Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 1:38
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
38. be it unto me according to thy word ] The thoughts of the Virgin Mary seem to have found their most natural utterance in the phrases of Scripture. 1Sa 3:18, “If it be the Lord let Him do what seemeth Him good.” For Mary too was aware that her high destiny must be mingled with anguish.
And the angel departed from her ] We can best appreciate the noble simplicity of truthfulness by comparing this narrative of the Annunciation with the diffuse inflation of the Apocryphal Gospels. Take for instance such passages as these from one of the least extravagant of them, ‘The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary.’ “The Angel Gabriel was sent to her to explain to her the method or order of the Conception. At length having entered unto her, he filled the chamber where she abode with an immense light, and saluting her most courteously said, ‘Hail Mary! most acceptable Virgin of the Lord! Virgin full of grace blessed art thou before all women; blessed art thou before all men hitherto born.’ But the Virgin who already knew the countenance of angels, and was not unused to heavenly light, was neither terrified by the angelic vision nor stupefied by the greatness of the light, but was troubled at his word alone; and began to think what that salutation so unwonted could be, or what it portended, or what end it could have. But the Angel, divinely inspired and counteracting this thought, said, Fear not, Mary, as though I meant something contrary to thy chastity by this salutation; for &c., &c.” The reader will observe at once the artificiality, the tasteless amplifications, the want of reticence; all the marks which separate truthful narrative from elaborate fiction. (See B. H. Cowper, The Apocryphal Gospels, p. 93.)
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid … – This was an expression of resignation to the will of God, and of faith in the promise. To be the handmaid of the Lord is to be submissive and obedient, and is the same as saying, I fully credit all that is said, and am perfectly ready to obey all the commands of the Lord.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Luk 1:38
Behold the handmaid of the Lord
Marys quiet acceptance of greatness
Nothing impresses us more than the calmness with which, after the first trouble was past, the virgin received the message of the angel.
She was not dazzled nor excited by her glorious future. She was not touched by any vanity. Behold the handmaid of the Lord. In nothing more than in this is the simple greatness of her character displayed. What was the reason of this? It was that the thought of Gods presence with her destroyed all thought of self. She could not think of her greatness otherwise than as bestowed by God. He that is mighty hath magnified me. She could not feel the flutter of vanity. It died in the thought of the glorious salvation which was coming to her country and the world. She was nothing; God was all. Do you want a cure for that false humility, that mock modesty, which says, I am not worthy, and trumpets its denial till all the world knows that an honour has been offered; which, while it says with the lips, It is too great for me, feels all the time in the heart that self-consciousness of merit which betrays itself in the affected walk and the showy humility? Would you be free from this folly? Learn Marys secret. Feel that God is all; that, whether He makes you great, or leaves you unknown, it is the best for you, because it is His work. Do you want a cure for that unhappy, restless vanity, ever afraid, yet ever seeking to push itself forward; ever shy, yet ever trembling on the verge of impertinence; which shows itself to inferiors in rank in a bustling assumption of superiority which suspects it is not superior, and to superiors in rank by an inquietude, an ignorance of when to speak and when to be silent, sometimes by a fawning submission, sometimes by an intrusive self-assertion? Learn Marys secret. Feel that you are the child of God, not the servant or the master of any man, but the servant of Christ, who was the servant of all. Vain! What have any of us to be vain of? Rank? wealth? beauty? pomp of household? dress? splendour of appearance? A few years, and we are lying in the chill earth of the churchyard; our eye dead to admiration, our ear to praise; and the world–whose smile we forfeited eternal life to court–regrets us for an hour, and then forgets. And that is human life! No; it is the most miserable travesty of it. We stand in the presence of God. What are all the adventitious advantages of rank or wealth to Him, or to us in Him? Only the tarnished spangles, the tinsel crowns, the false diamonds, which are the properties of this petty theatre which we call the world. Once be able to say in your heart, behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me as He will, and vanity and all its foolish fluttering tribe of small victories over others, of pushing meannesses, of restless desires, of little ostentations, will abandon your heart for ever. The true greatness, wealth, nobility, is to be at one in character with the everlasting goodness, truth, and love of God; to be great with the magnanimity of Christ, to be rich in all the eternal virtues, to be noble among the aristocracy of the best men. He who possesses these can never be vain, and the way to possess them is the Virgins way–to be the servant of God, to do His will. (Stopford A. Brooke, M. A.)
