of humans, and virgins who were humans (or between gods and goddesses, the latter far from true virgins). They were crude polytheistic stories intended to titillate men and illustrate the activities of the gods. They were not in any way even parallel to this sober account in Luke, and strictly speaking once the event had taken place the women in those stories were no longer virgins. There were also occasional references to the idea of a birth through ‘spiritual’ activity. But none that parallel the account here which is solidly based on Hebrew ideas.

Here in this account we read of a virgin who remained a virgin throughout. She underwent no sexual relations with either god or man. What she would experience would be the power of God at work upon her and within her. There was nothing sexual about it at all. It was a miracle of creation and incarnation. It was unique in the history of mankind, apart from the mooted possibility described in Isa 7:14. It was a ‘virgin birth’ only because she was a virgin, and a child was born.

The truth, of course, is that if we study the Scriptures we would expect ‘the Son of the Most High’ to be born of a virgin. When a beast was a firstling set apart for God it had not to be worked or sheared (Deu 15:19). When the Ark was carried into Jerusalem it was on ‘a new cart’ (2Sa 6:3 compare 1Sa 6:7). When Jesus rode into Jerusalem it was on a colt that had never been ridden (Luk 19:30). Thus the birth of the Son of the Most High had to be through a woman Who had never had relations with a man, as in Isa 7:14. No Jew would ever have doubted it.

And this had been prepared for by a number of ‘miraculous’ births of lesser mortals who were chosen by God from the womb. Thus apart from John the Baptiser himself we have Isaac (Gen 17:17; Gen 18:11-14), Samuel (1Sa 1:6; 1Sa 1:20) and Samson (Jdg 13:2-3). But in all those cases a man had been involved. Here no man was involved. Jesus was greater than all.

However, the problem often raised is then as to why this birth was not described as such, or even mentioned, by Mark and John and Paul and Peter? We would not, of course, expect them to speak of a ‘virgin birth’, which would simply be careless and indicate a crude polytheistic idea to Gentiles unless very closely guarded and protected, but why do they give no hint as to what did happen here?

The answer, of course lies in the fact that they did give such a hint. Every passage that reveals the deity of Jesus demands this unique form of birth. No Jew could have seen it otherwise. Mark assumes it in his description of Jesus as the unique Son of God. John includes it when he speaks of the Word as the only begotten Son. Paul includes it when he speaks of the Son as having come forth from the Father, and as bearing the Name which is above every Name, the name of YHWH (LXX ‘LORD’). Peter includes it when he speaks of Jesus as ‘the LORD Jesus Christ’ (1Pe 1:3) and refers to the Holy Spirit as ‘the Spirit of Christ’ (1Pe 1:11) and to ‘our God and Saviour Jesus Christ’ (2Pe 1:2). For not one of these would have conceived of God being made man through any other than a virgin. It would have been incompatible with Scripture. God could not have come into the world through a ‘used’ or tainted vehicle. Anything connected directly with God had to be unused and untainted. The very fact of having engaged in copulation would have been seen as connecting with sin, not because sex is a sin, but because it is the act of sinful man in producing a sinner. Sexual reproduction was always seen as tainted by sin. That is why sexual relations were seen as producing ‘uncleanness’, and abstinence from sexual relationships was often seen as a requirement for meeting with God (Exo 19:15; 1Sa 21:5). Sexual relations would have been seen as defiling the channel through which the birth took place. All would have recognised that God could not come into the world through a defiled channel. It did not even need to be said.

And there was certainly good reason why they should not refer to ‘the virgin birth’ specifically. To do so would have been to put the emphasis in the wrong place, and to ask to have been misunderstood. No one wanted to put the emphasis on Mary when considering His birth, as the idea of the ‘virgin birth’ would have done. It is only the much later church that emphasised Mary in this way. The emphasis here was on God. Mary was certainly the source of His manhood. But what was important to the early church, who knew that Jesus was a man, was that this true man was also truly God. And both Matthew and Luke can only speak of the subject, which  we  describe as ‘a virgin birth’, because they do so carefully and in a way that is hedged around against misunderstanding. But  neither speak of ‘a virgin birth’  in those words. They rather speak of God’s remarkable activity in and through a pure medium, a virgin. To have broached the subject in any other way would have invited the kind of response which they would have seen as blasphemous, and would therefore be seen as best avoided when it was not necessary. The actual birth story could not have been told without mentioning the fact that Mary was a virgin. But outside that to speak of it was unnecessary, for it was nowhere used as an arguing point in order to prove Who Jesus was, and had it been used in that way it would simply have invited ribald comment. But to all who knew and loved Him it would have been seen as being as obvious as the fact that God had created the world.

End of Excursus.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

DISCOURSE: 1467
THE ANGELS MESSAGE TO MARY

Luk 1:35; Luk 1:38. And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word.

AS none can tell what devices Satan is plotting for their ruin, or what snares he may bring them into; so none can tell what thoughts of peace and love God may have towards them, or what mercies he may speedily vouchsafe unto them. Little did the persecuting Saul think, when on his journey to Damascus, what God would do for him before he leached the place of his destination: and as little did the blessed Virgin imagine, when engaged in her domestic duties, what was in reserve for her, or what a single day should bring forth. The time fixed in the Divine counsels came at last, when the Messiah was to be brought into the world; and the Virgin Mother was to be informed of Gods designs respecting her. Methinks, at the first address of the angelic messenger, she was filled with surprise and terror: but having been fully instructed respecting that peculiar favour which God had prepared for her, she acquiesced in the Divine proposals, and committed herself with all her concerns, into the hands of her Almighty Friend.
We propose to consider,

I.

The honour promised her

She was informed, that God had ordained her to be the happy instrument of bringing into the world his only dear Son: and, on her inquiring how that should be accomplished in her virgin state, she was told that the Holy Ghost, who at the first creation of the world moved upon the face of the waters, and reduced the chaotic mass to order and beauty, should, by his almighty power, form in her that Holy Being, who should, in his human as well as his divine nature, be the Son of God.
But here a question arises, why should the Messiah be born in this way? Why might not the privilege of bearing him be vouchsafed to her in a way more agreeable to the common course of nature? We answer, that there was, if we may so speak, a necessity for it:

1.

That he might not be involved in Adams guilt

[Adam was not a mere individual, but the head and representative of all his posterity; and, when he violated the covenant which God had made with him, he brought a curse, not on himself only, but on all his descendants also. This is evident from the death of infants, who cannot have contracted personal guilt, and yet suffer the punishment of sin. This could not be, if sin, in some shape or other, were not imputed to them. It is by the transgression of Adam that they are accounted sinners, and that judgment comes upon them to condemnation [Note: Rom 5:12-19.]. In Adam all died [Note: 1Co 15:22.].

Now if the Lord Jesus had descended from him in the common way, he would have lain under the same sentence of condemnation with others, and therefore would have needed a deliverer himself, instead of becoming a deliverer to others.]

2.

That he might not partake of Adams corruption

[When Adam fell, he became corrupt in every member of his body, and in every faculty of his soul. And we are particularly informed, that he begat a son in his own likeness, not in the likeness of God in which he was created, but in his own image as a fallen creature. An awful evidence of this truth he soon beheld, in Cains hatred, and murder, of righteous Abel.

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 [Note: Job 14:4.], says Job: and again, How can he be clean that is born of a woman [Note: Job 25:4.]? 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 of others [Note: 1Jn 3:5.]; and offer himself without spot to God, if he is to purge away the guilt of a ruined world [Note: Heb 9:14.].]

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 [Note: Gen 3:15.].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 Emmanuel [Note: Isa 7:14.]; and an inspired Apostle assures us, that this Scripture had an exact and literal accomplishment in the birth of Jesus [Note: Mat 1:22-23.]. The Prophet 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 man [Note: Jer 31:22.]; 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, unalloyed 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 faith [Note: ver. 1820.]: 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 truth of the promise, but merely for information respecting the mode of its accomplishment. Now in this she shewed the eminence of her piety: and for this she was particularly commended by God himself, who inspired Elizabeth, at the first appearance of the Virgin, to exclaim, Blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord [Note: ver. 45.].. It was such an exercise of faith that made Abraham so distinguished among all the sons of men, and so eminently beloved of his God [Note: Rom 4:3; Rom 4:13; Rom 4:18-22.]. This also was the grace which most particularly characterized all the saints of old [Note: Hebrews 11.]; which also our blessed Lord invariably honoured with his peculiar approbation; which therefore should exalt his Virgin mother exceeding highly in our esteem.]

2.

Her submission to the appointment

[She could not but know that the honour proposed for her acceptance might entirely ruin her character, and possibly even affect her life: for God himself had commanded, that a virgin betrothed should, if unfaithful to her engagements, be punished with death, exactly as she would have been if actually married [Note: Deu 22:23-24.]. On these grounds she might well have suggested doubts, and inquired, how she should be protected from these awful consequences. But she felt no doubt, but that He, whose power and love could confer upon her the proposed honour, would exercise a watchful care over her, and either entirely prevent, or richly recompense, these dreaded evils. Like Abraham, who at the call of God went out, not knowing whither he went, she cheerfully committed herself to the Divine protection, knowing in whom she had believed, and assured that he would never leave her nor forsake her. That there was just ground for such fears, appears by the very purpose which Joseph formed, of putting her away as an adulteress: and which was only prevented by the intervention of God himself, who sent an angel to inform him by what means she was pregnant, and to commend her to his peculiar care.

Here again we cannot but admire that resignation and fortitude, whereby she rose superior to all those fears and apprehensions, which such a situation was calculated to inspire.]

3.

