The first account I wrote, Theophilus, concerned all that Jesus began both to do and to teach,
KJV
The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
Commentary
Commentary
The inspired historian begins his narrative of the Acts of the
Apostles,
I. With a reference to, and a brief recapitulation of, his gospel, or
history of the life of Christ, inscribing this, as he had done that, to
his friend Theophilus, ver. 1, 2 .
II. With a summary of the proofs of Christ's resurrection, his
conference with his disciples, and the instructions he gave them during
the forty days, of his continuance on earth, ver. 3-5 .
III. With a particular narrative of Christ's ascension into heaven, his
disciples' discourse with him before he ascended, and the angels'
discourse with them after he ascended, ver. 6-11 .
IV. With a general idea of the embryo of the Christian church, and its
state from Christ's ascension to the pouring out of the Spirit, ver. 12-14 .
V. With a particular account of the filling up of the vacancy that was
made in the sacred college by the death of Judas, by the electing of
Matthias in his room, ver. 15-26 .
1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that
Jesus began both to do and teach,
2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through
the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he
had chosen:
3 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 the kingdom of God:
4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them
that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the
promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized
with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
In these verses,
I. Theophilus is put in mind, and we in him, of St. Luke's gospel,
which it will be of use for us to cast an eye upon before we enter upon
the study of this book, that we may not only see how this begins where
that breaks off, but that, as in water face answers to face, so
do the acts of the apostles to the acts of their Master, the acts of
his grace.
1. His patron, to whom he dedicates this book (I should rather say his pupil, for he designs, in dedicating it to him, to instruct and
direct him, and not to crave his countenance or protection), is
Theophilus, v. 1 .
In the epistle dedicatory before his gospel, he had called him most
excellent Theophilus; here he calls him no more than O
Theophilus; not that he had lost his excellency, nor that it was
diminished and become less illustrious; but perhaps he had now quitted
his place, whatever it was, for the sake of which that title was given
him,--or he was now grown into years, and despised such titles of
respect more than he had done,--or Luke was grown more intimate with
him, and therefore could address him with the more freedom. It was
usual with the ancients, both Christian and heathen writers, thus to
inscribe their writings to some particular persons. But the directing
some of the books of the scripture so is an intimation to each of us to
receive them as if directed to us in particular, to us by name; for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our
learning.
2. His gospel is here called the former treatise which he had
made, which he had an eye to in writing this, intending this for a
continuation and confirmation of that, ton proton
logon -- the former word. What is written of the gospel is
the word as truly as what was spoken; nay, we now know no unwritten
word that we are to give credit to, but as it agrees with that which is
written. He made the former treatise, and now is divinely inspired to
make this, for Christ's scholars must go on towards perfection, Heb. vi. 1 .
And therefore their guides must help them on, must still teach the
people knowledge ( Eccl. xii. 9 ),
and not think that their former labours, though ever so good, will
excuse them from further labours; but they should rather be quickened
and encouraged by them, as St. Luke here, who, because he had laid the
foundation in a former treatise, will build upon it in this. Let not
this therefore drive out that; let not new sermons and new books make
us forget old ones, but put us in mind of them, and help us to improve
them.
3. The contents of his gospel were that, all that, which Jesus began
both to do and teach; and the same is the subject of the writings
of the other three evangelists. Observe,
(1.) Christ both did and taught. The doctrine he taught was confirmed
by the miraculous works he did, which proved him a teacher come from
God ( John iii. 2 );
and the duties he taught were copied out in the holy gracious works he
did, for he hath left us an example, and that such as proves him
a teacher come from God too, for by their fruits you shall
know them. Those are the best ministers that both do and teach,
whose lives are a constant sermon.
(2.) He began both to do and teach; he laid the foundation of
all that was to be taught and done in the Christian church. His
apostles were to carry on and continue what he began, and to do and
teach the same things. Christ set them in, and then left them to go on,
but sent his Spirit to empower them both to do and teach. It is a
comfort to those who are endeavouring to carry on the work of the
gospel that Christ himself began it. The great salvation at the
first began to be spoken by the Lord, Heb. ii. 3 .
(3.) The four evangelists, and Luke particularly, have handed down to
us all that Jesus began both to do and to teach; not all the
particulars--the world could not have contained them; but all the heads,
samples of all, so many, and in such variety, that by them we may judge
of the rest. We have the beginnings of his doctrine
( Matt. iv. 17 ),
and the beginnings of his miracles, John ii. 11 .
Luke had spoken, had treated, of all Christ's sayings and doings, had
given us a general idea of them, though he had not recorded each in
particular.
4. The period of the evangelical story is fixed to the day in which
he was taken up, v. 2 .
Then it was that he left this world, and his bodily presence was no
more in it. St. Mark's gospel concludes with the Lord's being
received up into heaven ( Mark xvi. 19 ),
and so does St. Luke's, Luke xxiv. 51 .
Christ continued doing and teaching to the last, till he was taken
up to the other work he had to do within the veil.
II. The truth of Christ's resurrection is maintained and evidenced, v. 3 .
That part of what was related in the former treatise was so
material that it was necessary to be upon all occasions repeated. The
great evidence of his resurrection was that he showed himself alive
to his apostles; being alive, he showed himself so, and he was
seen of them. They were honest men, and one may depend upon their
testimony; but the question is whether they were not imposed upon, as
many a well-meaning man is. No, they were not; for,
1. The proofs were infallible, tekmeria -- plain
indications, both that he was alive (he walked and talked
with them, he ate and drank with them) and that it was he himself,
and not another; for he showed them again and again the marks of the wounds in his hands, and feet, and side, which was the
utmost proof the thing was capable of or required.
2. They were many, and often repeated: He was seen by them forty
days, not constantly residing with them, but frequently appearing
to them, and bringing them by degrees to be fully satisfied concerning
it, so that all their sorrow for his departure was done away by it.
Christ's staying upon earth so long after he had entered upon his state
of exaltation and glory, to confirm the faith of his disciples and
comfort their hearts, was such an instance of condescension and
compassion to believers as may fully assure us that we have a high
priest that is touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
III. A general hint given of the instructions he furnished his
disciples with, now that he was about to leave them, and they, since he breathed on them and opened their understandings, were
better able to receive them.
1. He instructed them concerning the work they were to do: He gave
commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen. Note, Christ's
choice is always attended with his charge. Those whom he elected into
the apostleship expected he should give them preferments, instead of
which he gave them commandments. When he took his journey,
and gave authority to his servants, and to every one his work ( Mark xiii. 34 ), he gave them commandments through the Holy Ghost, which he was
himself filled with as Mediator, and which he had breathed into them.
In giving them the Holy Ghost, he gave them his commandments; for the
Comforter will be a commander; and his office was to bring to their
remembrance what Christ had said. He charged those that were apostles
by the Holy Ghost; so the words are placed. It was their receiving
the Holy Ghost that sealed their commission, John xx. 22 .
He was not taken up till after he had given them their charge, and so
finished his work.
2. He instructed them concerning the doctrine they were to preach: He spoke to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. He had given them a general idea of that kingdom, and the certain time
it should be set up in the world (in his parable, Mark xiii .),
but here he instructed them more in the nature of it, as a kingdom of
grace in this world and of glory in the other, and opened to them that
covenant which is the great charter by which it is incorporated. Now
this was intended,
(1.) To prepare them to receive the Holy Ghost, and to go through that
which they were designed for. He tells them in secret what they must
tell the world; and they shall find that the Spirit of truth, when he
comes, will say the same.
(2.) To be one of the proofs of Christ's resurrection; so it comes in
here; the disciples, to whom he showed himself alive, knew that
it was he, not only by what he showed them, but by what he said to
them. None but he could speak thus clearly, thus fully, of the
things pertaining to the kingdom of God. He did not entertain them
with discourses of politics or the kingdoms of men, of philosophy or
the kingdom of nature, but pure divinity and the kingdom of grace, the
things which most nearly concerned them, and those to whom they were
sent.
IV. A particular assurance given them that they should now shortly
receive the Holy Ghost, with orders given them to expect it
( v. 4, 5 ),
he being assembled together with them, probably in the interview
at the mountain in Galilee which he had appointed before his death; for
there is mention of their coming together again ( v. 6 ),
to attend his ascension. Though he had now ordered them to Galilee, yet
they must not think to continue there; no, they must return to
Jerusalem, and not depart thence. Observe,
1. The command he gives them to wait. This was to raise their
expectations of something great; and something very great they had
reason to expect from their exalted Redeemer.
(1.) They must wait till the time appointed, which is now not many
days hence. Those that by faith hope promised mercies will come
must with patience wait till they do come, according to the time,
the set time. And when the time draws nigh, as now it did,
we must, as Daniel, look earnestly for it, Dan. ix. 3 .
(2.) They must wait in the place appointed, in Jerusalem, for
there the Spirit must be first poured out, because Christ was to be as king upon the holy hill of Zion; and because the word of the
Lord must go forth from Jerusalem; this must be the mother-church.
There Christ was put to shame, and therefore there he will have this
honour done him, and this favour is done to Jerusalem to teach us to
forgive our enemies and persecutors. The apostles were more exposed to
danger at Jerusalem than they would have been in Galilee; but we may
cheerfully trust God with our safety, when we keep in the way of our
duty. The apostles were now to put on a public character, and therefore
must venture in a public station. Jerusalem was the fittest candlestick
for those lights to be set up in.