Ready acquiescence in Gods will
How fit was her womb to conceive the flesh of the Son of God, by the power of the Spirit of God, whose breast had so soon, by the power of the same Spirit, conceived an assent to the will of God! and now, of a handmaid of God, she is advanced to the mother of God. No sooner hath she said, Be it done, than it is done; the Holy Ghost overshadows her, and forms her Saviour in her own body. (Bishop Hall.)
Marys answer exhibits
1. Genuine humility, with joyful faith.
2. Quiet resignation, with active zeal.
3. Faithful love, with unwavering heroism. (Van Doren.)
Reasons for submission to the will of God
I. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. It is that of a Father. Whatever we have, it is Gods more than ours.
II. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUSTICE OF GOD.
III. THE MERCY AND GOODNESS OF GOD.
IV. THE ALL-SUFFICIENCY OF GOD.
V. THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD. (D. Beaumont.)
The call of God
It was the answer of profound and humble obedience to the greatest call ever addressed from heaven to a mortal creature. Sudden, undreamt of, overwhelming–interrupting in the most startling manner the daily curse of an obscure human life, breaking in on its privacy, and laying on it the most awful of charges–it was a call to prepare for being the instrument of the final and complete accomplishment of Gods highest words and most amazing work. It was a call to be the last link in a chain which, beginning from God Himself, and composed of that august line of chosen souls who in all ages had carried forward His purpose and His promise, was to end in man brought at last to the utmost and most inexpressible closeness unto God–the human mother of the Eternal Son. It was a call to such a pinnacle of unearthly and unapproachable greatness that the consequences involved in it, and the price which it might exact, must have confounded and baffled all anticipation and forethought. What might have to come before the glory, who could conjecture? What might she not have to be, to endure, to surrender, to look forward to, who in a moment learned, in the depth of her obscurity, that she had been chosen, and was called out of all mankind, to be the mother of the Son of the Highest, the Son of God, the Christ. It is idle, it is profane to attempt to imagine the mind and soul of a human being like ourselves at such a moment. In its sudden translation and lifting up out of all the ordinary conditions of human life, in the tides of honour and rapture, of crushing shame and consciousness of the Divine election, of possible sacrifice and certain triumph, it could be like nothing that man has ever gone through. But whatever passed before the thought of that blessed one while the angels words were setting before her the lot to which she had been appointed, and the place she was to fill in the eternal history, her instant expression of character was that of absolute self-surrender to all that she was called to–of perfect readiness for all that might be required of her. Behold the handmaid of the Lord, &c. (Dean Church.)
When Mary uttered these words of sweet and humble sublimity, she at once received the rankling sword-thrust into her soul, and steeped her soul in a balm that healed, and more than healed all possible sword-thrusts. (Professor Warfield.)
The handmaid of the Lord
I. Let your attention be called to THE GRAND EVENT HERE DESCRIBED AND MADE KNOWN. It is clear that He who was to be a perfect sacrifice must have a purer origin than fallen man; supernatural. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, &c.
II. MARYS ANSWER TO THIS GRACIOUS COMMUNICATION. Behold the handmaid, &c.
1. That this obedient saint was using the language and expressing the sentiments of Gods people in all ages. The title of Moses was the servant of God (Dan 6:20; Psa 116:16). Ready obedience.
2. We are not less bound to the service of God under the gospel; the titles of servants and handmaids do as much befit us, as they did the people of old. St. Paul and St. James style themselves servants of God.
3. A word to those who can say, Whose I am, and whom I serve. This is your world of trial, and you may expect difficulties to draw you aside. The Masters rule is best found in His word, Be it unto me according to Thy word. Let us receive with humility and gratitude the entire Word of God. With what delight must the angel have received Marys pious answer to his communication: and when he returned and told it in the court of heaven, there would be joy in the presence of the rest of the angels of God: so when your hearts respond to the messengers of grace. (J. Slade, M. A.)
