Lukechapter 2
52 verses · Luke · about AD 62 · The Gospels
Every year His parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.
Introduction
Luke, The Gospels, Luke Overview.
Luke writes this chapter for a reader who lived under Rome and knew its emperor by name. He sets a village birth against the business of the empire and lets the reader feel the distance between the two. The chapter moves from a crowded house to open fields and then to the temple courts. Listen for who hears the news first and who is still waiting for it. Listen too for the old man and the old woman who have waited their whole lives. Read it as the first sight of the child, and then of the boy.
Context
- Who
- A Greek reader for whom Roman administration was familiar and Jewish ritual was not
- What
- The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the message to the shepherds, the child brought to the temple, and the boy of twelve among the teachers.
- Where
- Bethlehem in Judea, the fields outside it, Nazareth in Galilee, and the temple courts in Jerusalem.
- When
- The reign of Caesar Augustus, about 5 to 4 BC, with the Passover visit twelve years later.
- Why
- To show that the Saviour was born under Roman rule into a family that kept the Law, and was received by the humble and the waiting.
Historical context
Rome counted people in order to tax them, and registrations really did require people to travel and could take years to complete across a province. The census Luke names raises a real historical question, since Josephus places Quirinius's well-known registration of Judea in AD 6, a decade after Herod's death. Proposals include an earlier term or commission for Quirinius, or reading Luke's phrase as before Quirinius's census. It is an honest difficulty, and it is worth saying so rather than papering it over.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The word translated inn is not the roadside inn Luke uses elsewhere; it is the ordinary word for a guest room. Village houses often had a family room where animals were brought in at night on a lower level, with a guest space above or alongside. The picture is most likely a crowded family home with no room in the upper space, not a hard-hearted innkeeper.
Shepherds were rough, mobile, and low in social standing, and their work made regular temple attendance difficult. They are the first people told.
The temple visits follow the Law precisely. Circumcision on the eighth day, and then, forty days after the birth, the mother's purification offering. Luke notes that the offering brought was a pair of birds, the provision the Law makes explicitly for a family that cannot afford a lamb. And the trip when Jesus is twelve is the ordinary Passover pilgrimage, with the boy found among the teachers in the temple courts, where public question-and-answer teaching went on during festivals.
Significance
Augustus was hailed across the Greek cities as saviour of the world and bringer of peace, with inscriptions calling news of his birth good tidings. Luke sets that decree in the first sentence and then has angels announce a Saviour, Christ the Lord, over a feeding trough in a village. Any reader in the empire would hear the collision.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
Simeon then names the range of the thing: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for God's people Israel. Theophilus, a Gentile, is told on the second page that he was in the plan from the start, and, in the same breath, that a sword would pierce the mother's own soul.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
No Room: Born in Bethlehem
Luke 2:1-3
Now in those days a decree: Josephus dates the census under Quirinius to about AD 6, after Herod died in 4 BC. The word first may set this census apart from that later, better known one.
Luke 2:1
“And it came to pass in those days,.... When John the Baptist was born, and Christ was conceived, and his mother pregnant with him, and the time of his birth drew on. The Ethiopic version reads, "in that day"; as if it was the same day in which John was circumcised, and Zacharias delivered the above song of praise: that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus; second emperor of Rome; the name Caesar was common to all the emperors, as Pharaoh to the Egyptians, and afterwards Ptolemy.”
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Luke 2:1
“In those days - About the time of the birth of John and of Christ. A decree - A law commanding a thing to be done. Caesar Augustus - This was the Roman emperor. His first name was Octavianus. He was the nephew of Julius Caesar, and obtained the empire after his death. He took the name “Augustus - i. e., august,” or honorable - as a compliment to his own greatness; and from him the month “August,” which was before called “Sextilis,” received its name.”
Luke 2:1
“He has rightly added the name of the governor, to mark the course of time. For if the names of the Consuls are affixed to the tables of prices, how much more ought the time to be noted down, of that event which was the redemption of all men? There is described a secular registration, implied a spiritual, to be laid before the King not of earth but of Heaven; a registering of faith: a census of souls. For the old census of the Synagogue was abolished, a new census of the Church was preparing.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
while Quirinius was governor of Syria: Barnes admits that this verse has caused as much perplexity as any in the New Testament. The known governorship of Quirinius falls some ten years or more after the birth of Jesus, a difficulty Clarke also faces. Bede reads first as the first census of its kind.
Luke 2:2
“This taxing was first made when Cyrenius, etc. - The next difficulty in this text is found in this verse, which may be translated, Now this first enrolment was made when Quirinus was governor of Syria. It is easily proved, and has been proved often, that Caius Sulpicius Quirinus, the person mentioned in the text, was not governor of Syria, till ten or twelve years after the birth of our Lord. St. Matthew says that our Lord was born in the reign of Herod, Luk 2:1, at which time Quintilius Varus was president of Syria, (Joseph. Ant. book xvii. c.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:2
“Now just at this juncture, the Messiah was to be born, for so was dying Jacob's prophecy, that Shiloh should come when the sceptre was departed from Judah, and the lawgiver from between his feet, Gen. xlix. This was the first taxing that was made in Judea, the first badge of their servitude; therefore now Shiloh must come, to set up his kingdom.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
everyone went to his own town to register: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that people registered at the town of their family line, a Jewish custom, while Rome counted people where they lived. This brought Joseph to Bethlehem. Bede draws a lesson of each believer rendering account of righteousness.
Luke 2:3
“As at that time in the reign of Augustus and under the governorship of Cyrinus, every one went to his own city to make returns of his property; so now when Christ reigns through His teachers (the governors of the Church) ought we to make returns of righteousness.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:3
“And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city - The Roman census was an institution of Servius Tullius, sixth king of Rome.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 2:4-5
So Joseph also went up: The decree of Rome brings the family to Bethlehem, the town Micah 5:2 named seven centuries earlier as the ruler’s birthplace. Joseph went there since he was from the house and line of David.
