a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people 32 Israel. And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things 33 which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them, and 34 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; (yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own 35 soul also;) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of 36 Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and she was 37 His cup of joy was full; the Saviour had come; the light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel,' had appeared; and now the old man looked to God in perfect, fearless confidence, ready to depart in peace, to pass quietly from the anticipation to the full enjoyment of heaven. How happy is the death of him who is alike the friend of God and man! He looks round on earth, and sees Almighty Goodness employed in promoting those best interests of his race which have ever been dear to him; he looks up to heaven, and there a Father's love is ready to bid him welcome. He closes his eyes, and enters peacefully on the inheritance of the saints in light."-BULFINCH. 32. A light to lighten the Gentiles. Even those Jews, who had not formed just notions of the Messiah's kingdom, yet believed that he would benefit the Gentile world by sending out his law from Mount Zion, and extending the worship of the one true God. 6 34. The fall and rising again. The last word is a needless addition. As commentators have observed, under the figure of a stone lying in a path, the Messiah is represented as a stone of stumbling, or an occasion of sin to many who would reject him, but as a rock of support, a cause of their reformation, to many, inasmuch as they would resort to his aid.-A sign, &c. Is. viii. 18. God speaks, says Olshausen, through the Redeemer and his whole appearance, through the man with the cross and the thorny crown, and the eternal Son of God, the Judge of the living and the dead, a powerful language of facts to the world, and places him actually in it as a wonder-sign to mankind. The prediction was literally fulfilled in the calumnies which were heaped on his unsullied character, and the cruel requital which was made for his benevolent life. 35. A sword shall pierce, &c. Referring, perhaps, to the mental anxieties of the mother on account of the persecution and death which would befall her Son. This sentence is, no doubt, properly included in a parenthesis. - The thoughts of many hearts, &c. Clarke places this sentence before the previous one, as the connexion requires. The idea is, that a searching period was coming, that would try men's souls, and reveal their private characters, inasmuch as some would welcome, and some scorn, the revelation of divine truth. Christ judges men even in this world, and brings them to the touchstone of sincerity and conscientiousness. Ex. xv. 36. Anna, a prophetess. 20. It is not necessary to suppose special inspiration in this case, or the power of foretelling future events. Aser, i. e. Asher. Seven years from her virginity, i. e. only seven a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night 38 and day. And she coming in that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for 39 redemption in Jerusalem. And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into 40 Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him. 41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of 42 the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up 43 to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind 44 in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's years after her marriage, when her husband probably died. She was now eighty-four years old. 37. A widow of about fourscore and four years. A state of chaste widowhood was highly honored among the Jews, and even the Gentiles. -Departed not from the temple. The sense probably is, that she was assiduous in her religious duties, attending the morning and evening sacrifices, and joining devoutly in the exercises of fasting, prayer, and med itation. 38. Spake of him to all them. Thus manifesting her joy. - Redemption. Tacitus, Suetonius, Josephus, and others, have recorded the existence of this prevalent expectation of a coming Deliverer. 39. Returned into Galilee. For an account of events between the presentation in the temple and their return to Galilee, see Mat. ii. 40. This verse may be regarded as the text, of which the following narrative is the illustration. The language is similar to that respecting John, chap. i. ver. 80. The grace of God was upon him. Ver. 52. The favor of God attended him. Campbell, however, renders the phrase, "adorned with a divine gracefulness;" as it refers, in his view, to that blended dignity, spirit, and sweetness of manner, more than human, to which the sacred writers have made several allusions. Mat. vii. 28, 29; Mark i. 22; Luke iv. 22, 32; John vii. 46. 41. The feast of the passover. This was one of the three great religious festivals, on which all pious Jews, women as well as men, resorted to the capital. Joseph and Mary appear to have been eminently observant of all religious exercises. 42. Twelve years old. The age when the Jews began to instruct their children in religion, and imposed upon them the duties of the law, from which circumstance they were then called "the sons of the law." 43. Fulfilled the days, i. e. the eight days of the feast. 44. In the company. Or, caravan; for in their journeyings to and from the great feasts, the Jews were accustomed to travel in large companies, composed of friends and journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back 45 again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that after 46 three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And 47 all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his 48 mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he 49 said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? And they understood not 50 46. After three days, i. e. on the third day, according to the Jewish manner of speech. One day had been occupied with their journey towards home, the next with their return to Jerusalem, and on the third day they found him. In the temple. There were apartments in the temple, occupied by the Jewish doctors in giving instruction.