Blessedness of resignation
I have at times caught a glimpse of the comfort which it yields to the spirit when I merge my will into Gods will, when I resolve to have no will of my own separate from God. I feel quite assured that this renunciation of self and entire devotion to Gods service would give a simplicity and grandeur to my existence; would throw an unclouded sunshine over all my ways; would raise me above the cares and provocations of this life; would enhance even my sensible gratifications, and superadd those gratifications of a higher order, which constitute the main and essential blessedness of heaven. O, my God, may it be thus with me! (Dr. Chalmers.)
The life of consecration
As Mary uttered this word, she laid herself upon Gods altar in absolute abandonment to Gods will, that He might do in her, and through her, whatever pleased Him.
I. If we consider the CIRCUMSTANCES THAT PRECEDED AND LED UP TO THIS GREAT UTTERANCE, we shall see, in Gabriels conversation with her, three arresting things.
1. Gabriel made clear to her what her vocation was. This is the first condition of a rightly lived life–it must be lived in obedience to the recognition of the vocation of God. Each of us has been created for a definite end, and to fill a special sphere in life.
2. Gabriels converse with Mary revealed also the power in which that vocation was to be realized. She must abandon herself to the power of the Holy Ghost.
3. Gabriel indicated also the condition under which alone the Divine vocation could be realized, and that was by the consent of her own will. God could not take possession of Mary without her free response to His call.
II. THE LIFE OF REGENERATION IS OF NECESSITY NOT SIMPLY A LIFE OF NEGATIVE SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD, BUT A LIFE OF POSITIVE CONSECRATION TO GOD.
1. If consecration to God is the condition of a rightly-lived life, since it is an action, it is an action which must take place at some time in our lives. It must be definitely entered into.
2. If this life of consecration is one which we definitely enter into, it must be continuously persevered in. You cannot consecrate yourself in a moment, so as to secure perseverance in a consecrated life. We can only live the consecrated life when, having entered into it by an act of self-surrender, we live in obedience to consecrating grace.
3. The life of consecration must be lived in a God-assigned sphere. If Mary had turned aside from the vocation of God, and with all possible zeal had sought to serve Him elsewhere, and in other spheres than He had appointed, her life would have been a life, not of consecration to God, but one of self-pleasing. For you must remember this, that it is quite possible for a religious life to be a self-pleasing life. We may be apparently leading the most heroic lives of self-sacrifice, and, after all, our lives may be lives of self-pleasing all the time, for they are lived in a self-chosen sphere; and the question which every one who seeks to be consecrated to God must ask himself is this–Lord, where wouldest Thou have me to be? And then–Lord, what wouldest Thou have me to do? And then–Lord, what wouldest Thou have me suffer? We must be where God would have us be, we must do what God would have us do, we must suffer what God would have us suffer, if our life is to be consecrated to God, and not dedicated to self. It is so important that we should remember that all right spheres in life are God-assigned. God calls one man to the priesthood, another to serve Him in lay life; God calls one to religion, another to secular life; God calls one to serve Him in married life, and another to serve Him in single life; God calls one to serve Him in wealth, and another in poverty; but the essential law of living a life of consecration to God is a hearty, generous embrace of the God-assigned sphere of life. Hearty, generous embrace–no mere resignation. What have we Christian people to do with resignation? We have to rise to something much higher than resignation; we have to leap forward in response to Divine vocation, because it is the vocation of God.
III. THE CONDITION OF RESPONDING TO THE DIVINE VOCATION IS ABANDONMENT TO THE HOLY GHOST. What is Gods great purpose in putting us in the sphere of life in which we are? I do not answer this question with dogmatic confidence, but my belief is that the primary purpose of Gods dealing with His people is–formation of character; that we are placed in our spheres of work, wherever they may be, rather for what God means to do in us than what God means to do by us. I know quite well that wherever God places us He means to do a work by us; but–I repeat it–I believe that Gods primary purposes of His dealings withus is not the work He does by us, but the work He wills to do in us.
IV. CONSECRATION IMPLIES PAINFUL SACRIFICE. Mary would naturally shrink back from response to this vocation for two reasons.