Luke 2:4
“The city of David - Bethlehem, called the city of David because it was the place of his birth. See the notes at Mat 2:1. Because he was of the house - Of the family. And lineage - The “lineage” denotes that he was descended from David as his father or ancestor. In taking a Jewish census, families were kept distinct; hence, all went to the “place” where their family had resided. Joseph was of the “family” of David, and hence he went up to the city of David.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:4
“But in order that men might know that it was an enrolment of righteousness, there came up to it Joseph and Mary, the just man and the virgin. He who was to be guardian of the Word and she who was to bring it forth.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 2:4
“We were become by sin like an out-cast infant, helpless and forlorn; and such a one Christ was. Thus he would answer the type of Moses, the great prophet and lawgiver of the Old Testament, who was in his infancy cast out in an ark of bulrushes, as Christ in a manger.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
who was pledged to him in marriage: Luke still calls Mary betrothed, and Cyril of Alexandria says the word shows the conception came during betrothal alone. Clarke sees God's hand in her going at all. Her presence placed the birth in David's town, as Micah foretold.
Luke 2:5
“The sacred Evangelist says that Mary was betrothed to Joseph, to show that the conception had taken place upon her betrothal solely, and that the birth of the Emanuel was miraculous, and not in accordance with the laws of nature. For the holy Virgin did not bear from the immission of man's seed. And what was the reason of this?”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon Ipatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:5
“With Mary his espoused wife - There was no necessity for Mary to have gone to Bethlehem, as Joseph’s presence could have answered the end proposed in the census as well without Mary as with her; but God so ordered it, that the prophecy of Micah should be thus fulfilled, and that Jesus should be born in the city of David; Mic 5:2.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 2:6-7
While they were there: In the inn renders kataluma, the word Luke later uses for a guest room. The likelier picture is a crowded family home with its guest room full.
Luke 2:6
“A little longer stay at Nazareth, and the prophecy would have failed. But lo! with no intention certainly on her part, much less of Cæsar Augustus, to fulfil the prophecy, she is brought from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and at that nick of time her period arrives, and her Babe is born (Ps 118:23).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:6
“Therefore, He was a little child, an infant, so that you, a man, may become perfect; He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, so that you may be freed from the snares of death; He was in a manger, so that you may be on the altar; He was on earth, so that you may be in heaven; He had no other place in that inn, so that you may have many mansions in heavenly seats. He, being rich, became poor for your sake, so that through His poverty, you may be enriched.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 2.41-42patristic
laid Him in a manger: The manger is a feeding trough, and Clarke takes the word for the whole stable. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown record the old tradition of a cave. They also see in the crowded inn a first sign of the welcome he would meet, citing John 1.
Luke 2:7
“No midwife assisted at His birth; no women's officiousness intervened. With her own hands she wrapped Him in the swaddling clothes, herself both mother and midwife, [Luke 2:7] "and laid Him," we are told, "in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn"; a statement which, on the one hand, refutes the ravings of the apocryphal accounts, for Mary herself wrapped Him in the swaddling clothes, and on the other makes the voluptuous notion of Helvidius impossible, since there was no place suitable for married intercourse in the inn.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Against Helvidiuspatristic
4 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:7
“She laid him in the manger - Perhaps it might rather be translated in the stall. They were lodged in the ox stall, fitted up on occasion of the great concourse, for poor guests. There was no room for them in the inn - Now also, there is seldom room for Christ in an inn.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Luke 2:7
“The ancient tradition, that our Lord was born in a grotto or cave, is quite consistent with this, the country being rocky. In Mary's condition the journey would be a slow one, and ere they arrived, the inn would be fully occupied--affecting anticipation of the reception He was throughout to meet with (Joh 1:11). But some "guests went and came" not "rudely," but reverently.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Luke 2:7
“And she brought forth her firstborn son,.... At Bethlehem, as was predicted; and the Jews themselves own, that the Messiah is already born, and born at Bethlehem. They have a tradition, that an Arabian should say to a Jew (k). "Lo! the king Messiah is born; he said to him, what is his name? Menachem: he asked him, what is his father's name? he replied to him, Hezekiah; he said unto him, from whence is he? he answered, from the palace of the king of Bethlehem.”
Luke 2:7
“IT WAS NEEDFUL that it should be distinctly proven, beyond all dispute, that our Lord sprang out of Judah. It was necessary, also, that he should be born in Bethlehem-Ephratah, according to the word of the Lord which he spake by his servant Micah. But how could a public recognition of the lineage of an obscure carpenter and an unknown maiden be procured? What interest could the keepers of registers be supposed to take in two such humble persons?”
Shepherds, Angels, and the Sign of the Manger
Luke 2:8-10
And there were shepherds residing: The shepherds were men of low standing whose testimony a Jewish court would not admit. They are chosen as the first witnesses.
Luke 2:8
“There were - shepherds abiding in the field - There is no intimation here that these shepherds were exposed to the open air. They dwelt in the fields where they had their sheep penned up; but they undoubtedly had tents or booths under which they dwelt. Keeping watch - by night - Or, as in the margin, keeping the watches of the night, i.e. each one keeping a watch (which ordinarily consisted of three hours) in his turn.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:8
“Tidings were brought to Moses of the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, when he was keeping sheep, and to these shepherds, who, it is probable, were devout pious men, the tidings were brought of a greater salvation.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 2:8
“The shepherds had found their Shepherd.”
G.K. Chesterton · The Everlasting Man, Part II Ch. 1 "The God in the Cave" (1925)High-Church Anglican
the glory of the Lord shone around them: The glory is the brightness that marked God's own presence, and Henry says it made the night as bright as day. Clarke pictures the angel in the air above them. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown call the terror the usual human response.
Luke 2:9
“The glory of the Lord - This is the same as a “great” glory - that is, a splendid appearance or “light.” The word “glory” is often the same as light, 1Co 15:41; Luk 9:31; Act 22:11. The words “Lord” and “God” are often used to denote “greatness” or “intensity.” Thus, “trees of God” mean great trees; “hills of God,” high or lofty hills, etc. So “the glory of the Lord” here means an exceedingly great or bright luminous appearance perhaps not unlike what Paul saw on the way to Damascus.”
good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Henry notes that the angel's verb means to announce the gospel. Clarke reads all the people as the Jews first and then the whole human race. Origen asks why the message went to shepherds in the fields instead of the scribes in Jerusalem.
