3 to whom also he did present himself alive after his suffering, in many certain proofs, through forty days being seen by them, and speaking the things concerning the reign of God.
and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, afterwards he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain till now, and certain also did fall asleep; afterwards he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
and he was seen for many days of those who did come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.
she having gone, told those who had been with him, mourning and weeping; and they, having heard that he is alive, and was seen by her, did not believe. And after these things, to two of them, as they are going into a field, walking, he was manifested in another form, and they having gone, told to the rest; not even them did they believe. Afterwards, as they are reclining (at meat), he was manifested to the eleven, and did reproach their unbelief and stiffness of heart, because they believed not those having seen him being raised;
That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we did behold, and our hands did handle, concerning the Word of the Life --
preaching the reign of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness -- unforbidden.
this `is' now a third time Jesus was manifested to his disciples, having been raised from the dead.
And on the first of the sabbaths, Mary the Magdalene doth come early (there being yet darkness) to the tomb, and she seeth the stone having been taken away out of the tomb, she runneth, therefore, and cometh unto Simon Peter, and unto the other disciple whom Jesus was loving, and saith to them, `They took away the Lord out of the tomb, and we have not known where they laid him.' Peter, therefore, went forth, and the other disciple, and they were coming to the tomb, and the two were running together, and the other disciple did run forward more quickly than Peter, and came first to the tomb, and having stooped down, seeth the linen clothes lying, yet, indeed, he entered not. Simon Peter, therefore, cometh, following him, and he entered into the tomb, and beholdeth the linen clothes lying, and the napkin that was upon his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but apart, having been folded up, in one place; then, therefore, entered also the other disciple who came first unto the tomb, and he saw, and did believe; for not yet did they know the Writing, that it behoveth him out of the dead to rise again. The disciples therefore went away again unto their own friends, and Mary was standing near the tomb, weeping without; as she was weeping, then, she stooped down to the tomb, and beholdeth two messengers in white, sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been laid. And they say to her, `Woman, why dost thou weep?' she saith to them, `Because they took away my Lord, and I have not known where they laid him;' and these things having said, she turned backward, and seeth Jesus standing, and she had not known that it is Jesus. Jesus saith to her, `Woman, why dost thou weep? whom dost thou seek;' she, supposing that he is the gardener, saith to him, `Sir, if thou didst carry him away, tell me where thou didst lay him, and I will take him away;' Jesus saith to her, `Mary!' having turned, she saith to him, `Rabbouni;' that is to say, `Teacher.' Jesus saith to her, `Be not touching me, for I have not yet ascended unto my Father; and be going on to my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and to your God.' Mary the Magdalene cometh, telling to the disciples that she hath seen the Lord, and `that' these things he said to her. It being, therefore, evening, on that day, the first of the sabbaths, and the doors having been shut where the disciples were assembled, through fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith to them, `Peace to you;' and this having said, he shewed them his hands and side; the disciples, therefore, rejoiced, having seen the Lord. Jesus, therefore, said to them again, `Peace to you; according as the Father hath sent me, I also send you;'
And on the first of the sabbaths, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bearing the spices they made ready, and certain `others' with them, and they found the stone having been rolled away from the tomb, and having gone in, they found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, while they are perplexed about this, that lo, two men stood by them in glittering apparel, and on their having become afraid, and having inclined the face to the earth, they said to them, `Why do ye seek the living with the dead? he is not here, but was raised; remember how he spake to you, being yet in Galilee, saying -- It behoveth the Son of Man to be delivered up to the hands of sinful men, and to be crucified, and the third day to rise again.' And they remembered his sayings, and having turned back from the tomb told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. And it was the Magdalene Mary, and Joanna, and Mary of James, and the other women with them, who told unto the apostles these things, and their sayings appeared before them as idle talk, and they were not believing them. And Peter having risen, did run to the tomb, and having stooped down he seeth the linen clothes lying alone, and he went away to his own home, wondering at that which was come to pass. And, lo, two of them were going on during that day to a village, distant sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, the name of which `is' Emmaus, and they were conversing with one another about all these things that have happened. And it came to pass in their conversing and reasoning together, that Jesus himself, having come nigh, was going on with them, and