1. The call might seem too high for her. How many there are who shrink back from living generous, Christian lives in the world because they think that, if they are really to make up their minds to live lives consecrated to Christ and of loyalty to God in among the haunts of men, they will be taking up a position which is too hard and difficult for them to maintain. What underlies many a poor, miserable, dwarfed Christian life is this cowardice which is so common among us. It is undeniably the fact that whole surrender to God does of necessity involve painful consequences; for they who thus give themselves up to God are called to know the fellowship of Christs suffering. It is quite true that consecration to God is going to Calvary. Unless we are prepared to know the fellowship of Christs sufferings, we cannot really and truly say this second word of Marys.
2. But there is another thing that would have made her shrink back from her vocation, and that was the suspicion and calumny that would follow upon her consecration. Ere long men were pointing at her with the finger of scorn, and even Joseph was thinking of putting her away. And one thing is certain–is it not?–that men who go out into the world to try to lead a godly life often find themselves exposed to its calumny. Its hatred of goodness will make it only too ready to believe any scandalous story that is spread abroad about any one who lives for God. It is a fear of the condemnation of the world which holds so many back from God. Yet Mary faced it all; though her response meant such awful nearness to God, though it involved such great sacrifice as to bring upon her intense shame, boldly she said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy word.
IN CONCLUSION, let me point out how that this life of consecration is the fruit of love. It is love that consecrates. Love is based on gratitude, and Mary recognized the-fact gratefully that God had the right to claim her to use as He willed. Behold the handmaid,–the slave of the Lord–be it unto me according to Thy word. O God, I am Thine handmaid, Thy slave; Thy right over me is absolute; I cannot for a moment refuse to obey Thy voice. And so it is. God has upon us a threefold claim, each springing from an act of love.
1. The first is the claim of creation. Here we are in Gods world not of our own will, but of His will.
2. But God has a second claim upon us, and that is the claim of redemption. The eternal Christ, the Son of God, came into the world, became the Child of Mary, and passed to the cross. He gave Himself–every portion of Himself–upon the tree for us–His mind, His heart, His will, each member of His sacred body. Behold it quivering upon the cross! Why? That He might buy us for His own.
3. But there is one other reason, and that is gratitude for regeneration. O mystery of mysteries! To think that you and I, sin-stricken as we are, should not only have been redeemed, but that we should have been married to the Lord! To think that He who in His humanity is the fairest of Gods creation, should have stooped from the height of His Fathers throne to the deep depths of our fallen state, and not simply have brought us forgiveness, but that He should have embraced us in His arms, and brought us to His sacred heart, and made us with Him one–bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh! To think of this, and all this as within the bounds of truth! Grasp the mystery of regeneration, and what follows? Consecration to God, abandonment to Christ. As the wife consecrates herself to her husband, so the regenerate to the great Bridegroom of the Church. Whole surrender is my duty; whatever He asks, that I yield. Creation, redemption, regeneration–revelation after revelation of Gods love, kindle in my heart gratitude, and then lead me to take myself wholly up to Gods altar and lay myself down there a living sacrifice at Gods feet, as I cry, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy word. (Canon Body.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 38. Behold the handmaid of the Lord] I fully credit what thou sayest, and am perfectly ready to obey thy commands, and to accomplish all the purposes of thy grace concerning me. It appears that at the instant of this act of faith, and purposed obedience, the conception of the immaculate humanity of Jesus took place; and it was DONE unto her according to his word. See Lu 1:35.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Once have I spoken, (saith Job, Job 40:5) but I will not answer. In like manner the virgin speaketh: I will dispute no more; I am the Lords servant, let him do with me whatsoever he pleaseth. This phrase,
Behold the handmaid of the Lord, doth not speak her the lady and queen of heaven, (as the papists style her), but it speaketh her humility and readiness to give up herself to the Lords pleasure, her assent and consent unto God. She addeth a prayer, that God would do according to what the angel had said unto her. The angel, having despatched his errand, and obtained what he came for, ascendeth into heaven.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
