Reference: Mary, The Virgin
Fausets
(See GENEALOGY OF JESUS CHRIST.) Probably Matthan of Matthew is Matthat of Luke, and Jacob and Heli were brothers; and Heli's son Joseph, and Jacob's daughter Mary, were first cousins. Joseph, as male heir of his uncle Jacob who had one only child Mary, would marry her according to the law (Nu 36:8). Thus the genealogy of the inheritance or succession to David's throne (Matthew's) and that of natural descent (Luke's) would be primarily Joseph's, then Mary's also (Ps 132:11; Lu 1:32; Ro 1:3). She was sister or half-sister to Mary (Joh 19:25), and related to Elisabeth who was of the tribe of Levi (Lu 1:36). (See MARY OF CLEOPHAS; ELISABETH.) In 5 B.C. (Lu 1:24, etc.) Mary was living at Nazareth, by this time betrothed to Joseph, when the angel Gabriel came from God to her in the sixth month of Elisabeth's pregnancy. (See GABRIEL.)
He came in no form of overwhelming majesty, but seemingly in human form, as is implied by the expression "he came in," also by the fact that what she was "troubled at" was not his presence but "his saying" (compare Da 10:18-19). "Hail thou that art highly favored" (kecharitomenee) cannot mean as Rome teaches in her prayer to the Virgin, "Hail Mary full of grace"; that would be pleerees charitos as in Joh 1:14; the passive of the verb implies, as usually in verbs in -oo, she was made the object of God's grace, not a fountain from whence grace flows to others; as Joh 1:30 explains it, "thou hast found favor (charin) with God"; so Eph 1:6, echaritoosen, "He hath graciously accepted us." "The Lord is (or, BE) with thee (Jg 6:12), blessed art thou among women"; not among gods and goddesses.
As Jael (Jg 5:24); "blessed" in "believing" (Lu 1:45), more than in conceiving Christ (Lu 8:19-21; 11:27-28); compare her own practice, Lu 2:51; Mt 12:49-50. "Her relationship as mother would not at all have profited Mary if she had not borne Christ more happily in the heart than in the flesh" (Augustine, Tom. 4, De Sanct. Virg.). In Lu 11:27-28, during His last journey, a month before His crucifixion (A.D. 30), upon a woman of the company exclaiming, "blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the paps which Thou hast sucked," He said, "yea, rather (menounge) blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it"; the blessedness even of Mary is not her motherhood towards Him, but her hearing and obeying Him.
The Spirit's prescience of the abuse of the words Lu 1:28 appears in the precautions taken subsequently in the same Gospel to guard against such abuse. The Virgin's words (Lu 1:48) "all generations shall call me blessed" mean not, shall call me by that name, "the Blessed Virgin," but shall count me blessed, as in Jas 5:11 (the same Greek). The nations shall count JESUS, not the Virgin, the fountain of all blessedness (Ps 72:17). When in "fear she cast in her mind what might the meaning of the salutation be," the angel reassured her by the promise, "behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name Jesus.
He shall be great (not merely as John Baptist 'in the sight of the Lord,' Lu 1:15, but as the Lord Himself), and shall be called (i.e. shall be really what the name means) the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give Him the throne of His father David (not merely His throne in heaven whereon David never sat, but on Zion, Jer 3:17), and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shi all be no end." She asked, not incredulously as Zacharias (Lu 1:18), but in the simplicity of faith which sought instruction, taking for granted it shall be, only asking as to the manner, "how shall this be, seeing I know not a man?"
The angel therefore explained, "the Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee (as with a cloud, denoting the mildest, gentlest operation of the divine power, coveting, quickening, but not consuming: Mr 9:7), therefore also that Holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (from whence our creed saith, "He was conceived by the Holy Spirit," etc.; compare Ge 1:2. "As the world was not created by the Holy Spirit, but by the Son, so the Son was not begotten by the Holy Spirit, but by the Father, and that before the worlds, Christ was made of the substance of the Virgin, not of the substance of the Holy Spirit, whose essence cannot be made. No more is attributed to the Spirit than what was necessary to cause the Virgin to perform the actions of a mother. And because the Holy Spirit did not beget Him by any communication of His essence, He is not the Father of Him." Pearson, Creed, 165-166.)
