V. 18-19. It would be well for us if we would think and reflect on things as Joseph did; rather to err on the favourable side than on the severe extreme. Were there more of deliberation in our censures and judgments, there would be more of mercy and moderation in them.-Dr. Dodd. It becomes us, in many cases, to be gentle towards those that come under suspicion of having offended, to hope the best concerning them, and to make the best of that which at first appears bad, in hopes it may prove better. Summum jus is sometimes summa injuria.-M. Henry. 20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. V. 23. Christ has shown us that even the mysteries of the Godhead admit of increase, for He has added to them the peculiarities of humanity, and adopted the sum of them all into His own Person. Besides the predicates which are true of Him as God, and those which are true of Him as man, by combining Divinity and humanity together, He has created, if I may say so, a third class of truths, which can be predicated of Him, and of Him alone; and on these, as they relate to His Mediatorial office, hangs the hope of the perishing world.—Dr. J. Harris. 24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS. CHAP. II. NOW [OW when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 2 God brings men to Himself in ways suited to their natural dispositions. The stubborn He tears like a lion, the gentle He wins like a turtle, by sweetness; He hath a hammer to break the stout, and a cord of love to draw the more pliable tempers. He works upon the more rational in a way of Gospel reason; upon the more ingenuous in a way of kindness, and draws them by 8 the cords of love. The wise men were led to Christ by a star, and means suited to the knowledge and study of those eastern nations, which consisted much in astronomy; He worketh upon others by miracles accommodated to every one's sense, and so proportions the means to the natures of those He works upon.-Charnock. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Everything affrights the guilty. Usurpation is full of jealousies and fears; it makes us think every bush a man, and every man a thief. But why art thou troubled, O Herod? a King is born; but such a King as whose sceptre may ever concur with lawful sovereignty; yea, such a King, as by whom kings hold their sceptres, not to lose them. If the wise men tell thee of a King, the star tells thee He is heavenly. Here is a good cause of security, none of fear. The most general enmities and oppositions to good arise from mistakes. If men could but know how much safety and sweetness there is in Divine truth, it could receive nothing from them but welcomes and gratulations.-Bp. Hall. And when he had gathered all the Chief Priests and Scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. A perpetually fixed star, shining in the writings of the prophets, guides the chief priests and scribes directly to Bethlehem. As yet, envy and prejudice had not blinded the eyes, and perverted the hearts of the Jewish teachers, so that now they clearly justify that Christ whom they afterwards condemn; and by thus justifying Him, condemn themselves in rejecting Him. The water that is untroubled yields the visage perfectly. If God had no more witness than from His enemies, we should have ground enough for our faith.-Bp. Hall. The birth of a distinguished personage was always supposed to give honour and importance to a city or country. Thus seven cities contended for the honour of giving birth to Homer; Stratford-upon-Avon is distinguished as the birth-place of Shakspeare; and Corsica as the birth-place of Napoleon. -Barnes. 8 7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. It is really an amazing thing, that so suspicious and artful a prince as Herod should put this important affair on so precarious a foot; when it would have been so easy, if he had not gone himself, under pretence of doing an honour to these learned strangers, to have sent a guard of soldiers with them, who might, humanly speaking, without any difficulty, have slaughtered the Child and His parents on the spot. We must refer his conduct to a strange infatuation, with which God can, whenever He pleases, confound the most sagacious of mankind.—Doddridge. "When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. Don Pedro, one of the kings of Portugal, had for his device a star, with the words 'Monstrat Iter;' indicating that his thoughts were more fixed on celestial than on earthly objects.Universal History. Once on the raging seas I rode, The storm was loud,-the night was dark; The ocean yawn'd-and rudely blow'd The wind that toss'd my foundering bark. Deep horror then my vitals froze, Death-struck, I ceased the tide to stem; When suddenly a star arose, It was the star of Bethlehem! It was my guide, my light, my all, And through the storm and dangers thrall, It led me to the port of peace. Now, safely moor'd-my perils o'er, The star!-the star of Bethlehem! "And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. 18 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: 15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. V. 16. Bethlehem was a very small city, and contained scarcely 2,000 persons, including its neighbourhood. If so, fifty is the greatest number of male children, under two years of age, that were slain: and cruel as the murder of these infants was, it agrees with Herod's other acts; for this misnamed Herod the Great murdered the brother and the grandfather of his wife, his wife Marianne, her mother Alexandra, and two of his own sons; and had collected the principal Jews in the whole kingdom, intending them all to be slain at his death, that a general mourning might be ensured!