2. The assurance he gives them that they shall not wait in vain.
(1.) The blessing designed them shall come, and they shall find it was
worth waiting for; You shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost; that is,
[1.] "The Holy Ghost shall be poured out upon you more plentifully than
ever." They had already been breathed upon with the Holy Ghost
( John xx. 22 ),
and they had found the benefit of it; but now they shall have larger
measures of his gifts, graces, and comforts, and be baptized with
them, in which there seems to be an allusion to those Old-Testament
promises of the pouring out of the Spirit, Joel ii. 28; Isa. xliv. 3; xxxii. 15 .
[2.] "You shall be cleansed and purified by the Holy Ghost," as the
priests were baptized and washed with water, when they were consecrated
to the sacred function: "They had the sign; you shall have the thing
signified. You shall be sanctified by the truth, as the Spirit shall
lead you more and more into it, and have your consciences purged by the
witness of the Spirit, that you may serve the living God in the
apostleship."
[3.] "You shall hereby be more effectually than ever engaged to your
Master, and to his guidance, as Israel was baptized unto Moses in
the cloud, and in the sea; you shall be tied so fast to Christ that
you shall never, for fear of any sufferings, forsake him again, as once
you did."
(3.) Now this gift of the Holy Ghost thus promised, thus prophesied of,
thus waited for, is that which we find the apostles received in the
next chapter, for in that this promise had its full accomplishment;
this was it that should come, and we look for no other; for it is here promised to be given not many days hence. He does
not tell them how many, because they must keep every day in a frame fit
to receive it. Other scriptures speak of the gift of the Holy
Ghost to ordinary believers; this speaks of that particular power
which, by the Holy Ghost, the first preachers of the gospel, and
planters of the church, were endued with, enabling them infallibly to
relate to that age, and record to posterity, the doctrine of Christ,
and the proofs of it; so that by virtue of this promise, and the
performance of it, we receive the New Testament as of divine
inspiration, and venture our souls upon it.
6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him,
saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to
Israel?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or
the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come
upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem,
and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of
the earth.
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he
was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went
up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up
into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into
heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into
heaven.
In Jerusalem Christ, by his angel, had appointed his disciples to meet
him in Galilee; there he appointed them to meet him in Jerusalem again,
such a day. Thus he would try their obedience, and it was found ready
and cheerful; they came together, as he appointed them, to be the witnesses of his ascension, of which we have here an
account. Observe,
I. The question they asked him at this interview. They came
together to him, as those that had consulted one another about it,
and concurred in the question nemine contradicente--unanimously; they came in a body, and put it to him as the sense of the house, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to
Israel? Two ways this may be taken:--
1. "Surely thou wilt not at all restore it to the present rulers of
Israel, the chief priests and the elders, that put thee to death, and,
to compass that design, tamely gave up the kingdom to Cæsar, and owned
themselves his subjects. What! Shall those that hate and persecute thee
and us be trusted with power? This be far from thee. " Or
rather,
2. "Surely thou wilt now restore it to the Jewish nation, as far as it
will submit to thee as their king." Now two things were amiss in this
question:--
(1.) Their expectation of the thing itself. They thought Christ would restore the kingdom to Israel, that is, that he would make the
nation of the Jews as great and considerable among the nations as it
was in the days of David and Solomon, of Asa and Jehoshaphat; that, as Shiloh, he would restore the sceptre to Judah, and the
lawgiver; whereas Christ came to set up his own kingdom, and that a
kingdom of heaven, not to restore the kingdom to Israel, an
earthly kingdom. See here,
[1.] How apt even good men are to place the happiness of the church too
much in external pomp and power; as if Israel could not be glorious
unless the kingdom were restored to it, nor Christ's disciples honoured
unless they were peers of the realm; whereas we are told to expect the
cross in this world, and to wait for the kingdom in the other world.
[2.] How apt we are to retain what we have imbibed, and how hard it is
to get over the prejudices of education. The disciples, having sucked
in this notion with their milk that the Messiah was to be a temporal
prince, were long before they could be brought to have any idea of his
kingdom as spiritual.
[3.] How naturally we are biassed in favour of our own people. They
thought God would have no kingdom in the world unless it were restored to Israel; whereas the kingdoms of this world were to
become his, in whom he would be glorified, whether Israel should sink
or swim.
[4.] How apt we are to misunderstand scripture--to understand that
literally which is spoken figuratively, and to expound scripture by our
schemes, whereas we ought to form our schemes by the scriptures. But, when the Spirit shall be poured out from on high, our mistakes
will be rectified, as the apostles' soon after were.
(2.) Their enquiry concerning the time of it: " Lord, wilt thou do it at this time? Now that thou hast called us together is it
for this purpose, that proper measures may be concerted for the
restoring of the kingdom to Israel? Surely there cannot be a more
favourable juncture than this." Now herein they missed their mark,
[1.] That they were inquisitive into that which their Master had never
directed nor encouraged them to enquire into.
[2.] That they were impatient for the setting up of that kingdom in
which they promised themselves so great a share, and would anticipate
the divine counsels. Christ had told them that they should sit on
thrones ( Luke xxii. 30 ),
and now nothing will serve them but they must be in the throne
immediately, and cannot stay the time; whereas he that believeth
doth not make haste, but is satisfied that God's time is the best
time.
II. The check which Christ gave to this question, like that which he
had a little before given to Peter's enquiry concerning John, What
is that to thee? v. 7 , It is not for you to know the times and seasons. He does not
contradict their expectation that the kingdom would be restored to
Israel, because that mistake would soon be rectified by the pouring out
of the Spirit, after which they never had any more thoughts of the
temporal kingdom; and also because there is a sense of the expectation
which is true, the setting up of the gospel kingdom in the world; and
their mistake of the promise shall not make it of no effect; but he
checks their enquiry after the time.
1. The knowledge of this is not allowed to them: It is not for you
to know, and therefore it is not for you to ask.
(1.) Christ is now parting from them, and parts in love; and yet he
gives them this rebuke, which is intended for a caution to his church
in all ages, to take heed of splitting upon the rock which was fatal to
our first parents--an inordinate desire of forbidden knowledge, and
intruding into things which we have not seen because God has not shown
them. Nescire velle quæ magister maximus docere non vult,
erudita inscitia est--It is folly to covet to be wise above what is
written, and wisdom to be content to be no wiser. (2.) Christ had given his disciples a great deal of knowledge above
others ( to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
God ), and had promised them his Spirit, to teach them more; now,
lest they should be puffed up with the abundance of the revelations, he
here lets them understand that there were some things which it was not
for them to know. We shall see how little reason we have to be proud of
our knowledge when we consider how many things we are ignorant of.
(3.) Christ had given his disciples instructions sufficient for the
discharge of their duty, both before his death and since his
resurrection, and in this knowledge he will have them to be satisfied;
for it is enough for a Christian, in whom vain curiosity is a corrupt
humour, to be mortified, and not gratified.
(4.) Christ had himself told his disciples the things pertaining to
the kingdom of God, and had promised that the Spirit should show
them things to come concerning it, John xvi. 13 .
He had likewise given them signs of the times, which it was
their duty to observe, and a sin to overlook, Matt. xxiv. 33; xvi. 3 .
But they must not expect nor desire to know either all the particulars
of future events or the exact times of them. It is good for us to be
kept in the dark, and left at uncertainty concerning the times and
moments (as Dr. Hammond reads it) of future events concerning the
church, as well as concerning ourselves,--concerning all the periods of
time and the final period of it, as well as concerning the period of
our own time.
As to the times and seasons of the year, we know, in general, there
will be summer and winter counterchanged, but we know not particularly
which day will be fair or which foul, either in summer or in winter;
so, as to our affairs in this world, when it is a summer-time of
prosperity, that we may not be secure, we are told there will come a
wintertime of trouble; and in that winter, that we may not despond and
despair, we are assured that summer will return; but what this or that
particular day will bring forth we cannot tell, but must
accommodate ourselves to it, whatever it is, and make the best of
it.
2. The knowledge of it is reserved to God as his prerogative; it is
what the Father hath put in his own power; it is hid with him.
None besides can reveal the times and seasons to come. Known unto
God are all his works, but not to us, ch. xv. 18 .
It is in his power, and in his only, to declare the end from the
beginning; and by this he proves himself to be God, Isa. xlvi. 10 .
"And though he did think fit sometimes to let the Old-Testament
prophets know the times and the seasons (as of the Israelites' bondage
in Egypt four hundred years, and in Babylon seventy years), yet he has
not fit to let you know the times and seasons, no not just how long it
shall be before Jerusalem be destroyed, though you be so well assured
of the thing itself. He hath not said that he will not give you to know
something more than you do of the times and seasons;" he did so
afterwards to his servant John; "but he has put it in his own
power to do it or not, as he thinks fit;" and what is in that
New-Testament prophecy discovered concerning the times and the seasons
is so dark, and hard to be understood, that, when we come to apply it,
it concerns us to remember this work, that it is not for us to be
positive in determining the times and the seasons. Buxtorf mentions a
saying of the rabbin concerning the coming of the Messiah: Rumpatur
spiritus eorum qui supputant tempora--Perish the men who calculate the
time.