Her gratitude for the favour

[At the first, as we might expect, her frame was that of meek and humble submission. But, when she had had time to reflect upon the greatness of the mercy vouchsafed unto her, and the blessings which would come upon the world by her means, she broke forth into the most exalted strains of praise: My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. She justly acknowledged, that, He who was mighty had done to her great things, in the contemplation of which all generations would call her blessed. She viewed with ineffable delight the accomplishment of that promise which had been made to Abraham; and doubtless, to the latest moment of her life, adored that God, who had made use of her as his honoured instrument to fulfil it.]

In the review of this mysterious subject, we may learn,
1.

How God fulfils his promises

[The difficulty here seemed insurmountable: the Son of God, in order to redeem them that were under the law, must be made under the law, yet not really obnoxious to its curse; and be made of a woman, subject to all the infirmities of our nature, and yet be free from sin [Note: Gal 4:4-5. Heb 2:17; Heb 4:15.]. But God is never at a loss: with him nothing is impossible: he devised and executed a plan, whereby we might have such an high-priest as became us, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners [Note: Heb 7:26.]; a plan, that filled all heaven with wonder. Thus, in other dispensations of his providence and grace, he often permits difficulties to arise, which preclude all hope of our attaining the object of our desire. But, in the best and fittest season, he interposes, and makes light to arise in obscurity, and our darkness to be as the noon-day. At this hour, as much as in the days of Abraham, is that saying true, In the mount the Lord shall be seen.]

2.

How we ought to receive them

[Amongst the many promises which God has given us, there is one exceeding great and precious, not unlike to that which has been the subject of our present consideration; namely, that Christ shall be formed in our hearts [Note: Gal 4:19,]; that being so formed, he shall dwell in us [Note: Eph 3:17.]; and that so dwelling in us, he shall be to us the hope of glory [Note: Col 1:27.]. This promise is even greater than that which was fulfilled to the blessed Virgin, inasmuch as a spiritual union with the Lord exceeds that which is merely carnal [Note: Luk 11:27-28.]. And how should we receive this promise? I answer, precisely as the blessed Virgin did. We should not stagger at it through unbelief: we should not account it too good for his love to grant, or too great, for his power to execute. We should be alike unmoved by either the difficulties that may obstruct its accomplishment, or the dangers that may follow it. Our reputation, our interests, our life, we should commit to the hands of a faithful Creator, equally ready to suffer for him, or to he more illustrious monuments of his paternal care. O happy should we be, if in this manner we could embrace every promise he has given us, and in full expectation of its accomplishment say, Behold the servant of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Ver. 35. The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee ] As once he did the confused chaos in the creation. This very expression was a great confirmation to the Virgin’s faith, and may well serve for a caution to us not to be overcurious in searching into this secret.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Luk 1:35 . : without the article because a proper name = the well-known Holy Spirit, say some (Meyer, Farrar), but more probably because the purpose is not to indicate the person by whom, etc., but the kind of influence: spirit as opposed to flesh, holy in the sense of separation from all fleshly defilement (Hofmann, J. Weiss, Hahn). : the power of the Most High, also without article, an equivalent for . ., and more definite indication of the cause, the power of God. Note the use of as the name of God in Luk 1:32 , here, and in Luk 1:76 . Feine ( Vorkanonische berlieferung des Lukas , p. 17) includes , (Luk 1:49 ), (Luk 2:29 ), (Luk 1:6 ; Luk 1:9 ; Luk 1:11 , etc.), all designations of God, among the instances of a Hebraistic vocabulary characteristic of chaps. 1 and 2. The first epithet recurs in Luk 6:35 in the expression “sons of the Highest,” applied to those who live heroically, where Mt. has “children of your Father in heaven”. , : two synonyms delicately selected to express the divine substitute for sexual intercourse. Observe the parallelism here: “sign of the exaltation of feeling. The language becomes a chant,” Godet. Some find poetry throughout these two first chapters of Lk. “These songs doubtless represent reflection upon these events by Christian poets, who put in the mouths of the angels, the mothers and the fathers, the poems which they composed” (Briggs, The Messiah of the Gospels , p. 42. Even the address of Gabriel to Zechariah in the temple, Luk 1:13-17 , is, he thinks, such a poem). , the holy thing holy product of a holy agency which is being, or about to be, generated = the embryo, therefore appropriately neuter. , Son of God; not merely because holy, but because brought into being by the power of the Highest.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

shall overshadow. Compare Exo 33:22. Mar 9:7.

therefore = wherefore.

that holy Thing. See Heb 7:26. 1Pe 2:22, and note on Mat 27:4.

the Son of God = God’s Son. App-98.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Luk 1:35. , the power of the Highest) Often these words are put in conjunction, Spirit and Power, as in Luk 1:17; but in this passage the Power of the Highest rather denotes, by Metonymy,[9] the Highest, whose Power is infinite. So we have the expression, the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1Co 5:4. The coming of the Holy Ghost upon Mary made her fit for receiving the overshadowing of the power of the Highest.- , shall overshadow thee) This overshadowing denotes the mildest and most gentle [most modified] operation of the Divine power, whereby it was effected that the Divine Fire did not consume Mary, but made her fruitful. Comp. Mar 9:7 [the cloud overshadowed them at the transfiguration]; Exo 33:22. Many suppose allusion is here made to , veiled, as a bride. It was not fitting that the will of man or of the flesh should help towards this [the Saviours incarnation]. It was from the substance of Mary that the elements were taken, whatever contributed not only to the , the conception, but also to the nourishment of the holy fetus [embryo]. And this is considered [is to be viewed so], either antecedently to the moment of actual union with the , or else in the very act and state of union. Antecedently to the union, it [what was taken from the substance of the mother] no otherwise than the mother herself, required to be redeemed by virtue of the , redemption, about to be effected through the , God-man, Christ, and was sanctified by the Holy Spirit; and thus it was that the union of the and the flesh, now [made] holy, had place. I may purchase a farm: and out of the produce of that farm, when subsequently well cultivated, I may pay the price for the farm itself, which has become much more valuable since its cultivation. David bought the area [site] of the temple for a few shekels of silver [2Sa 24:24]; but the same area became inestimably valuable, when the temple was built upon it.[10]- , wherefore also) Thus the Angel gives a satisfactory answer to the question, How, Luk 1:34.- ,[11] which is being conceived [given birth to; not as Engl. Vers. Which shall be born]) in this new and extraordinary manner. Abstract terms, and such as are expressed in the neuter gender, are very much in consonance with those first beginnings of the Gospel revelation; Luk 1:68; Luk 1:71; Luk 1:78; Luk 2:25; Luk 2:30; Luk 2:38.-, Holy) This word is regarded by Tertullian, the Syr[12] Version, the author of the discourse against all heresies in Athanasius, and others of the ancients, as part of the predicate, It shall be called Holy, (and) the Son of God. At all events, the sense of the sentence is most full and compressed: There is a something which is to be given birth to: that which is being given birth to, shall be holy; this holy thing shall be called the Son of God. The whole is inferred from the immediately preceding words of the angel, and that in some such way as the following: The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee; wherefore that, which is being given birth to, shall be Holy. The Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; wherefore that Holy thing shall be called the Son of God. Luk 1:32 is parallel to this: Thy Son shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. In Divine things, greatness and holiness very much harmonize. It was concerning this Holy One that the same angel spake in Dan 9:24.

[9] See Append. Here the substitution of the Adjunct (the Power) for the Subject (the Highest).-ED. and TRANSL.

[10] So Jesus purchased our flesh (humanity) by the redemption about to be made by Him, and then afterwards, by the union of the to it, and by the actual paying of the price of His blood, as God-man, made it infinitely more precious.-ED. and TRANSL.

[11] The words , of thee, subjoined to this participle, had been declared in the margin of the larger Ed. to be an improbable reading; but in Ed. 2 the reading is raised to the sign , and is given in the Vers. Germ., though enclosed in brackets. Therefore Bengel ought not to have been reckoned, in the Bibl. Theol. Tom. viii. p. 106, among those who have omitted these words.-E. B.

[12] yr. the Peschito Syriac Version: second cent.: publ. and corrected by Cureton, from MS. of fifth cent.

Lachm. reads (though in brackets), with C corrected later, ac, some MSS. of Vulg. Iren. Cypr.: and, before , Hil. ABDb omit the words; and so Tischend.-ED. and TRANSL.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

The Holy Ghost: Luk 1:27, Luk 1:31, Mat 1:20

that: Job 14:4, Job 15:16, Job 25:4, Psa 51:5, Eph 2:3, Heb 4:15, Heb 7:26-28

the Son of God: Luk 1:32, Psa 2:7, Mat 14:33, Mat 26:63, Mat 26:64, Mat 27:54, Mar 1:1, Joh 1:34, Joh 1:49, Joh 20:31, Act 8:37, Rom 1:4, Gal 2:20

Reciprocal: Gen 5:3 – in his Gen 18:12 – laughed Exo 40:10 – most holy Exo 40:12 – General Lev 1:3 – a male Lev 1:16 – his feathers Lev 4:32 – a lamb Lev 16:4 – holy linen coat Num 19:2 – no blemish Psa 16:10 – thine Ecc 5:8 – for Isa 7:14 – Behold Isa 7:15 – know Isa 9:6 – For unto Jer 31:22 – A woman Dan 3:25 – the Son of God Dan 9:24 – the most Mat 1:18 – of the Mat 1:21 – she Luk 1:76 – Highest Luk 4:34 – the Holy One Luk 18:19 – General Joh 10:36 – I am Joh 14:26 – Holy Ghost Joh 14:30 – and Act 1:8 – power Act 2:27 – thine Act 3:14 – the Holy One Act 4:27 – thy Act 27:31 – Except Rom 1:3 – his Son 2Co 1:19 – the Son 2Co 5:21 – who Gal 4:4 – of a Heb 10:5 – but Rev 2:18 – the Son

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE VIRGIN BIRTH

That which is to be born shall be called holy, the Son of God.

