CHAPTER 2 VER. 1. _And it came to pass in those days_ (in which John the Baptist was born) _there went forth a decree_, &c. The Syriac for "all the world," has "all the people of his dominion," subject that is, to Augustus and the Romans. For we have the authority of Suetonius that Augustus did not... [ Continue Reading ]
_And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. First_, that is _general_, throughout all the world, which had now been lulled into peace under Augustus and the Romans; for there was a particular census taken in several provinces prior to this general one. So Paulus Orosius, Bed... [ Continue Reading ]
_And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city._ To the cities from which their respective families took their origin; as the house of David, of which Joseph and Christ were born, took theirs from Bethlehem; David having been born and brought up in Bethlehem. The Jews had divided their natio... [ Continue Reading ]
_And so it was that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered._ Here the prophecy of Micah 5:2, that Christ should be born in Bethlehem, was fulfilled. _Went up_ from Nazareth, where, at the annunciation of the angel, the Blessed Virgin had conceived Christ. He... [ Continue Reading ]
_And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for Him in the inn._ She _brought Him forth_ naturally like other mothers, and was, therefore, truly and naturally the mother of Christ, and therefore of God, for Chris... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the angel said unto them; Fear not, for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all people_ but first to you, whom first I summon to visit and adore the Messiah that is born.... [ Continue Reading ]
_For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord._ In Bethlehem, of the seed and lineage of David. Each word here has its weight, and suggests new matter for joy, as is clear to every one who ponders them deeply. Toletus makes a full and minute examination of t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And this shall be the sign unto you_ (by which you may know this child from others recently born), _ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger._ For other children born at that time were in houses and in beds, only Christ was in a manger in a stable. Hence it appears that... [ Continue Reading ]
_And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying._ Because, as I said at verse 7, all the angels accompanied Christ to earth and adored Him, and they are His battle array and His host, the army of Heaven that fight strongly for God against the evil spi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men_ (of good will "bonæ voluntatis," Vulgate). So the Syriac, Egyptian, Coptic, and Persian versions also have it, except the words "of good will," of which we will treat presently. "In the Highest" may be taken with reference both t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass. This thing_, a metenomy, common in Scripture, by which the word is put for the thing signified by it, as in Luke 1... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a mange. With haste_, from their longing and zeal to see Christ. Hence S. Ambrose remarks, "Thou seest that the shepherds make haste; for no one seeks after Christ with slothfulness." And Bede, "The shepherds hasten, for th... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. They made known_ in the Greek _διεγνώζισαν_ they knew distinctly and with certainty. Or it may be translated, according to Pagninus, _they made known;_ Theophylact has, _they published abroad._ S... [ Continue Reading ]
_And all they that heard it wandered at these things which were told them by the shepherds._ The _and_ is not found in the Greek, the Syriac, or the Arabic version, and with this omission the sense is plainer. But, according to the Roman version, the meaning is, they wondered at the birth of the Mes... [ Continue Reading ]
_But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart_ putting them together and comparing them not as Bede would have it, the prophecies made about Christ by the prophets, but the things seen and reported by the shepherds with reference to the angels the "Gloria in excelsis," &c., with wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the shepherds returned_ (to their flock, says Euthymius, for God would have the faithful, however exalted by Him, remain in the discharge of their several callings), _glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them._ Hence it is clear that t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, His name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before He was conceived in the womb when eight days were fulfilled_ when the eighth day from His nativity was come. _That the child should be circumcised_ this indicat... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when the days of her purification according to the law o Moses were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord._ Observe that here three different ordinances are intertwined and joined together. The first is that of Leviticus 12:2, _et seq._, that a woman, if she ha... [ Continue Reading ]
Observe here how God joins and couples in Christ the humble with the sublime, the human with the divine, the poison with the antidote, to show that in Him human nature was joined to the Divine Majesty. Christ would be circumcised, so taking on Him the appearance of sin, but presently, when He wipes... [ Continue Reading ]