III. He appoints them their work, and with authority assures them of an
ability to go on with it, and of success in it. " It is not for you
to know the times and the seasons --this would do you no good; but
know this
( v. 8 )
that you shall receive a spiritual power, by the descent of
the Holy Ghost upon you, and shall not receive it in vain, for you shall be witnesses unto me and my glory; and your testimony
shall not be in vain, for it shall be received here in Jerusalem, in
the country about, and all the world over," v. 8 .
If Christ make us serviceable to his honour in our own day and
generation, let this be enough for us, and let not us perplex ourselves
about times and seasons to come. Christ here tells them,
1. That their work should be honourable and glorious: You shall be
witnesses unto me. (1.) They shall proclaim him king, and publish those truths to the
world by which his kingdom should be set up, and he would rule. They
must openly and solemnly preach his gospel to the world.
(2.) They shall prove this, shall confirm their testimony, not as
witnesses do, with an oath, but with the divine seal of miracles and
supernatural gifts: You shall be martyrs to me, or my
martyrs, as some copies read it; for they attested the truth of the
gospel with their sufferings, even unto death.
2. That their power for this work should be sufficient. They had not
strength of their own for it, nor wisdom nor courage enough; they were
naturally of the weak and foolish things of the world; they
durst not appear as witnesses for Christ upon his trial, neither as yet
were they able. " But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost
coming upon you " (so it may be read), "shall be animated and
actuated by a better spirit than your own; you shall have power to
preach the gospel, and to prove it out of the scriptures of the Old
Testament" (which, when they were filled with the Holy Ghost, they did to admiration, ch. xviii. 28 ),
"and to confirm it both by miracles and by sufferings." Note, Christ's
witnesses shall receive power for that work to which he calls them;
those whom he employs in his service he will qualify for it, and will
bear them out in it.
3. That their influence should be great and very extensive: " You
shall be witnesses for Christ, and shall carry his cause,"
(1.) " In Jerusalem; there you must begin, and many there will
receive your testimony; and those that do not will be left
inexcusable."
(2.) "Your light shall thence shine throughout all Judea, where before
you have laboured in vain."
(3.) "Thence you shall proceed to Samaria, though at your first
mission you were forbidden to preach in any of the cities of the
Samaritans. "
(4.) "Your usefulness shall reach to the uttermost part of the
earth, and you shall be blessings to the whole world."
IV. Having left these instructions with them, he leaves them
( v. 9 ): When he had spoken these things, and had said all that he had to
say, he blessed them (so we were told, Luke xxiv. 50 );
and while they beheld him, and had their eye fixed upon him,
receiving his blessing, he was gradually taken up, and a
cloud received him out of their sight. We have here Christ's
ascending on high; not fetched away, as Elijah was, with a chariot
of fire and horses of fire, but rising to heaven, as he rose from
the grave, purely by his own power, his body being now, as the bodies
of the saints will be at the resurrection, a spiritual body, and raised
in power and incorruption. Observe,
1. He began his ascension in the sight of his disciples, even while
they beheld. They did not see him come up out of the grave, because
they might see him after he had risen, which would be satisfaction
enough; but they saw him go up towards heaven, and had actually their
eye upon him with so much care and earnestness of mind that they could
not be deceived. It is probable that he did not fly swiftly up, but
moved upwards gently, for the further satisfaction of his disciples.
2. He vanished out of their sight, in a cloud, either a thick
cloud, for God said that he would dwell in the thick darkness; or a bright cloud, to signify the splendour of his glorious body. It
was a bright cloud that overshadowed him in his transfiguration, and
most probably this was so, Matt. xvii. 5 .
This cloud received him, it is probable, when he had gone about
as far from the earth as the clouds generally are; yet it was not such
a spreading cloud as we commonly see, but such as just served to
enclose him. Now he made the clouds his chariot, Ps. civ. 3 .
God had often come down in a cloud; now he went up in one. Dr. Hammond
thinks that the clouds receiving him here were the angels receiving
him; for the appearance of angels is ordinarily described by a cloud,
comparing Exod. xxv. 22 with Lev. xvi. 2 .
By the clouds there is a sort of communication kept up between the
upper and lower world; in them the vapours are sent up from the earth,
and the dews sent down from heaven. Fitly therefore does he ascend in
a cloud who is the Mediator between God and man, by whom God's
mercies come down upon us and our prayers come up to him. This was the
last that was seen of him. The eyes of a great many witnesses followed
him into the cloud; and, if we would know what became of him then, we
may find
( Dan. vii. 13 ), That one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and
came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him in the clouds as
he came near before him.
V. The disciples, when he had gone out of their sight, yet still
continued looking up stedfastly to heaven ( v. 10 ),
and this longer than it was fit they should; and why so?
1. Perhaps they hoped that Christ would presently come back to them
again, to restore the kingdom to Israel, and were loth to believe they
should now part with him for good and all; so much did they still dote
upon his bodily presence, though he had told them that it was
expedient for them that he should go away. or, they looked after
him, as doubting whether he might not be dropped, as the sons of the
prophets thought concerning Elijah
( 2 Kings ii. 16 ),
and so they might have him again.
2. Perhaps they expected to see some change in the visible heavens now
upon Christ's ascension, that either the sun should be ashamed or
the moon confounded ( Isa. xxiv. 23 ),
as being out-shone by his lustre; or, rather, that they should show
some sign of joy and triumph; or perhaps they promised themselves a
sight of the glory of the invisible heavens, upon their opening to
receive him. Christ had told them that hereafter they should see
heaven opened ( John i. 51 ),
and why should not they expect it now?
VI. Two angels appeared to them, and delivered them a seasonable
message from God. There was a world of angels ready to receive our
Redeemer, now that he made his public entry into the Jerusalem
above: we may suppose these two loth to be absent then; yet, to
show how much Christ had at heart the concerns of his church on earth,
he sent back to his disciples two of those that came to meet him, who
appear as two men in white apparel, bright and glittering; for
they know, according to the duty of their place, that they are really
serving Christ when they are ministering to his servants on earth. Now
we are told what the angels said to them,
1. To check their curiosity: You men of Galilee, why stand you
gazing up into heaven? He calls them men of Galilee, to put
them in mind of the rock out of which they were hewn. Christ had
put a great honour upon them, in making them his ambassadors; but they
must remember that they are men, earthen vessels, and men of Galilee,
illiterate men, looked upon with disdain. Now, say they, " Why stand
you here, like Galileans, rude and unpolished men, gazing up
into heaven? What would you see? You have seen all that you were
called together to see, and why do you look any further? Why stand
you gazing, as men frightened and perplexed, as men astonished and
at their wits' end?" Christ's disciples should never stand at a gaze,
because they have a sure rule to go by, and a sure foundation to build
upon.
2. To confirm their faith concerning Christ's second coming. Their
Master had often told them of this, and the angels are sent at this
time seasonably to put them in mind of it: " This same Jesus, who is
taken up from you into heaven, and whom you are looking thus long
after, wishing you had him with you again, is not gone for ever; for
there is a day appointed in which he will come in like manner
thence, as you have seen him go thither, and you must not expect
him back till that appointed day."
(1.) " This same Jesus shall come again in his own person,
clothed with a glorious body; this same Jesus, who came once to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, will appear a second
time without sin ( Heb. ix. 26, 28 ),
who came once in disgrace to be judged, will come again in glory to
judge. The same Jesus who has given you your charge will come
again to call you to an account how you have performed your trust; he, and not another, " Job xix. 27 .
(2.) "He shall come in like manner. He is gone away in a cloud, and attended with angels; and, behold, he comes
in the clouds, and with him an innumerable company of angels! He is gone up with a shout and with the sound of a trumpet ( Ps. xlvii. 5 ),
and he will descend from heaven with a shout and with the trump of
God, 1 Thess. iv. 16 .
You have now lost the sight of him in the clouds and in the air; and whither he is gone you cannot follow him now, but shall then,
when you shall be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the
air. " When we stand gazing and trifling, the consideration of our
Master's second coming should quicken and awaken us; and, when we stand
gazing and trembling, the consideration of it should comfort and
encourage us.
12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called
Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.
13 And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room,
where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip,
and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of
Alphæus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.
14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and
supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and
with his brethren.
We are here told,
I. Whence Christ ascended-- from the mount of Olives ( v. 12 ),
from that part of it where the town of Bethany stood, Luke xxiv. 50 .
There he began his sufferings
( Luke xxii. 39 ),
and therefore there he rolled away the reproach of them by his glorious
ascension, and thus showed that his passion and his ascension had the
same reference and tendency. Thus would he enter upon his kingdom in
the sight of Jerusalem, and of those undutiful ungrateful citizens of
his that would not have him to reign over them. It was prophesied of
him
( Zech. xiv. 4 ), That his feet should stand upon the mount of Olives, which is before
Jerusalem, should stand last there; and presently it follows, The mount of Olives shall cleave in two. From the mount of Olives
he ascended who is the good olive-tree, whence we receive the unction, Zech. iv. 12; Rom. xi. 24 .