their eyes were holden so as not to know him, and he said unto them, `What `are' these words that ye exchange with one another, walking, and ye are sad?' And the one, whose name was Cleopas, answering, said unto him, `Art thou alone such a stranger in Jerusalem, that thou hast not known the things that came to pass in it in these days?' And he said to them, `What things?' And they said to him, `The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who became a man -- a prophet -- powerful in deed and word, before God and all the people, how also the chief priests and our rulers did deliver him up to a judgment of death, and crucified him; and we were hoping that he it is who is about to redeem Israel, and also with all these things, this third day is passing to-day, since these things happened. `And certain women of ours also astonished us, coming early to the tomb, and not having found his body, they came, saying also to have seen an apparition of messengers, who say he is alive, and certain of those with us went away unto the tomb, and found as even the women said, and him they saw not.' And he said unto them, `O inconsiderate and slow in heart, to believe on all that the prophets spake! Was it not behoving the Christ these things to suffer, and to enter into his glory?' and having begun from Moses, and from all the prophets, he was expounding to them in all the Writings the things about himself. And they came nigh to the village whither they were going, and he made an appearance of going on further, and they constrained him, saying, `Remain with us, for it is toward evening,' and the day did decline, and he went in to remain with them. And it came to pass, in his reclining (at meat) with them, having taken the bread, he blessed, and having broken, he was giving to them, and their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he became unseen by them. And they said one to another, `Was not our heart burning within us, as he was speaking to us in the way, and as he was opening up to us the Writings?' And they, having risen up the same hour, turned back to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven, and those with them, saying -- `The Lord was raised indeed, and was seen by Simon;' and they were telling the things in the way, and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread, and as they are speaking these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith to them, `Peace -- to you;' and being amazed, and becoming affrighted, they were thinking themselves to see a spirit. And he said to them, `Why are ye troubled? and wherefore do reasonings come up in your hearts? see my hands and my feet, that I am he; handle me and see, because a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me having.' And having said this, he shewed to them the hands and the feet, and while they are not believing from the joy, and wondering, he said to them, `Have ye anything here to eat?' and they gave to him part of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb, and having taken, he did eat before them, and he said to them, `These `are' the words that I spake unto you, being yet with you, that it behoveth to be fulfilled all the things that are written in the Law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms, about me.' Then opened he up their understanding to understand the Writings, and he said to them -- `Thus it hath been written, and thus it was behoving the Christ to suffer, and to rise out of the dead the third day, and reformation and remission of sins to be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem: and ye -- ye are witnesses of these things. `And, lo, I do send the promise of my Father upon you, but ye -- abide ye in the city of Jerusalem till ye be clothed with power from on high.' And he led them forth without -- unto Bethany, and having lifted up his hands he did bless them, and it came to pass, in his blessing them, he was parted from them, and was borne up to the heaven; and they, having bowed before him, did turn back to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
And the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mount where Jesus appointed them, and having seen him, they bowed to him, but some did waver.
and as they were going to tell to his disciples, then lo, Jesus met them, saying, `Hail!' and they having come near, laid hold of his feet, and did bow to him.
and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he did hunger.
and saying, `Reform, for come nigh hath the reign of the heavens,'
`And in the days of these kings raise up doth the God of the heavens a kingdom that is not destroyed -- to the age, and its kingdom to another people is not left: it beateth small and endeth all these kingdoms, and it standeth to the age. Because that thou hast seen that out of the mountain cut hath been a stone without hands, and it hath beaten small the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king that which `is' to be after this; and the dream `is' true, and its interpretation stedfast.
and he riseth, and eateth, and drinketh, and goeth in the power of that food forty days and forty nights, unto the mount of God -- Horeb.
and I throw myself before Jehovah, as at first, forty days and forty nights; bread I have not eaten, and water I have not drunk, because of all your sins which ye have sinned, by doing the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, to make Him angry.
who did rescue us out of the authority of the darkness, and did translate `us' into the reign of the Son of His love,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Acts 1
Commentary on Acts 1 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 1
Ac 1:1-11. Introduction—Last Days of Our Lord upon Earth—His Ascension.
