“Thou didst not abhor the Virgin’s Womb”
[The Saviour of the World] [Volume I] [Book I]
[Poem IX] Poem X [Poem XI]
The conception immaculate.
(The Gospel History, Section 7)
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But when he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins. Now all this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,
Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son,
And they shall call his name Immanuel;
which is, being interpreted, God with us. And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife; and knew her not till she had brought forth a son: and he called his name Jesus.
“Thou didst not abhor the Virgin’s Womb”
(The Saviour of the World, Vol I Book I Poem X)
What happened to the Maid? Did pointed finger,
Eyes turned aside, bring hot blood to her cheek?
Must the Christ enter through low gate of shame,
E’en as through gate of shame they drave Him hence,
That none might taste an anguish strange to Him?
“When Thou tookest upon Thee to deliver man,
Thou didst not abhor the Virgin’s womb.”
Joseph heard rumours; knew his people’s law,
But suffered for the Maid betrothed to him:
He would not put her to an open shame—
Was minded privily to put her away
In pity, not in anger; he was just.
And, while he pondered, came an angel down
And spake with him by name, knowing his birth,
Though he a poor man’s son and wrought for bread:—
“Fear not thou, Joseph, son of David’s house,
To take thy wife because she hath conceived;
The Child she bears is of the Holy Ghost.
She shall bring forth a Son, and Jesus thou
Shalt name Him, for His people from their sins
He comes to save; thus spake the prophet Esaias:—
‘A Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son,
And they shall call His name Immanuel.’”
These things saw Joseph in his sleep, and rose
To give the shelter of his roof and love
To the sore-grievèd Virgin—maiden-wife.
Acquaint with shame ere yet He left the womb,
The King and Saviour of mankind did come!
St. Matthew i. 18-25.
“A virgin shall conceive.”—Isa. vii. 14.
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Commentary by J. R. Dummelow
Mt 1:18. Had been betrothed] Betrothal was almost equivalent to marriage, and could not be broken off without a formal divorce: cp. on Jn 8:3 and Dt 22:23, 24. She was found] viz. by her husband. Of the Holy Ghost] Both here and in Lk 1:35 the miracle of the conception is ascribed emphatically to the ‘Holy’ Spirit, to mark the fact that Jesus was conceived sinless, and in a manner the most sacred imaginable. ‘The Holy Spirit sanctified the flesh which it united with the Word. Not only was the “new departure in human life” which began with the birth of the Second Adam fitly preceded by a directly creative act, but the new humanity was consecrated at the moment of its conception by the overshadowing of the Divine Spirit’ (Swete). The expression ‘Holy Ghost’ is especially characteristic of the NT., where it occurs over 80 times. In the Gk. OT. (LXX) it occurs only twice. The Jews did not regard the Spirit as personal, hence Mary must have understood the words of the angel, ‘The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,’ as identical in meaning with, ‘The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.’ Not so the evangelists, to whom ‘the Holy Ghost’ had become practically a proper name, and as such was used without the article.
Mt 1:19. A just man] i.e. a good or righteous man: here, in particular, a kind or humane man, because although he felt bound to divorce her, he wished to do so as privately as possible, and without assigning any reason. A Jewish husband could divorce his wife if she did not please him, simply by giving her a bill of divorce in the presence of witnesses, without specifying the true cause. The legal penalty for Mary’s supposed fault was stoning (Jn 8:5).
Mt 1:20. An angel] In St. Luke the angel who appears to Zachariah and Mary is named (Lk 1:19, 26), and the same angel (Gabriel) is to be understood here. In other passages of the NT. angels appear and speak: at the Resurrection, Mt 28:5; at the Ascension, Ac 1:11; to Peter in prison, 5:19 12:7; to Philip, 8:26; to Cornelius, 10:3. There is no real reason to question the actual existence of angels. Why should man be the highest being in the universe?
Mt 1:21. JESUS] see on v. 1. For he shall save] more exactly, ‘for it is He that shall save.’ ‘Saving from sin’ includes two processes: (1) atonement for sin, and (2) sanctification. Both are works of Christ. The natural atonement for sin is penitence; but inasmuch as human penitence is imperfect, and our very repentance requires to be repented of, the aid of a Divine Helper is required. Christ bears the weight of our sins, sorrows for them with a sorrow that is adequate, and gives us grace to repent of them in a manner acceptable to God. As we live the life of faith in Christ our penitence continually becomes deeper, and one day it will be perfect, and God will accept it as adequate. In the meantime God pardons us by anticipation. Sanctification, i.e. the putting away of sin and growth in virtue and holiness, is another most important work of redemption, and no one can safely assure himself of the divine pardon unless he is advancing in the Christian virtues. The faith which does not manifest itself in works is no true faith in Christ. His people] primarily, of course, the Jews; but the Gentiles are also Israel, ‘the Israel of God’ (Gal 6:16).
Mt 1:22. That it might be fulfilled, etc.] It is characteristic of St. Matthew though not, of course, peculiar to him, to regard the events of Christ’s life as taking place in order to fulfil God’s gracious promises in the OT. made through the prophets. This particular phrase occurs 10 times in St. Matthew, and nowhere else in the NT.: see Intro.
Mt 1:23. Behold, the virgin] See on Isa 7:14. It does not appear that the Jews regarded the passage as Messianic; but St. Matthew, writing for Christians, applies it to the Messiah, in accordance with the rabbinical maxim, ‘All the prophets prophesied only of the days of the Messiah.’ St. Matthew quotes the passage as a prophecy not of the Virgin Birth, but of the giving to our Lord of a name expressing His divinity. He was called ‘Jesus’ (i.e. ‘God is Salvation’) to fulfil the prophecy which assigned to Him the name ‘Emmanuel’ (‘God with us’).
Emmanuel] i.e. ‘God with us.’ This is a descriptive title rather than a name. It was never borne by our Lord, but He received instead a name (‘Jesus’) which expressed its meaning, and thus the prophecy was fulfilled. In the mind of Isaiah the title Emmanuel indicated that the bearer of it would deliver Israel from all their enemies. In the mind of the evangelist, who believed in the Incarnation (see especially 27:19), it meant that in Jesus God assumed human nature to save the children of men, and to dwell with and in them for ever (27:20).
Mt 1:25. And knew her not till] Some have thought that the evangelist means to imply that after the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary lived together as man and wife, and that children were born to them. This may have been the case, but the words of the evangelist here are not meant to imply it. They simply affirm in the strongest manner that Joseph had nothing whatever to do with the conception and birth of Jesus, and are not intended to give information as to what happened afterwards. For the probable relationship to our Lord of His ‘brethren,’ see on 12:50.