_And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons,_ because they were poor; for the rich were obliged to give in addition to this a lamb for a holocaust. Although the three kings had offered to Christ a great quantity of go... [ Continue Reading ]
_And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel_ : _and the holy Ghost was upon him._ Calvin would have it that Simeon was of obscure birth and unknown; but that he was venerable by his age and his sanctit... [ Continue Reading ]
_And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ._ " _It was revealed_ " by a divine oracle and promise the Greek expression is _χζηματίξειν_. " _The Lords Christ_ " the Messiah, anointed with the unction of the Holy Spirit and the p... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he came by the Spirit into the Temple._ By the impulse of the Holy Spirit, moved and incited by the Holy Spirit, say Euthymius and Theophylact. And the same Spirit who urged him thither gave him the sign by which he should know Christ among so many infants that were then being offered in the Te... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then took he Him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said._ Martial says of the dying swan "Sweet cadences the swan with voice that fails in death Uttereth; his own dirge shaped of his own dying breath." And so the last utterances of the wise are the sweetest, their powers maturing with years. A... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word. Lettest thou_ in Greek _α̉πολύεις_, _loosen_, as it were, from the prison-chains of this body, that I may go to the liberty, peace, and rest which the fathers in limbo enjoy. _In peace_, so Tobias, 3:6; and Abraham, Genesis... [ Continue Reading ]
_For mine eyes have seen thy salvation._ " _Salvation_," in Greek _σωτήζιον_, the word used by the Septuagint as a rendering of the Hebrew ישוצח, _iescua_, safety. "Safety" is used by metonomy for "Saviour." By "salvation," then, we are to understand the Saviour Christ, whom the ancient fathers desi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people._ That all the nations of the Gentiles may draw salvation from Christ the Saviour. God has not hidden Christ in a corner of Judæa, but has set Him forth before all men, and soon will announce Him throughout the world by His Apostles, that all w... [ Continue Reading ]
_A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel_. Thou hast given Christ the Saviour that He may be a light for the enlightenment of the Gentiles, enlightening with His faith and worship the Gentiles who know not the true God, and also to be the glory and honour of the Jewish pe... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of Him._ Joseph, who is called the father of Christ, not only because he was His foster-father, and was commonly supposed to be His natural father, but also because Christ had been born to him lawfully in wedlock, and of his wife... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary His mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against._ The form for the sacerdotal blessing is prescribed in Numbers 6:24, "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee," &c. _Blessed t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And there was one Anna, a prophetess_, _the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser_ : _she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity_. She was an old woman, so that she was prompted by no youthful fervour, but bore testimony to Christ in a mature and grave... [ Continue Reading ]
_And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years_ (of age, or, according to S. Ambrose, of her widowhood), _which_ _departed not from the Temple._ Not that she lived in the Temple, but she frequented it, and spent much time in it. So think Toletus, Jansenius, and Maldonatus. Others, however, t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord._ In Greek _α̉νθωμολογει̃το_, confessed to God _in her turn_, as though singing in answer to Simeon from the choir set apart for the other sex, praised the Lord, and gave Him thanks for the gift of Christ and His birth. _And spake o... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit._ The Greek, Syriac, and Arabic add " _in spirit_," and Euthymius explains it that Christ did _not_ receive greater spiritual strength _inwardly_ day by day, since He was full of grace and the Holy Ghost from the first moment of His conception, but tha... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover._ God had commanded that every man should go to the Tabernacle or Temple three times a year, there to adore God publicly and offer Him sacrifices, Exo 23:14 and Deuteronomy 16:16. The Blessed Virgin, although not bound by the... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast._ The Syriac has " _as they had been accustomed on the feast_ " namely, of the Passover.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem._ In the Greek, _after they had finished_, or _gone through, the days_ namely, of the Passover; for this feast was kept for seven days, and S. Luke here implies that Mary and Joseph kept all these da... [ Continue Reading ]
_But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance_, who had gone on, and with whom Mary and Joseph who were about to follow a little later, would that evening lodge and, as they thought, there find Jesus.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking Him._ Jesus having been seen by none of His kinsfolk on the way, His parents understood that He must have remained in Jerusalem; and so they sought Him there with great anxiety. Origen gives the reason, and Theophylact and Ti... [ Continue Reading ]