Galilee. o John xiii. 23.25. & xx.2. and for all there were so many, yet was not the Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And John xxi, 12. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth John xxi, 13. them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time" that Jesus shewed John xxi. 14. himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon John xxi. 15. Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, John xxi. 16. son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him, the third time, Simon, sON John xxi. 17. of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast John xxi. 18, young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee", and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he John xxi. 19. should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple John xxi. 20. whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? 37 These words may either refer to the third appearance which St. John relates, or the third appearance Christ made to the apostles, when all, or most of them, were together. He manifested himself to ten of them, (John xx. 19.); again to eleven of them, (ver. 26.); and at this time to seven, (see ch. xxi. 2.) But when the accounts of all the Evangelists are collated, we shall find that our Saviour distinctly revealed himself eleven times after his resurrection. 38 Peter was now in the act of girding on his dry clothes, and our Lord, according to his custom, spoke from the object before him. John xxi. 21. John xxi. 22. John xxi. 23. John xxi. 24. Peter seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what Galilee. shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till Then went this saying abroad among the bre- This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. Christ appears Acts i. 4. Acts i. 5. Lukexxiv. 44. SECTION XXXIII. to his Apostles at Jerusalem, and commissions them LUKE XXIV. 44-50. * ACTS i. 4, 5. together with them. And being assembled together with them, Or, eating commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, P which, saith he, ye have heard of me: p Luke xxiv. For John truly baptized with water; but yea Matt. iii. 11. shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, 39 This command was given for the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah, (ch. ii. 3.) "that out of Sion should go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." On the feast of Pentecost the publication of the law on Mount Sinai took place; and on its approaching anniversary a new dispensation was to be delivered to the world, the substance and substitute of the former figurative economy. The injunction of our Lord evidently shews an appointed analogy between the old and new dispensations. The time when this address was spoken by our Lord, cannot be exactly ascertained. There is reason, however, to believe that what is related in this and the following section, took place when the apostles were returned to Jerusalem, after they had seen Christ in Galilee, with this order, "to tarry in Jerusalem:" the instructions contained in the last chapter of St. Luke, from, the end of the 43d verse, are considered as more nearly connected, in point of time, than with the transactions which immediately precede them, as given by that Evangelist. The harmonists likewise refer to this period, (the latter part of the forty days,) and all that is related by St. Matthew, in his last chapter, from the 18th verse; and also what is mentioned by St. Mark in his concluding chapter, from the end of the 14th verse. 49. ૧ VOL. I. Rr Galilee. 1 John xv. 26. that all things must be fulfilled which were writ- Then opened he their understanding, that they Luke xxiv.45. might understand the Scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus Luke xxiv. 46. it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should Luke xxiv.47. be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. Luke xxiv.48. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father Luke xxiv.49. upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, SECTION XXXIV. Christ leads out his Apostles to Bethany, within sight of Jerusalem, gives them their final Commission, blesses them, and ascends up visibly into Heaven-from whence he shall come to judge the Living and the Dead. MATT. Xxviii. part of ver. 18, 19, 20. MARK XVI. 15, to And he led them out as far as to Bethany", Lukexxiv.50. 40 The arrangement of the contents of this section has been principally made on the plan proposed by Mr. Cranfield, which appears to me to be preferable to that of Dr. Townson. 41 Cranfield is of opinion, that from ver. 18. of Matt. xxviii.-from ver. 15 to 19 of Mark xvi.