38. Marvellous faith in suchcircumstances!
Lu1:39-56. VISIT OF MARYTO ELISABETH.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Mary said, behold the handmaid of the Lord,…. In which words she expresses her obedience of faith; she owns herself to be the handmaid of the Lord, and desires to obey him, and be submissive to him as such; and tacitly acknowledges her meanness, and great unworthiness:
be it unto me according to thy word; she assented to what the angel said should be unto her; she earnestly desired it might be, and firmly believed it would be; she set her “Amen” to the angel’s message:
and the angel departed from her; to the heavenly regions from whence he came; to his great Lord and master, that sent him; having dispatched the business he came about, and which he was accountable to him for.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord;” (eipen de Mariam idou he doule kuriou) “Then Mary responded, behold the hand maid of the Lord,” I am at your disposal. To face the world’s ridicule and Joseph’s suspicions. What faith! She was already espoused or engaged to a person named Joseph, of the royal house-lineage of David, of the tribe of Judah, and this message falls, Mat 1:18.
2) “Be it unto me according to thy word.” (genoito moi kata to hrema sou) “May it come to be to me according to your word,” as it is from God who sent you to inform me, 0 Gabriel. Her spirit, or attitude was one of total surrender, whatever the cost, to do the will of her God, as she understood it, Joh 7:17; Eph 5:17.
3) “And the angel departed from her.” (kai apelthen ap’ autes to angelos) “And the angel went away from her, of his own accord,” his mission having been performed, as he had come with a message for Mary, as God’s servant, and as her servant, Heb 1:14. He left her as a surrendered vessel for bearing the treasure of the Son of God.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
38. Behold the handmaid of the Lord The holy virgin does not allow herself to dispute any farther: and yet many things might unquestionably have obtruded themselves, to repress that faith, and even to draw off her attention from what was said to her by the angel. But she stops the entrance of opposing arguments, and compels herself to obey. This is the real proof of faith, when we restrain our minds, and, as it were, hold them captive, so that they dare not reply this or that to God: for boldness in disputing, on the other hand, is the mother of unbelief. These are weighty expressions, Behold the handmaid of the Lord: for she gives and devotes herself unreservedly to God, that he may freely dispose of her according to his pleasure. Unbelievers withdraw from his hand, and, as far as lies in their power, obstruct his work: but faith presents us before God, that we may be ready to yield obedience. But if the holy virgin was the handmaid of the Lord, because she yielded herself submissively to his authority, there cannot be worse obstinacy than to fly from him, and to refuse that obedience which he deserves and requires. In a word, as faith alone makes us obedient servants to God, and gives us up to his power, so unbelief makes us rebels and deserters. Be it unto me This clause may be interpreted in two ways. Either the holy virgin, leaving her former subject, (33) betakes herself suddenly to prayers and supplications; or, she proceeds in the same strain (34) to yield and surrender herself to God. I interpret it simply that she is convinced of the power of God, follows cheerfully where he calls, trusts also to his promise, and not only expects, but eagerly desires, its accomplishment. [We must also observe that she is convinced on the word of the angel, because she knows that it proceeded from God: valuing its credit, not with reference to him who was its messenger, but with reference to him who was its author. (35) ]
(33) “ Laissant son premier propos.”
(34) “ Uno contextu.” — “ En continuant le fil de son propos.”
(35) “ Il faut aussi noter qu’elle s’asseure sur la parole de l’Ange, par ce qu’elle sait qu’elle est procedee de Dieu: pesant la dignite d’icelle non a cause de celuy qui en estoit le messager, mais a cause de celui qui en estoit l’autheur.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(38) Behold the handmaid of the Lord . . .The words seem to show a kind of half-consciousness that the lot which she thus accepts might bring with it unknown sufferings, as well as untold blessedness. She shrinks, as it were, from the awfulness of the position thus assigned to her, but she can say, as her Son said afterwards, when His time of agony was come, Not my will, but Thine be done. It may be that the more immediate peril of which St. Matthew speaks (1:19). flashed even then upon her soul as one that could not be escaped. (Comp. Luk. 2:35.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And Mary said, “Behold, the maidservant of the Lord. Be it to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.’