Luke 2:10
“Behold, I bring you good tidings - I am not come to declare the judgments of the Lord, but his merciful loving-kindness, the subject being a matter of great joy. He then declares his message. Unto you - to the Jews first, and then to the human race.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:10
“Why then did the angel not go to Jerusalem, why did he not seek out the scribes and Pharisees, why did he not enter the synagogue of the Jews, but found "shepherds living out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night" and announced it to them? Does the word not hint at anything but truly the presenting matter, that the angel came to such ignorant shepherds, and does it signify nothing other than that? But the angel announces Christ to the shepherds of the churches.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Homilies on Lukepatristic
Luke 2:11-12
Today in the city of: Today opens a thread the Gospel returns to often, salvation announced in the present tense. He is Christ the Lord stacks three titles, Savior, Christ and Lord, naming his office, his anointing and his deity.
Luke 2:11
“And the angel of the Lord, he says, appeared to the shepherds, proclaiming joy to them: "For [Luke 2:11, etc.] there is born in the house of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Then [appeared] a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory in the highest to God, and on earth peace, to men of good will." The falsely-called Gnostics say that these angels came from the Ogdoad, and made manifest the descent of the superior Christ.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies (Book III, Chapter 10)patristic
3 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:11
“A Savior, which is Christ the Lord - A Savior, σωτηρ, the same as Jesus from σωζειν, to make safe, to deliver, preserve, to make alive, thus used by the Septuagint for החיה hecheiah, to cause to escape; used by the same for פלט to confide in, to hope. See the extensive acceptations of the verb in Mintert, who adds under Σωτηρ: “The word properly denotes such a Savior as perfectly frees us from all evil and danger, and is the author of perpetual salvation.” On the word Jesus, see Joh 1:29 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 2:11
“Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed; he is the Lord, Lord of all; he is a sovereign prince; nay, he is God, for the Lord, in the Old Testament, answers to Jehovah.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 2:11
“Compare Isa 9:6, "Unto us a Child is born." It is a birth--"The Word is made flesh" (Joh 1:14). "In the city of David"--in the right line and at the right spot; where prophecy bade us look for Him, and faith accordingly expected Him. How dear to us should be these historic moorings of our faith!”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
ConnectionsIsaiah 9:6
this will be a sign to you: The sign given to the shepherds is the Baby himself, wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Bede contrasts it with the purple and gilded couches of kings. Clarke says Christ comes to reign in humility.
Luke 2:12
“The infancy of the Saviour was impressed upon us, both by frequent heraldings of Angels and testimonies of Evangelists, that we might be the more deeply penetrated in our hearts by what has been done for us. And we may observe, that the sign given us of the newborn Saviour was, that He would be found not clothed in Tyrian purple, but wrapped in poor swaddling clothes, not laying on gilded couches, but in a manger.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 2:13-14
And suddenly there appeared with: The manuscripts differ here, the King James following those that read good will to men and the oldest reading men of His good pleasure. The oldest reading gives peace to men on whom His favor rests.
Luke 2:13
“Suddenly there was with the angel, etc. - this multitude of the heavenly host had just now descended from on high, to honor the new-born Prince of peace, to give his parents the fullest conviction of his glory and excellence, and to teach the shepherds, who were about to be the first proclaimers of the Gospel, what to think and what to speak of him, who, while he appeared as a helpless infant, was the object of worship to the angels of God.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:13
“This peace has been made through Christ, for He has reconciled us by Himself to God and our Father, (2 Cor. 5:18, 19, Eph. 2:16, Col. 1:20.) having taken away our guilt, which was the ground of offence also. He has united two nations in one man, and has joined the heavenly and the earthly in one flock.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 2:13
“Glory to God, whose kindness and love designed this favour, and whose wisdom contrived it in such a way as that one divine attribute should not be glorified at the expense of another, but the honour of all effectually secured and advanced. Other works of God are for his glory, but the redemption of the world is for his glory in the highest.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The song joins glory in heaven to peace on earth. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown call peace with God a fallen world's great need, and see God's favour resting on men as on his Son. Wesley notes that the cry comes in short phrases, as a crowd's shouts do.
Luke 2:14
"Peace" with God is the grand necessity of a fallen world. To bring in this, and all other peace in its train, was the prime errand of the Saviour to this earth, and, along with it, Heaven's whole "good will to men"--the divine complacency on a new footing--descends to rest upon men, as upon the Son Himself, in whom God is "well-pleased." (Mt 3:17, the same word as here.)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:14
“In heaven, where there is no discord, glory rules. On earth, where every day is warfare, peace prevails. Peace among whom? Among men. Why are the Gentiles without peace? Why, too, the Jews? That is exactly the reason for the qualification: Peace among men of good will, among those who acknowledge the birth of Christ.”
Jerome · written before 420 · On the Nativity of the Lordpatristic
Luke 2:14
“Glory to God in the highest - The design of God, in the incarnation, was to manifest the hidden glories of his nature, and to reconcile men to each other and to himself. The angels therefore declare that this incarnation shall manifest and promote the glory of God, εν ὑψιστοις not only in the highest heavens, among the highest orders of beings, but in the highest and most exalted degrees.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 2:15-17
the shepherds said to one another: The shepherds test the word at once and find the sign confirmed by sight. They spread the message they had received about Him, and shepherds become the Gospel’s first preachers before any apostle is called.
Luke 2:15
“But observe, These shepherds do not speak doubtfully, "Let us go see whether it be so or no;" but with assurance, Let us go see this thing which is come to pass; for what room was left to doubt of it, when the Lord had thus made it known to them? The word spoken by angels was stedfast and unquestionably true.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:15
“But in a mystery, the Angels saw that they could not accomplish the work committed to them without Him Who was truly able to save, and that their healing fell short of what the care of men required.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
So they hurried off: The shepherds left their flocks at once, as John Gill notes. Ambrose says no one seeks Christ idly. Henry adds that the poverty they found did nothing to shake their faith.