Luk 1:35 (R.V.).

The doctrine of the Virgin Birth is based on historical evidence, which, when calmly and dispassionately considered, will be found by every fair and reasonable mind to impart almost irresistible conviction. Have we not the declaration of one of the Apostles of Jesus Christ, and an appeal to prophecy? Have we not also a full and circumstantial statement of one who, though not an Apostle, was a companion of St. Paul, a physician(this should not be overlooked)and one who made it his especial duty to collect from eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word the carefully traced-out narrative that bears the name of the Gospel according to Luke? The argument for the truth of all the circumstances related by Luke has been worked out, with a fullness and care which must carry conviction to any heart that had not been prejudiced and pre-occupied against acceptance of the supernatural.

I. The main features of the narrative could only have come from the Blessed Virgin Mary herself, either directly to the carefully inquiring Evangelist, or to some one to whom the Blessed Virgin had related them, and by whom they had been communicated to Luke. And what a consideration this is! Could she, whom all generations shall call blessed unto the very end of time, could she have been in any way mistaken? Such a question in its mildest form is painful; in any other form it is to any one bearing the name of a Christian unthinkable. It is thus through the Blessed Virgin herself that the full revelation has been made to mankind.

II. If the Evangelist had only received the recital of the facts indirectly, the some one who had communicated them could hardly have been other than one of the earliest believers, and most probably one of the Apostles. For we are expressly told that Mary was with the small holy company that, after the Lords Ascension, joined the Apostles in the upper room and continued steadfastly with them in prayer. Would not those earliest days have been days of holy reminiscence, and, in that holy retrospect, could it have been possible that the Annunciation, and all the circumstances it involved, were not dwelt upon when the mother of our Lord was present, who alone could tell the mysterious history of the angel visit, and all in the fullness of time that followed?

III. The silence of other parts of Scripture.May it not further be said, as accounting for the silence in other parts of Scripture (except in Matthew) as to any of the details of the Incarnation, that such things would sink into the very souls of those who heard them, and remain there, deep and eternal truths, which, as we may well believe, would never have been likely to form a part of their general teaching. The Resurrection was the standing witness of the truth of the Incarnation; and Christ and the Resurrection formed the outward and general teaching of the first preachers of the Gospel.

Bishop Ellicott.

(SECOND OUTLINE)

THE INCARNATION AND BROTHERHOOD

I. The importance of the doctrine.If God took such especial pains to make us quite sure that the Son of Mary was also God and the Son of God, we may be sure that it is especially important that we should get a thorough hold upon the fact. Have you really thought out what it means?

(a) Before Christ came, a man might say, God knows my trials. After Christ, a man must say, God has felt my trials.

(b) This is the Gospel:this fact that God became man, and lived through all your life, hallowing each stage and portion of it, so that you, if you will but walk hand in hand with Him through every part of it, may feel that you have a guide Who not only knows, but has trodden its every step before you.

(c) No one ever comes to love his Saviour who does not strive with all his heart to realise his Saviour. You cannot love what you do not realise.

II. In the Incarnation we see how we are to look out upon all the world of struggling and suffering, aye, and sinning men and women around us. Let the men and women round us be what else they may, they are all thisviz., brethren and sisters of Christ, the Son of Godyearned over, loved and cared for by Him Who now sitteth on the right hand of God, but Who, not so very long ago, was Himself suffering in the flesh for them and for their redemption.

Illustration

Not only was it prophesied of in the Old Testament, but, now that the fullness of the time was come, God once more announces His intention, and sends His Angel to inform the Blessed Virgin of it. It is noticeable throughout all Holy Scripture how God takes care to prepare the way for all His more startling and extraordinary actions. He gives notice, beforehand, what His purpose is. Therefore, when God would work His one greatest marvel of allwhen God intends His Son to be born into the world as a man, and to be a man among men, the real son of a Jewish maidenHe does once more the same thing that He had done so often before, and sends word, beforehand, of His purpose.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

5

The Holy Ghost (Spirit) is an invisible, though personal being, and that is why he could enter into and take charge of the womb of Mary without any conscious participation on her part. The germ of life necessary to fertilize that of the female was thus deposited in the proper place by this holy Being, sent directly from God and authorized to represent Him in this union. Therefore, the angel concluded, the person to be brought forth from this union was to be called the Son of God. This is the only instance in which God ever did a thing like this, and that is the reason Jesus is called the ONLY begotten Son of God. From the conception and ever afterward through the period of expectancy, the experience of Mary was like that of all mothers.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

[The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, etc.] I. This verse is the angel’s gloss upon that famous prophecy, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bring forth.” The veracity of which Mary not questioning, believing further that she herself was that virgin designed, and yet being utterly ignorant of the manner how so great a thing should be brought about, she only asks, “How shall this be?” etc. Doubtless she took the prophecy in its proper sense, as speaking of a virgin untouched. She knew nothing then, nor probably any part of the nation at that time so much as once thought of that sense by which the Jews have now for a great while disguised that place…

II. Give me leave, for their sakes in whose hand the book is not, to transcribe some few things out of that noble author Morney, which he quotes concerning this grand mystery from the Jews themselves:

“Truth shall spring out of the earth.” “R. Joden,” saith he, “notes upon this place, that it is not said, Truth shall be born; but shall spring out; because the generation and nativity of the Messiah is not to be as other creatures in the world, but shall be begot without carnal copulation; and therefore no one hath mentioned his father, as who must be hid from the knowledge of men till himself shall come and reveal him.” And upon Genesis: “Ye have said (saith the Lord), We are orphans, bereaved of our father; such a one shall your Redeemer be, whom I shall give you.” So upon Zechariah, “Behold my servant, whose name is Branch”: and out of Psalms_110, “Thou art a priest after the order of Melchizedek”: he saith, R. Berachiah delivers the same things. And R. Simeon Ben Jochai upon Genesis more plainly; viz. “That the Spirit, by the impulse of a mighty power, shall come forth of the womb, though shut up, that will become a mighty Prince, the King Messiah.” — So he.

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

Luk 1:35. Holy Ghost, the Third Person of the Trinity. Comp. Mat 1:18.

The power of the Most High. The Holy Spirit is here represented as power, not strictly the power (as if He were not a Person, but merely the power of God). Some distinguish between the two expressions, but they explain each other; the Holy Spirit is the creative power of God (Gen 1:2).

Overshadow thee. The figure is probably taken from a cloud. The two clauses represent, the latter figuratively, the former without a figure, the supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit, in bringing to pass that which ordinarily occurs only through conjugal intercourse. No more is here to be attributed to the Spirit, than what is necessary to cause the Virgin to perform the actions of a mother (Pearson).

Therefore also. For this reason, but not for this one only, as also indicates. The words of thee, are to be rejected.

That holy thing which is begotten. The reference is to the unborn babe, which when born, shall be called the Son of God. Others translate the passage: That which is to be born (or, is begotten) shall be called holy, the Son of God. But the son of Mary was to be called Son of God, not because holy, but because begotten by the power of the Most High. This proves the right to the title, but the right itself rests on higher grounds, as is hinted by the word also. Comp. Joh 1:1-14. Although the creative Holy Spirit is here introduced, the Holy Spirit is never spoken of as begetting the Son, or as His Father. The early Church engaged in exhaustive discussions on these points. The result is a statement in the Nicene Creed, as clear as the mysterious nature of the subject allows.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Ver. 35.-And the Angel answered . . . the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, &c. Mark here that the Incarnation is limited only to the Person of the Word, or Son of God: for He alone was incarnate and made man, and not the Father nor the Holy Spirit: and yet the incarnation was the work of the whole Trinity, as its efficient cause and not only of the Son. Yet this work of the Incarnation is appropriated to the Holy Spirit, first, because it was a most holy work; secondly, because the works relating to our redemption, and those which most display God’s goodness are appropriated to the Holy Spirit, because He proceeds forth as the ideal love of the Father and the Son: in the same way wisdom is appropriated to the Son as the Word, and omnipotence to the Father as the first principle and origin. Moreover, the Holy Spirit was the framer of the humanity of Christ, because He fashioned and animated it, but He cannot be called its Father, because He did not contribute or communicate anything to it of His own substance. S. Augustine (Enchirid. c. 28).

Further S. Cyril (Catech. 12) shows that a virgin by the power of God could conceive and bring forth; and first, in arguing with the Gentiles, he says, “How is it that ye, who say that stones when thrown were changed into men, maintain that a virgin cannot bring forth? How is it that, ye, who fable that a daughter was born out of the head of Jupiter, maintain that it is impossible that one can be born of a virgin’s womb?” And then, arguing with the Jews, he says, “Sara was barren, and she brought forth a child beyond the way of nature at an age when women have lost the power (to do so): either then deny both, or grant both, for the same God was the worker of both.” He further says, that God out of the virgin Adam formed a virgin woman, namely Eve; why could He not then in like manner form a virgin man out of a virgin woman?

Shall come upon thee. In order that the conception of Christ, and Christ Himself, might be holy, not only by reason of the hypostatic union with the Word, but also by reason of so divine a conception, for He was conceived not by a man or an angel, but by the Holy Ghost. Wherefore Christ, by virtue of this conception, was not the son of Adam, so as to derive original sin from him, and be born a sinner, as we all are born, but He was most pure and most holy.

Again Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost, because it was fitting, since He was both God and man, that both should be recognised in the conception. For the conception itself declares that He was Man; for He would not have been conceived unless He had been man; and the manner of the conception shows that He was also God; for to be conceived by a virgin without a husband, shows that He who was conceived was more than man.