—Keyworth. 17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, 18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. 19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. 21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judæa in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, : being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee 28 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. IN 8 CHAP. III. N those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judæa, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judæa, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 6 The wrath to come.'-As sure as the winter follows the summer, as sure as the night follows the day, so surely shall wrath follow sin and the pleasures thereof. Yea, it is not only certainly future; but when it comes, it will be abiding wrath, or wrath still coming. When millions of years and ages are past and gone, this will still be wrath to come,-ever coming, as a river ever flowing.-Flavel. 5 repentance, and think the future far off, but it will come: your last call from heaven far off,-but it will come : your last unavailing effort to repent far off, but it will come: the deathstruggle, the shroud, the funeral far off, -but it will come: the day of judgment, the day of reckoning far off,-but it will come the sentence Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,' far off, but it will come: eternal banishment from the presence of the Lord, weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth far off,-but it will come.-Dr. Chalmers. This wrath is Divine wrath; deserved wrath; unmingled wrath; accumulated wrath, and eternal wrath.-Bradley. Sinner, you may delay the work of 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: Repentance is heart's sorrow, And a clear life ensuing. but these penitential clouds must be still kept dropping: one shower will not suffice; for repentance is not one single action, but a course.-South. 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. sprung from that race, his soul must needs be happy. He asked his father about it, but received an answer which destroyed all his hopes, for neither he nor his family were of the lineage of Israel.-Dr. Cheever. Oh! that I could impress, and deeply impress, on the minds of all my hearers, and especially on the minds of all in youth, who are in danger of setting out wrong,-of beginning in mistake, and proceeding in security and ending in ruin, the necessary personality of Religion; its individuality, if I may so express myself; the impossibility of having it in virtue of any connection with others; its internal, spiritual nature; its being an affair of the heart, commencing with the acceptance of Gospel mercy,-with 'reconciliation to God by the blood of the cross;' summed up in 'faith working by love'; having its course in progressive 'holiness, and its end everlasting life!'— Dr. Wardlaw. Though God has not bound Himself, however, to hear the prayers of any one for the salvation of the soul of another, yet He frequently does so; and hence perhaps, though grace does not run in the blood, yet we frequently see it runs in the line. Many more of the children of God's children prove gracious than those of others.-Dr. Ryland. The pride of ancestry is not a very commendable emotion; but the consciousness of being descended from the excellent of the earth-the servants and friends of God-whose example lives in faithful history, and the benefit of whose prayers, long since uttered, may descend even to us, should be an incitement to the imitation of their virtues, and to strenuous efforts in the cause to which they were devoted.-Rev. Robt. Ashton. Lord Tenterden was the son of a poor barber; at an early period of his professional career, a brother barrister, with whom he happened to have a quarrel, twitted him on his origin. 'Yes, sir,' replied Tenterden, 'I am the son of a barber, and if you had been the son of a barber, you would have been a barber yourself. '—Anecdotes. Cicero, when one of his opponents, who was a mean man of noble lineage, disparaged him by saying, 'You are the first of your line, '-rejoined,' And you are the last of yours!'-Ibid. A noble birth and fortune, though they make not a bad man good, yet they are a real advantage to a worthy one, and place his virtues in the fairest light.-Lillo. 10 And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. The allusion here is to a carpenter that throws down the axe at the roots of the tree he intends to cut down. The only ground of hope which remains with us this day as a people is, that there are some buds appearingsome fruits putting forth; and if there be a blessing in the bud, the Lord will spare it, according to Isa. lxv. 8. But these hopes are balanced with many sad symptoms, which may make us tremble to think what God is about to do with such a sinful nation.-Flavel. We are exhorted to 'mortify the deeds of the body' (Rom. viii. 13.) Now though the outward deeds only are here expressed, yet the inward causes are chiefly intended; the 'axe is to be laid to the root of the tree;' -the deeds of the flesh are to be mortified in the causes from whence they spring. The apostle calls them deeds, as that which every lust tends unto; though it do but conceive and prove abortive, it aims to bring forth a perfect sin.-Dr. Owen. Let me add this to them that are preachers of the Word.-It is their duty to plead with men about their sins, to lay hold on particular sins; but they should always remember that it is to be done with that which is the proper end of the Law and the Gospel; -that is, that they make use of the sin they speak against to the discovery of the state and condition wherein the |