Luke 2:16
“The poverty and meanness in which they found Christ the Lord were no shock to their faith, who themselves knew what it was to live a life of comfortable communion with God in very poor and mean circumstances.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:16
“How remarkably Scripture weighs the import of each word. For when we behold the flesh of the Lord, we behold the Word, which is the Son. Let not this seem to you a slight example of faith, because of the humble character of the shepherds. For simplicity is sought for, not pride. It follows, And they came in haste. For no one indolently seeks after Christ.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 2:16
“And they came with haste,.... In the night, leaving their flocks, to see their incarnate Lord, as Zacchaeus hastened down from the tree to receive the Saviour.”
they spread the message they had received about Him: Once the shepherds had seen the Child, they had evidence to give others, as Barnes explains. Clarke calls them the first preachers of the good news. Bede applies the verse to every shepherd in the church.
Luke 2:17
“When they had see it - When they had satisfied themselves of the truth of the coming of the Messiah, and had ascertained that they could not have been mistaken in the appearance of the angels. There was evidence enough to satisfy “them” that what the angels said was true, or they would not have gone to Bethlehem. Having seen the child themselves, they had now evidence that would satisfy others; and accordingly they became the first preachers of the “gospel,” and went and proclaimed to others that the Messiah had come.”
Luke 2:18-20
And all who heard it: Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart, the habit Luke noted at 1:29 and notes again at verse 51. The crowd’s astonishment passes, while Mary spends a lifetime turning these events over.
Luke 2:18
“The shepherds were plain, downright, honest men, and they could not suspect them guilty of any design to impose upon them; what they had said therefore was likely to be true, and, if true, they could not but wonder at it, that the Messiah should be born in a stable and not in a palace, that angels should bring news of it to poor shepherds and not to the chief priests.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Mary treasured up all these things: Mary keeps the events and weighs them together, the sense of the verb Clarke explains. John Gill says she compared the shepherds' report with what the angel and Elizabeth had told her. She kept silent for the time.
Luke 2:19
“Esteem not the words of the shepherds as mean and despicable. For from the shepherds Mary increases her faith, as it follows: Mary kept all these sayings, and pondered them in her heart. Let us learn the chastity of the sacred Virgin in all things, who no less chaste in her words than in her body, gathered up in her heart the materials of faith.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:19
“But Mary kept all these things,.... Which the shepherds had related to her: and pondered them in her heart; or compared them in her mind, with what had been said to herself by the angel, and also by her husband, as well as what was said by Elisabeth at the time she made her a visit; but she said nothing of them to others, lest she should be thought an enthusiast, or a vain boaster; and therefore left things, till time should make a discovery of them in a proper way, and in the best season.”
Luke 2:19
“As she had silently left it to God to clear up her virtue, when that was suspected, so she silently leaves it to him to publish her honour, now when it was veiled; and it is satisfaction enough to find that, if no one else takes notice of the birth of her child, angels do. Note, The truths of Christ are worth keeping; and the way to keep them safe is to ponder them.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
glorifying and praising God: The shepherds returned to their flocks, as Barnes and John Gill note. Clarke says they felt the Lord at work in them. Henry says they praised God for seeing Christ in his humble state, laid in a manger.
Luke 2:20
“They thanked God that they had seen Christ, though in the depth of his humiliation. As afterwards the cross of Christ, so now his manger, was to some foolishness and a stumbling-block, but others saw in it, and admired, and praised, the wisdom of God and the power of God. Christ Presented in the Temple.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Presented in the Temple: Simeon and Anna
When the eight days until: The naming mirrors John’s at 1:59-63, both boys brought under the covenant sign on the appointed day. Christ enters the covenant as a Jewish infant, under the law as Paul says in Galatians 4:4.
Luke 2:21
“Still the circumcision of Christ had a profound bearing on His own work--by few rightly apprehended. For since "he that is circumcised is a debtor to do the whole law" (Ga 5:3), Jesus thus bore about with Him in His very flesh the seal of a voluntary obligation to do the whole law--by Him only possible in the flesh since the fall.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Luke 2:22-24
And when the time of purification: A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons is the offering Leviticus 12:8 allows a mother too poor for a lamb. It places the family among the poor.
Luke 2:22
“It was in obedience to this "law of Moses," that the Virgin presented her babe unto the Lord, "in the east gate of the court called Nicanor's Gate, where she herself would be sprinkled by the priest with the blood of her sacrifice" [LIGHTFOOT].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:22
“But when was the Lord hid from His Father's eye, that He should not be seen by Him, or what place is excepted from His dominion, that by remaining there He should be separate from His Father, unless brought to Jerusalem and introduced into the temple? But for us perhaps these things were written.”
Athanasius of Alexandria · written before 373 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 2:22
“Days of her purification - That is, thirty-three days after what was termed the seven days of her uncleanness - forty days in all: for that was the time appointed by the law, after the birth of a male child. See Lev 12:2, Lev 12:6. The MSS. and versions differ much in the pronoun in this place: some reading αυτης, Her purification; others αυτου, His purification; others αυτων, Their purification; and others αυτοιν, the purification of Them Both.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke cites the law of Exodus 13, which claimed every firstborn son for God and required his redemption. John Gill explains the phrase as devoted to the Lord. Henry notes that Jesus, holy as no other, was presented like any other firstborn.
Luke 2:23
“As it is written in the law of the Lord,.... In Exo 13:2. every male that openeth the womb, shall be called holy to the Lord; that is, devoted and consecrated to him, and so to be redeemed.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:23
“For no union with man disclosed the secrets of the virgin's womb, but the Holy Spirit infused the immaculate seed into an inviolate womb. He then who sanctified another womb in order that a prophet should be born, He it is who has opened the womb of His own mother, that the Immaculate should come forth.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 2:23
“Christ was the first-born among many brethren, and was called holy to the Lord, so as never any other was; yet he was presented to the Lord as other first-born were, and no otherwise.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Cross references
Luke 2:23
- QuotingExodus 13:2“Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”
'Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord' ('as it is written in the law')
The Law of the Lord asked for a lamb and allowed two birds from poorer families. Mary's offering of turtledoves or pigeons marks the family as poor, Barnes and Clarke explain. One bird was a burnt offering, the other a sin offering.