Mystically, S. Cyril of Jerusalem (Catech. 12) says, the Lord willed to be born of a virgin, to signify that His members would be born according to the Spirit of the Church, which is a virgin.

Lactantius gives another reason, which is that Christ, Who in heaven is , without a mother, might be on earth , without a father. But the first reason is the chief one, namely, that Christ might be born without original sin.

Proclus (Hom. de Nativ.) says, “Mary is both handmaid and mother, both virgin and heaven itself. She is the one bridge by which God comes down to man. She is the wonderful web of that economy, of whom and in whom, in a certain ineffable manner, the admirable fabric of that union was wrought, of which the Holy Spirit was the weaver, the power overshadowing from on high was the spinner; the wool was the old and rough garment of Adam; the woof was the pure flesh of the Virgin; the weaver’s shuttle was the immeasurable grace of her who was with child; the artificer was the Word which passed in through the hearing.”

The power of the Highest, &c. According to Euthymius and Maldonatus, the power of the Highest is the Holy Spirit, Who with power brings the holy works of God to perfection, so that these words are an explanation of what the angel had said, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee. So Christ (cap. Luk 24:49) says to the Apostles, Tarry in this city (Jerusalem) until ye be endued with power from on high, i.e. with the Holy Spirit. This it is of which the Church speaks, “Almighty and everlasting God, Who by the co-operation of the Holy Spirit didst prepare the body and soul of the glorious Virgin Mother Mary that she might be worthy to be made a fit habitation for thy Son.”

Shall overshadow thee. S. Gregory (33 Moral. c. 2) explains thus, “The Word of God in thee will assume a body, which will be as it were a shadow of Deity, for it will as a shadow veil and conceal It.” And again he says (18 Moral 12), “The human body in thee shall receive the incorporeal light of Divinity.” Origen says also that the Body of Christ is called a shadow, because in the Passion it was humiliated and obscured after the manner of a shadow.

S. Ambrose (on Psalm 119) understands by the shadow this present and mortal life which the Spirit gave to Christ, for this is, as it were, a shadow of the true life and of eternity.

S. Augustine (Qust. V. et N. T. c. 15) says, The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, i.e. shall attemper itself to thee, as a shadow adjusts itself to a body, for thy human weakness could not contain the fulness of its force and power.

But more simply, the meaning is, It will cover thee as with a veil, i.e., will secretly work a mighty operation in thee; for it will be such and so great a one that no man or angel can penetrate into or comprehend it. For, first, it will form in thee the perfect humanity of Christ; and, secondly, it will unite the same in a certain ineffable manner to the Person of the Word.

Again, to overshadow may be taken as answering to the Hebrew word , to cover with a cloud, and so to rain upon, for a cloud pours forth rain, and hence by the shadow and the cloud is signified rain, which is poured forth from the cloud and renders the earth fruitful. An allusion seems to be made to Psa 72:6, He shall come down like the rain into a fleece of wool.

Wherefore that Holy Thing which shall be born of Thee shall be called the Son of God. Because the Holy Spirit will come upon thee, and cause thee to conceive a son, the Son which shall be born of thee will be holy from His very conception, yea, the Holy of Holies, because He will be called, and through His hypostatic union with the Word will truly be, the natural and Only Begotten Son of God, and will be called so by God, by angels, and by men; for He who is conceived by the Holy Spirit must needs be most Holy. Maldonatus somewhat differently says, “Jesus is called the Son of God, because He will not be begotten as the rest of men are, but by God through the power of the Spirit, and therefore He will be holy, and the Son of God.” So (Luk 3:38) Adam is called the Son of God, because he was created not by man but by God.

He says, That Holy Thing, not Man, to show that this Son will not be a mere man, but besides being, a man will also be God (S. Greg. xviii. Moral. c. 27); and also to declare that Jesus will be holy with a holiness altogether perfect and natural on account of the hypostatic union (Suarez, iii. p. disp. 18 sect. 1): so that the meaning is, Jesus, Who will be born of thee, will be Most Holy, yea, Holiness itself

S. Bernard (Serm. 4 super Missus Est) says, “Why does he say merely that Holy Thing, and no more? Because there was not any proper or worthy expression that he could use. If he had said that holy flesh, or that holy man, or whatever expression of such a kind he had used, he would have seemed to himself to have said but little. He uses, therefore, the indefinite expression, That Holy Thing; because whatever it was that the Virgin brought forth, It was without doubt holy and in a singular manner holy, both through the sanctification of the Spirit and the assumption of the Word.”

The Son of God by nature, Who would make all the faithful, sons of God by grace.

Ver. 36.-And, behold, thy cousin Elizabeth. The angel confirms the miracle of the coming birth of Jesus of the Virgin and the Holy Spirit by the similar miracle of the conception of John by Elizabeth who was barren. At the same time he silently admonishes the Blessed Virgin that she should visit John and Elizabeth, and fill them with the Holy Spirit by saluting them.

For with God nothing shall be impossible (Vulgate, non omne verbum, no word, which is a Hebraism), i.e. nothing, however difficult or incredible to man; or, as others take it, no word, i.e. no promise; which means that God is able to perform all things that He has promised, because He is omnipotent; and He will really perform them because He is faithful. He says word, because it is as easy to God to do a thing as it is to us to speak a word, and because He spake a word only and all things were made. “Inasmuch as,” says S. Bernard (Serm. 4 on Missus Est), “with God neither does His word fall short of His intention, because He is Truth; nor His deed fall short of His word, because He is Power; nor the manner (in which the deed is done) fall short of the deed, because He is Wisdom.” “God,” says S. Augustine (lib. 5 de Civ. c. 10), “can do all things except those things which to be able to do is a mark not of power, but of weakness; and which if he were able to do He would not be omnipotent; such as to die, to deceive, to err, to sin.”

The angel stood, and was silent, eagerly expecting the answer and consent of the Virgin. Whence S. Bernard (Serm.4, super Missus Est) says, that Adam and all the patriarchs and prophets, being anxious concerning the coming of the Messiah and the salvation of men, were waiting for this consent; and he adds “the whole world, prostrate at thy knees, is waiting for this: and rightly, since on thy words depend, the consolation of the miserable, the, redemption of the captives, the liberation of the damned, the salvation, in short, of all the sons of Adam. Make answer, 0 Virgin, speedily, speak the word which earth, which the dwellers below and the dwellers on high are waiting for. The King and Lord of all things Himself desires thine assent, by which His purpose is to save the world.”

Ver. 38.-And Mary said, &c. Mark the humility, modesty, and resignation of the Virgin, for though saluted by the angel as Mother of God, she calls herself His handmaid, not His mother; handmaid by nature, mother by grace. Pet. Dam. (Serm. 3 de Nativ. Virg.). And S. Bernard (Serm. in Apoc. 12) says, “A great sign: deservedly she made mistress of all who declared herself servant of all.”

Be it unto me (Fiat). This word shows that she consented and yielded her assent to the angel with respect to the conception of the Word; also that she wished, desired, and earnestly prayed for the Incarnation of the Messiah, so that He might redeem and save mankind. For this the Blessed Virgin most ardently desired and prayed for. “Be it so, is a mark of desire, not a sign of doubt.” S. Bernard (Serm. 4 sup. Missus Est).

There is a question at what precise moment the Son of God became carnate. 1. Andrew of Crete is of opinion that He was incarnate before the angel came to the Blessed Virgin. For his words, the Lord is with thee, clearly signify that the King Himself had come.

2. Nicephorus maintains that Christ became incarnate when the angel saluted her and said Hail, thou art full of grace (Lib. 1. c. 8). S. Jerome (Ep. 140) and S. Gregory Thaumaturgus favour this opinion.

3. Others appear to think that He became incarnate when the Angel said The Lord is with thee. S. Augustine (Serm. 2 de Annunc.) and S. Thomas (3 p. qu. 30 art. 4) and others so explain it.

But these opinions cannot be true; because the angel after the Hail, &c. adds, Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb; therefore she had not yet conceived. Again the Blessed Virgin giving her assent to the angel says, Be it unto me according to thy word; therefore it had not yet taken place.

I say then that the Word was incarnate as soon as the Blessed Virgin had given her assent to the angel; for he was sent for this purpose; for it was not fitting that Christ should be conceived without the consent or knowledge of His Virgin Mother; as soon then as she had spoken the words, Behold the handmaid of the Lord, Be it unto me according to thy word, the Holy Spirit formed the Body of Christ, and joined It Hypostatically to the Word, or Person of the Son of God; in the same way as when the priest in consecration says, This is my Body, by the power of these words the bread is transubstantiated into the Body of Christ. This again is clear from the fact that as soon as the Virgin had given her consent the angel, having, as it were, fulfilled his mission, departed from her. It is confirmed too by the fact that soon after the Blessed Virgin had said, Be it unto me, &c., when she saluted Elizabeth, being saluted by her in return she was called the Mother of the Lord, i.e. of Christ Who is God. The Virgin, therefore, when she said, Be it unto me, &c., was made as it were the spouse of God, and our flesh was made the spouse of the Word.

To those who maintain a contrary opinion it may be replied-1. that Andrew of Crete seems to have been of an opposite opinion, but that he was alone in maintaining it; for the rest contradict him. 2. That Nicephorus by the words Hail, &c., understands the whole of the salutation and annunciation made by the angel, at the end of which the Word was made flesh. 3. S. Augustine, S. Thomas, and Damian are to be understood (when they say the Lord is with thee) not as to what had already taken place, but as to what was immediately going to take place.

