TRACINGS FROM THE ACTS OF THE
APOSTLES
SEVEN WEEKS. ACTS
i.
FROM the morrow after the Passover Sabbath seven weeks
were to be numbered (Lev. xxiii. 15); then came the feast of Weeks, or
Pentecost, as it is called in the New Testament (Acts ii. 1, xx. 16 ; 1 Cor.
xvi. 8), nothing in the Jewish ecclesiastical year of any great moment taking
place between. In the year, however, of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection an
important event occurred between these feasts, which divided the seven weeks
into two unequal periods - viz., forty days and ten days.
The Forty
Days. - For forty days the Lord was manifested to His disciples as risen
from the dead. During those weeks He appeared to them at different times and in
different places. On the day of His resurrection five manifestations took place
- viz , to Mary Magdalene in the garden, to the women between that and the
city, to the two who went to Ernmaus, to Peter, and then to the disciples in
the upper room. A week after He appeared again at Jerusalem to the disciples,
when Thomas was with them (John xx. 26). On a mountain in Galilee He met the
disciples by appointment, possibly the five hundred of whom St. Paul writes
(Matt. xxviii. 16; 1 Cor. xv. 6). On the shore of the Lake of Galilee He
appeared without previous warning, and invited the disciples who had been
fishing, but fruitlessly during the night, to come and dine (John xxi. 1-14).
At some time or other He was seen of James (1 Cor. xv. 7). These 14 different
appearances, save some of those on the first day, are unnoticed by Luke. But he
tells us, what the other writers do not, the general character of the Lord's
communications to His disciples during all that time. His words, writing of
these forty days, are as follows : "To whom also He showed Himself alive after
His passion, by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and
speaking of the things pertaining to [or, concerning] the kingdom of God" (Acts
i. 3). Though the King had been crucified, vet the kingdom would be established
in power; and, what was contrary to all precedents, the crucified One, who had
died, would nevertheless return to reign. Deeply interesting must these
confidential communications have been. Confidential they may be called ; for no
details of them have been committed to writing for our
instruction.
Last Words. - The day of His final departure drew
near. His last counsels the disciples were now receiving. And being assembled
with them, or as the margin gives it, "eating with them," the Lord charged them
not to depart from Jerusalem, but there to wait for the promise of the Father,
"which" - and now Luke quotes the Master's very Words - "ye have heard of Me.
For John truly baptised with water ; but ye shall be baptised with the Holy
Ghost not many days hence" (4, 5). We have noticed the marginal reading; for
the earliest versions - the Syriac and the Vulgate - support it. Greek writers,
as Chrysostom and Theophylact, accept it; Jerome, too, endorses it; and Meyer,
of moderns, adopts it. Without further entering on the question of the meaning
of the Greek verb, we may remark that the marginal reading would be quite in
character with Peter's statement to Cornelius and his friends (x. 41), that the
disciples ate and drank with the Lord after He rose from the dead. John xxi is
the only incontrovertible instance to which we can turn. But Peter's statement
seems to imply that it was not once only that they had eaten with Him after the
Resurrection. So it may quite have been that they ate with Him on the occasion
to which Luke refers. What seasons must such as these have been ! Of what grace
do they speak ! What freedom, what privilege, allowed the disciples! What
interest in them on the Lord's part! How much might have been recorded had a
diary of events been kept ! But such was not to be. And now those opportunities
so precious were about for ever to close. The risen but not yet ascended Lord
would be in that condition no longer. With just one more question from them,
and an answer from Him, their personal intercourse with Him as yet on earth
would cease. But we must not anticipate.
Baptism with the Holy
Ghost. - Of the baptism with the Spirit as near at hand the Lord now spoke.
He had not previously distinctly mentioned it. For it they were to wait in
Jerusalem. It would take place for them in the metropolis of Judaism. It was a
new and a distinctive Christian blessing. All the disciples would share in it.