-and from ver. 50 to 52. in Luke xxi. must be referred to 2 the address of our Lord to his disciples, on the occasion of his ascension into heaven. The speech of our Lord in St. Matthew, he observes, begins thus: "All power is given to me in heaven and on earth." Some harmonists have made this clause to have been spoken on the mountain in Galilee, separating it from the remaining part of the speech; but, whenever it was uttered, the rest of the speech must have been spoken on the same occasion, by reason of the connective particle sv. Our Lord here declares all power in heaven and on earth to be given to him at his resurrection; in consequence of which power, he proceeds to tell his disciples, that he had the authority and right to commission them to convert, baptize, and instruct the world: "Go ye therefore," that is, in consequence of this power, or absolute authority. On the above clause our Lord founds his authority to commission his disciples: it was, therefore, Acts i. 6. When they therefore were come together, they Galileo. rather unskilful to destroy the force of the argument by dismembering the speech. Now, as we learn from St. Mark, that our Lord did not commission his disciples till he led them out to his ascension, so, as we are not aware of any reasons to the contrary, we think it best to assign this passage in St. Matthew to the time of the ascension. Indeed, the passage itself furnishes internal evidence that it was spoken on this occasion: it implies that the disciples were fully instructed, and that our Lord was now going to take his final leave of them. We say, final leave; for the words, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world," can have no other meaning than this, Though I am going now to ascend with my body into heaven, and therefore shall be no longer visibly upon earth; yet will I always be spiritually with you, and your successors, and direct the Church, even unto the end of the world." This seems to me a strong indication that the passage in question can have been spoken on no other occasion than that of the ascension. It is observable, that the Evangelists were more careful in giving us the words of our Lord, than in noting on what particular occasions they were spoken. The speech in St. Matthew, for instance, one might think, at first view, was given on the mountain in Galilee. He indeed says, that our Lord spoke then unto his disciples; but I cannot apprehend that he would commission them so soon, and give them to understand that he was then about to take his final leave of them, and ascend into heaven. For the ascension did not take place till what we may call long after the appearance on the Galilean mountain. St. Matthew, then, not thinking it material to notice what particular words our Lord spoke on the moutain in Galilee, only says, "That Jesus came up and spake unto his disciples." This was enough to shew us, that he of consequence removed the doubts of those of his disciples who had not beheld him till then after his resurrection. We may render, and point the 18th verse in the following manner : "Then Jesus came up, and spake unto them." We may understand this clause as the ending of the transaction on the mountain in Galilee, so far as we have it recorded. And as our translators have rendered, in innumerable instances, the participle as if it were a verb, so we may be allowed the same liberty here, especially when the true meaning of the Evangelist, and the just method of harmonizing, seem to require it: and render Aéywv, not literally, "Saying," but, “He saith." This therefore may begin a new paragraph, continued on till the end of his Gospel; which paragraph we are under the necessity of supposing was meant by St. Matthew to relate to the ascension. Had the Evangelist written rai Xέyat, the matter would not be capable of dispute. But, on the other hand, when we discover sufficient reasons to assure us that this paragraph refers to our Lord's last appearance to his disciples, and, consequently, that its place should not be regulated by the word Xéywv; and when we also take into account the manner of the Evangelists in several instances, how they, by reason of their close adherence to brevity, seem to bring into one view, as belonging to one and the same transaction, things which, on a minuter inspection, we find to relate to different transactions; the liberty may be allowed to the harmonist of departing from the usual translation Galilee. s Acts ii. 1. * Or, the Holy Ghost asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time And he said unto them, It is not for you to Acts i, 7. • But ye shall receive * power 12, after that the Acts i. 8. coming upon you. t Mat. xxviii. 19. t And he said unto them, Mark xvi. 15. saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and Mt. xxviii. 18. Go Go ye therefore, ye into all the world, and teach all nations, and preach the Gospel to every creature, Mt. xxviii. 19. Mark xvi. 15. baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of Mt. xxviii. 19. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever Mt. xxviii. 20. He that believeth and is baptized shall be Mark xvi. 16. And these signs shall follow them that believe: Mark xvi. 17. x Acts xvi. 16. x In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; Acts ii, 4. z Acts xxviii. 5 a They shall take up serpents; and if they drink Mark xvi. 18. a Acta xxviii. any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall re 7. cover; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end Mt.xxviii. 20. of the world. Amen. of the original reading, so far as he may judge it necessary. The passage in St. Luke contains internal evidence that it must be understood of no other than our Lord's last appearance to his disciples on Mount Olivet (a). 43 We must not understand divaμs, which we translate "power," in this verse, as we do ¿žovoía, which is translated by the same word in the preceding verse. In the former, the infinite authority of God over all times and seasons is particularly pointed out: in the other, the energy communicated by him to his disciples, through which they were enabled to work miracles, is particularly intended. (a) Cranfield's Observations on Townson, &c. sect. xii. p. 75, 76. |