Mary’s response revealed why God had chosen her. He had shown her favour, she would be His maidservant (there were probably few, if any, slaves in Nazareth). She submitted herself to God’s will, and with no histrionics asked that it happen according to His powerful word through Gabriel. She was at this stage the perfect example of obedience, in line with many a godly woman before her. The way, however, would not be easy. She was being asked to do the impossible. She would be attempting to do what no other woman had ever done. It is therefore not surprising that she should struggle with coping with it and sometimes go wrong, and even feel moved to interfere in what she could not understand. She was but a weak mortal like we are.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 1:38. Behold the handmaid, &c. Mary expressed in this answer both great faith and great resignation. She believed what the angel had told her concerning her conception, and wished for it, not regarding the inconveniences to which she might be exposed thereby; as well knowing that the power of God could easily protect her. It is worthy of our remark, that Mary, though a young virgin, should so readily believe an event, in itself so much more wonderful than that which Zacharias, thoughan aged priest, had found it so difficult to credit; and it may be observed, that the sacred writers are particularly careful to record instances of this kind, in which God does as it were out of the mouths of babes and sucklings perfect his praise.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 1:38 . Behold the handmaid of the Lord ! without a verb. Comp. Luk 1:36 ; Luk 5:12 ; Luk 5:18 .
] , , , Euthymius Zigabenus; “eximio fiduciae exemplo,” Grotius.
REMARK.
The natural explanation of the annunciation to Mary (Paulus) is at variance with the evangelic account; and as the latter unfolds simply, clearly, and delicately an external procedure, the objective is not to be rendered subjective and transferred, as a reciprocal operation of the theocratic Spirit of God and the emotional feeling of the Virgin, by means of poetic colouring to the soul of the latter (Lange, L. J. II. 1, p. 67). As history, believed even as it is related, the narrative arose, and that too independently of the preliminary history of Matthew, and even incompatibly with it, [26] in consequence of the circumstance that the divine sonship of Jesus was extended to His bodily origination (see on Mat 1:18 ), an idea, which gave shape to legends dissimilar in character and gaining currency in different circles. Thus, e.g. , it is clear that the history, adopted at Mat 1:19 ff., of Joseph’s perplexity and of the angelic message which came to him does not presuppose, but excludes the annunciation to Mary; for that Mary after such a revelation should have made no communication to Joseph, would have been not less psychologically unnatural, than it would have been a violation of the bridal relation and, indeed, of the bridal duty; [27] and to reckon on a special revelation, which without her aid would make the disclosure to her betrothed, she must have been expressly directed by the angelic announcement made to her, in order to be justified in deferring the communication of her pregnancy to her betrothed. We make this remark in opposition to the arbitrary presuppositions and shifts of Hug ( Gutacht. I. p. 81 ff.), Krabbe, Ebrard, and others. According to the view invented by the last-named, it is assumed that Joseph had learned Mary’s pregnancy, immediately after the appearance of its earliest signs, from the pronubae (“suspicious women”); that immediately there ensued the appearance of the angel to him, and forthwith he took her home; and that for all this a period of at most fourteen days sufficed. Mark and John have rightly excluded these miracles of the preliminary history from the cycle of the evangelical narrative, which only began with the appearance of the Baptist (Mar 1:1 ); as, indeed, Jesus Himself never, even in His confidential circle, refers to them, and the unbelief of His own brothers, Joh 7:5 , and in fact even the demeanour of Mary, Mar 3:21 ff., is irreconcilable with them. [28]
The angelic announcement made to Zacharias , which likewise withdraws itself from any attempt at natural explanation (Paulus, Ammon), appears as a parallel to the annunciation to Mary, having originated and been elaborated in consequence of the latter as a link in the chain of the same cycle of legends after the analogy of Old Testament models, especially that of Abraham and his wife. As in the case of the annunciation to Mary the metaphysical divine Sonship of Jesus, so in the announcement to Zacharias the extraordinary divine destination and mission of John (Joh 1:6 ) is the real element on which the formation of legend became engrafted; but to derive the latter merely from the self-consciousness of the church (Bruno Bauer), and consequently to take away the objective foundation of the history, is at variance with the entire N. T. and with the history of the church. For the formation of the legend, moreover, the historical circumstances, that John was the son of the priest Zacharias and Elizabeth, and a son born late in life, are to be held fast as premisses actually given by history (in opposition to Strauss, I. p. 135), all the more that for these simple historical data their general notoriety could not but bear witness. This also in opposition to Weisse and B. Bauer, who derive these traditions from the laboratory of religious contemplation. Further, as to what specially concerns the late birth of John, it has its historical precedents in the history of Isaac, of Samson, and of Samuel; but the general principle deduced from such cases, “Cum alicujus uterum claudit, ad hoc facit, ut mirabilius denuo aperiat, et non libidinis esse quod nascitur, sed divini muneris cognoscatur” ( Evang. de Nativ. Mar 3 ), became the source of unhistorical inventions in the apocryphal Gospels, [29] as, in particular, the apocryphal account of the birth of Mary herself is an imitation of the history of John’s birth.