The Blessed Virgin in the conception of the Son received an extraordinary increase of grace and perfect sanctification; and this, says Suarez, may not be doubted without temerity. Whence Bede (Hom. de. Visit.) says, “Who can say or measure what grace then filled the spirit of the Mother of God, when so great a light from heaven shone forth in the mother of His forerunner?” S. Bernard gives a reason for this (Vol. 1, conclus. 61, art 1, cap. 12), “In order that God should generate God, no especial arrangement was needed on the part of God, since according to His nature it was fitting that in the way of nature His intellect should produce the Word, in all things equal to Himself; but that a woman should conceive and bring forth God is and was a miracle; for there was a necessity, so to say, that she should be raised to a certain divine equality by means of a certain quasi-infinity of perfections and graces, which equality no creature had ever experienced. Whence, as I believe, no human or angelic intellect has ever been able to attain to that inscrutable abyss of all gifts of the Holy Spirit which descended on the Blessed Virgin in the hour of the Divine conceptions.”

And the angel departed from her. The Blessed Virgin made known to some that Gabriel did not depart immediately, but stayed with her for nine hours, being overcome with astonishment at the Incarnation of the Word in her, and that he adored the Word incarnate; as if rapt in admiration at the incredible modesty and majesty of the Virgin, he were unable to depart. (The records of S. George in Alga in Lusitania mention this tradition.) But though this is a pious tradition it is not to be regarded as certainly true.

Ver. 39.-And Mary arose in those days. Not on the same day on which she was saluted by the angel, but after two or three days. What was the reason of her going away? 1. That she might announce the conception of the Word to others. For Christ having become incarnate in her, willed immediately to begin His mission as a Saviour, for which He had been sent by the Father. Whence S. Ambrose says, “She departed, not as disbelieving in the oracle, or as uncertain about the messenger, or doubtful of the example, but as rejoicing in the fulfilment of her wish, conscientious in the performance of her duty, and hastening on account of her joy.”

2. To cleanse John from original sin, and to fill him and his mother Elizabeth with the Holy Spirit, and that so the honour and devotion of all to Christ might be increased.

3. To congratulate her kinswoman on the miraculous conception of John.

4. To give to all future ages a remarkable example of humility and charity which she showed in visiting Elizabeth, though she was now made Mother of God and Mistress of the world.

Wherefore, under the title of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, many congregations have been instituted for visiting the poor and the sick, and those in prison, and recently under this title S. Francis of Sales, Bishop of Geneva, has instituted a congregation of religious women, who are well known throughout France, for ministering to the sick.

To the hill country. That is Hebron, according to Baronius and others; or the hill country of Juda.

Tropologically, the soul filled with God, as the soul of the Blessed Virgin was, ascends the mountain heights, i.e., toils up the steep paths of virtue. “The Word having been conceived in the mind,” Bede says, “we must ascend to the heights of virtue along the way of love; and the city of Judah, i.e. of confession and praise, must be reached by us; and in the perfection of faith, hope, and love, we must abide there for three months.”

With haste. S. Ambrose mentions as the first cause of her haste that she might not tarry long out of the house in the public ways. “Learn, ye virgins, not to loiter in the streets, nor mingle in any public talk.” He also adds a second reason, because she was full of joy and the Holy Spirit; “the grace of the Holy Spirit knows nothing of slow endeavours.”

Origen gives a third reason, because Christ in the womb of the Virgin was hastening to cleanse John from original sin, and to sanctify him. “For Mary,” says S. Ambrose, “who before dwelt alone in the secret of her chamber, neither virgin modesty caused to shrink from the public gaze, nor the rugged mountains from fulfilling her purpose, nor the length of the journey from performing her duty.”

To a city of Judah. Jerusalem, according to Albertus Magnus and S. Bonaventura; but Jerusalem is generally mentioned by name, Jerusalem also is in the tribe of Benjamin, not of Judah. It is better, therefore, with Toletus and Baronius, to suppose that Hebron is meant; for it was situated in the hill country of Judah.

It is very probable that the Blessed Virgin first went to Jerusalem, since the feast of the Passover was near, and then in the Temple returned thanks to God, and made an offering of herself and her child Jesus to Him.

And entered into the house of Zacharias. This house is thus described by Adrichomedus on the authority of Nicephorus in his description of the Holy Land, “It is one mile distant from Emmaus, near the hills. It was still inhabited in the time of Saligniacus, and travellers were accustomed to salute it reverently. There John was born and circumcised, and concealed in a cave that he might not be slain with the children of Bethlehem by Herod, &c.

And saluted Elizabeth, with the usual Hebrew salutation. Peace be to thee. God intended by means of Elizabeth, being a matron advanced in years, to make known to the world the conception of the Virgin, and the secret Incarnation of the Word that had taken place in her.

Elizabeth. Not Zacharias; both because he was deaf, and because it was not becoming that a man should be saluted by the Virgin. Moreover; S. Ambrose says, “She was the first to give her salutation; for the more chaste a virgin is, the more humble she ought to be, and the more ready to give way to her elders. Let her then be the mistress of humility in whom is the profession of chastity.”

Ver. 41.-And it came to Pass when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, &c. Notice with S. Ambrose, that Elizabeth was the first to hear the salutation of Mary but John was the first to perceive the spirit and effect of her salutation; for to him, as the future forerunner of Christ, this salutation of the Virgin, yea, even of Christ, was chiefly directed. Theophylact says, “The voice of the Virgin was the voice of God incarnate in her.”

It is a question here whether the leaping of John for joy (Vulgate exultavit, Greek ) was a natural or rational movement. Calvin thinks that it was only a natural one; but all the Fathers and Orthodox Doctors are of a contrary opinion. Origen says, “Then first Jesus made His forerunner a prophet,” and Irenus (lib. 3 c. 18) says, “He recognised the Lord in the womb, and leaping for joy saluted Him.” And S. Gregory (lib. 3 Moral. c. 5). “In his mother’s womb he was filled with the spirit of prophecy.” So a1so S. Cyril, S. Ambrose, S. Chrysostom. All these maintain that this leaping of John was not only supernatural, but showed an active use of reason, and proceeded from true joyfulness of mind; and this is clear from the words of Elizabeth; The babe leaped in my womb for joy.

Secondly, this is clear, likewise, from the circumstance that John communicated his joy to his mother.

Thirdly, because in like manner the Blessed Virgin rejoiced when she sang the Magnificat, therefore also John rejoiced, who was the chief end and object of the visitation of the Blessed Virgin and of all these wonders.

John at this time received the gift of prophecy, as the Fathers already quoted show. He likewise received the extraordinary gifts which befitted the future forerunner of Christ. For this had been predicted by the angel when he said, “he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb.” In John, therefore, that saying of S. Chrysostom (Hom. 30) is true, “his leaping was a sign of perfect soundness;” and also, of sanctity.

Hence some think that John was free from sinful desire, and never committed venial sin; but this privilege seems to have been peculiar to the Blessed Virgin, to whom John was inferior. He had, therefore, sinful desire, and did commit venial sin, falling into it unawares, but perhaps, never deliberately. For it is a rule of S. Augustine and of theologians, that whoever has or has had original sin, has also sinful desire, and consequently commits venial sin; but John had original sin, therefore he must have committed venial sin.

Learn, morally, of what advantage the salutation and prayers of the Saints are, and especially of the Blessed Virgin, who by one word of salutation filled both John and Elizabeth with the Holy Spirit. “Not only the words, but the very aspect of the Saints is full of spiritual grace,” says S. Chrysostom. For the Saints, and above all the Blessed Virgin, are full of the fiery spirit of love. Wherefore he who strives to make other men spiritual should first fill himself with the Divine Spirit; for thus when he speaks he will breathe the same forth upon others, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. God also uses such men as suitable instruments united to Himself. For He is a most pure and powerful spirit; wherefore He accomplishes mighty spiritual results by means of spiritual men full of zeal, as being like Himself

And Elizabeth was filled, &c. She who was before just and holy (verse 6) is now made much more just and holy, and besides received the gift of prophecy. Moreover John, as I said, was first filled with the Spirit, and then filled his mother also with the same; because by his own holiness, merits, and prayers, he obtained for his mother that she should be filled with the Holy Spirit, of which he was himself full. So S. Ambrose says, “Elizabeth first heard the word, but John first experienced the grace. The mother was not filled before the son, but when the son had been filled with the Holy Spirit, he filled the mother also.”

Ver. 42.-And she spake out with a loud vote and said, Blessed art thou among women. Thou art most blessed of all women because thou hast been chosen to be the Mother of God Whom the whole world cannot receive.

Blessed is the fruit of thy womb. The fountain of all the blessings and graces bestowed upon the Blessed Virgin by God was to be the mother of God; for God adorned His mother with every grace in order that she might become an habitation worthy of Him, even that she might be worthy to become the Mother of God, and whom would such a Son bless rather than His mother. Elizabeth therefore, by the inspiration of the Spirit knew that Mary had already conceived, and that the Son of God was incarnate in her. And “He is Blessed, not only as thou art, among women, but, absolutely, above angels, men, and all creatures, as being the Creator and Lord of all. Again the rest of the sons of Eve are all under a curse, because they contract original sin from her and from Adam. Christ alone is Blessed because He is not the natural son of Adam, but was supernaturally conceived in the Virgin by the Holy Ghost.”

She alludes to the prophecy and promise made to David, Of the fruit of thy body shall I set upon thy seat, Psa 132:2

Ver. 43.-And whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? These are words of the greatest humility and reverence; John imitated his mother, saying when Christ came to be baptized of him, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest thou to me?”

