LESSON II.—SABBATH, JANUARY 13, 1894.
GABRIEL FORETELLS THE BIRTH OF JESUS.
24. And after these days Elizabeth his wife conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, 25. Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days wherein he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men. 26. Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27. To a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28. And he came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee. 29. But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be. 30. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. 31. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; 33. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of this kingdom there shall be no end. 34. And Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35. And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; wherefore also that which is to be born shall be called holy, the Son of God. 36. And behold, Elizabeth thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that was called barren. 37. For no word from God shall be void of power. 38. And Mary said, Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. 39. And Mary arose in these days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah; 40. And entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elizabeth. 41. And it came to pass, when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost; 42. And she lifted up her voice with a loud cry, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come unto me? 44. For behold, when the voice of thy salutation came into mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45. And blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord. LESSON SUMMARY.—This lesson may be summarized briefly as follows: After mentioning the conception of John the Baptist, the evangelist tells of the angel Gabriel's visit, six months later, to Mary, to announce that she should be the mother of Jesus. Afterwards Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, and received her salutation. The forty-five verses included in this and the preceding lesson may thus be summarized: Introduction; the birth of John the Baptist foretold; the birth of Jesus foretold; Mary's visit to Elizabeth. - In what city did Mary dwell? and what was her descent?
- What angel was sent to visit her?
- What was his salutation?
- How did this salutation affect Mary?
- With what words did the angel reassure her?
- Whom did he say that she would bring forth?
- What did he say that he should be called and should receive?
- What was said as to the duration of the kingdom?
- What reply was made to Mary's question how this should be done?
- What statements were made to strengthen her faith?
- How did Mary receive this announcement?
- After the angel departed, what did she do?
- With what words did Elizabeth greet Mary?
- What did Elizabeth say would be the result of Mary's ready belief?
1. "And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women." Who would not like to receive such a salutation from an angel of God? Yet how few of those who wish to be highly favored of God are willing to pass through the humiliation and reproach that it involves! How few stop to think that the high honor of being the mother of Christ involved, so far as the world could judge, that which is the greatest reproach to woman! Who can doubt but that the full measure of reproach that she might have to endure, the contempt with which she might be regarded, the loss of friends, flashed with startling distinctness through the pure and sensitive mind of the Virgin Mary? But she recognized the voice of the heavenly messenger as the call of God, and she was willing to endure reproach for his name. What a commentary this is upon the statement that they that humble themselves shall be exalted. 2. "And the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David." David's throne was the throne of Israel. The extent and duration of his kingdom are indicated in Ps. 89: 21-29. Christ is the one through whom David's throne is thus to be perpetuated. David's throne was upon this earth; therefore Christ is to rule over the earth. Indeed, the kingdom was recognized as belonging to the Lord even in David's day. We read: "Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father." 1 Chron. 29: 23. That this earth is to be Christ's kingdom is shown in Eze. 21: 25-27, where Zedekiah, the last earthly king in David's line, is thus addressed: "And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown; this shall not be the same; exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him." When the diadem was taken from Zedekiah, the kingdom passed into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. See Jer. 27: 1-8, which shows also the extent of Nebuchadnezzar's dominion. But three revolutions or overturnings were foretold, to take place after this change of government. The first of these gave the dominion of the earth to Persia. See Dan. 2: 37-39; 5: 30, 31; 2 Chron. 36: 22, 23. The second overturning gave Grecia the dominion of the whole earth. Dan. 2: 39; compare Dan. 8: 1-7, 21, 22. By the third revolution Rome became the mistress of the world. Dan. 2: 40; Luke 2: 1. Rome's dominion became practically universal 168 B. C. Many histories might be quoted from to show the correctness of this statement, but the following from "The Story of Rome" (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London) is brief, and is sufficient: "In 168 the Romans met the army of Perseus at Pydna, in Macedonia, north of Mount Olympus, on the 22d of June, and utterly defeated it. Perseus was afterwards taken prisoner, and died at Alba. From the battle of Pydna the great historian, Polybius, who was a native of Megalopolis, dates the complete establishment of the universal Empire of Rome, since after that no civilized State ever confronted her on an equal footing, and all the struggles in which she engaged were rebellions or wars with 'barbarians' outside of the influence of Greek or Roman civilization, and since all the world recognized the Senate of Rome as the tribunal of last resort in differences between nations." It was at the height of its power when Christ was born in Bethlehem. At his first advent, Christ did not receive the kingdom, nor any part of it, for he had not a place to lay his head. Luke 9: 58. Rome retained the unbroken supremacy of the world till the fifth century A. D. Then it was broken into fragments, according to the prophecy in Dan. 2: 41; 7: 23, 24. Since that time different men have tried to establish universal empires, but in vain; for the prophecy declared that there should be no more general revolution "until He come whose right it is." When Christ comes the second time, there will be a grand revolution, in which the armies of heaven will overcome the armies of earth. See Rev. 19: 11-21; Ps. 2: 8, 9. Then "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom." Dan. 7: 27. 3. NOTE the difference between the question asked by Zacharias and that asked by Mary. The fact that Mary's question was not one of doubt, like that of Zacharias, is shown by the different way in which it was received. He was rebuked, while her question was answered. Her question, "How shall this be?" was not one of doubt as to the fulfillment of the thing, but of wonder as to how it should be brought about,—not an idle curiosity, but a desire to know what course she would be required to take in the matter. His question, "Whereby shall I know this?" implied a doubt as to the thing itself. 4. "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Luke 1: 35. It was by the power of the Spirit of God that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary. Isaac was born by the power of the same Spirit. The same miracle was wrought in the birth of each. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. . . . The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ." Rom. 8: 14-17. "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal. 3: 29. "In Isaac shall thy seed be called." Heb. 11: 18. "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise." Gal. 4: 28. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." 1 John 3: 1, 2. But the unspeakable love has been bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God, provided we have the faith of Abraham. Therefore in every child of God the same miracle is wrought that was manifest in the birth of Christ. These things were recorded for the purpose of showing that it is not by human agency, but solely by the power of God, that we are brought to the inheritance. Thus the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. The mystery of the miraculous conception of Jesus appears throughout the plan of salvation. 5. "For with God nothing shall be impossible." Verse 37. The rendering of this in the Revised Version is significant: "For no word of God shall be void of power." It was the all-powerful word of God,—the word that created the earth (Ps. 33: 6),—that was to perform this wonderful miracle. This same word it is that makes us children of God. Says the apostle Peter: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." 1 Peter 1: 23-25. This living, creative word is brought to us in the Holy Scriptures. If we accept it as sincerely as did the Virgin Mary, the Son of God will just as surely be formed in us, to transform us, as he was begotten in her. Eph. 3: 17; Rom. 10: 17, 10.