S. LUKE'S GOSPEL Third Edition J OHN H ODGES, AGAR STREET, CHARING CROSS, LONDON. 1892. INTRODUCTION. . T HE _Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ, according to S. Luke_, that is, the Holy Evangelical History of the words and acts of Jesus, as described by S. Luke. The Arabic says, "In the name of the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which from the beginning were eye-witnesses_, &c. _Ipsi viderunt_, Vulgate. _αυ̉τόπται καὶ ύπηζέται γενόμενοι το̃υ λόγου_, Greek: that is who were eyewitnesses (_oculares spectactores_) and ministers of the word: which we may understands 1. of Christ, for He is the Word of the Eternal Father; the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Having had perfect understanding_. _παζηκολουθηκότι_, Greek: that is "carefully investigating," and therefore "having understood." _In order_. _καθεξη̃ς_, Greek; that is 1. successively, 2. distinctly, in order so as to relate, first the conception of Christ, then His nativity, afterwards His life... [ Continue Reading ]
_That thou mayest know the certainly. Veritatem, truth_, Vulgate. _άσφάλειαν_, Greek, _certainty, stability._... [ Continue Reading ]
_There was in the days of Herod._ S. Luke begins by mentioning the name of Herod to point out the time when John the Baptist and Christ were born; and also to show that the sceptre had now departed from Judah, and had passed over to an alien, and therefore that the time for the advent of the Messiah... [ Continue Reading ]
_Well stricken in years._ He says this to show that John was born of them, not in the way of nature, but by the gift of God and by a miracle, like other eminent saints, as Isaac, Joseph, Samuel. S. Augustine (Serm. iii. _on John the Baptist_) says Elizabeth was barren in body but fruitful in virtues... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the whole multitude were praying without._ That is in the court outside the Holy place or Temple, which the priests alone, might enter. There were two courts; the inner one, of the priests, containing the altar of burnt-offering; and the outer one, of the people, who from it beheld the sacrific... [ Continue Reading ]
_There appeared unto him an angel_ (Gabriel, as is clear from v. 19), _standing on the right side of the altar._ 1. Because he had come to announce good tidings. Euthymius. 2. Because he brought down the token of Divine mercy, for the Lord is on my right hand, therefore I shall not be moved. S. Ambr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Zacharias was troubled._ Both because of the unusual sight, and because of the majesty in which he appeared, which human weakness could scarcely endure to behold: "for man is not strong enough to bear such a strange and unusual sight without alarm." Titus. So Daniel, when the same angel appeared to... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy prayer is heard._ Not his prayer for offspring, S. Augustine says, of which he now so despaired that he did not believe the promise of the angel (verse 20), but thy prayer as a priest for the sins of the people and for the coming of the Messiah. But God, who goes beyond the merits and the praye... [ Continue Reading ]
_And thou shalt have joy and gladness._ Thy son shall be to thee and to many others the cause of the greatest joy and exultation.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Great in the sight of the Lord_ : to Whom alone it belongs to determine what is great, what is ordinary, and what is small. Many, says S. Theophylact, are called great in the sight of men, who, being little, esteem little things as great; but John was great in the sight of the Lord, who, being grea... [ Continue Reading ]
_He shall go before Him._ John went before Christ. 1. In his birth, for he was born six months before Christ. 2. In his baptism, for he baptized before Christ did; yea, he even baptized Christ. 3. In preaching, of repentance that he might prepare the way for Christ. 4. By pointing out Jesus as the M... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Zacharias said to the angel_, &c. That is, give a sign or a miracle for a proof to me that the great things which you are promising will surely come to pass. This hesitation on the part of Zacharias seems to have proceeded from want of deliberation and reflection, and therefore was only a venia... [ Continue Reading ]
_And behold thou shall be dumb_, &c. Theophylact and S. Ambrose translated, "thou shalt be deaf," and so make a distinction from what follows, "and not able to speak." For although the Greek word _σιωπω̃ν_ properly signifies one who is dumb, yet one who is deaf may be understood by the same word; fo... [ Continue Reading ]
_The days of his ministration_, &c. _λειτουζγίας_, Greek. That is of his sacred ministration in the Temple. His house was situated in the mountains of Judæa, where his wife Elizabeth was.... [ Continue Reading ]
_After those days his wife conceived._ Elizabeth conceived about the 24th of September, on which day many Christian Churches celebrate the conception, of John. So that the incense was offered by Zacharias, and his vision and the promise of the angel concerning the birth of John seem to have taken pl... [ Continue Reading ]
_To a Virgin espoused to a man_, &c. Espoused, not by betrothal only but by matrimony already contracted, although not actually consummated, see Matthew 1:18. S. Gregory Thaumasius (_Serm._ 3 _de Annun_.) says, "Gabriel is sent to prepare a chamber worthy of the most pure Bridegroom; he is sent to c... [ Continue Reading ]
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 Tr... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 E... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 Revelation 12_) sa... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 th... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 th... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 a... [ Continue Reading ]
_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.... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 W... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 Revelation 12_) says, "Truly this is a song of high praise, but also of devout humility which suffers her not to reta... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 Himsel... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 Assu... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 tens... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 thirst... [ Continue Reading ]
_He hath holpen His servant Israel. _... [ Continue Reading ]