This baptism John, the son of Zacharias, had first mentioned, and that in
connection with the Messiah. "I indeed," he said, when people were musing
whether he was the Christ or not - "I indeed baptise you with water; but One,
mightier than I, cometh, the latchet of whose shors I am not worthy to unloose:
He shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire" (Luke iii. 15, 16). A
far-reaching view of the Lord's work the Baptist here takes. For the baptism
with fire, as the context in both Matt. iii. and Luke iii., where alone it is
mentioned, plainly intimates, is connected with the execution of judgment. So
it is future. The baptism with the Holy Ghost has taken place, never that we
know of to be repeated, though the effects of it continue. Of this baptism John
again spoke after he had baptised the Lord (John i. 32, 33), having learnt by
the fulfilment of the sign given to him, in the descent of the Holy Spirit and
His remaining on the Lord, that it was He who would baptise with the Holy
Ghost. To this same event the Lord referred in the upper room on the day of His
resurrection, when He spoke to the assembled disciples of the power with which
they would be endued from on high. Now on the approach of His ascension He
openly spoke of their coming baptism. It was near at hand. We have said that
this is a distinctive Christian blessing. For we learn from 1 Cor. xii. 13 that
by it the Body of Christ is formed. "By [or, in] one Spirit are we all baptised
into one Body, whether we be Jews or Greeks, whether we be bond or free." All
real Christians share in this as regards its effects, though all were not
present on either occasion when it took place (Acts ii., xi. 15, 16). St. Paul
was not even converted at the time. Yet he, in common with the Corinthians,
came to share in it. So do all real Christians, recipients of the Holy Ghost.
This is an important truth ; and the fact that all true believers - i.e., who
share in forgiveness of sins - necessarily have part in it is a very important
point.
The Last Question. - So far we read of the character of
the interview with the disciples during those forty days. Now the time for the
last question came. "Lord, wilt [or, dost] Thou at this time restore again the
kingdom to Israel?" His reign in power was in their thoughts. For forty days
had He been with them. Was that kingdom, then, near at hand ? Of its advent He
had spoken (Luke xix. 12-15), and of Jerusalem welcoming her returning King
(Matt, xxiii. 39). On things pertaining to the kingdom He had apparently freely
discoursed since His resurrection. So now of Israel's future greatness they
inquired. Their question He did not answer. "It is not for you to know the
times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power." An answer
this was in character with His words before the cross. "Of that day and that
hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the
Father" (Mark xiii. 32). The distant future was not laid open to them. Of the
near future, however, He did speak, and acquainted them with the work to which
they were called, In His prayer to His Father He had intimated something of it,
as He prayed for those who should believe on Him through their word (John xvii.
20). On the day He rose He spoke of the going forth of the Gospel of God's
grace, but for that service they were to wait the promise of the Father (Luke
xxiv. 49). At the end of the Gospel of Matthew (xxviii. 19), and that also of
Mark (xvi. 15), we learn that nothing less than the world was to be the bounds
of the sphere of evangelistic service. Now in Acts i. 8 He tells them of power
they would receive by the Holy Ghost coming on them, and then sketched out
their widening sphere of labour - Jerusalem, Judsea, Samaria, and unto the
uttermost parts of the earth. In this order - for Luke in his way is a
methodical writer - does the historian narrate the progress of the work.
Samaria was evangelised in chap, viii., after which the work spread, and
Gentiles were blessed (x.), and then far and wide the Gospel made its
way.
The Ascension. The last words had been spoken relative to
their work. Then in the act of blessing them, and near to Bethany, on the
eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, the Lord was parted from them (Luke xxiv.
50, 51), and taken up into heaven. They saw Him ascend, but a cloud hid Him
from their sight. How far they watched Him going up we know not; but the cloud
hid Him from their further view. What, however, they could not see we know. He
then ascended far above all heavens, and led captivity captive likewise (Eph.
iv. 8-10). Unwitnessed by the world, and unknown to it, He ascended to the
right hand of God. But angelic powers were not unaware of it, nor were the
principalities and powers of evil unconcerned spectators. His triumph they
surely witnessed, and the effect of it they well knew. For He led them captive,
and opened up that communication between heaven and earth which never has been
closed. And the witnesses of this last to us are the gifts He gives unto men-
even instruments for the carrying on of the work of God upon earth till He
shall come.