This mount is here said to be near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's
journey from it, that is, a little way; no further than devout
people used to walk out on a sabbath evening, after the public worship
was over, for meditation. Some reckon it a thousand paces, others two
thousand cubits; some seven furlongs, others eight. Bethany indeed was fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem ( John xi. 18 ),
but that part of the mount of Olives which was next to Jerusalem,
whence Christ began to ride in triumph, was but seven or eight furlongs
off. The Chaldee paraphrast on Ruth 1 says, We are commanded to keep
the sabbaths and the holy days, so as not to go above two thousand
cubits, which they build upon Josh. iii. 4 ,
where, in their march through Jordan, the space between them and the
ark was to be two thousand cubits. God had not then thus limited
them, but they limited themselves; and thus far it is a rule to us, not
to journey on the sabbath any more than in order to the sabbath work;
and as far as is necessary to this we are not only allowed, but
enjoined, 2 Kings iv. 23 .
II. Whither the disciples returned: They came to Jerusalem, according
to their Master's appointment, though there they were in the midst of
enemies; but it should seem that though immediately after Christ's
resurrection they were watched, and were in fear of the Jews, yet after it was known that they were gone into Galilee no notice was
taken of their return to Jerusalem, nor any further search made for
them. God can find out hiding-places for his people in the midst of
their enemies, and so influence Saul that he shall not seek for David
any more. At Jerusalem they went up into an upper room, and there
abode; not that they all lodged and dieted together in one room,
but there they assembled every day, and spent time together in
religious exercises, in expectation of the descent of the Spirit.
Divers conjectures the learned have about this upper room. Some think
it was one of the upper rooms in the temple; but it cannot be thought
that the chief priests, who had the letting of these rooms, would
suffer Christ's disciples constantly to reside in any of them. It was
said indeed, by the same historian, that they were continually in
the temple ( Luke xxiv. 53 ),
but that was in the courts of the temple, at the hours of
prayer, where they could not be hindered from attending; but, it
should seem, this upper room was in a private house. Mr. Gregory, of
Oxford, is of this opinion, and quotes a Syriac scholiast upon this
place, who says that it was the same upper room in which they had
eaten the passover; and though that was called anogeon , this hyperoon , both may signify
the same. "Whether," says he, "it was in the house of St. John the
evangelist, as Euodius delivered, or that of Mary the mother of John
Mark, as others have collected, cannot be certain." Notes, ch. xiii .
III. Who the disciples were, that kept together. The eleven apostles
are here named
( v. 13 ),
so is Mary the mother of our Lord
( v. 14 ),
and it is the last time that ever any mention is made of her in the
scriptures. There were others that are here said to be the brethren of
our Lord, his kinsmen according to the flesh; and, to make up the hundred and twenty spoken of
( v. 15 ),
we may suppose that all or most of the seventy disciples were
with them, that were associates with the apostles, and were employed as
evangelists.
IV. How they spent their time: They all continued with one accord in
prayer and supplication. Observe,
1. They prayed, and made supplication. All God's people are
praying people, and give themselves to prayer. It was now a time
of trouble and danger with the disciples of Christ; they were as sheep
in the midst of wolves; and, Is any afflicted? Let him pray; this will silence cares and fears. They had new work before them, great
work, and, before they entered upon it, they were instant in prayer
to God for his presence with them in it. Before they were first
sent forth Christ spent time in prayer for them, and now they spent
time in prayer for themselves. They were waiting for the descent of the
Spirit upon them, and therefore abounded thus in prayer. The Spirit
descended upon our Saviour when he was praying, Luke iii. 21 .
Those are in the best frame to receive spiritual blessings that are in
a praying frame. Christ had promised now shortly to send the Holy
Ghost; now this promise was not to supersede prayer, but to quicken and
encourage it. God will be enquired of for promised mercies, and the
nearer the performance seems to be the more earnest we should be in
prayer for it.
2. They continued in prayer, spent much time in it, more than
ordinary, prayed frequently, and were long in prayer. They never
missed an hour of prayer; they resolved to persevere herein till the
Holy Ghost came, according to the promise, to pray, and not to
faint. It is said
( Luke xxiv. 53 ), They were praising and blessing God; here, They continued in
prayer and supplication; for as praise for the promise is a decent
way of begging for the performance, and praise for former mercy of
begging further mercy, so, in seeking to God, we give him the glory of
the mercy and grace which we have found in him.
3. They did this with one accord. This intimates that they were
together in holy love, and that there was no quarrel nor discord among
them; and those who so keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace are best prepared to receive the comforts of the Holy
Ghost. It also intimates their worthy concurrence in the
supplications that were made; though but one spoke, they all prayed,
and if, when two agree to ask, it shall be done for them, much
more when many agree in the same petition. See Matt. xviii. 19 .
15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the
disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an
hundred and twenty,)
16 Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been
fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake
before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.
17 For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this
ministry.
18 Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity;
and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his
bowels gushed out.
19 And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem;
insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue,
Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.
20 For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation
be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishopric let
another take.
21 Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the
time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
22 Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that
he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness
with us of his resurrection.
23 And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was
surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
24 And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the
hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen,
25 That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from
which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own
place.
26 And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon
Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
The sin of Judas was not only his shame and ruin, but it made a vacancy
in the college of the apostles. They were ordained twelve, with an eye to the twelve tribes of Israel, descended from the twelve
patriarchs; they were the twelve stars that make up the church's
crown
( Rev. xii. 1 ),
and for them twelve thrones were designated, Matt. xix. 28 .
Now being twelve when they were learners, if they were but eleven when
they were to be teachers, it would occasion every one to enquire what
had become of the twelfth, and so revive the remembrance of the scandal
of their society; and therefore care was taken, before the descent of
the Spirit, to fill up the vacancy, of the doing of which we now have
an account, our Lord Jesus, probably, having given directions about it,
among other things which he spoke pertaining to the kingdom of
God. Observe,
I. The persons concerned in this affair.
1. The house consisted of about a hundred and twenty. This was the number of the names, that is, the persons; some think the
men only, distinguished from the women. Dr. Lightfoot reckons that the eleven apostles, the seventy disciples, and about
thirty-nine more, all of Christ's own kindred, country, and concourse,
made up this one hundred and twenty, and that these were a sort
of synod, or congregation of ministers, a standing presbytery
( ch. iv. 23 ), to whom none of the rest durst join themselves ( ch. v. 13 ),
and that they continued together till the persecution at Stephen's
death dispersed them all but the apostles
( ch. viii. 1 );
but he thinks that besides these there were many hundreds in Jerusalem,
if not thousands, at this time, that believed; and we have indeed read
of many that believed on him there, but durst not confess him, and therefore I cannot think, as he does, that they were now formed
into distinct congregations, for the preaching of the word and other
acts of worship; nor that there was any thing of this till after the
pouring out of the Spirit, and the conversions recorded in the
following chapter. Here was the beginning of the Christian church: this
hundred and twenty was the grain of mustard-seed that grew into a tree,
the leaven that leavened the whole lump.
2. The speaker was Peter, who had been, and still was, the most forward
man; and therefore notice is taken of his forwardness and zeal, to show
that he had perfectly recovered the ground he lost by his denying his
Master, and, Peter being designed to be the apostle of the
circumcision, while the sacred story stays among the Jews, he is still
brought in, as afterwards, when it comes to speak of the Gentiles, it
keeps to the story of Paul.
II. The proposal which Peter made for the choice of another apostle. He stood up in the midst of the disciples, v. 15 .
He did not sit down, as one that gave laws, or had any supremacy over
the rest, but stood up, as one that had only a motion to make, in which
he paid a deference to his brethren, standing up when he spoke to them.
Now in his speech we may observe,
1. The account he gives of the vacancy made by the death of Judas, in
which he is very particular, and, as became one that Christ had
breathed upon, takes notice of the fulfilling of the scriptures in it.
Here is,
(1.) The power to which Judas had been advanced
( v. 17 ): He was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry which we are invested with. Note, Many are numbered with the saints in
this world that will not be found among them in the day of separation
between the precious and the vile. What will it avail us to be added to
the number of Christians, if we partake not of the spirit and nature of
Christians? Judas's having obtained part of this ministry was but an
aggravation of his sin and ruin, as it will be of theirs who prophesied in Christ's name, and yet were workers of
iniquity.
(2.) The sin of Judas, notwithstanding his advancement to this honour.
He was guide to those that took Jesus, not only informed
Christ's persecutors where they might find him (which they might have
done effectually though he had kept out of sight), but he had the
impudence to appear openly at the head of the party that seized him. He
went before them to the place, and, as if he had been proud of the
honour, gave the word of command: That same is he, hold him
fast. Note, Ringleaders in sin are the worst of sinners, especially
if those that by their office should have been guides to the friends of
Christ are guides to his enemies.
(3.) The ruin of Judas by this sin. Perceiving the chief priests to
seek the life of Christ and his disciples, he thought to save his by
going over to them, and not only so, but to get an estate under them,
of which his wages for his service, he hoped, would be but an earnest;
but see what came of it.