Luke 2:24
“And to offer a sacrifice - Neither mother nor child was considered as in the Lord’s covenant, or under the Divine protection, till these ceremonies, prescribed by the law, had been performed. A pair of turtle doves, etc. - One was for a burnt-offering, and the other for a sin-offering: see Lev 12:8. The rich were required to bring a lamb, but the poor and middling classes were required to bring either two turtle doves, or two pigeons. This is a proof that the holy family were not in affluence.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:24
“Christ was not conceived and born in sin, as others are, so that there was not that occasion in his case which there is in others; yet, because he was made under the law, he complied with it. Thus it became him to fulfil all righteousness.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Cross references
Luke 2:24
Luke 2:25-27
there was a man in Jerusalem: Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel, the comfort Isaiah 40:1 promised. The Holy Spirit had revealed that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. His whole life narrowed to one expected day.
Luke 2:25
“We see, in the case of Simeon — how God has a believing people even in the worst of places, and in the darkest times. Religion was at a very low ebb in Israel when Christ was born. The Old testament teachings were spoiled by the doctrines of Pharisees and Sadducees. The fine gold had become deplorably dim. Yet even then we find in the midst of Jerusalem a man "just and devout" — a man "upon whom is the Holy Spirit." It is a cheering thought, that God never leaves Himself entirely without a witness.”
3 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:25
“Not only did Angels and Prophets, the shepherds and his parents, bear witness to the birth of the Lord, but the old men and the righteous. As it is said, And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and he was a just man, and one who feared God.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 2:25
“The consolation of Israel - A common phrase for the Messiah, who was to be the everlasting consolation of the Israel of God. The Holy Ghost was upon him - That is, he was a prophet.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Luke 2:25
“Whose name was Simeon - Some have supposed that this Simeon was a son of the famous “Hillel,” a distinguished teacher in Jerusalem, and president of the Sanhedrin; but nothing is certainly known of him but what is here related. He was an aged man, of distinguished piety and reputation, and was anxiously expecting the coming of the Messiah. Such an “old age” is especially honorable.”
the Lord’s Christ: To see death is a Hebrew way of saying to die, as Barnes notes. The promise tied Simeon's death to his sight of the Messiah. Henry says only those who have seen Christ by faith can face death without terror.
Luke 2:26
“It was revealed unto him - He was divinely informed, κεχρηματισμενον - he had an express communication from God concerning the subject. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. The soul of a righteous and devout man is a proper habitation for the Holy Spirit. He should not see death - They that seek shall find: it is impossible that a man who is earnestly seeking the salvation of God, should be permitted to die without finding it. The Lord’s Christ - Rather, the Lord’s anointed.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:26
“How would the one sight gild the gloom of the other! He was, probably, by this time, advanced in years. The Spirit guided him to the temple at the very moment when the Virgin was about to present Him to the Lord.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Led by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts: The same Spirit who gave the promise now brings Simeon to the temple at the right hour. John Gill makes that link. Clarke thinks Simeon had Malachi's word in mind, that the Lord would come to his temple.
Luke 2:27
“By the Spirit - By the direction of the Spirit. Into the temple - Into that part of the temple where the public worship was chiefly performed - into the court of the women. See the notes at Mat 21:12. The custom of the law - That is, to make an offering for purification, and to present him to God.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:27
“The same Spirit that had provided for the support of his hope now provided for the transport of his joy. It was whispered in his ear, "Go to the temple now, and you shall see what you have longed to see." Note, Those that would see Christ must go to his temple; for there The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to meet you, and there you must be ready to meet him.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 2:28-32
Simeon took Him in his: The Nunc Dimittis is the third of Luke’s great songs, and its peace carries on the peace that closed Zechariah’s song. The child is light for the nations and glory kept for Israel, a double honor.
Luke 2:28
“They say, too, that Simeon, "who took Christ into his arms, and gave thanks to God, and said, Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word," [Luke 2:28] was a type of the Demiurge, who, on the arrival of the Saviour, learned his own change of place, and gave thanks to Bythus.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies (Book I, Chapter 8)patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:28
“When we receive the record which the gospel gives us of Christ with a lively faith, and the offer it makes us of Christ with love and resignation, then we take Christ in our arms. It was promised him that he should have a sight of Christ; but more is performed than was promised: he has him in his arms.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
You now dismiss Your servant in peace: Simeon speaks of his death as a release. Clarke says Simeon was loosed from life, having lived to see its great purpose. Theophylact adds that he addresses God as the Master of life and death.
Luke 2:29
“Therefore Abraham also, knowing the Father through the Word, who made heaven and earth, confessed Him to be God; and having learned, by an announcement [made to him], that the Son of God would be a man among men, by whose advent his seed should be as the stars of heaven, he desired to see that day, so that he might himself also embrace Christ; and, seeing it through the spirit of prophecy, he rejoiced.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies (Book IV, Chapter 7)patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:29
“Now lettest - Now thou “dost” let or permit. This word is in the indicative mood, and signifies that God was permitting him to die in peace, by having relieved his anxieties, allayed his fears, fulfilled the promises, and having by the appearing of the Messiah, removed every reason why he should live any longer, and every wish to live. Depart - Die. According to thy word - Thy promise made by revelation. God never disappoints. To many it might have appeared improbable, when such a promise was made to an old man, that it should be fulfilled.”
Luke 2:29
“Moses was promised that he should see Canaan, and then die; but he prayed that this word might be altered, Deut. iii. Simeon is promised that he should not see death till he had seen Christ; and he is willing to construe that beyond what was expressed, as an intimation that, when he had seen Christ, he should die: Lord, be it so, saith he, now let me depart.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
my eyes have seen Your salvation: Simeon calls the child God's salvation, and Barnes reads the word as the Savior himself. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe that Simeon saw only a helpless baby and still saw salvation. That, they say, was pure faith.
prepared in the sight of all people: Salvation is set before every people, and Clarke pictures a feast God has spread for the nations, as in Isaiah 25. Theophylact says the incarnation would be visible to all. The next verse names the Gentiles and Israel.