A Hope. - God is the God of hope (Rom. xv. 13). He
gives His people a hope. So just at that moment, when naturally the hearts of
the little band - the Eleven - might have sunk within them, two men stood by
them in white apparel, and spoke words of comfort, seasonable indeed to those
who were still gazing upward. "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into
heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken [or, received] up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven" (Acts i. 11).
He would return, return in person, and that to earth. And, as we know, on the
mountain from which He then ascended His feet shall again stand (Zech. xiv. 4).
That mountain, consecrated by the impress of His feet on that memorable
occasion, will be consecrated afresh, when He shall again stand upon it. The
words of those men were enough. They ceased gazing upwards, and returned to the
city of Jerusalem, without the Lord. Downcast, shall we say? No. With great
joy, as Luke in his Gospel has recorded (xxiv. 52). The hope of His return
filled them with joy, in that which naturally we should have viewed as the
first hour of their desolation.
Angelic Ministry. Those men were
angels. At times in the past God has sent such messengers to communicate with
His earthly creatures. Two angels in human form visited Lot, and brought him
out of Sodom. The law was ordained by angels, said Stephen (Acts vii. 53). With
that the Apostle Paul's statement in Galatians (iii. 19) is in agreement. Often
had they appeared on the scene in Israel's history, ministering at times
providentially (1 Kings xix. 5), at times communicating something of the Divine
will. By this latter service Daniel and Zechariah were especially favoured. In
New Testament times Gabriel visited the aged priest Zacharias, and later the
Virgin Mary. At the Lord's birth there appeared first one announcing the glad
tidings, and then was heard a multitude praising God (Luke ii.). Yet though
twice in the Lord's life He received their ministrations (Matt. iv. 11 ; Luke
xxii. 43), they were not used at any time whilst He was on earth as channels
for Divine revelation. We can all understand the propriety of that. He died.
Again they appeared to minister the information suited for the moment. Those
visiting the tomb of the company of the women saw them and heard them, and they
carried away the message they were charged by them to deliver. But during the
forty days of the Lord's presence with His own we read not of angelic ministry.
And even on Mary's second visit to the tomb they retired into the background,
and let the Lord discover Himself to her. When He was present, the angels were
silent. The Lord ascended. Two angels then immediately appeared, sent to
encourage the Eleven by announcing the certainty of the return of Jesus in
person. "Shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven" On
the day of Pentecost the Holy Ghost, Third Person of the Godhead, came to dwell
upon earth. Angels then again receded, as it were, into the background,
ministering still providentially (Acts 5: 19, xii. 7, xxvii. 23; Heb. i. 14),
but not as vessels to communicate Christian truth. With this agree the act and
word of the angel who visited Cornelius. He directed him to send for Peter, who
would tell him words whereby he and his house should be saved (Acts xi. 14).
For neither the preaching of the Gospel of the grace of God, nor the present
teaching to establish souls in the faith, has been committed to angels. The
Holy Ghost is here, and He uses human instruments for that purpose. In the
Apocalypse, however, angelic ministry reappears. That book unfolds the future
of the earth, and the judgments which must take place. Angels will be executors
of those judgments, so in character with that it may be that one speaks therein
to John.
The Upper Room. The Eleven returned to Jerusalem, and
assuredly communicated to the other disciples that which had taken place. Were
these latter dispirited? There is no trace of it, though now they must have
realised their orphan state (John xiv. 18); for the Lord had gone, and the Holy
Ghost had not yet come. To the upper chamber where they abode the Eleven betook
themselves, with the women, and Mary the mother of the Lord, and His brethren,
a company apart from their Jewish acquaintances. Here for the last time the
Apostles are severally enumerated, though in an order which varies from the
lists in the three Synoptic Gospels (Matt. x.; Mark iii.; Luke vi.). Only one
Judas was now to be reckoned in the apostolic company, called in Matthew and in
Mark Thaddeus (Lebbeus should in the former be probably omitted), but in Luke,
as well as in this place in the Acts, designated as Judas of James.* "These
all," writes our Church historian, " with one accord continued in prayer
** with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren"
(Acts i. 14). Such was their occupation, an expression of dependence and of
desire. Here, too, for the last time are the women mentioned, and the Virgin
likewise, save that Mary the mother of John Mark is introduced into the
narrative in chap. xii. Personal service to Christ had characterised the women.
