3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Jo 4 seph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, (be5 cause he was of the house and lineage of David,) to be taxed 6 with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that while they were there, the days were accomplished 7 that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in that he then held that office, but that he did afterwards; and the title is applied to him retrospectively, as is not unusual in similar cases. But when the ingenuity of critics has been exhausted, may we not allow the possibility of a confusion, in the writer, or his transcribers, of the registration in the time of Herod the Great, when Jesus Christ was born, with the taxation which took place several years afterwards, during the presidency of Cyrenius over Syria. If there is an error, it is not essential. 3. Taxed. Enrolled. - Into his own city. The Jews, being accustomed to cluster together according to their tribes and families, would resort, upon such an occasion, to the towns and cities from which their ancestors originally sprang. 4. Galilee, &c. See Mat. ii. and notes.-The city of David. He was born and brought up at Bethlehem. 1 Sam. xvi.-Because he was, &c. This is proved in the genealogy of Mat. i. 1-16. 5. With Mary. The fact that they both resort to the same place, has been deemed as an evidence, that they both belonged to the house or family of David, as represented in the genealogies of both Matthew and Luke. 6, 7. The precise day, month, and year of our Lord's birth are unknown. It is generally believed, from a computation of historical facts, to have occurred about 5 or 6 years earlier than the beginning of the Christian era, as now established. The 25th of December is usually observed as the birthday. But this description contains some items, as the taking of the census, and the shepherds' tending their flocks by night, which render it improbable that the winter, which has some severity in Palestine, was the period. The exact date we cannot now wrest from the remorseless grasp of oblivious antiquity. But we feel, that the 25th of December is as much embalmed in the associations and affections of the Christian world, and is therefore as cordially to be observed with Christmas festivities and solemnities, as if the precise natal hour were known to have been on that day. There is said to have been a fanciful reason, why the birth of Christ received its present date; for since it is about the time the sun, after the winter solstice, begins to return to the earth, as the popular phrase is, it was deemed proper to fix the nativity of Jesus also, or the approach of the Sun of righteousness, at that period. First-born. Mat. i. 25.- Wrapped him in swaddling-clothes. Or, swathing-bands; or swathed him. A custom of old to prevent distortion.- Laid him in a manger. Or, crib. Some would read stall or stable, but there seems to be no sufficient reason to adopt any other, than the obvious idea conveyed in the English version. The humble place in which his infant limbs reposed, was an emblem of after-life, a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the 3 field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel 9 of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel 10 said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born 11 this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the when he had not where to lay his head. No room, &c. The number of strangers was so great as to crowd the places of public lodging, and prevent Joseph and his wife from obtaining, critical as was her condition, the best accommodations. Inn. Which was not like our houses of public entertainment, but a khan, or caravanserai, or public building, untenanted by a landlord, to which travellers resorted to lodge, carrying their own food and bedding. Some inns, however, had landlords. 8. In the same country. In the neighborhood of Bethlehem. -Abiding in the field. Probably not in the open air, but in tents or booths, erected for temporary shelter, away from their usual habitations. — Keeping watch over their flock. Keeping the night-watches. It was customary to take their flocks out in the spring, about the month of March, into the deserts, or mountainous and uninhabited region, and pasture them there until the rainy season commenced, in October or November, and then drive them home. It would seem to have been during the summer pasturage, that the events in the text and context occurred. If so, our Lord was probably born between the months of March and November, rather than as late as the 25th of December. It was on the hills of Bethlehem, one thousand years before, that David, in his youth, tended his flock. Well is that called the Holy Land, for precious and enkindling associations hallow every rock and stream. "These are the ancient holy hills 9. And lo, the angel of the Lord. It was singularly in unison with the history and character of the new religion, that the coming of its Founder should be heralded by these celestial voices. The story wears indubitable marks of truth and original beauty. Instead of deeming it incredible, should we not, on the contrary, have been astonished if the heavens had remained dumb, when the Holy Child was born, who was to reconcile the world to God? Job xxxviii. 7; Luke xv. 10. 10. Good tidings of great joy. Beautiful description of pure religion, as it appeared to a celestial intelligence. Not to pass sentence of wrath and condemnation on the world, but to save it, did Christ come. Joy, then, vast and all-pervading gladness, should welcome his advent. The religion also he was about to establish, was to be a universal one, good tidings to all people, and that was reason for the most joyous congratulations of angels and archangels. 11. Saviour Christ-Lord. An epitome of the offices of the Messiah. He was to save his people from their sins. He was to be the anointed Prophet and Messenger of God. He 12 Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe 13 wrapped in swaddling-clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host prais 14 ing God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 15 peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the an was to be Master as well as Teach- The Saviour now is born! 12, 13. A sign unto you. Thus indicating, that the circumstances in which the child was placed were unusual, and, agreeably to the common belief, poor and lowly. - A multitude of the heavenly host, &c. An emblem of the interest of heaven in the affairs of earth; an expression of that love which binds the moral universe together, as attraction the material. If "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy," at the creation, how much more should praise be given, that now the moral wreck and chaos were about to be restored to order, and men to become new creatures! Or, if "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth," how much livelier the jubilee when the Saviour was born, to call sinners to repentance, and reconcile the world to God!