Luke 1:32

_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:_ No JFB commentary on this verse....

32._He shall be great _The angel had said the same thing about John the Baptist, and yet did not intend to make him equal to Christ. But the Baptist is great in his own class, while the greatness of Christ is immediately explained to be such as raises him above all creatures. For to him alone this belongs as his own peculiar prerogative to be called the Son of God. So the apostle argues. Unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? (Hebrews 1:5.) Angels and kings, I admit, are sometimes dignified with this title in Scripture; but they are denominated in common the sons of God, on account of their high rank. But it is perfectly clear and certain, that God distinguishes his own Son from all the others, when he thus addresses him particularly, Thou art my Son, (Psalms 2:7

26-38 We have here an account of the mother of our Lord; though we are not to pray to her, yet we ought to praise God for her. Christ must be born miraculously. The angel's address means only, Hail, thou that art the especially chosen and favoured of the Most High, to attain the honour Jewish mothers have so long desired. This wondrous salutation and appearance troubled Mary. The angel then assured her that she had found favour with God, and would become the mother of a son whose name she should call Jesus, the Son of the Highest, one in a nature and perfection with the Lord God. JESUS! the name that refreshes the fainting spirits of humbled sinners; sweet to speak and sweet to hear, Jesus, a Saviour! We know not his riches and our own poverty, therefore we run not to him; we perceive not that we are lost and perishing, therefore a Saviour is a word of little relish. Were we convinced o...

Verse 32. _HE SHALL BE GREAT_] Behold the greatness of the _man_ Christ Jesus: 1st. Because that human nature that should be born of the virgin was to be united with the Divine nature. 2dly. In consequence of this, that human nature should be called in a peculiar sense _the SON of the most high God_; because God would produce it in her womb without the intervention of man. 3dly. He shall be the everlasting Head and Sovereign of his Church. 4thly. His government and kingdom shall be _eternal_. Revolutions may destroy the kingdoms of the _earth_, but the powers and gates of hell and death shall never be able to destroy or injure the kingdom of Christ. _His_ is the only dominion that shall never have an _end_. The angel seems here to refer to Isaiah 9:7; I

HE SHALL BE GREAT - There is undoubted reference in this passage to Isaiah 9:6. By his being “great” is meant he shall be distinguished or illustrious; great in power, in wisdom, in dominion on earth and in heaven. SHALL BE CALLED - This is the same as to say he “shall be” the Son, etc. The Hebrews often used this form of speech. See Matthew 21:13. THE HIGHEST - God, who is infinitely exalted; called the Highest, because He is exalted over all his creatures on earth and in heaven. See Mark 5:7. THE THRONE - The kingdom; or shall appoint him as the lineal successor of David in

EXPOSITION THE origin of the Gospels—the four histories which relate in detail the circumstances of the foundation of Christianity—will ever be an interesting study. Here we shall never know the exact truth of the compilation of these writings, the foundation-stones of all our hopes and fears; a reverent, scholarly speculation is all that can be offered to the student of the Divine memoirs. The speculation, however, probably in this case comes very near the truth. After the Ascension and the events of the first Pentecost, which quickly followed their Master's return to heaven, the twelve and a few others who had walked in the company which followed Jesus during the years of his public ministry no doubt often met together and talked over the teaching and the acts of their risen and now glorified Master. As time passed on, a certain number of these acts, a certain number of the public and...

HE SHALL BE GREAT,.... In his person, as God-man; this child born, and Son given, being the angel of the great counsel, the mighty God, and everlasting Father; Isaiah 9:6 which is here referred to; and in his offices, in his prophetic office, being that great and famous prophet Moses spoke of, mighty in word and deed, in his doctrine and miracles; in his priestly office, being a great high priest, both in the oblation of himself, and in his prevalent intercession; and in his kingly office, being the King of kings, and Lord of Lords; and in the whole of his office, as Mediator, being a great Saviour, the author of a great salvation for great sinners; in which is greatly displayed the glory of all the divine perfections: great also in his works, the miracles that he wrought, as proofs of his Deity and Messiahship, the work of redemption, the resurrection of himself from the dead, and of al...

Luke 1:5. _There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless._ There have been some good people who have lived in very bad times; never was there a worse reign than that of Herod; seldom or never a better man and woman than Zacharias and Elisabeth. Let no man excuse himself for sinning because of the times in which he lives. You may be rich in grace when others around you have none, even as Gideon's fleece was wet with dew when the whole floor was dry. God help us, in these evil days, to be «righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless»!...

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE Analysis and Annotations I. The Birth and Childhood -- Chapter 1-2:52 CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The Introduction. (Luke 1:1)_ 2. Zacharias and Elizabeth; the Vision. (Luke 1:5) 3. John the Baptist, his birth and ministry announced. (Luke 1:13) 4. Zacharias' Unbelief and Punishment. (Luke 1:18) 5. The Angel's Announcement to the Virgin Mary. (Luke 1:27) 6. Mary's Question and the Answer. (Luke 1:34) 7. Mary Visits Elizabeth ...

PREDICTION OF THE BIRTH OF JESUS. Lk. alone gives this narrative. Three or four months before _the birth of Elisabeth's_ child, Gabriel comes to Nazareth and announces to Mary, a virgin betrothed to one Joseph, a descendant of David, that she stands high in Yahweh's favour. After dispelling her fear he announces that she shall bear a son Jesus (= Joshua, saviour) who shall be called Son of the Most High (_i.e._ God), and fulfil the popular Messianic expectation. Mary displays some astonishment at the thought of bearing any child, and Gabriel gives further details. The Holy Spirit, the power of God, is to beget the child, and (_mg.)_ the holy thing which is to be born shall be called the Son of God; the term is here used in the ordinary sense, not Messianic as in Luke 1:32. The angel tells Mary about Elisabeth her kinswoman, and says that nothing is impossible with God. Mary accepts h