1, 2. former treatise—Luke's Gospel.
Theophilus—(See on Lu 1:3).
began to do and teach—a very important statement, dividing the work of Christ into two great branches: the one embracing His work on earth, the other His subsequent work from heaven; the one in His own Person, the other by His Spirit; the one the "beginning," the other the continuance of the same work; the one complete when He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, the other to continue till His second appearing; the one recorded in "The Gospels," the beginnings only of the other related in this book of "The Acts." "Hence the grand history of what Jesus did and taught does not conclude with His departure to the Father; but Luke now begins it in a higher strain; for all the subsequent labors of the apostles are just an exhibition of the ministry of the glorified Redeemer Himself because they were acting under His authority, and He was the principle that operated in them all" [Olshausen].
2. after that he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments, &c.—referring to the charge recorded in Mt 28:18-20; Mr 16:15-18; Lu 24:44-49. It is worthy of notice that nowhere else are such communications of the risen Redeemer said to have been given "through the Holy Ghost." In general, this might have been said of all He uttered and all He did in His official character; for it was for this very end that God "gave not the Spirit by measure unto Him" (Joh 3:34). But after His resurrection, as if to signify the new relation in which He now stood to the Church, He signalized His first meeting with the assembled disciples by breathing on them (immediately after dispensing to them His peace) and saying, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (Joh 20:22) thus anticipating the donation of the Spirit from His hands (see on Joh 20:21, 22); and on the same principle His parting charges are here said to have been given "through the Holy Ghost," as if to mark that He was now all redolent with the Spirit; that what had been husbanded, during His suffering work, for His own necessary uses, had now been set free, was already overflowing from Himself to His disciples, and needed but His ascension and glorification to flow all forth. (See on Joh 7:39.)
3-5. showed himself alive—As the author is about to tell us that "the resurrection of the Lord Jesus" was the great burden of apostolic preaching, so the subject is here filly introduced by an allusion to the primary evidence on which that great fact rests, the repeated and undeniable manifestations of Himself in the body to the assembled disciples, who, instead of being predisposed to believe it, had to be overpowered by the resistless evidence of their own senses, and were slow of yielding even to this (Mr 16:14).
after his passion—or, suffering. This primary sense of the word "passion" has fallen into disuse; but it is nobly consecrated in the phraseology of the Church to express the Redeemer's final endurances.
seen of them forty days—This important specification of time occurs here only.
speaking of—rather "speaking."
the things pertaining to the kingdom of God—till now only in germ, but soon to take visible form; the earliest and the latest burden of His teaching on earth.
4. should not depart from Jerusalem—because the Spirit was to glorify the existing economy, by descending on the disciples at its metropolitan seat, and at the next of its great festivals after the ascension of the Church's Head; in order that "out of Zion might go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isa 2:3; and compare Lu 24:49).
5. ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence—ten days hence, as appears from Le 23:15, 16; but it was expressed thus indefinitely to exercise their faith.
6-8. wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?—Doubtless their carnal views of Messiah's kingdom had by this time been modified, though how far it is impossible to say. But, as they plainly looked for some restoration of the kingdom to Israel, so they are neither rebuked nor contradicted on this point.
7. It is not for you to know the times, &c.—implying not only that this was not the time, but that the question was irrelevant to their present business and future work.
8. receive power—See Lu 24:49.
and ye shall be witnesses unto me … in Jerusalem … in all Judea … and unto the uttermost part of the earth—This order of apostolic preaching and success supplies the proper key to the plan of the Acts, which relates first the progress of the Gospel "in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria" (the first through ninth chapters), and then "unto the uttermost part of the earth" (the tenth through twenty-eighth chapters).
