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. Marvellous faith, in the teeth of natural law, and in a matter which to one betrothed and already in law the wife of one of the royal line, fitted to inspire feelings in the last degree painful and embarrassing! Meet vessel for such a treasure!
Remarks: The reflections most naturally suggested by this section are best conveyed by the blessed Virgin herself, in the exalted Hymn which she uttered under the roof of Elizabeth. But such as she could not express may here be indicated. (1) The language in which the angel conveyed to the Virgin the mode in which her Offspring was to come into the world is nearly as remarkable as the event itself. It is too far removed from ordinary phraseology, and, considering the low state of tone and feeling then prevalent-which is well reflected in the apocryphal gospels of a somewhat later date-too lofty in its delicate simplicity to admit of any doubt that it is the very phraseology employed by the angel. And when it is remembered how every word and turn of expression in this most remarkable verse-containing all the information we possess on this subject-has been scrutinized by friends and foes in every age, and compared with all we otherwise know of the Person and Character of Jesus of Nazareth; and that not a word or shade of thought in it has been found unsuitable to the occasion, but everything in keeping with circumstances of surpassing sacredness and delicacy, what a character of divine authority does it stamp upon this Third Gospel!
(2) The information given us in this verse furnishes the only adequate key to the sinless life of the Virgin's Son. As the facts of His recorded History show Him to here been throughout the "Undefiled and Separate from sinners," so we have here the root of it all, in that operation of the Holy Spirit which after His birth had merely to be continued as an indwelling energy, in order to develop all that was seminally there from the first.
This is the third scene in the great Story of Redemption, beautifully knitting up the two former.