-Sitting. The posture of scholars, as well as teachers, among the Jews. Acts xxii. 3. - In the midst, i. e. simply, among them. — Doctors. The scribes and teachers of the law. Hearing them, &c. We may suppose, with several commentators, that modest interrogation and respectful replies, rather than disputation, characterized the interview of Jesus with these sages of his nation. Josephus relates a similar event, as occurring in his own boyhood. It was not unusual for the young to ask and answer questions, in the company of their elders. Something of the Socratic method of teaching prevailed among the Jews. 47. At his understanding and answers. Or, the understanding and wisdom of his answers. "Abashed be all the boast of age, * "But in thy Father's own abode, 48. The natural anxiety of the mother prompts her to be the spokesman. Sorrowing. They might well fear that their Son had, in the tenderness of his youth, met with some mishap in the city, which was then crowded with vast multitudes, from both domestic and foreign parts. 49. Wist. Knew.-About my Father's business. Rendered by some, "at my Father's," or, "in my Father's house," referring to his being in the temple, the house of God. Jesus thus early intimates that his calling was to be that of a public teacher. The beautiful simplicity of his answer, joined with numerous other passages, which are bright with the impress of reality and genuineness, ought to make those pause, who would cast by this portion of the gospel as a forgery. See the Introduction to Luke. 51 the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his 52 mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. CHAPTER III. The Ministry of John the Baptist, and the Genealogy of Jesus. Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and of the re 51. And was subject unto them. Brief as is the account, we have here two distinguishing marks of the youthful excellence of Jesus, in his interest in religious instruction and his filial obedience. In these respects, his example is worthy of the imitation of every child; for "The earth affords no lovelier sight Than a religious youth." -But his mother kept, &c. See remarks on ver. 19. 52. Jesus increased in wisdom, &c. Ver. 40, chap. i. 80; 1 Sam. ii. 26. The common theory, that Jesus was God, incarnated in human flesh, or was even a conscious intelligence, descended from heaven, and versed, therefore, originally, in the fulness of divine wisdom, is wholly inconsistent with the facts stated in the text, and kindred passages. The highest honor, that can be paid to Jesus, is to receive him in the character which he professed, and not in clothing him with those robes of divine sovereignty and glory, which he as little claimed, as he did the royal diadem, with which his disciples and the Jews fondly invested him, in their ambitious visions of a temporal kingdom. Stature. Tyndale and others render it age. Milton has thus paraphrased this portion of Jesus' history: "O, what a multitude of thoughts at once Awakened in me swarm, while I consider What from within I feel myself, and hear What from without comes often to my ears, Ill sorting with my present state compared! CHAPTER III. 1. The fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cesar. He was successor to Augustus Cesar, mentioned in ciated as joint emperor, during the chap. ii. 1, with whom he was assolast two years of his reign. He was notorious for his vices and tyranny, and appointed Caius Caligula to succeed him, a prince of the most wicked character. - Pontius Pilate being governor, i. e. procurator. Archelaus succeeded Herod the Great, Mat. ii. 22, but was deposed and banished by Augustus Cesar, and Judea was reduced to a Roman province under procurators, of whom Pontius Pilate was the fifth. being tetrarch of Galilee. This was Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the Great. He was guilty of imprisoning and beheading John the Baptist, and to him Jesus was sent by Pontius Pilate. The word tetrarch literally denotes the ruler of the fourth part of a province or country; but it often has a more general sense. Philip his brother. This prince married Salome, the daughter of Herodias. Iturea. A district of Cole-Syria, Herod gion of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, An- 2 nas and Caiaphas being the high-priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came 3 into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance, for the remission of sins; as it is written in the book 4 of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every moun- 5 tain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh 6 supposed to be so called from Jetur, one of the sons of Ishmael, Gen. xxv. 15, lying north-east of Galilee, towards Damascus. The inhabitants were skilful archers, but robbers. Trachonitis. A tract in the same quarter, lying south of Damascus, so called from the roughness of the country. Its modern name is El Ledja. Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene. Little is known of him. He was probably the son of Lysanias, and was put to death by the intrigues of Cleopatra. Abilene was so called from Ábila or Abela, a city lying about twenty miles north-west of Damascus, on the eastern declivity of Anti-Libanus. - Luke was more conversant with history, and the way of writing history, than the other evangelists; and the particularity, with which he has fixed the date of the commencement of John's ministry, strongly confirms the truth of his account, as has been shown by Lardner, in his Credibility of the Gospel History, and by other authors. An impostor would not have furnished the means of his own detection, by multiplying names, dates, and places. 2-17. See notes on Mat. iii. 112; also Mark i. 1-8. 2. Annas and Caiaphas being the high-priests. There could be but one high-priest at a time, strictly speaking; but Josephus, like Luke, often mentions two together. We cannot, therefore, conclude that the evangelist has committed any mistake in doing it, but, on the contrary, suppose that he followed the usage of the times. Some have conjectured that, in the great liberties which were taken by the Romans with the priesthood, the office of high-priest had become annual, and that Annas and Caiaphas occupied it in turn; others, that Caiaphas was high-priest, and Annas his sagan, or deputy; others still, that Caiaphas held the office by Roman appointment, but that Annas was the head of Aaron's posterity, and entitled to it by law. Perhaps we cannot arrive at any solution of the difficulty, entirely free from objections, on account of the dim light of history. It appears, however, in the Jewish historian, that Annas had been high-priest the year before, and therefore was treated with great respect by the Jews, as being next to the high-priest. See also John xviii. 13, 24, which may be regarded as an independent corroboration of this passage in Luke. Hence the evangelist, in speaking of Caiaphas, as being high-priest, naturally joins Annas with him. Josephus furnishes every where great and unsuspected support to the historical data of the New Testament. 3, 4. For the remission of sins. Or, so that their sins might be remitted. - Esaias. Is. xl. 3. |