That necessarily ceased, though doubtless they were still at work in their
proper sphere. But He who had been their great object being no longer here, no
more notice is taken of them after this time. Faithful they had been. Faithful
they were still, and in prayer with the Apostles they continued. Another class
we must remark on: "His brethren." These were distinct from any of the
Apostles, and were perhaps brought to confess the Lord by His death and the
knowledge of His resurrection. "Neither did His brethren believe on Him," John
wrote (vii. 5). That could be said no longer. For those who with His mother had
sought once to hinder Him in His work (Mark iii. 31) are with her just after
His ascension in the company of the Eleven in the upper room, as definitely and
openly to be ranked among His disciples.
* According to some, the word
brother is to be supplied, as in the A.V.; according to others, son, should be
understood, as in the R.V. The Syriac in Luke vi. 16 and here reads "son."
Neither of these is inconsistent with the usage of the language. See Winer, and
Liddell and Scott's Lexicon. We do know of Jude who calls himself, and of
course was aware of it, brother of James, the writer of the Epistle which bears
his name. If Judas be the son of some James, it is a James wholly unknown to
us, and we might in that case have looked for something wherewith to identify
him, like Simon Iscariot, the father of Judas (John vi. 71). But that has not
been supplied. Lacking that, "brother," rather than "son," seems more probably
to be understood. Meyer decides for son. Wordsworth and Alford supply brother.
We would just add that the list of the Eleven here given has point, showing the
fulfilment of the Lord's words, "Of them which Thou gavest Me have I lost none"
(John xviii. 9).
** "And supplication" should be omitted.
Bereft
of the Master's company, what could they do ? Was the movement begun during His
life now to collapse? Were those gathered by His ministry to disperse, and the
company to disappear like snow before the noonday sun? Could they hope, a
little band, and a feeble one indeed, looking at themselves, to stand their
ground against the opposition of constituted authority, and in the presence of
hostile crowds? It was true the Lord had risen from the dead. They had seen
Him. But the world had not; and no enthusiasm had been stirred in His favour by
the announcement of the soldiers of that which they had witnessed at the tomb.
To the natural man their cause was not a promising one. But they had a hope to
which the Jews were strangers; and, assured that the God of their fathers had
not forsaken them, whilst waiting for the fulfilment of their hope, they
continued in prayer ; for work, they knew, was before them, when the time to
commence it should arrive.
Matthias. Meantime preparation for that
work, as far as they could make it, was undertaken. Judas Iscariot by
transgression had fallen, that he might go to his own place (Acts i. 25).
Solemn indeed ! Was his fall unforeseen? It was unexpected by the Eleven, we
know. But Scripture had foreshadowed it, and predicted too the substitution of
another in his place. To this Peter calls attention at the time of their
greatest weakness. Many a saint has known the comfort that a word of Scripture
has ministered to him in some special time of need. What comfort must these
have found, as they learnt, and saw it plainly set forth, that the heartless
and selfish conduct of Judas had been foreknown to God! His act of treachery
was the fulfilment of the prophetic word. The Holy Ghost had predicted it.
David had been the penman to write it. And provision had been made to meet the
present circumstances. To Psalms Ixix. 25 and cix. 8 the Apostle Peter refers.
The first reference speaks of what should be meted out to the persecutor; the
second, of succession in his office. In Judas, by his death, the first
quotation had a fulfilment. His habitation was desolate. He had died by his own
hand (Matt, xxvii. 5). The second prediction was also to be
fulfilled.