Lord, that is God, Who is called absolutely the Lord, because He is King of kings and Lord of lords. Hence it is clear-1. That the humanity of Christ was already in Christ endowed with life and united to the Word or Son of God. 2. That the Blessed Virgin is rightly called , i.e., Mother of God and not only , Mother of Christ, as Nestorius maintained. 3. That in Christ there are two natures, the human, for this alone could He take of His Virgin Mother; and the Divine, which the Father alone communicated to Him; but one Person, not human, but Divine. For if in Christ there had been two persons, as there are two natures, God could not properly be said to have been born of a Virgin, to have suffered and been crucified, but another person, that is to say, a man, or the person of a man; but now it is properly so said, because there is one person in Christ; which is the reason why the attributes of the one nature may be ascribed in the concrete to the other, so that this man, Jesus, may properly be called God, eternal and Almighty; and on the other hand, God in Him may properly be called man, passible and mortal, yea, He may even be said to have suffered and died; because it is the same Person, which on account of the two natures which It has, is at the same time God and man, and accordingly assumes to Itself the actions and attributes both of God and man. For action belongs to persons; and this sole (divine) Person in Christ is signified alike by the word man, or Jesus, and by the word God or Son of God. Wherefore what is truly said of one is also truly said of the other.

Ver. 44.-The babe leaped. Symbolically, the leaping of John prefigured his own martyrdom; for by his dancing he represented the dancing of the daughter of Herodias, by which having pleased Herod, she asked and obtained of him the head of John.

Ver. 45.-Blessed, &c. Elizabeth, therefore, knew by the Holy Spirit that the Blessed Virgin had believed the angel when he announced the conception and nativity of Christ. “Blessed art thou, both in fact because thou already bearest Christ within thee, and also in hope, because thou shalt bring forth Him Who will make thee and all who believe in Him blessed in heaven: Blessed therefore art thou before God and men.” Elizabeth silently censures the unbelief of her own husband.

Ver. 46.-And Mary said, My soul, &c. Fitly does Mary make answer to the praises of herself celebrated by Elizabeth, by referring them to their fountain, i.e. to God. S. Bernard (Serm. in Rev 12) says, “Truly this is a song of high praise, but also of devout humility which suffers her not to retain anything for herself, but gives all back rather to Him Whose blessings bestowed upon herself she was celebrating. Thou, she says, magnifiest the Mother of the Lord, but my soul doth magnify the Lord. Thou declarest that thy son leaped for joy at my voice, but my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour. He rejoices as the friend of the bridegroom at the voice of the bridegroom. Thou sayest she is blessed which believed, but the cause of faith and blessedness is the regard of the Celestial Goodness, so that on this account the rather all generations will call me Blessed, because God hath regarded the low estate of his handmaid.” S. Bernard then shows that the Blessed Virgin, though she was most humble, yet in the faith of the promise made by the angel she was lifted high in soul, so that she doubted not that she was elected to so great a mystery, but believed that she would soon be the true Mother of God and man; for the grace of God so works in His elect, “that neither does humility make them feeble spirited, nor does exaltation of soul make them proud.” God magnifies man in one way, and man magnifies God in another. God magnifies a man when He heaps upon him riches and honours, graces and gifts, and raises him above others; but man cannot magnify God in this way, for he cannot add anything to Him either great or small. He is said therefore to magnify God when he proclaims His greatness, i.e. His majesty, almighty power, holiness, wisdom, &c., The meaning of the Blessed Virgin’s words therefore is, Thou, 0 Elizabeth, magnifiest me in honouring me with the magnificent title of Mother of God, but I magnify God Who has made me great, in giving me so great a Son, Who is God Himself, and has thought fit to bring to pass in me the great mystery of the Incarnation of the Word.

The Incarnation of the Word was the greatest of all the works of God. 1. It was a work of the highest power, to unite heaven to earth, God to man; 2. of the highest goodness, by which God communicated Himself wholly to man; 3. of the highest wisdom, by which He effected this union in a Divine Person, so that the integrity of each nature, the human and the divine, was preserved to it.

With this, therefore, begins the song of the Blessed Virgin, which of all the songs of Holy Scripture, of Moses, Deborah, &c., is the most excellent, as being the most full of the Divine Spirit and exultation. The Church, accordingly, uses it daily in the Office of Vespers, in order that she may by it, in the highest manner, celebrate the glories and praises of God, and render the highest thanks to Him for the Incarnation of the Word and His other gifts, and that she may drink in the same affections of devotion, piety, love, and exultation that in uttering it the Blessed Virgin drank in from heaven.

There are three parts in this song. In the first (verse 46-50), the Blessed Virgin praises God for the peculiar blessings bestowed upon herself by God, especially for the conception of the Word. In the second (verse 50-54), she praises Him for the common blessings bestowed upon His whole people before the coming of Christ. In the third (verse 54 to the end), she returns to this greatest blessing of the Incarnation of the Word which had been promised to the fathers, and made known to herself

My soul. Not only my tongue, nor my hand only, but my soul itself with all its power magnifies God. From the inmost recesses of my soul, with all the powers of my mind, I praise and glorify God; I employ and entirely devote all the strength of my soul in His praise; so that my understanding contemplates Him alone, my will loves and celebrates no being but Him, my memory dwells upon nothing but Him, my mouth speaks of and celebrates nothing but Him, my hand performs only those things which tend to His service, my feet move forwards only to those things which tend to His glory.

Symbolically, Toletus says, The Blessed Virgin rightly says my souls. Because she alone had her soul in her own power, and was mistress over it, because she possessed it in patience, having dominion over all its affections and passions. But we do not possess our souls, because we are ourselves possessed by anger, pride, concupiscence or some other like passion. 2. Because she had wholly delivered up her soul to her Son; and those things which belonged to her Son were hers also. Whence her soul having been delivered up to her Son returned entirely to her own power, and she truly calls it my soul. 3. On account of her loving affection for it; for the more any one loves God, the more he loves his own soul. Since, therefore, the Blessed Virgin loved God chiefly above all men, and had never committed any sin, she loved her own soul very greatly. And that which we love, on account of our love for it we call our own. She therefore who so loved her own soul, truly called it her own.

And my spirit hath rejoiced. Exultavit. The Blessed Virgin, admiring the divine power, holiness, justice, benignity of the Spirit of God incarnate in her, exults and leaps and sings for joy. Euthymius (in Ps. 9) says, “Exultation is, as it were, an intensified joy, which causes the heart to leap up vehemently with excess of joy, and to be raised on high.” Cajetan also says, “Exultation is an overflowing joy, which breaks forth, modestly however and seriously, in the external signs of gesticulation, singing and jubilation.”

There is an allusion here to Isaiah lxi. 10, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall be joyful in my God; and still more to the words of Anna, 1Sa 2:1., My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, &c., for as Anna, who was barren, rejoiced in conceiving Samuel by the miraculous help of God, so the Blessed Virgin rejoiced in conceiving Emmanuel (of whom Samuel was a type) by the power of the Holy Spirit.

S. Augustine, writing on the Magnificat, shows that the Virgin here does two things: first, she praises the goodness and mercy of God, as in the preceding verse she had praised His power and majesty; secondly, she pours forth the expression of the sweetness and delight which she had received in the conception of her Son; and in this he says that the Mother of God imitated the angels, who in heaven perform these two things, viz., meditate on the incomprehensible majesty of God, and enjoy His ineffable goodness and sweetness; and they so admire them as to rejoice in and love them. His words are, “Thou hast seen His majesty, thou hast tasted His sweetness; therefore that which thou hast received inwardly, thou hast poured forth abroad, and thou hast rejoiced in His justice. My spirit hath rejoiced; the soul magnifies; the spirit rejoices. In God my Saviour: the word God, denotes His power; the word Saviour (or salvation) denotes His mercy. For these are two things Which the spirits of angels and saints in that fountain of good drink in by eternal contemplation; viz., the incomprehensible Majesty of God, and His ineffable goodness; the one of which produces a sacred fear, and the other love; they venerate God for His majesty; they love Him for His goodness; so that love being joined with reverential, fear may not be lost, and fear being joined with love may not have torment.”

Lastly, as in the conception of the Word the very highest of blessings was bestowed upon the Virgin, so she experienced the very highest exaltation on account of it, so that her spirit seemed to leap forth for joy from her body, and to hasten forth towards God; and perhaps it would have done so, had not God by His power kept it in her body. For when she died several years after, she died not of sickness, but of love, joy, and the desire of seeing her Son, as Suarez and other theologians think. Moreover this exaltation, Albertus says, was not transient, but remained as a habit through the whole of her life. He adds, that on account of her possessing this continual exultation in God, she was above all entirely dead to the world and to this mortal life, so that her life was always hid with Christ in God, and being present in the angelic court she dwelt in the sanctuary of God, and she could say in a more excellent manner than Paul or any other creature, “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Gal 6.

My Spirit. That is, my soul, as Euthymius and others say; as if my Spirit hath rejoiced, &c., were the same as my soul doth magnify, &c. But the opinion of Toletus and others is better, who think that the spirit is more than the soul; wherefore by the soul they understand the intellect, and by the spirit the will. More simply, by the soul you may understand the lower part of the soul, which regards natural objects; by the spirit the superior part, which beholds spiritual and divine things. The soul, therefore, is natural and contemplates natural things; the spirit is supernatural and contemplates heavenly things. The spirit, therefore, signifies-1. the mind; 2. the vehement and fervent impulse of the mind towards joy; 3. that this impulse is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the Spirit, as being the superior, draws the soul and body along with it, so that they likewise may exult with joy, according to the saying in Psalm 84, “My heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.”

In God my Saviour. Vulgate, salutari meo; Greek, . The Syriac renders the words in God my lifegiver (vivificatore meo). Who will be-stow life, i.e. liberty, grace, and glory on me and all the faithful.