-Praising God. They looked to no inferior being, but directed their sole thanksgivings to Him, who is the original and uncreated Source of all good, mercy, and truth, and who so loved the world that he sent his Son to save it. 14. This exclamatory chant bears traces of a celestial origin not to be mistaken. It condenses, in brief and brilliant words, the leading characteristics and objects of the new religion. It is the Lyric of heaven sung to man. Glory to God in the highest. Or, the highest degree. They VOL. II. sang praises to God for the Messenger he was now sending, to bless the world. Worship is one of the highest acts of man or angel. And an intimation, as it were, is given here, that, under the new dispensation, idolatry was to come to an end, and glory and honor supreme to be given to whom alone they are due. Nor in vain. Earth is slowly preparing to echo back, one day, from all her green shores, and with the deep tone of her millions, the heavenly pean-Glory to God in the highest! And on earth peace. Jesus was to be the Prince of Peace. It is one of his loftiest titles. Peace on earth, which has been heretofore such a Golgotha, might seem Utopian indeed, unless we considered the power of him who came to reign in human hearts and lives, and to bring every thought into captivity to himself. Filled himself with the peace of God, he came to breathe it through all souls, quelling ambition, and anger, and revenge. He produces peace in the inner man, by harmonizing all the passions and appetites under the sway of conscience and reason, the voices of God; peace in the world, by the love of man to man, and universal equity; peace and reconciliation towards God, by the revelation of his mercy to the penitent offender, and his wise purposes in our trials and sorrows. "Joy rises in me like a summer's morn: Peace, Peace on earth! the Prince of Peace is born." Good will toward men. From God to man, and from man to man. More than peace, there was to be benevolence, positive kindness, sympathy, and relief. Man was to mete out to gels 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, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, 16 and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, 17 they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it, wondered at 18 those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary 19 kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the 20 shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising 21 of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her purification according to the law of 22 Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (as it is written in the law of the Lord, 23 Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the others that love, which God meted out to him. The Saviour went about doing good, and he calls all his followers to engage in the offices of philanthropy. His religion has been eminently a religion of benevolence, even in its past imperfect manifestations. It has founded hospitals, and schools, and missions, and ministries to the poor and lost. It has crossed the bounds of country and color, and scattered the best gifts of time and eternity over dark and oppressed lands. But the angelic triad Piety, Peace, and Benevolence—has but just begun to take effect. What happiness and glory, then, may we not expect from its future and hastening consummation! 15. Bethlehem. Verse 11. It was understood that the Messiah was to be born there. 19. Pondered them in her heart. This verse is true to human nature. The mother is alive to every thing that concerns her offspring, and dwells with the fondest recollections upon their past lives, and with the liveliest hopes upon their future prospects. 20. Praising God. It appears, that neither the angels nor the shepherds worshipped any other than the Supreme God, upon this occasion. They did not, like many modern Christians, admit any other being to a participation of their homage. 21. Eight days. The regular period for circumcision. Gen. xvii. 12. So named of the angel. Chap. i. 31; Mat. i. 21. 22. Her. This should be their, as both Jesus and Mary are included in the pronoun in the original. — The law of Moses. Lev. xii. describes this ceremonial purification. — Jerusalem. Distant from Bethlehem only about six miles. 23. Holy to the Lord. The firstborn, of both man and beast, in memory of the deliverance out of Egypt, and especially of the destruction of 24 Lord;) 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 25 pigeons. 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 26 him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he 27 should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the 23 law, then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and 29 said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, ac30 cording to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31 which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; the first-born of that land, were sacred to God, but they could be redeemed by an offering. Ex. xiii. 12-15; Num. iii. 12, 13, xviii. 15, 16. 24. A pair of turtle-doves, &c. Lev. xii. 8. The nature of the offering indicated the poverty of Joseph and Mary. One of the birds was for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering. The turtle and pigeon are varieties of the dove. The turtle dove is a small, migratory singing-bird. The sacrifice Mary offered in presenting her Son to the Lord, fitly became him whose baptism was sanctified by the dove-like descent of the Holy Spirit. 25. Simeon. Nothing further is known of this saintly old man, except the facts here related. All conjectures respecting him are abortive. -Just and devout. Exemplary in his duties to God and man. - Waiting for the consolation of Israel. This was the posture of mind, if we may credit history, of multitudes. Besides other titles, the name of Manahem, Consoler, was given by the Jews to their expected Messiah; and, according to Lightfoot, there was nothing more common, than for them to swear by the desire they had, of seeing the consolation of Israel. Plunged as the people were into the midst of calamities, the visitation of their sins, it was natural that this term, as applicable to their great Deliverer, should be gladly seized upon and repeated. See Is. xl. 1, 2. 26. The Lord's Christ, i. e. the Lord's Anointed. We shall not see bodily, before we die, what the good old Jew had the privilege of seeing; but with the eye of that faith, which sees realities, as well as the eye of sense, we can, even while in the flesh, see and rejoice that our Redeemer liveth. 29. We have here the commencement of another short hymn, similar to those of Mary and Zacharias, in chap. i.-Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. "Excellent old man! Were we asked the cause of our unwillingness to die, how various would be the reasons assigned! We are not prepared;- - we have not, we think, enjoyed the fulness of this world's blessings; - we fear;- -and a cloud of doubt, which even our Christian belief does not entirely dispel, comes between us and the light of immortality. With Simeon it was not so. He waited but for one blessing more; -to see the consolation of Israel; and his wish was granted. |