[26] Comp. Schleiermacher, L. J. p. 59 ff.
[27] Lange, L. J. II. p. 83 f., rightly acknowledges this, but, following older writers, thinks that Mary made the communication to Joseph before her journey to Elizabeth, but that he nevertheless (“the first Ebionite”) refused to believe her. This is not compatible with Matthew’s narrative, especially Luk 1:18 . And what Lange further (p. 89) adds, that during Mary’s absence a severe struggle arose in his soul, and this state of feeling became the medium of the revelation made to him, is simply added .
[28] Schleiermacher is right in saying, L. J. p. 71: “These occurrences have been entirely without effect as regards the coming forward of Christ or the origination of faith in Him.”
[29] See, in general, R. Hofmann, das Leben Jesu nach d. Apokr. 1851; also Gelpke, Jugendgesch. des Herrn , 1842 (who, moreover, gives the Jewish legends).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
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)
38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Ver. 38. Behold the handmaid of the Lord ] Not Mall God’s maid, as a black mouthed Blatero hath blasphemed in print, that the Puritans rudely called her. (Stafford’s Female Glory.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
38. ] Her own faithful and humble assent is here given to the divine announcement which had been made to her. I believe that her conception of the Lord is to be dated from the utterance of these words . So Euthym [9] : . Similarly Iren [10] , Tert [11] , Ath [12] , Maldonat., Grot. Lightfoot, holding a different opinion, says, Agnosco quidem, communiter obtinuisse, quod Virgo in urbe Nazareta conceperit, idque eodem instante quo Angelus eam alloquebatur . She was no unconscious vessel of the divine will, but (see Luk 1:45 ) in humility and faith, a fellow-worker with the purpose of the Father; and therefore her own unity with that purpose was required , and is here recorded.
[9] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
[10] Irenus, Bp. of Lyons, 178 (Iren-int as represented by his interpreter; Iren-gr, when his own words are preserved)
[11] Tertullian , 200
[12] Athanasius, Bp. of Alexandria, 326 373
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Behold. Greek idou. App-133.
handmaid = bondmaid.
word. See note on Luk 1:37. Same word.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
38.] Her own faithful and humble assent is here given to the divine announcement which had been made to her. I believe that her conception of the Lord is to be dated from the utterance of these words. So Euthym[9]: – . Similarly Iren[10], Tert[11], Ath[12], Maldonat., Grot. Lightfoot, holding a different opinion, says, Agnosco quidem, communiter obtinuisse, quod Virgo in urbe Nazareta conceperit, idque eodem instante quo Angelus eam alloquebatur. She was no unconscious vessel of the divine will, but (see Luk 1:45) in humility and faith, a fellow-worker with the purpose of the Father; and therefore her own unity with that purpose was required, and is here recorded.
[9] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
[10] Irenus, Bp. of Lyons, 178 (Iren-int as represented by his interpreter; Iren-gr, when his own words are preserved)
[11] Tertullian, 200
[12] Athanasius, Bp. of Alexandria, 326-373
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 1:38. , be it done unto me) Compare the assent which David expresses to Gods covenant promise, 2Sa 7:25 [The word that Thou hast spoken-establish it for ever, and do as Thou hast said], 28.-, departed) even as he previously came in, Luk 1:28.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Behold: 2Sa 7:25-29, Psa 116:16, Rom 4:20, Rom 4:21
be: Psa 119:38
Reciprocal: Gen 24:58 – General 1Ch 17:23 – let the thing Psa 86:16 – the son Pro 31:26 – openeth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
WOMANS TRUE AVOCATION
The handmaid of the Lord.