[1.] He lost his money shamefully enough
( v. 18 ): He purchased a field with the thirty pieces of silver, which were the reward of his iniquity. He did not purchase the
field, but the wages of his unrighteousness did, and it is very
elegantly expressed thus, in derision of his projects to enrich himself
by this bargain. He thought to have purchased a field for himself, as
Gehazi did with what he got from Naaman by a lie (see 2 Kings v. 26 ),
but it proved the purchase of a field to bury strangers in; and what
was he or any of his the better for this? It was to him an unrighteous
mammon, it deceived him; and the reward of his iniquity was the stumbling-block of his iniquity. [2.] He lost his life m ore shamefully. We were told
( Matt. xxvii. 5 )
that he went away in despair, and was suffocated (so the word
signifies there, and no more); here it is added (as latter historians
add to those who went before) that, being strangled, or choked with
grief and horror, he fell headlong, fell on his face (so
Dr. Hammond), and partly with the swelling of his own breast, and
partly with the violence of the fall, he burst asunder in the
midst, so that all his bowels tumbled out. If, when the
devil was cast out of a child, he tore him, threw him down, and rent him, and almost killed him (as we find Mark ix. 26; Luke ix. 42 ),
no wonder if, when he had full possession of Judas, he threw him
headlong, and burst him. The suffocation of him, which Matthew relates,
would make him swell till he burst, which Peter relates. He burst
asunder with a great noise (so Dr. Edwards), which was heard by
the neighbours, and so, as it follows, it came to be known ( v. 19 ): His bowels gushed out; Luke writes like a physician,
understanding all the entrails of the middle and lower ventricle.
Bowelling is part of the punishment of traitors. Justly do those
bowels gush out that were shut up against the Lord Jesus. And perhaps
Christ had an eye to the fate of Judas, when he said of the wicked
servant that he would cut him in sunder, Matt. xxiv. 51 .
(4.) The public notice that was taken of this: It was known to all
the dwellers in Jerusalem. It was, as it were, put into the
newspapers, and was all the talk of the town, as a remarkable judgment
of God upon him that betrayed his Master, v. 19 .
It was not only discoursed of among the disciples, but it was in every
body's mouth, and nobody disputed the truth of the fact. It was
known, that is, it was known to be true, incontestably so. Now one
would think this should have awakened those to repentance that had had
any hand in the death of Christ when they saw him that had the first
hand thus made an example. But their hearts were hardened, and, as to
those of them that were to be softened, it must be done by the word,
and the Spirit working with it. Here is one proof of the notoriety of
the thing mentioned, that the field which was purchased with Judas's
money was called Aceldama--the field of blood, because it was
bought with the price of blood, which perpetuated the infamy not
only of him that sold that innocent precious blood, but of those that
bought it too. Look how they will answer it, when God shall make
inquisition for blood.
(5.) The fulfilling of the scriptures in this, which had spoken so
plainly of it, that it must needs be fulfilled, v. 16 .
Let none be surprised nor stumble at it, that this should be the exit
of one of the twelve, for David had not only foretold his sin (which
Christ had taken notice of, John xiii. 18, from Ps. xli. 9 ,
He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up the heel against
me ), but had also foretold,
[1.] His punishment
( Ps. lxix. 25 ): Let his habitation be desolate. This Psalm refers to the
Messiah. Mention is made but two or three verses before of their giving him gall and vinegar, and therefore the following
predictions of the destruction of David's enemies must be applied to
the enemies of Christ, and particularly to Judas. Perhaps he had some
habitation of his own at Jerusalem, which, upon this, every body was
afraid to live in, and so it became desolate. This prediction
signifies the same with that of Bildad concerning the wicked man, that
his confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and shall
bring him to the king of terrors: it shall dwell in his tabernacle,
because it is none of his; brimstone shall be scattered upon his
habitation, Job xviii. 14, 15 .
[2.] The substitution of another in his room. His bishopric, or his office (for so the word signifies in general) shall
another take, which is quoted from Ps. cix. 8 .
With this quotation Peter very aptly introduces the following proposal.
Note, We are not to think the worse of any office that God has
instituted (whether magistracy or ministry) either for the wickedness
of any that are in that office or for the ignominious punishment of
that wickedness; nor will God suffer any purpose of his to be
frustrated, any commission of his to be vacated, or any work of his to
be undone, for the miscarriages of those that are entrusted therewith. The unbelief of man shall not make the promise of God of no
effect. Judas is hanged, but his bishopric is not lost. It is said
of his habitation, that no man shall dwell therein, there
he shall have no heir; but it is not said so of his bishopric, there he
shall not want a successor. It is with the officers of the church as
with the members of it, if the natural branches be broken
off, others shall be grafted in, Rom. xi. 17 .
Christ's cause shall never be lost for want of witnesses.
2. The motion he makes for the choice of another apostle, v. 21, 22 .
Here observe,
(1.) How the person must be qualified that must fill the vacancy. It
must be one of these men, these seventy disciples, that have
companied with us, that have constantly attended us, all the
time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, preaching and
working miracles for three years and a half, beginning from the
baptism of John, from which the gospel of Christ commenced, unto
that same day that he was taken up from us. Those that have been
diligent, faithful, and constant, in the discharge of their duty in a
lower station, are fittest to be preferred to a higher; those that have
been faithful in a little shall be entrusted with more. And none should
be employed as ministers of Christ, preachers of his gospel, and rulers
in his church, but those that are well acquainted with his doctrine and
doings, from first to last. None shall be an apostle but one that has
companied with the apostles, and that continually; not that has visited
them now and then, but been intimately conversant with them.
(2.) To what work he is called that must fill up the vacancy: He must
be a witness with us of his resurrection. By this it appears
that others of the disciples were with the eleven when Christ appeared
to them, else they could not have been witnesses with them, as
competent witnesses as they, of his resurrection. The great thing which
the apostles were to attest to the world was Christ's resurrection, for
this was the great proof of his being the Messiah, and the foundation
of our hope in him. See what the apostles were ordained to, not to a
secular dignity and dominion, but to preach Christ, and the power of
his resurrection.
III. The nomination of the person that was to succeed Judas in his
office as an apostle.
1. Two, who were known to have been Christ's constant attendants, and
men of great integrity, were set up as candidates for the place
( v. 23 ): They appointed two; not the eleven, they did not take
upon them to determine who should be put up, but the hundred and
twenty, for to them Peter spoke, and not to the eleven. The two
they nominated were Joseph and Matthias, of neither of
whom do we read elsewhere, except this Joseph be the same with that Jesus who is called Justus, of whom Paul speaks
( Col. iv. 11 ),
and who is said to be of the circumcision, a native Jew, as this
was, and who was a fellow-worker with Paul in the kingdom of God and a comfort to him; and then it is observable that, though he came
short of being an apostle, he did not therefore quit the ministry, but
was very useful in a lower station; for, Are all apostles? Are all
prophets? Some think this Joseph is he that is called Joses ( Mark vi. 3 ),
the brother of James the less ( Mark xv. 40 ),
and was called Joses the just, as he was called James the
just. Some confound this with that Joses mentioned Acts iv. 36 .
But that was of Cyprus, this of Galilee; and, it should seem, to
distinguish them, that was called Barnabas--a son of
consolation; this Barsabas--a son of the oath. These two
were both of them such worthy men, and so well qualified for the
office, that they could not tell which of them was the fitter, but all
agreed it must be one of these two. They did not propose themselves nor
strive for the place, but humbly sat still, and were appointed to
it.
2. They applied to God by prayer for direction, not which of the
seventy, for none of the rest could stand in competition with these in
the opinion of all present, but which of these two? v. 24, 25 .
(1.) They appeal to God as the searcher of hearts: " Thou, Lord, who
knowest the hearts of all men, which we do not, and better than
they know their own." Observe, When an apostle was to be chosen, he
must be chosen by his heart, and the temper and disposition of that.
Yet Jesus, who knew all men's hearts, for wise and holy ends chose
Judas to be one of the twelve. It is comfortable to us, in our prayers
for the welfare of the church and its ministers, that the God to whom
we pray knows the hearts of all men, and has them not only under
his eye, but in his hand, and turns them which way soever he will, can
make them fit for his purpose, if he do not find them so, by giving
them another spirit.
(2.) They desire to know which of these God had chosen: Lord, show
us this, and we are satisfied. It is fit that God should choose his
own servants; and so far as he in any way by the disposals of his
providence or the gifts of his Spirit, shows whom he hath chosen, or
what he hath chosen, for us, we ought to comply with him.
(3.) They are ready to receive him as a brother whom God hath chosen;
for they are not contriving to have so much the more dignity
themselves, by keeping out another, but desire to have one to take
part of this ministry and apostleship, to join with them in the
work and share with them in the honour, from which Judas by
transgression fell, threw himself, by deserting and betraying his
Master, from the place of an apostle, of which he was unworthy,
that he might go to his own place, the place of a traitor, the
fittest place for him, not only to the gibbet, but to hell--this was
his own place. Note, Those that betray Christ, as they fall from the
dignity of relation to him, so they fall into all misery. It is said of
Balaam
( Num. xxiv. 25 )
that he went to his own place, that is, says one of the rabbin, he went to hell. Dr. Whitby quotes Ignatius saying, There is
appointed to every man idios topos -- a proper
place, which imports the same with that of God's rendering to every
man according to his works. And our Saviour had said that Judas's own
place should be such that it had been better for him that he had
never been born ( Matt. xxvi. 24 )
--his misery such as to be worse than not being. Judas had been a
hypocrite, and hell is the proper place of such; other sinners, as
inmates, have their portion with them, Matt. xxiv. 51 .
(4.) The doubt was determined by lot
( v. 26 ),
which is an appeal to God, and lawful to be used for determining
matters not otherwise determinable, provided it be done in a solemn
religious manner, and with prayer, the prayer of faith; for the lot
is cast into the lap, but the whole disposal thereof is of the
Lord, Prov. xvi. 33 .