She says my Saviour-1. Because Jesus is my Son. 2. Because He is also my Saviour, both because He has preserved, me above others from all sin, and filled me with all grace, and because He has made me the mediatrix of salvation for all men, so that I am as it were the cause and the mother of salvation to all who are to be saved.

S. John of Damascus, when the hand with which he had written the defence of the worship of sacred images had been cut off by Leo the Isaurian, and had been miraculously restored by the Blessed Virgin, sang the words, “My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour, and in His Mother, for He that is mighty hath done to me great things.”

Ver. 48.-For He hath regarded, &c. S. Augustine (super Magnificat) says, “This is the grace of her exultation, that He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden: it is as if she said, because I exult in His grace, therefore my exultation is from Him; and because I love His gifts on account of Himself, therefore I exult in Him. S. Bernard (Serm. 57 in Cant.) says, “God regards the earth and causes it to tremble; He regards Mary and infuses grace. He hath regarded, she says, the lowliness of His handmaiden, for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. These are not the words of one lamenting or fearing but of one rejoicing. Hence He says to her, Arise quickly, my love, my dove, my fair one, and come away.”

Lowlines, or low estate. Vulgate, humilitatem; Greek, . Humility here properly means lowliness of estate, not the virtue of humility as opposed to pride, for this is called ; for humility alone among virtues is ignorant of itself; and he who boasts of his humility is proud, not humble.

Secondly, however, by humility may be understood the virtue itself of humility; for on account of this God had regard to the Blessed Virgin, and chose her for His mother; for a humble person recognises his virtues as being the gifts of God; wherefore among them he sees also his own humility, but he ascribes it not to his own strength, but to the grace which he had received from God.

As, therefore, the Blessed Virgin here recognises her election to be the Mother of God (which was a far greater thing), so likewise she recognises that she was fittingly adorned for so great a dignity by her humility, virginity, and other virtues which had been imparted to her by God. For a humble person recognises his own, low estate, his misery, his poverty, yea, even his own nothingness, and ascribes all that he is and has to God, Whose he is, and says with the Psalmist, Not unto us, 0 Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy Name give the glory.

Listen to S. Augustine (Serm. 2 de Assump.), “0 true humility which hath borne God to men, hath given life to mortals, made new heavens, and a pure earth, and given liberty to the souls of men. The humility of Mary was made the heavenly ladder by which God came down to earth. For what does regarded mean but approved? For many seem in the sight of men to be humble, but their humility is not regarded by the Lord. For if they were truly humble, then they would not wish to be praised by men, and their spirit would not rejoice in the world but in God.” And S. Chrysostom (Hom. 2 in Ps. 50) says, “The greatest sacrifice of all is humility, for the same man who by sinning has separated himself from God, subjects himself to Him by humility, when he is converted to penitence.” And lastly S. Bernard says, “It is humility which truth begets for us, and it has not heat, and it is humility which love forms and inflames. The latter consists in affection, the former in knowledge: by the former we learn that we are nothing, and we learn it from ourselves and our own weakness; by the latter we tread underfoot the glory of the world, and we learn it from Him Who emptied Himself, and Who, when men sought to make Him a king, fled; but when He was sought for reproaches and for the Cross, He did not flee, but offered Himself willingly.” The Blessed Virgin had both these (humility and love) in an eminent and heroic degree.

For behold from henceforth, &c. S. Augustine says here, “Thou, 0 Elizabeth, sayest concerning me, Blessed art thou who believedst; but I say, From this time (when I conceived the Son of God) all generations shall call me blessed. Mary, who was humble before God, and lowly before men on account of God, obtained witness that she was regarded in both respects: for both her humility before God was acceptable, and her low estate before men was changed into glory. Wherefore it follows, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.”

Blessed. Gerson (super. Magnificat) says, “Thou art worthy of our praises, 0 Holy Virgin, thrice and four times blessed. Blessed-1. because thou didst believe. 2. Because thou art full of grace, according to the salutation of Gabriel. 3. Because Blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 4. Because He, that is mighty hath done to thee great things. 5. Because thou art the Mother of the Lord. 6. Because thou art fruitful and yet retainest the honour of virginity. 7. Because thou seemest to have none like thee, among those that were before thee, or among those that come after.”

All generations. All future ages and generations of the faithful. Cardinal Hugo says, “All generations, i.e. all nations of Jews and Gentiles, of men and women, of rich and poor, of angels and of men, because all through her have received a saving benefit: men have received reconciliation; angels restoration (of their numbers). For Christ the Son of God wrought salvation in the middle of the earth, that is, in the womb of Mary which by a certain wonderful propriety is called the middle of the earth. For, as S. Bernard says, towards it look both those who dwell in heaven and those who dwell in the lower regions, i.e. in purgatory, and those who dwell in the world. The first, that they may be filled up again, the second that they may be delivered, the third that they may be reconciled. And then, assigning the reason, he adds, from henceforth therefore, 0 Blessed Virgin, all generations shall call thee blessed, because thou hast brought forth life, grace, and glory for all generations, life for the dead, grace for sinners, glory for the miserable. Therefore it is said of her, Judith, c. xv. 10, “Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, thou art the joy of Israel, thou art the great rejoicing of our people, because thou hast done courageously. The first is the word of the angels, whose loss was repaired by her; the second is the word of men, whose sadness was by her changed into joy; the third is the word of women, whose dishonour was done away with by her; the fourth is the voice of the dead, whose captivity was brought back by her.”

The truth of this prophecy of the Blessed Virgin is clear from the event; for we have seen her worshipped and honoured by all nations and generations with shrines, churches, festivals, congregations, societies of religious, vows, supplications, litanies in such numbers as the rest of the Saints joined together do not obtain; yea, to the Blessed Virgin alone is paid the worship of hyperdulia, as to God is paid the worship of latria, while to the rest of the Saints is paid the worship of dulia. Thy honour, thy praise and glory, 0 Blessed Virgin, will live as long as the angels shall live, as long as men shall live, as long as Christ shall live, as long as God shall be God, for ever and ever.

Ver. 49.-For He that is mighty hath done to me great things. For the Incarnation of the Word is a greater work than the creation of the whole world; wherefore the Blessed Virgin, as being the Mother of God, is greater than all angels, all men, and all creatures taken together. Augustine (Serm. 2 de Assump.) says, “What great things hath He done unto thee, 0 Lady, that thou shouldest merit to be called blessed? I truly believe that thou, a creature, gavest birth to the Creator; a servant, thou broughtest forth the Lord.” “He that is mighty hath done to me wonderful things,” says Titus, “since I, still a virgin, have conceived by the will of God, passing over the bounds of nature; I have been accounted worthy, without being joined to a husband, to be made a mother, not of any one, but of the Only Begotten Son of God.”

Cardinal Hugo mentions twelve great things belonging to the Virgin:-1. Sanctification in the womb of her mother. 2. The salutation of the angel. 3.The fulness of grace. 4.The conception of her Son. 5. Fruitful virginity. 6.Virgin fruitfulness. 7.Her honoured humility. 8. Her ready obedience. 9. The devotion of her faith. 10. Her prudent modesty. 11. Her modest prudence. 12. The dominion over heaven. S. Thomas (part. 1, qu. 25, art. 6) teaches that it is possible for God to do better works than He has done with the exception of three: the Incarnation of the Word; the maternity of God; and the beatitude of man which consists in the vision of God; for God can do nothing better or greater than these, because nothing can be greater or better than God Himself. The Blessed Virgin is called by Hesychius, Bishop of Jerusalem (hom. 2 de S. Maria), “The entire complement of the Trinity, because both the Holy Ghost came to her, and sojourned with her, and the Father overshadowed her, and the Son, borne in her womb, dwelt within her.”

He that is mighty. Vulgate, potens; Greek, . This is one of the ten names of God, for the Septuagint used to render the Hebrew word (gibbor), i.e. mighty, strong, whence is derived Gabriel, i.e. the strength of God. The Blessed Virgin, says Titus, adds this-first, that no one may disbelieve this mystery. Let no one wonder if I a virgin have conceived, for He Who hath wrought this work is the Mighty God. Secondly, that she may show that what the angel had promised (verse 35) is fulfilled in her, the power (Greek, ) of the Highest shall overshadow thee. She alludes to Isa. vii. 14 and ix. 6, His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God (Elgibbor), i.e. mighty, strong as a giant; whence Gabriel announced His birth, whose name signifies the power and strength of God.

And holy is His name. The Blessed Virgin shows that the promise of the angel, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, was fulfilled; and therefore she says, And holy is His Name.

Toletus and Francis Lucas are of opinion that the Virgin here celebrates two great things as done to her by God-1. The Incarnation of the Word, by which she was made the Mother of God, and therefore the mistress and queen of all angels and men; and, 2. Her own Preparation and sanctification for the accomplishment of the Incarnation in her. For as it was a work of power for God to be made man of a virgin, so it was a work of holiness to prepare the Virgin so as to be fit for conceiving in her womb the Holy and Immaculate Word of God. For the Blessed Virgin was so sanctified by the Holy Ghost that she contracted no sin at all, and far exceeded all the angels, even the seraphim, in grace and holiness

But more plainly and fully, we may refer both clauses of this verse to both works, namely, to the Incarnation of the Word as well as to her own preparation and sanctification for It. For each of these was a work of the excellent power as well as holiness of God, because each was accomplished by the coming of the Holy Spirit upon her to sanctify both Christ and the Virgin; according to the announcement of the angel, That Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. For Christ was the Holy of Holies, the Fount of holiness, sanctifying the whole world.

