Luke 1:48

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 the family of David was now very low in Israel (as predicted, ). FOR, BEHOLD, FROM HENCEFORTH ALL GENERATIONS SHALL CALL ME BLESSED. In spirit, her eye stretching into all succeeding time, and beholding the blessed fruits of Messiah's benign and universal scepter, her heart is overpowered with the honour in which herself shall be held in every succeeding age, as having been selected to give Him birth....

48._Because he hath looked _She explains the reason why the joy of her heart was founded in God to be, that out of free grace he had looked upon her. By calling herself _low _she disclaims all merit, and ascribes to the undeserved goodness of God every occasion of boasting. For ταπείνωσις, _lowness, _does not here denote — as ignorant and uneducated men have foolishly imagined — “submission, or modesty, or a quality of the mind,” but signifies _“ _a mean and despicable condition.” (48) The meaning is, _“ _I was unknown and despised, but that did not prevent God from deigning to cast his eyes upon me.” But if Mary’s _lowness _is contrasted with excellence — as the matter itself and the Greek word make abundantly plain — we see how Mary makes herself nothing, and praises God alone. And this was not the loud cry of a pretended humility, but the plain an

39-56 It is very good for those who have the work of grace begun in their souls, to communicate one to another. On Mary's arrival, Elisabeth was conscious of the approach of her who was to be the mother of the great Redeemer. At the same time she was filled with the Holy Ghost, and under his influence declared that Mary and her expected child were most blessed and happy, as peculiarly honoured of and dear to the Most High God. Mary, animated by Elisabeth's address, and being also under the influence of the Holy Ghost, broke out into joy, admiration, and gratitude. She knew herself to be a sinner who needed a Saviour, and that she could no otherwise rejoice in God than as interested in his salvation through the promised Messiah. Those who see their need of Christ, and are desirous of righteousness and life in him, he fills with good things, with the best things; and they are abundantly s...

Verse 48. _HE HATH REGARDED_] _Looked favourably_, c., επεβλεψεν. In the most tender and compassionate manner he has visited me in my humiliation, drawing the reasons of his conduct, not from any excellence in me, but from his own eternal _kindness_ and _love_. _ALL GENERATIONS SHALL CALL ME BLESSED._] This was the character by which alone she wished to be known viz. _The blessed or happy_ _virgin_. What dishonour do those do to this holy woman, who give her names and characters which her pure soul would abhor; and which properly belong to GOD _her Saviour_! By her votaries she is addressed as _Queen of Heaven, Mother of God_, c., titles both absurd and blasphemous....

HE HATH REGARDED THE LOW ESTATE OF HIS HANDMAID - Literally, he has looked upon the low or humble condition of his handmaid. That is, notwithstanding her humble rank and poverty, he has shown her favor. And this example abundantly teaches what is elsewhere fully taught in the Bible, that God is not a respecter of persons; that he is not influenced, in conferring favors, by wealth, honor, or office, Romans 2:11; Romans 10:11. He seeks the humble and the contrite; he imparts his rich blessings to those who feel that they need them, and who will bless him for them, Psalms 138:6; Isaiah 57:15....

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...

FOR HE HATH REGARDED THE LOW ESTATE OF HIS HANDMAIDEN,.... Meaning, either her outward temporal estate, which was very low and mean: David's family was now very much reduced, it had its seat not at Jerusalem, but at Nazareth, in Galilee: Mary, of that house, was a poor virgin, and Joseph, of the same, to whom she was betrothed, was a poor carpenter; and yet God passed by the rich and noble families of Jewish people, and pitched upon this poor virgin to be the mother of the Messiah: or her estate, in a spiritual sense, which, as that of every son and daughter of Adam, was very low by the fall; for sin has run all mankind into debt, and they have nothing to pay: it has stripped them of original righteousness, and clothed them with rags; it has filled them with diseases, from the crown of the head to the sole of the feet; it has exposed them to a prison, into which being cast, they must lie...

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 ...

MARY VISITS ELISABETH. THE MAGNIFICAT. The passage links the two preceding incidents, and serves to show the inferiority of John the forerunner, to Jesus the Messiah. Mary (finding herself with child) proceeds to verify the sign. She seeks Elisabeth in a Judæ an village (perhaps Ain Karim, six miles west of Jerusalem, where a ruin called Mar Zacharias is shown). Elisabeth's unborn babe recognises the mother of the Messiah, and Elisabeth herself knows of Mary's honour, and praises her belief (follow _mg._ in Luke 1:45). The Song of Mary which follows is full of OT reminiscences, especially the Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1). But it is something more than possible that it should be ascribed not to Mary but to Elisabeth. Some of the Old Latin texts (_a_, _b_, etc.; p. 601) read Elisabeth in...