Matthias was not ordained by the imposition of hands, as presbyters
were, for he was chosen by lot, which was the act of God; and
therefore, as he must be baptized, so he must be ordained, by the Holy
Ghost, as they all were not many days after. Thus the number of the
apostles was made up, as afterwards, when James, another of the twelve,
was martyred, Paul was made an apostle.
INTRODUCTION TO ACTS
This book, in some copies, is called, "The Acts of the holy Apostles". It contains an history of the ministry and miracles of the apostles of Christ, and is a sort of a journal of their actions, from whence it takes its name. It begins at the ascension of Christ, and reaches to the imprisonment of the Apostle Paul at Rome; and is a history of upwards of thirty years: it gives an account of the first Gospel church at Jerusalem, and of the progress of the Gospel there, and in Judea, by the means of all the apostles, and particularly Peter, the minister of the circumcision, and who also first opened the door of faith to the Gentiles: it shows how the Gospel went forth from Jerusalem, and was spread in the Gentile world, especially by the Apostle Paul, whose companion Luke was, that was the writer of this book; for that it was written by him is very evident from the beginning of it, it being dedicated to the same person his Gospel is, and of which he makes mention; and in the Complutensian edition the book is called, "The Acts of the Apostles of Saint Luke the Evangelist"; and so the title of it in the Syriac version is, "the Book of the Acts: that is, the history of the blessed apostles, which my Lord Luke the Evangelist collected for the saints". It was by him written in the Greek language; and we are told {a}, that there was a version of it into the Hebrew language, and which was laid up in the library of the Jews at Tiberias; and is cited by R. Azarias {b} under the name of twlweph, "the Acts": of the authority of this book there has been no doubt, among the ancients, only Cerinthus the heretic endeavoured to discredit it; and it was not received by another sort of heretics called Severiani, from Severus, a disciple of Tatian {c}. It is a most excellent and useful work, showing the first planting of Christianity, and of Christian churches, both among the Jews and Gentiles; the spread and progress of the Gospel in several parts of the world; what sufferings the apostles endured for the sake of it; and with what patience and courage they bore them; and what success attended them; and is a standing proof and confirmation of the Christian religion.
{a} Epiphan. Contr. Haeres. l. 1. Haeres. 30. {b} Meor Enayim, p. 167. {c} Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 4. c. 29.
Ver. 1. The former treatise have I made,.... Meaning the Gospel written by him the Evangelist Luke, for from that he makes a transition to this, beginning here where he there left off; namely, at the ascension of Christ; see Lu 24:51.
O Theophilus; See Gill on "Lu 1:3"
of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. This is a summary of his former treatise, his Gospel, which gave an account of what Christ began to do, and did; not of the common and private actions of his life; or of what was done, either in public, or private, throughout the whole of his life; for excepting that of his disputing with the doctors at twelve years of age, no account is given by him of what he did, till he was about thirty years of age; but of his extraordinary actions, of the miracles he wrought; and these not all, and everyone of them; but many of them, and which were sufficient to prove him the Messiah; and particularly of all things he did relating to the salvation of his people; of the whole of his obedience; of his compliance with the ceremonial law; of his submission to baptism; of his holy life and conversation, and entire conformity to the law; of his sufferings and death, how that thereby he made full atonement for sin, brought in an everlasting righteousness, and obtained eternal redemption for his people: and not only Luke, in his Gospel, gave an account of these his actions, but also of many of his excellent discourses, his parables, and his sermons, whether delivered to the people in common, or to his own disciples: and now, as this was the subject of his former book, he intended in this latter to treat, as he does, of what the apostles of Christ began to do and teach.
Acts 1:2
Ver. 2. Until the day in which he was taken up,.... That is, into heaven. The historian suggests, that his former treatise took in the main and principal things Jesus did and taught, until such time that he ascended to heaven:
after that he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the apostles, whom he had chosen: our Lord having chosen twelve of his own free grace and goodness, and not according to their worth and merit, to be his apostles, a little before his ascension to heaven, gave them more express and explicit commands and orders where they should go, into all the world, to all nations; and what they should preach, the whole Gospel, salvation by faith in him, and particularly repentance and remission of sins; and what ordinances they should require believers to attend to; and how they themselves should conduct and behave in their work: the phrase, "through the Holy Ghost", may either be read in connection with "had given commandments", as the Vulgate and Arabic versions read, and as we do; and the sense be, that these commands which Christ gave to his apostles, were not merely his orders, as man, but were what the Holy Ghost was equally concerned in with him, and were from him as God, and so carried a divine authority with them; and at the same time that he gave them to them, he breathed into them the Holy Ghost, whereby they had a more clear view of his doctrines and ordinances, and were more qualified to minister them; and besides, had an intimation given them, that they might expect still greater gifts of the Holy Ghost: or it may be read with the latter clause, "whom he had chosen"; as in the Syriac and Ethiopic versions; and then the meaning is, that just before his being taken up to heaven, he gave some special orders and directions to his apostles, whom he had chosen to that office through the Holy Ghost, and not through human affection in him, or according to any desert of theirs; but as under the influence of the Holy Spirit, with which, as man, he was anointed without measure; and whose gifts and graces he communicated to his disciples, to fit them for the service to which they were appointed: or with the apostles; they being sent by the Holy Ghost, as well as by Christ.
Acts 1:3
Ver. 3. To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion,.... That is, after his sufferings and death; for that he suffered many things, and at last death itself, is certain from the acknowledgment of the Jews themselves, who own, that they put him to death on the passover eve {d}; as well as from the accounts of the evangelists; and from the soldiers not breaking his legs, when the rest that were crucified with him were broken, because he was already dead; and from his "ricardium" being pierced with a spear, from whence blood and water sprung, after which it was impossible he should be alive; and from the testimony of the centurion who watched him, to whom Pilate sent to know if he was dead, and how long he had been dead; and from his being buried, and lying in the grave so long as he did: and yet after, and not withstanding this, "he showed himself alive"; he raised himself from the dead, and hereby declared himself to be the Son of God with power, which cannot be said of others; there were others that were alive after death, but not by their own power; as the widow of Sarepta's son, the daughter of Jairus, Lazarus, and the widow of Nain's son; but these did not "show themselves alive", as Christ did, who appeared often to his apostles: for after he had first appeared to Mary Magdalene, he showed himself to the two disciples going to Emmaus; then to ten of them, Thomas being absent; after that to them all, Thomas being present, when he convinced him of the truth of his resurrection; after that he appeared to seven of the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and then to all the apostles; and to five hundred brethren at once on a mountain in Galilee; and once to James alone, and to them all again when he was parted from them and went up to heaven; and so they must be proper and sufficient witnesses of his resurrection: and this evidence of his being alive, he gave to them, by many infallible proofs; or by many signs and tokens, and which were most sure and unquestionable arguments of his being alive; as his eating and drinking with them, walking and talking with them in a free and familiar manner, showing them his hands and his feet, and side, that they might see the scars which the nails and spear had made; and which were not only a proof that he was risen again, but risen again in the same body in which he suffered; and that they might feel and handle him, and know that he was not a spirit, a phantom, a mere apparition, but was really risen and alive: being seen of them forty days; not that he was seen by them for forty days together continually, but at certain times, within the space of forty days; for between his first and last appearance, many others intervening, such a length of time run out; so that it was not a single and sudden appearance that surprised them; but there were many of them, and a distance between them, and this for a considerable term of time; hence they had opportunity of reflecting upon these appearances, and of satisfying themselves of the truth of things. This number of "forty days" is a remarkable one in Scripture. The flood was forty days upon the earth; and so long Moses was in the mount with God; such a number of days the spies were searching the land of Canaan; so many days Goliath presented himself to the armies of Israel; and so long a time Elijah went in the strength of the meat the angel provided for him; and for such a length of time the prophet Ezekiel was to bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; and such a term of time was given out by Jonah for the destruction of Nineveh; and so many days Christ fasted, and was tempted in the wilderness. The Jews pretend {e}, that forty days before Jesus was put to death he was led forth, and a crier went before him, declaring, that whoever would, had liberty to testify to his innocence if they could, but no man appeared for him: but this is false; the truth of the matter is, that for forty days after his resurrection he showed himself to his disciples, and by proving the truth of his resurrection, he proved his own innocence and uprightness. If the testimony of Rabbenu Hakadosh, as cited by Galatinus, could be depended on, the Jews had a notion of this forty days' conversation of the Messiah with his disciples, after his resurrection; who say {f},
"the Messiah, after his resurrection, shall converse with the righteous, and they shall hear his precepts "forty days", answerable to those forty days in which he shall be in the wilderness to afflict his soul, before they shall kill him; and these being finished, he shall ascend to heaven, and sit at the right hand of God, as it is said, Ps 110:1.''
But this seems rather to be the pious fraud of some Christian, than the words of a Jew: however, they do say {g}, that
"the days of the Messiah are "forty days", as it is said, Ps 95:10 "forty years long was I grieved"; or, as they interpret it, "shall I be grieved with this generation":''
intimating, that the generation of the Messiah, and of the wilderness, would be much alike, and equally grieving to God, and reckoning a day for a year, as the Lord did with that generation, Nu 14:33. These forty days Christ was with his disciples, may be an emblem of the forty years which were to run out from his death, to his coming again to take vengeance on the Jewish nation; for so long time was there from thence to the destruction of Jerusalem. And Christ was not only seen of the disciples at certain seasons during this space of time, but he was also heard by them: for it follows,
and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God; the kingdom of the Messiah, the Gospel dispensation; concerning the doctrines of the Gospel they were to preach, and the ordinances of it they were to administer; concerning the church of God, the nature, order, and officers of it, and the laws and rules by which it should be governed; concerning the kingdom of grace, what it consists of, and wherein it lies; and of the kingdom of glory, of meetness for it, his own grace, and of the right unto it, his own justifying righteousness: some of these things they might have before but very little knowledge of; and may be these are the things he had to say to them, and which, till now, they could not bear; and being no more to be with them in person, he instructs them in them.