Gabriel instanced Elisabeth's being six months advanced in pregnancy, who once was barren, to confirm the Virgin's faith that "nothing is impossible with God" (Ro 4:17-21); she evinced her faith in the reply, "behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word," Her expression of humble, believing acceptance of and concurrence in the divine will (Lu 1:38,45) was required, and may be with reverence supposed to be recorded to mark the date of our Lord's conception. Mary then went in joyous haste to the hill country of Judah, to a city where Zacharias and Elisabeth lived, whether Jutta, (Jos 21:13-16) a priests' city, or Hebron, S. of Jerusalem and much further S. of Nazareth in Galilee. On Mary's saluting Elisabeth the latter hailed her as "mother of her Lord," inasmuch as at her salutation "the babe leaped in her womb for joy," adding, in contrast to Zacharias whose unbelief had brought its own punishment," blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a performance of those things told her from the Lord."
Mary then under the Spirit uttered the hymn known as the "Magnificat," based on Hannah's hymn (1Sa 2:2). In it we see a spirit that drank deeply at the wells of Scripture, a humility that "magnified the Lord" not self, that "rejoiced" as a sinner in "her Savior" (disproving Rome's dogma of the immaculate conception), a lively sense of gratitude at the mighty favor which the Mighty One conferred on one so low, a privilege which countless Jewish mothers had desired (Da 11:37, "the desire of women"), and for which all generations should count ("call") her happy (makariousin, compare Ge 30:13), and an exemplification of God's eternal principle of abusing "the proud and exalting them of low degree," and a realization of God's faithfulness to His promises "to Abraham of mercy and help to Israel forever." Mary stayed with her cousin three months, and just before John the Baptist's birth returned to her own house at Nazareth.
Then followed Joseph's discovery of the conception and his tender dealing with her, and reception of her by God's command (Matthew 1), as being the virgin foretold who should bring forth Immanuel (Isa 7:14; Jer 31:22). (See JOSEPH.) Augustus' decree (Luke 2) obliged them to go to Bethlehem, God thereby causing His prophecy (Mic 5:2) to be fulfilled, Mary there giving birth to the Savior. The shepherds' account of the angels caused wonder to others, "but Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart"; so again Lu 2:51, not superficial, but reflective and thoughtfully devout. The law regarded her as unclean until the presentation 40 days after the birth (Leviticus 12). Then she was bound to offer a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or turtle dove for a sin offering, to make atonement for her poverty compelled her to substitute for the lamb a pigeon or turtle dove.
Simeon's hymn followed, at the close of which he foretold, "a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed"; the anguish of her Son should pierce the mother's heart, and be a testing probation of character to her as well as to all others (Joh 9:39; 19:25; Ps 42:10); that she had misgivings and doubts is implied in her accompanying His brethren afterward, as if enthusiasm was carrying Him too far (Mt 12:46; Mr 3:21,31-35; Joh 7:5). The flight to Egypt followed; then the return, at first designed to be back to Bethlehem, but through fear of Archelaus to Nazareth of Galilee, their former home.
Then the visit to Jerusalem when Jesus was
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And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.
And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers.
Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest Hebron with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Libnah with her suburbs, And Jattir with her suburbs, and Eshtemoa with her suburbs, read more. And Holon with her suburbs, and Debir with her suburbs, And Ain with her suburbs, and Juttah with her suburbs, and Bethshemesh with her suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.
Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this.
As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?
His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.
How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me, And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.
Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.
And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.
And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.
There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.
There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;
And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press. And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. read more. And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.
And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.
For neither did his brethren believe in him.
And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! read more. Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. read more. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.