9-11. while they beheld, he was taken up—See on Lu 24:50-53. Lest it should be thought He had disappeared when they were looking in some other direction, and so was only concluded to have gone up to heaven, it is here expressly said that "while they were looking He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight." So Elijah, "If thou see me when I am taken from thee" (2Ki 2:10); "And Elisha saw it" (Ac 1:12). (See on Lu 9:32.)
10. while they looked steadfastly toward heaven—following Him with their eager eyes, in rapt amazement. Not, however, as a mere fact is this recorded, but as a part of that resistless evidence of their senses on which their whole subsequent testimony was to be borne.
two men in white apparel—angels in human form, as in Lu 24:4.
11. Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven, &c.—"as if your now glorified Head were gone from you never to return: He is coming again; not another, but 'this same Jesus'; and 'as ye have seen Him go, in the like manner shall He come'—as personally, as visibly, as gloriously; and let the joyful expectation of this coming swallow up the sorrow of that departure."
Ac 1:12-26. Return of the Eleven to Jerusalem—Proceedings in the Upper Room till Pentecost.
12-14. a sabbath day's journey—about two thousand cubits.
13. went up into an upper room—perhaps the same "large upper room" where with their Lord they had celebrated the last Passover and the first Supper (Lu 22:12).
where abode—not lodged, but had for their place of rendezvous.
Peter, &c.—(See on Mt 10:2-4).
14. continued with one accord—knit by a bond stronger than death.
in prayer and supplication—for the promised baptism, the need of which in their orphan state would be increasingly felt.
and Mary the mother of Jesus—distinguished from the other "women," but "so as to exclude the idea of her having any pre-eminence over the disciples. We find her with the rest in prayer to her glorified Son" [Webster and Wilkinson]. This is the last mention of her in the New Testament. The fable of the Assumption of the Virgin has no foundation even in tradition [Alford].
with his brethren—(See on Joh 7:3).
15-26. in those days—of expectant prayer, and probably towards the close of them, when the nature of their future work began more clearly to dawn upon them, and the Holy Ghost, already "breathed" on the Eleven (Joh 20:22), was stirring in Peter, who was to be the leading spirit of the infant community (Mt 16:19).
the number … about an hundred and twenty—Many, therefore, of the "five hundred brethren" who saw their risen Lord "at once" (1Co 15:6), must have remained in Galilee.
18. falling headlong, &c.—This information supplements, but by no means contradicts, what is said in Mt 27:5.
20. his bishopric—or "charge." The words are a combination of Ps 69:25 and Ps 109:8; in which the apostle discerns a greater than David, and a worse than Ahithophel and his fellow conspirators against David.
21. all the time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—in the close intimacies of a three years' public life.
22. Beginning from the baptism of John—by whom our Lord was not only Himself baptized, but first officially announced and introduced to his own disciples.
unto that same day when he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection—How clearly is the primary office of the apostles here expressed: (1) to testify, from personal observation, to the one great fact of "the resurrection of the Lord Jesus"; (2) to show how this glorified His whole previous life, of which they were constant observers, and established His divine claims.
23. they appointed—"put up" in nomination; meaning not the Eleven but the whole company, of whom Peter was the spokesman.
two—The choice would lie between a very few.
24. prayed and said, Thou, Lord, &c.—"The word 'Lord,' placed absolutely, denotes in the New Testament almost universally THE SON; and the words, 'Show whom Thou hast chosen,' are decisive. The apostles are just Christ's messengers: It is He that sends them, and of Him they bear witness. Here, therefore, we have the first example of a prayer offered to the exalted Redeemer; furnishing indirectly the strongest proof of His divinity" [Olshausen].
which knowest the hearts of all men—See Joh 2:24, 25; 21:15-17; Re 2:23.
25. that he might go to his own place—A euphemistic or softened expression of the awful future of the traitor, implying not only destined habitation but congenial element.
26. was numbered—"voted in" by general suffrage.
with the eleven apostles—completing the broken Twelve.