{d} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 43. 1. {e} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 43. 1. {f} Gale Razeya apud Galatin. de Arcan. Cathol. ver. l. 8. c. 23. {g} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 99. 1.
Acts 1:4
Ver. 4. And being assembled together with them,.... At their last meeting at Bethany, or Mount Olivet, which was by appointment: some render the words, as the Vulgate Latin, "and eating with them"; which was one of the proofs he gave of his being alive; and so the Syriac version renders it, "and when he had ate bread with them", and the Ethiopic version, "and dining with them", which he might do more than once; see Joh 21:12 this was the last time, when he
commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem; which does not necessarily infer, that they were then at Jerusalem; for they might be, and they seem rather to be at Bethany, or on the Mount of Olives, from whence they afterwards returned to Jerusalem; and from thence they had orders not to depart, where the blood of Christ had been shed, and where were his greatest enemies, and where the disciples might have no inclination to have gone, and much less to abide, but so it must be, partly for the glorifying of Christ by the effusion of his Spirit on the apostles in the place where he had suffered the most reproach; and partly because the Gospel, the word of the Lord, was to go out of this place, according to the prophecy in Isa 2:3 as also because a Gospel church was to be fixed there, and a very large number of souls to be converted, and added to it: wherefore they were bid to go thither, and not stir from thence,
but wait for the promise of the Father; that is, the pouring forth of the Spirit, which God the Father of Christ; and of his people, had promised should be in the last days, Joe 2:28 and which Christ had promised his disciples from the Father, Joh 14:16.
which, saith he, ye have heard of me; or "by", or "out of my mouth", as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions, and Beza's most ancient copy read; referring to the above passages, or to what follows: and which he the rather mentions, to assure them of its accomplishment, since it was both a promise of the Father, all whose promises are yea and amen; and he had also told them of it, neither of whose words could possibly fall to the ground.
Acts 1:5
Ver. 5. For John truly baptized with water,.... Or "in water", as he himself says, Mt 3:11 John's baptism was water baptism, an immersion of persons in water: he was the first administrator of it, and therefore is here mentioned by name; and his, and the baptism of the Spirit, are opposed; for there were others, as the disciples of Christ, that baptized in water as well as John: and these words are not to be understood of the words of the Lord, by the mouth of John, which the disciples heard, for they were not then called when John spoke the words in Mt 3:11 nor indeed are they the same with these; but these are the words of Christ himself, and which the apostles heard from his own mouth, as is clear from Ac 11:16 though they are not recorded by any of the evangelists; and these are not the only words which Luke repeats, that the evangelists are silent about; see
Ac 20:35
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost; that is, by himself; for it is Christ's prerogative to baptize with the Spirit, as John foretold of him, and it designs such an extraordinary and plentiful donation of the gifts of the Spirit, as may be expressed by a baptism; in which the apostles, on the day of "Pentecost", were, as it were, to be immersed, and with them covered; as Cyril of Jerusalem {h} observes,
"as he, o endunwn en toiv udasi, "who is plunged in water, and baptized", is encompassed by the water on every side, so are they that are wholly baptized by the Spirit.''
Not many days hence; within ten days, for this was on the fortieth day from his death, which was at the passover, these words were said; and on the fiftieth day from thence was the feast of Pentecost, when this had its fulfilment.
{h} Cateches. 17. sect. 8. p. 247.
Acts 1:6
Ver. 6. When they therefore were come together,.... That is, Christ, and his eleven apostles; for not the hundred and twenty disciples hereafter mentioned, nor the five hundred brethren Christ appeared to at once, are here intended, but the apostles, as appears from Ac 1:2
they asked of him, saying, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? The kingdom had been for some time taken away from the Jews, was reduced to a Roman province, and was now actually under the power of a Roman governor. And the nation in general was in great expectation, that upon the Messiah's coming they should be delivered from the yoke of the Romans, and that the son of David would be king over them. The disciples of Christ had imbibed the same notions, and were in the same expectation of a temporal kingdom to be set up by their master, as is evident from
Mt 20:21 and though his sufferings and death had greatly damped their spirits, and almost destroyed their hopes, see Lu 24:21 yet his resurrection from the dead, and his discoursing with them about the kingdom of God, and ordering them to wait at Jerusalem, the metropolis of that nation, for some thing extraordinary, revived their hopes, and emboldened them to put this question to him: and this general expectation of the Jews is expressed by them in the same language as here;
"the days of the Messiah will be the time when larvyl
twklmh bwvtv, "the kingdom shall return", or "be restored to Israel"; and they shall return to the land of Israel, and that king shall be exceeding great, and the house of his kingdom shall be in Zion, and his name shall be magnified, and his fame shall fill the Gentiles more than King Solomon; all nations shall be at peace with him, and all lands shall serve him, because of his great righteousness, and the wonderful things which shall be done by him; and whoever rises up against him God will destroy, and he shall deliver him into his hands; and all the passages of Scripture testify of his and our prosperity with him; and there shall be no difference in anything from what it is now, only "the kingdom shall return to Israel" {i}.''
{i} Maimon. in Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 11. sect. 1.
Acts 1:7
Ver. 7. And he said unto them,.... To his disciples,
it is not for you to know the times or the seasons; meaning, not the times that are past from Adam to Christ; as how long the world stood; when the flood came; when Sodom and Gomorrha were burned to ashes; when the children of Israel came out of Egypt, and the law was given to them; when the kingdom of Israel began, and when the Jews were carried captive, and when they returned; when the sceptre departed from Judah, and Daniel's weeks had an end: or the particular seasons of the year, and the times for planting, ploughing, sowing, reaping, &c. but when should be the time, the day, and hour of the coming of the son of man, when he shall set up his kingdom in a more glorious manner, and the kingdoms of this world shall become his; or when the kingdom shall be restored to Israel. This, by the Jews, is said to be one of the seven things hid from men {k}:
"seven things are hid from the children of men, and these are they; the day of death, and the day of consolation, and the depth of judgment, and a man knows not what is in the heart of his neighbour, nor with what he shall be rewarded, and "when the kingdom of the house of David shall return", and when the kingdom of Persia shall fall.''
Which the Father hath put in his own power; and not in the power of a creature, no, not of the angels; see Mt 24:36 wherefore it is vain and sinful, as well as fruitless, to indulge a curious inquiry into these things, or into the times and seasons of what is future; as of the time of a man's death, of the end of the world, of the second coming of Christ; only those things should be looked into which God has revealed, and put into the power of man to know by diligent search and inquiry. Says R. Simeon {l},
"flesh and blood, (i.e. man), which knows not wyegrw wyte, "its times and its moments", (and so the Vulgate Latin renders the words here), ought to add a void space to the blessed God, who knows the times and moments.''
{k} T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 54. 2. Vid. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 65. fol. 57. 4. {l} Apud R. Sol. Jarchi in Gen. ii. 2.
Acts 1:8
Ver. 8. But ye shall receive power,.... From on high, with which they were to be endured, Lu 24:49 meaning the power of the Holy Ghost, strength from him to preach the Gospel, and work miracles in confirmation of it, and courage and greatness of mind, amidst all reproaches and persecutions, to face and oppose their enemies, profess the name of Christ, abide by his truths and ordinances, make their way through all opposition and difficulties, and spread the Gospel all over the world; for intend of enjoying worldly ease, honour, wealth, and riches, they were looking for, our Lord gives them to understand that they must expect labour, service, afflictions, and trials, which would require power and strength, and which they should have:
after that the Holy Ghost shall come upon you; from above, from heaven, as he did, and sat upon them in the form of cloven tongues, and of fire; upon which they were filled with knowledge and zeal, with strength and courage, and with all gifts and abilities necessary for their work:
and ye shall be witnesses unto me; of the person of Christ, of his deity and sonship, of his incarnation, his ministry, and his miracles, of his suffering and death, of his resurrection from the dead, and his ascension to heaven. This was to be their work, and what belong to them, and not to enquire about a temporal kingdom, and the setting up of that, and the times and seasons of it; their business was to testify of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that followed, and to preach a crucified Jesus, as the only Saviour of lost sinners: and this
both in Jerusalem, the "metropolis" of the nation, and there, in the first place, where such dwelt who had been concerned in the crucifixion of Christ, many of whom were to be called by grace, and converted through their ministry:
and in all Judea; that part of the land of Israel which was distinct from Samaria and Galilee, and from beyond Jordan; where churches were to be planted, as afterwards they were; see Ac 9:31.
And in Samaria; where Christ had before forbid his disciples to go; but now their commission is enlarged, and they are sent there; and here Philip went upon the persecution raised against the church at Jerusalem, and preached Christ with great success, to the conversion of many; and hither Peter and John went to lay their hands on them, and confirm them; see Ac 8:5
and unto the uttermost part of the earth; throughout the whole world, whither the sound of the apostles, and their words went, Ro 10:18.