Luke 2:31
“The mystery of Christ had been prepared even before the very foundation of the world but was manifested in the last ages of time. It became a light for those who in darkness and error had fallen under the devil's hand. These were they "who serve the creature instead of the Creator," worshiping moreover the dragon, the author of evil, and the impure throng of devils, to whom they attach the honor due God.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 4patristic
a light for revelation to the Gentiles: Simeon draws on Isaiah, where the Servant is a light for the nations. Barnes explains that the Gentiles sat in ignorance and would learn the true God through Christ. Bede notes that the Gentiles are named before Israel.
Luke 2:32
“A light to lighten the Gentiles - Φως εις αποκαλυψιν εθνων - A light of the Gentiles, for revelation. By Moses and the prophets, a light of revelation was given to the Jews, in the blessedness of which the Gentiles did not partake. By Christ and his apostles, a luminous revelation is about to be given unto the Gentiles, from the blessedness of which the Jews in general, by their obstinacy and unbelief, shall be long excluded.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:32
“WE must read this passage literally, for so Simeon intended it. The Lord Jesus Christ, though once despised and rejected by His own countrymen, is the great honor and splendor of God's people, Israel. It is reckoned an honor to a nation when eminent persons are born of its stock and lineage—but Israel can claim the palm above all lands, for she can say that our Lord sprang out of Judah. Put together all the heroic and famous names of Greece and Rome—add all the literary splendors of Germany and the flashing beauties of France.”
Luke 2:33-35
The Child’s father and mother: Simeon calls the Child a sign that will be spoken against, the stone of Isaiah 8:14-15. Mary alone hears that a sword will pierce her soul as well.
Luke 2:33
“And Joseph and his mother,.... The Vulgate Latin reads, "and his father and mother".”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:33
“Both by the angel and the multitude of the heavenly host, by the shepherds also, and Simeon. But they who look deeper into the matter may say, that since the genealogy is deduced from David to Joseph, therefore lest Joseph should seem to be mentioned for no purpose, as not being the father of the Saviour, he was called His father, that the genealogy might maintain its place.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
the rise and fall of many in Israel: Simeon turns from praise to warning. Clarke hears Isaiah 8, where the Lord becomes a stone of stumbling for both houses of Israel. Henry reads the rising as the conversion and comfort of many.
Luke 2:34
“Behold what abundant grace is extended to all men by the birth of the Lord, and how prophecy is withheld from the unbelievers, not from the righteous. Simeon also prophesies that Christ Jesus has come for the fall and rising again of many. That is, to distinguish the merits of the just and the unjust, and according to the quality of our deeds, as a true and just Judge, to decree punishment or rewards.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:34
“They had reason to rejoice, for this child should be, not only a comfort and honour to them, but a public blessing. He is set for the rising again of many in Israel, that is, for the conversion of many to God that are dead and buried in sin, and for the consolation of many in God that are sunk and lost in sorrow and despair.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The sword is grief, and Clarke points to Mary standing by the cross of her Son. Bede notes that no history says Mary died by the sword, so the sword pierces her soul. Barnes adds that Simeon's warning prepared the mother for that sorrow.
Luke 2:35
“Neither letter nor history teaches that Mary passed from this life by the bodily suffering of death; for it was not the soul, but the body, that was pierced by the material sword. And therefore, the prudence of Mary shows her to be not unaware of the heavenly mystery.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 2.61patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:35
“Yea, a sword ... - The sufferings and death of thy Son shall deeply afflict thy soul. And if Mary had not been thus forewarned and sustained by strong faith, she could not have borne the trials which came upon her Son; but God prepared her for it, and the holy mother of the dying Saviour was sustained.”
Luke 2:36-38
There was also a prophetess: Anna was of the tribe of Asher, one of the ten northern tribes commonly assumed lost to history. She is a second witness beside Simeon, speaking about the Child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luke 2:36
“They also assert that by Anna, who is spoken of in the gospel [Luke 2:36] as a prophetess, and who, after living seven years with her husband, passed all the rest of her life in widowhood until she saw the Saviour, and recognised Him, and spoke of Him to all, was most plainly indicated Achamoth, who, having for a little while looked upon the Saviour with His associates, and dwelling all the rest of the time in the intermediate place, waited for Him till He should come again, and restore her to her proper consort.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies (Book I, Chapter 8)patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:36
“The verses we have now read, introduce us to a servant of God whose name is nowhere else mentioned in the New Testament. The history of Anna , like that of Simeon — is related only by Luke. The wisdom of God ordained that a woman as well as a man — should testify to the fact that Messiah was born. In the mouth of two witnesses it was established that Malachi's prophecy was fulfilled — that the messenger of the covenant would suddenly come to the Temple. (Malachi 3:1.)”
a widow to the age of eighty-four: The number eighty-four can mean her age or the years of her widowhood. Barnes takes it as her age. John Gill counts the years she had been a widow, and Clarke explains that she kept the temple hours of prayer.
Luke 2:37
“And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years - That is, she was about 84 years of age. It does not mean that she had been a widow for that long time. Fastings and prayers - Constant religious service. pending her time in prayer, and in all the ordinances of religion. Night and day - Continually - that is, at the usual times of public worship and in private.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:37
“Let not us, then, who are in Christ-that is, always in the lights cease from praying even during night. Thus the widow Anna, without intermission praying and watching, persevered in deserving well of God, as it is written in the I Gospel: "She departed not," it says, "from the temple, serving with fastings and prayers night and day." Let the Gentiles look to this, who! are not yet enlightened, or the Jews who have remained in darkness by having forsaken the light.”
Cyprian · written before 258 · Treatise IV On the Lord's Prayerpatristic
Luke 2:37
“And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years,.... Which is not the date of her whole age, as some have thought, but of her widowhood state, as distinct from her marriage state, and the time of her virginity.”
all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem: Anna comes forward as Simeon finishes and gives thanks to God in her turn, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the verb. She speaks about the Child to all who waited for redemption. In effect she tells them their hope lies in this Child.