Peter therefore suggested to the assembled company that the
one hundred and ninth Psalm shed light on the situation, and afforded guidance
for them in the present circumstances. All agreeing, they prepared to carry out
the injunction of the Psalm by nominating two, one of whom was to fill the
traitor's place, and with the Eleven bear witness to the truth of the Lord's
resurrection. Nominating two, we have said ; not meaning by their own will to
fill up the vacancy ; but discerning that two of the disciples seemed fitted
for that office, they put them forward as equally qualified as far as man could
judge. Prayer then was offered. Lots were cast, to learn which of the two the
Lord had chosen. On Matthias the lot fell. He was therefore numbered with the
eleven Apostles. Henceforth there were twelve (Acts i. 26, ii. 14, vi. 2), all
of whom had known the Lord before His death, and could witness of His
resurrection. It is evident that Paul, called subsequently to the apostolate,
could never have answered to that which Peter declared was a requisite on this
occasion. The twelfth Apostle he was not; nor was Barnabas either. They could
neither of them have been that.
Judas Iscariot. - Peter had
spoken of the traitor's end, and gave details then known, but not reported
elsewhere. He confirmed the information furnished by Matthew, both that a field
was bought with the thirty pieces of silver, and also that Judas died a violent
death. There is nothing really inconsistent in the two statements about the
purchase of the field. For that piece of ground, bought with the money, though
the transaction was carried out by the chief priests, as Matthew declares,
might be spoken of in the words of Peter : "This man purchased a field with the
reward of iniquity." The money with which it was bought really belonged to
Judas. Doubtless, had we full details, we should see that the account of both
Apostles is correct in every particular. Both speak of the matter as one of
common notoriety. And Matthew, who was present when Peter described the end of
Judas, must of course have been quite conversant with that which his brother
Apostle had stated. Ignorance or mistake on the part of either we cannot admit.
Peter spoke of it a few weeks after the occurrence. Matthew, it may be, wrote
his Gospel but a few years after the death of Judas, and when all the
circumstances of it could not have been forgotten. Both profess perfect
acquaintance with the facts they narrate, and write of them as commonly known.
A mistake then, we repeat, we cannot admit, unless it could be demonstrated,
which is impossible, that we have all the particulars of this sad history. Till
that can be satisfactorily established, becoming modesty should make us believe
that it is the lack of full particulars which causes any difficulty in
harmonising the two accounts. We would add that there is nothing in Peter's
statement which obliges us to believe that Judas killed himself on that spot
known afterwards as Aceldama ; and the name given to the field seems to have
arisen from the money being the price of blood (Matt, xxvii. 6).*
*
Judas went to his own place. The Lord was in Paradise, and the penitent thief
with Him. Separation for ever took place between the Lord and Judas. Fellowship
with the Lord for ever was to be the portion of that thief.
To
return to a more interesting theme. Preparation was made by the election of
Matthias to fill up the vacancy caused by Judas Iscariot's fall. A work was
before them of which as yet they had little idea, either of its magnitude or of
its difficulties. Their faith, however, we see, was undaunted, and they looked
forward to that which lay before them with stout hearts. Surely God was
comforting and encouraging them who in prayer expressed their dependence, yet
doubtless their desire likewise for the power to come, which would enable them
to go forward on their mission. Like their forefathers in the days of Nehemiah
(iv. 2, 3) their opponents (for now they were becoming conscious that they had
such) might despise them. "What do these feeble Jews?" those of old said.
Feeble though they were, yet they built up the wall of Jerusalem all round in
fifty-and-two days. What would that insignificant company do, who meet in the
upper room? their enemies might say. There they remain in prayer, but they
never come forth to meet us. Utterly incompetent are they to win their way in
the world! Did such thoughts pass through their minds? Soon it would be
demonstrated that a weapon more effective than any great conqueror had used,
and of a more keen edge than a material sword, was to be wielded by that
company now apart in that room. By the weapon they would wield trophies would
be won, captives, adherents - not by twos or threes, nor by hundreds, but by
thousands would they be numbered. And a work would break out in spite of all
opposition, which neither the devil nor the ruling powers of earth could
possibly put down. Judaism, heathenism, idolatry, and indifference, each and
all would feel the power connected with that company, and have to own that they
could not successfully overcome it. God would be with them, though the world
would be against them. But that little band might truly say, in the words of
the prophet Elisha, " They that be with us are more than they that be with them
" (2 Kings vi. 16). Let us now see how conquests were brought about.
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