The meaning therefore is, God Himself, as signified by His own name, is holy, possesses all purity, holiness, power, perfection, and therefore is to be worshipped, adored, and celebrated in every way. God therefore is holy in all His works, and above all in this most holy mystery of the Incarnation of the Word; by which He sanctified Christ, the Blessed Virgin, and all the faithful.

Lastly, God incarnate is called holy because He assumed flesh and blood for the purpose of offering it to God, both in life, and on the cross, and in His death for the salvation of men. For as S. Isidorus says (lib. 15, Origin. c. 14), ” Nothing was called holy among the ancients unless it was consecrated or sprinkled with the blood of a victim. Also that is holy (sanctum) which is ratified (sancitum) with blood; moreover to ratify (sancire) is to confirm.” See Heb. ix. 12, &c. S. Augustine (lib 2 de Serm. Dom. 31) says, “That is holy which it is impious to violate and defile; and assuredly any one is held guilty of this crime who only attempts or wills it with regard to a holy thing, which nevertheless remains by its nature inviolable and incorruptible.” But S. Bernard (Serm. 5 in Vigil. Nativ.) makes sanctity or holiness consist in clemency and gentleness, according to that saying concerning Moses, Ecclesiasticus xlv. 4, He that sanctified him in his faithfulness and meekness; and he continues, “In order that sanctification may be perfect we have need to learn gentleness and courtesy in social life from the Saint of Saints; as He says Himself, Learn of Me for I am meek and lowly in heart.”

Hence some more recent interpreters refer the words Holy is His Name, to the following verse, and His mercy, &c., as if this were the holiness of God; but literally they must be referred to what precedes, as I have said. Hence Euthymius (in Ps. II) says, “He properly is called pious () who observes piety and religion in those things which pertain to God; but he is called holy () who is made a partaker of the Divine nature by following the path of virtue.” Further, holy (sanctus) in Hebrew is , that is, removed and separated from all vice, blemish, and even from intercourse with the vulgar; as God is especially, Whose holiness and majesty is so far removed, so lofty and exalted, that it infinitely transcends all gods, angels, and men. Whence S. Dionysius (Devin. nom. c. 12) says, “Since holiness is free from all taint, and is purity altogether perfect and immaculate, hence God, from the superabundance of the purity and all the excellences with which He is filled, is called the Holy of Holies.” And Bede says, “His name is called holy because in the height of His marvellous power He transcends every creature, and is widely removed from the works which He has made. This is better understood in the Greek tongue, in which the very word that means holy () signifies as it were to be apart from earth: and by imitation of Him in our small measure we are taught to separate ourselves from all who are neither holy nor dedicated to God, by those words of the Lord, Be ye holy, for I am holy; for whoever has consecrated himself to God will rightly appear as one free from the world; for he is able even himself to say, while we walk upon the earth we have our conversation in heaven.”

Christians therefore being called by Christ to fulness of holiness ought to be holy (whence they are continually called by S. Paul holy [or saints]), yea, more holy than all the faithful who lived in the time of Moses, Abraham, &c; for Christianity is nothing else than the life of Christ. Let the Christian therefore so live as it becomes the disciple of Christ, so that his life may be a living image, of the holiness of Christ, so that whoever sees and hears him, may seem to himself to see and hear Christ in him.

Ver 50.–And His mercy, &c. As God is all-powerful and all-holy, so is He all-merciful, and that continually towards all who in any age love Him, and therefore fear to offend Him. This is the second part of this song, in which the Blessed Virgin passes from the peculiar benefits bestowed by God upon herself, to those bestowed in common upon all Israel, i.e. upon all the faithful.

Ver 51.-He hath shewed strength, &c. The Virgin has been praising the mercy of God towards those who fear Him, and now she goes on to praise His severity and justice towards those who despise Him.

With His arm. The strength and power of God are anthropomorphically expressed by the hand, the finger, the right hand, but most of all by the arm, for the strength of man puts itself forth in his arms. The meaning therefore is, God has in every age wrought many things by His mighty arm, as in the case of Pharaoh by Moses, &c. But much more has God shown His power by causing Christ to become incarnate in me, by Whom He will mightily overthrow Lucifer, hell, death and sin. Whence Bede and Theophylact understand by His arm here, mystically, the Son of God incarnate in the Virgin. For He is the power of God, 1Co 1:24. There is an allusion to Isa 53:1, To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

He hath scattered the proud; as He scattered and overthrew Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, &c.

In the imagination of their heart. Vulgate, mente cordis sui. Some refer these words to the heart of God, so that the meaning will be, God by His own heart, i.e. His will and decree, scattered the proud: so S. Augustine explains it. “In the imagination (or purpose) of His heart,” he says, “that is, in His deep counsel He scattered them. It was deep counsel for God to become man for me, and for the innocent to suffer in order that the guilty might be redeemed.” The Carthusian (Denis) follows this explanation, “In the purpose, i.e. in the intention and will of His heart, i.e. of His understanding, by which He discerns, judges, and orders all things.” But from the Greek it is clear that the word sui is not to be referred to the heart of God, but to the heart of the proud; for the Greek is , of them. Whence Euthymius says, God scattered those who were proud in their heart.

Others refer the word sui, of them, to the word dispersit, scattered, so that the meaning is, God hath scattered the proud by means of the purpose (Greek, ) of their heart, because He turns back their proud machinations to their own destruction, so that He disperses them, according to that saying Job 5:13, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; as He did to Pharaoh when he followed the Hebrews through the Red Sea, by drowning him with all his followers in the same sea; and to the brethren of Joseph who sold him that they might destroy him, but God by this very thing exalted Joseph and constrained his brethren to bow down to him.

Ver. 52.-He hath put down, &c. As He put down the proud Saul from his royal throne by putting the humble David in his place; so He put the humble Mordecai in the place of the proud Haman, and Esther in the place of Vashti. God has done, and does, and will do the same in every age. Wherefore these past tenses. He hath scattered, put down, exalted, are to be taken in the widest sense, as signifying any time, future, present, or past, according to the Hebrew idiom. He hath put down therefore signifies He does and will put down. The Virgin alludes to the words of David, Psa 113:7, He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, &c.; and of Hannah, 1Sa 2:7, The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich, &c.

Moreover, as often at other times, so at the time of the Nativity of Christ God put down the mighty from their seat almost throughout the whole world, which, after Julius Csar, Pompey, Lepidus, Antony, and other kings, tyrants, and princes had been removed, He had put in subjection to Augustus alone, who was a type of Christ, as Cyrus had been, Isa. xlv. 1. Whence, when Christ was born, he refused the title of Lord which was offered to him. Then also God put down from their seat Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, who were contending with each other for the government over Juda. Herod also, the infanticide, was deprived of his life and kingdom; and shortly afterwards his whole royal progeny perished; as also did that of Augustus Caesar, that it might be declared that Christ was now born, and that every kingdom was due to him and was prepared for Him, as Daniel foretold, c. Dan 7:14.

Ver. 53.-He hath filled the hungry, &c. So He fed the-Hebrews with manna from heaven for forty years in the wilderness. So He fed Elias when he was hungry by an angel, and Daniel in the den of lions by Habakkuk, and Paul, the first hermit, by a raven. So also He fed the Blessed Virgin, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, with the Word Incarnate, and He feeds all the faithful with the same in the Holy Eucharist, and will feed them still more in heaven. By the hungry the poor are intended, since the Virgin opposes the rich to them.

Ver. 54.-He hath holpen His servant Israel. God hath taken by the hand, raised up, helped and restored His people Israel, whom He loved and kept as a son or servant. He did this formerly by Moses, Joshua, David, &c.; and now much more has He done it, by sending to Israel the Messiah that had been promised. For at that time, the commonwealth and Church of Israel had fallen into ruins, since the sceptre had been taken away from them, and transferred to Herod and the Romans; and the priests, intent on their own gain, were negligent of the welfare of the people; wherefore the people were grievously afflicted with various miseries of mind and body. God therefore at a seasonable time sent Christ that He might deliver out of them all His own Israel, that is, all the faithful who were converted to Him, both from among the Jews and Gentiles; whence S. Augustine says, “He helped Israel; not the Israel which He found; but He helped Israel that He might make him; as a physician helps a sick man, that He might heal the weak, and redeem the captive, that He might justify the impious, and save the just.” For Isr

Fuente: Cornelius Lapide Commentary

1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost {g} shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that {h} holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be {i} called the Son of God.

(g) That is, the Holy Spirit will cause thee to conceive by his mighty power.

(h) That thing which is pure and void of all spot of uncleanliness: for he that was to take away sin must of necessity be void of sin.

(i) Declared and shown to the world to be the Son of God.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Gabriel explained that the Holy Spirit would be God’s enabling agent who would make Mary’s supernatural act of service possible (cf. Luk 1:41; Luk 1:67; Luk 1:80; Luk 2:25-27). He would overshadow Mary with His personal presence. Beyond this Gabriel was not specific.

"This delicate expression rules out crude ideas of a ’mating’ of the Holy Spirit with Mary." [Note: Morris, p. 73. For information about ideas of divine beings fertilizing human women that existed in the ancient world, see Marshall, The Gospel . . ., pp. 72-77.]

God settled upon the tabernacle in the wilderness similarly, filling it with His presence (Exo 40:35; cf. Psa 91:4). It is interesting that the same Greek word, episkiazo, translated "overshadow" here, occurs in all three accounts of the Transfiguration where the cloud overshadowed those present (Mat 17:5; Mar 9:7; Luk 9:34). Then the voice came out of heaven identifying God’s Son, but here an angel identified Him as such. The Holy Spirit would produce a holy offspring through Mary. The deity and preexistence of the Son of God required a miraculous conception. His virgin birth resulted in His assuming a human nature without giving up His divine nature.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)