Luke 2:38
“But because Anna's words were nothing remarkable, and of no great note respecting Christ, the Gospel does not give the particulars of what she said, and perhaps for this reason one may suppose that Simeon anticipated her, since he indeed bore the character of the law, (for his name signifies obedience,) but she the character of grace, (which her name is by interpretation,) and Christ came between them. Therefore He let Simeon depart dying with the law, but Anna he sustains living beyond through grace.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 2:39-40
When Jesus’ parents had done: Luke passes over the Magi, the flight into Egypt and Herod’s killing of the infants that Matthew records. Each writer selects from a larger body of events, as the preface promised.
Luke 2:39
“Nothing is more difficult than to fix the precise order in which the visit of the Magi, with the flight into and return from Egypt (Mt 2:13-23), are to be taken, in relation to the circumcision and presentation of Christ in the temple, here recorded.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
the Child grew and became strong: Jesus grew in body and mind, and Clarke reminds readers that he was fully man as well as God. Barnes explains that his human soul grew in knowledge. Wesley calls the grace of God his favour resting on him.
Luke 2:40
“The child grew - As to his body - being in perfect health. Waxed strong in spirit - His rational soul became strong and vigorous. Filled with wisdom - The divinity continuing to communicate itself more and more, in proportion to the increase of the rational principle. The reader should never forget that Jesus was perfect man, as well as God.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The Boy Jesus in His Father's House
Luke 2:41-45
Every year His parents went: Twelve is the year before a Jewish boy took on the full duties of the law. His parents traveled on for a day, assuming He was in their company, a likely loss in a large company of relatives and friends.
Luke 2:41
“Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year,.... Joseph was obliged to go three times a year, as were all the males in Israel, at the feasts of the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, Deu 16:16. The first of these is expressed here, at the feast of the passover; but the women were not obliged to go up: for so it is said by the Jews (p), פסחן של נשים רשות, "the passover of women is voluntary", or in their own power; they might go up to the feast, or not, as they pleased.”
3 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:41
“His parents went - every year - This was their constant custom, because positively enjoined by the law, Exo 23:17. But it does not appear that infants were obliged to be present; and yet all the men-children are positively ordered to make their appearance at Jerusalem thrice in the year, Exo 34:23. And our Lord, being now twelve years old, Luk 2:42, accompanies his parents to the feast.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 2:41
“But we must not wonder that they are called His parents, seeing the one from her childbirth, the other from his knowledge of it, deserved the names of father and mother.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 2:41
“These verses should always be deeply interesting to a reader of the Bible. They record the only facts which we know about our Lord Jesus Christ during the first thirty years of His life on earth, after His infancy. How many things a Christian would like to know about the events of those thirty years, and the daily history of the house at Nazareth! But we need not doubt that there is wisdom in the silence of Scripture on the subject. If it had been good for us to know more — then more would have been revealed.”
when He was twelve years old: Twelve was the age at which a boy first went up to the feasts, in Barnes's judgment. Nazareth lay about seventy miles from Jerusalem. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that Luke records nothing of the eight days of the feast.
Luke 2:42
“Twelve years old - All males among the Hebrews were required to appear three times a year before God, to attend on the ordinances of religion in the temple, and it is probable that this was the age at which they first went up to Jerusalem, Exo 23:14-17; Deu 16:16. To Jerusalem - Where the feasts of the Jews were all held. This was a journey from Nazareth of about 70 miles. After the custom of the feast - According to the usual manner of the feast.”
the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem: The feast lasted eight days, the Passover and the seven days of unleavened bread, as Clarke and Barnes count them. Jesus stayed when the others left. Wesley notes that Luke traces him through every stage of life, from infant to child to man.
Luke 2:43
“Had fulfilled the days - The days of the Passover. These were eight days in all - one day for killing the paschal lamb, and seven days for the observance of the feast of unleavened bread, Exo 12:15; Lev 23:5-6.”
Assuming He was in their company: Families and neighbors traveled to the Feast together in large companies, as Barnes explains. Clarke adds that men and women may have traveled in separate groups, each parent thinking the boy Jesus was with the other. So a day passed before the search began.
Luke 2:44
“He is not found as soon as sought for, for Jesus was not among His kinsfolk and relations, among those who are joined to Him in the flesh, nor in the company of the multitude can He be found. Learn where those who seek Him find Him, not every where, but in the temple. And do thou then seek Jesus in the temple of God. Seek Him in the Church, and seek Him among the masters who are in the temple. For if thou wilt so seek Him, thou shalt find Him.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:44
“Supposing him to have been in the company - Some have supposed that the men and women marched in separate companies on these occasions, which is very likely; and that sometimes the children kept company with the men, sometimes with the women. This might have led to what otherwise seems to have been inexcusable carelessness in Joseph and Mary. Joseph, not seeing Jesus in the men’s company, might suppose he was with his mother in the women’s company; and Mary, not seeing him with her, might imagine he was with Joseph.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
they returned to Jerusalem to search for Him: The search in the caravan failed, so they went back to the city. Clarke prefers a reading that means searching diligently. John Gill thinks they set out the next morning after a night's rest.
Luke 2:45
“And when they found him not,.... In the company that came from Jerusalem with them, nor among any of their relations and friends, with whom they supposed he was: they turned back again to Jerusalem, that is, the next morning, for it can hardly be thought they would set out that night, after they had travelled all day, without taking some repose: seeking him; at Jerusalem, in the streets and broad places of it; a figure of the church and ordinances, where souls look for, and inquire after their beloved, when they have lost him, Son 3:1.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:45
“Seeking him - Ζητουντες αυτον - or rather, seeking him diligently, αναζητουντες. This is the reading of BCDL, six others, Vulgate, and nine copies of the Itala. If they sought earnestly when they first found him missing, there is little doubt that their solicitude and diligence must be greatly increased during his three days’ absence, therefore the word which I have adopted, on the above authority, is more likely to be the true reading than the ζητουντες of the common text, which simply signifies seeking; whereas the other strongly marks their solicitude and diligence.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 2:46-47
after three days they found: Luke shows Jesus sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, the posture of a learner. The later infancy gospels outside the canon invented wonders for Him at this age.