Luk 1:38
The glory of woman only abides while it remains true to the instincts which God implanted. What these instincts are, what womans true avocation is, the Blessed Virgin helps to remind us.
I. The turning-point in womans history.In the thoughtful, loving, obedient woman whom all nations shall call blessed, the Virgin Mary, God Himself raised womanhood to more than her first estate. What laws, and civilisation, and culture, and education had failed to do towards restoring woman to her right position, God, her Saviour, in the fullness of time wrought for her. And so the words: Behold the handmaid of the Lord have ever been regarded as the turning-point in the history of womanhood, a true contrast to the fall of Eve.
II. Woman in the home.If it be true that the history of marriage is the history of woman, then of what infinite importance must it be that the home-life of our England should be one of its most sacred traditions, that woman should be able to fulfil her distinctive mission as the handmaid of the Lord, as the God-given helpmate for man, and as the mother of children, whom she shall teach to know their Lord and Saviourfor it must always be the mother who will have the larger share in the development of a childs character. Blessed are the men, blessed above all mans blessedness, are those who know what it is to have a good mother!
IV. Womans religious instinct.It is just as the fall seems more terrible in the case of him who falls from the greatest height, so an irreligious woman is worse than a sceptical man, for either she is a handmaid of the Lord or she is nothing, either she is beneath the Cross or she is nowhere. You have only to be true to your vocation. Do you notice how the Scripture enjoins love upon the husband very often, but never once upon the wife? And why? Because it relies upon her nature to supply that love. By your loving and sweet natures you will win the souls of your husbands for your Saviour, and so together, from age to age, your souls shall magnify the Lord, and your spirits shall rejoice in God your Saviour. Together you shall glorify Him Who created us in a time of love, and saved us in a day of grace.
Rev. T. R. Hine-Haycock.
Illustration
In Blessed Mary we have the outline of all that is best in womans naturehabitual modesty, reserve, quietness, thoughtfulness; yet, if need be, love strong in death, and ability to suffer things which sterner natures shrink from. Above all, you have that holiness of heart which brings angels down from heaven to be its companions; yea, with which God Himself is content to come down from heaven to dwell.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
8
This speech of resignation of Mary is one of the sweetest passages ever made. There is no sign of exultation over her special favor, but a meek submission as a handmaid, unto the word of the Lord. The angel delivered his message and departed.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Luk 1:38. The handmaid, or, bondmaid. The humble title she gives herself forms a striking contrast to the fulsome ones given to her by her adorers. Rightly considered, however, this brings out the beauty of her character.
Be it unto me. In humble faith she assents; and so it was unto her according to the angels word. The heart of Mary is now filled with the Holy Spirit, who can also prepare her body to be the temple of the God-man, From this moment, rather than from the words of the angel (Luk 1:35), we date the miraculous conception of our Lord.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 38
Handmaid means servant; so that Mary’s reply is an expression of entire submission to the divine will.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Mary responded submissively to God’s will, as Hannah had (1Sa 1:11, where the same Greek word, doule, "servant," or "slave-girl," occurs in the Septuagint). Even though Gabriel’s announcement was good news, it was also bad news. Mary would bear the Messiah, but her premarital pregnancy would bring misunderstanding and shame on her for the rest of her life (cf. Deu 22:23-24). Therefore her humble attitude is especially admirable (cf. Gen 21:1; Gen 21:7; Gen 21:12; Gen 30:34). Unfortunately she did not always maintain it (cf. Joh 2:5). In this she was only human.
"This passage suggests four other important lessons: (1) the certainty that God will perform his promise, since nothing is impossible with him, (2) Mary’s example as one chosen to serve God, an example that extends even beyond the willingness to be used to trust God to take us beyond our limitations, (3) the significance of the Virgin Birth of our Savior, and (4) the importance of sexual faithfulness throughout our lives." [Note: Bock, Luke, p. 60.]