Luke 2:46
“Nor is it unimportant that, mindful of his earthly parents, who were certainly filled with the wisdom and grace of God according to the flesh, he is found in the temple after three days; so that he might provide evidence that after three days of his triumphant passion on the heavenly throne, and with divine honor, he would offer himself as resurrected for our faith, who was believed to be dead.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 2.63patristic
4 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:46
“And it came to pass, that after three days,.... From their first setting out from Jerusalem, when Jesus tarried behind; or on the third day, which may be reckoned thus; the first day was spent in journeying, and the second in coming back the same journey, and the third day they sought all Jerusalem for him, when they found him in the temple; his Father's house, the house of God, a figure of a Gospel church, where the word and ordinances are duly administered, and where Christ is to be found.”
Luke 2:46
“Sitting in the midst of the doctors - The rabbins, who were explaining the law and the ceremonies of the Jewish religion to their disciples. Asking them questions - Not as a scholar asks his teacher, to be informed; but as a teacher, who proposes questions to his scholars in order to take an occasion to instruct them.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 2:46
“And if he was, with others, at the feet of these teachers (where learners generally sat) he might be said to be in the midst of them, as they sat on benches of a semicircular form, raised above their hearers and disciples.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Luke 2:46
“This would give full scope for all that "astonished them in His understanding and answers." Not that He assumed the office of teaching--"His hour" for that "was not yet come," and His equipment for that was not complete; for He had yet to "increase in wisdom" as well as "stature" (Lu 2:52).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
astounded at His understanding and His answers: The teachers were amazed at a boy of twelve, and John Gill says his answers showed a wisdom surprising at that age. Clarke notes that answers here also covers his questions. Chrysostom observes that Jesus did no miracle in childhood.
Luke 2:47
“Answers: - The word αποκρισις here seems not to mean answers only, but what Jesus said by way of question to the doctors, Luk 2:46. So in Rev 7:13, one of the elders is said to have answered, saying - when he only asked a question. Bp. Pearce.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:47
“For from His tongue there went forth divine wisdom, while His age exhibited man's helplessness, and hence the Jews, amid the high things they hear and the lowly things they see, are perplexed with doubts and astonishment. But we can in no wise wonder, knowing the words of the Prophet, that thus unto us a Child is born, that He abideth the mighty God. (Is. 9:6.)”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 2:48-50
When His parents saw Him: Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house gives the first recorded words of Jesus in this Gospel. Its “had to” names the divine necessity that will govern His path to the cross.
Luke 2:48
“The holy Virgin knew that He was not the Son of Joseph, and yet calls her husband His father according to the belief of the Jews, who thought that He was conceived in the common way. Now to speak generally we may say, that the Holy Spirit honoured Joseph by the name of father, because he brought up the Child Jesus; but more technically, that it might not seem superfluous in St. Luke, bringing down the genealogy from David to Joseph. But why sought they Him sorrowing? Was it that he might have perished or been lost?”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:48
“THESE words are very interesting because they are the first recorded utterances of our Divine Lord. No doubt He said much that was very admirable while yet a Child, but the Holy Spirit has not seen fit to record anything except these two questions, as if to teach us that childhood should be retiring and modest—a stage of preparation rather than of observation. We hear little of a Holy Child, for modesty is a precious part of its character.”
Luke 2:48
“Why hast thou thus dealt with us? - It certainly was not his fault, but theirs. Men are very apt to lay on others the blame of their own misconduct.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
These are the first words of Jesus in Luke. Clarke notes that the phrase can mean his Father's house or his Father's business. Bede says Jesus lifts their eyes to the Father whose eternal Son he was.
Luke 2:49
“How is it ... - “Why” have ye sought me with so much anxiety? “Mary” should have known that the Son of God was safe; that his heavenly Father would take care of him, and that he could do nothing amiss. Wist ye not - “Know ye not.” You had reason to know. You knew my design in coming into the world, and that design was “superior” to the duty of obeying earthly parents, and they should be willing always to give me up to the proper business for which I live.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 2:49
“Some passages, also, which occur in the Gospels, receive from them a colouring of the same kind, such as the answer which He gave His mother when He was twelve years of age: "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?" Thus, they say, He announced to them the Father of whom they were ignorant.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies (Book I, Chapter 20)patristic
they did not understand the statement: Even Mary and Joseph missed his meaning, and Barnes sees how slow people are to believe. John Gill says they missed what he meant by his Father's house and business. Theophylact calls it a mystery.
Luke 2:50
“They understood not ... - It is remarkable that they did not understand Jesus in this, but it shows how slow persons are to believe. Even his parents, after all that had taken place, did not seem to comprehend that “he” was to be the Saviour of people, or if they did, they understood it in a very imperfect manner.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 2:50
“It is observable that Joseph is not mentioned after this time; whence it is probable, he did not live long after.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Luke 2:50
“Or they knew not whether when He said about my Father's business, He referred to the temple, or something higher and more edifying; for every one of us who doeth good, is the seat of God the Father; but whoso is the seat of God the Father, has Christ in the midst of him.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 2:51-52
Then He went down to: Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man, the language 1 Samuel 2:26 gives the boy Samuel. Eighteen years of ordinary obedience in Nazareth follow.
Luke 2:51
“Went down with them - Down from Jerusalem, which was in a high, mountainous region. Was subject unto them - Performed the duty of a faithful and obedient child, and not improbably was engaged in the trade of Joseph - that of a carpenter. Every Jew was required to learn some trade, and there is every reason to think that our Saviour followed that of his reputed father. And from this we learn: 1. That obedience to parents is a duty. Jesus has set an example in this that all children should follow.”
Jesus grew in wisdom and stature: Luke repeats the growth of verse 40. Bede says growth in wisdom and stature shows that Jesus had a true soul and true flesh. Barnes adds that his favor with God grew in step with his wisdom.
Luke 2:52
“Jesus increased in wisdom - As to his human nature, and in favour with God - In proportion to that increase. It plainly follows, that though a man were pure, even as Christ was pure, still he would have room to increase in holiness, and in consequence thereof to increase in the favour, as well as in the love of God.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
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Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Luke; Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah; Ambrose of Milan, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede; Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon I; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, Homilies on Luke and Theophylact of Ohrid.