Acts 1:9
Ver. 9. And when he had spoken these things,.... That the times and seasons were not to be known by them, but to be kept a secret by the Father: that they should tarry at Jerusalem, and in a few days be baptized with the Holy Ghost, and receive such power, abilities, strength, and courage thereby, as to bear a noble testimony for Christ, not only there, but in all the world; and when he had given them a fresh commission, and told them where they should go, what they should preach, and what miracles they should perform, and blessed them.
While they be held; all the Oriental versions, add, "him"; that is Christ, while they looked wistly at him, being attentive to what he said to them, so that they were not asleep; nor did Christ become invisible to them, or disappear before his ascension, but was visible to them in it; hence they were eyewitnesses of it:
he was taken up. Luke in his Gospel says, "carried up": very likely by angels, since these not only attended him in his ascension, but are the chariots of the Lord, in which he went up to heaven; see
Ps 68:17 nor is this at all inconsistent with his proper deity, or that divine power he had of elevating himself, which he could do without the assistance of others; but this makes for the glory of his majesty.
And a cloud received him out of their sight; which was done partly for the same purpose, to add to the grandeur and magnificence of Christ's ascension; and partly to check the curiosity of the disciples, and prevent their gazing any more at him: and it may be that this, cloud was no other than a number of angels that appeared in this form; just as Elijah was taken up to heaven by angels, who appeared in the form of horses and chariots of fire; and the rather this may be the sense here, since it is certain, that there was a large number of angels which attended Christ at his ascension; and by whom he was then seen, Ps 68:17 whereas, if these are not intended by the cloud, no more than two are here taken notice of, and these not as going along with Christ, but staying behind to converse with his disciples; to which may be added, that Christ was "received" by this cloud which descended to meet him, and joining him, escorted him to heaven: at least it may be thought, if it was a real cloud, that there was a multitude of angels in it, which accompanied him to the heavenly regions; for it can hardly be thought that a multitude of the heavenly host should descend at his birth, and sing glory to God upon his coming into this world; and not as large a number attend him with shouts and acclamations, at his going out of it, when he had done his work he came about, and was ascending to his God and Father, to take his place at his right hand on his throne; see Ps 47:5. The Ethiopic version adds, "and he ascended to heaven".
Acts 1:10
Ver. 10. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven,.... For though he was taken out of their sight by the cloud, they kept looking upwards, and after him, if they could see him again, or any more of him:
as he went up; they looked up to heaven after him, as he went up from the earth, before the cloud took him out of their sight; and still they continued looking, as the cloud carried him up, until it was out of the reach of their sight, being willing to see the last of him in this way:
behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; that is, two angels in the form of men; it being usual with them to appear in human form: these on a sudden appeared and stood on the earth just by them; though the Ethiopic version renders it, "they stood above them", as if they were in the air over their heads; and they appeared in white apparel, as the angel at the sepulchre in
Mt 28:2 which was a symbol both of their purity and holiness, and of their lustre and glory. The Ethiopic version renders it, "they were clothed with lightning"; they appeared in such a dazzling form, that it looked as if they were covered with lightning; as the angel that appeared at Christ's resurrection, his countenance is said to be as lightning; which must at once fix the attention of the disciples to them, and strike them with surprise: hence a "behold" is prefixed to this: and hereby they knew that they were not common and ordinary men, or mere men, but angels in such a form.
Acts 1:11
Ver. 11. Which also said, ye men of ,.... And which was said by them, not to reproach them with their country, but partly to let them know that they knew them, who they were, and from whence they came; and partly to observe the rich and distinguishing grace of God in choosing such mean and contemptible persons to be the apostles of Christ, and eyewitnesses of his majesty:
why stand ye gazing up into heaven? reproving them for their curiosity in looking after Christ with their bodily eyes, who was no more in common to be seen this way, but with an eye of faith; and for their desire after his corporeal presence, which they were not to look for; and as if they expected he would return again immediately, whereas his return will not be till the end of the world: and besides, they were not to remain on that spot, or stand gazing there; they were to go to Jerusalem, and abide there, as Christ had ordered, till they should receive the Holy Spirit in an extraordinary way; and then they were to preach a crucified Christ, and declare that he was risen from the dead, and was gone to heaven, and was ordained to be the Judge of quick and dead.
This same Jesus; and not another; the same in person, in body and soul:
which is taken up from you into heaven; who was taken up in a cloud out of their sight, and received into heaven, where he will be till the times of the restitution of all things; and which might be matter of grief to them, because of the loss of his bodily presence; though it should have been rather joyful to them, since he was gone to the Father, and as their forerunner, to prepare a place, and make intercession for them:
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven; he shall come in the same flesh, in the same human nature; he shall come in the clouds of heaven, and shall be attended with his mighty angels, as he now was; he shall descend himself in person, as he now ascended in person; and as he went up with a shout, and with the sound of a trumpet, see Ps 47:5 so he shall descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God; and, it may be, he shall descend upon the very spot from whence he ascended; see
Zec 14:4 and it is a notion of the Jews, that the resurrection of the Israelites will be there: they say {m}, that
"when the dead shall live, the Mount of Olives shall be cleaved asunder, and all the dead of Israel shall come out from under it; yea, even the righteous which die in captivity shall pass through a subterranean cavern, and come out from under the Mount of Olives.''
{m} Targum in Cant. viii. 5.
Acts 1:12
Ver. 12. Then returned they unto ,.... With great joy, after the angels had told them that he should come again in like manner:
from the mount called Olivet; which was on the east side of , a mountain Christ much frequented, and from whence he ascended to heaven. This is the hill which in 1Ki 11:7 is said to be "before Jerusalem"; and accordingly Jarchi interprets it of the Mount of Olives; and in Zec 14:4 it is expressly said to be "before Jerusalem on the east"; hence, when our Lord sat upon it, he is said to be over against the temple, Mr 13:3. It has its name from the multitude of olive trees which grew upon it: it is by the Jewish writers sometimes called Mytyzh rh, "the Mount of Olives" {n}, as in
Zec 14:4 and sometimes hxvmh rh {o}, and axvm rwj {p}, "the Mount of Oil"; i.e. of olive oil, which was made out of the olives that grew upon it. It is said, that in an old edition of the Latin version of this text it is called "the Mountain of Three Lights"; and this reason is given for it, because on the west side it was enlightened in the night by the continual fire of the altar in the temple; and on the east side it had the first beams of the sun before the city was enlightened with them; and it produced plenty of olives, by which the light is maintained in the lamps. Josephus {q} relates, that in the earthquake in the times of Uzziah, half part of this mountain, which was to the west, was divided from it, and was rolled four furlongs to the eastern part of it, so that the ways and king's gardens were stopped up.
Which, is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey. The Syriac version renders it, "about seven furlongs", or near a mile; though Josephus {r} writes, that the Mount of Olives was but five furlongs from Jerusalem: perhaps this may be a mistake in the present copies of Josephus, since Chrysostom on this place cites this passage of Josephus, and reads seven furlongs; which exactly agrees with the Syriac version. A sabbath day's journey, according to the Jews, was two thousand cubits from any city or town, and which they often called, tbv Mwxt, "the bound of the sabbath" {s}; and which they collect partly from Nu 35:4 which they understand thus {t}:
"a thousand cubits are the suburbs (of the city), and two thousand cubits the bounds of the sabbath.''
And these were so many middling paces; for so they say {u},
"a walk of two thousand middling paces, this is the bound of the sabbath.''
And that this was the proper space they also gather from Jos 3:4 it being the distance between the ark and the people when they marched; and though this was not fixed by the law, yet being a tradition of the elders, was strictly observed by them: so when Ruth desired to become a proselytess, the Targumist on Ru 1:16 introduces Naomi thus speaking to her;
"says Naomi, we are commanded to keep the sabbaths, and the good days, (or feasts,) and not to walk above "two thousand cubits";''
i.e. on those days; for to go further was reckoned a profanation of them: so it is said {w},
"the sabbath day is profaned with the hands by work, and with the feet by walking more than "two thousand cubits".''
Yea, this was punishable with beatings {x}:
"a man might go on the sabbath without the city two thousand cubits on every side--but if he went beyond two thousand cubits, they beat him with the beating of rebels,''
or in the same manner a rebellious son was beaten. Nay, not only they might not go out of a city or town where they were, further than this, but from whatsoever place they happened to be, as appears by these following rules {y};
"if anyone falls asleep in the way (or on the road), and he does not know that it was dark (and so that the sabbath is begun), he has two thousand cubits (allowed him) on every side.--Whoever is on a journey, and it is dark, and he knows a tree, or a hedge, and says, let my sabbath (or sabbatical seat) be under it, he says nothing; but if he says, let my sabbath be at the root of it, then he may go from the place of his feet, and to the root of it, two thousand cubits, and from the root of it to his house two thousand cubits; by which means he may go four thousand cubits after it is dark. But if he does not know (any), and is not expert in walking, and says, let my sabbath be in my place, (i.e. in which he stands,) then from his place he has two thousand cubits on every side.''
Hence, in some copies it is here inserted, "such being the distance that the Jews could walk"; that is, were allowed to walk by their canons. They call two thousand cubits a mile {z}; and if the Mount of Olives was seven furlongs from Jerusalem, it was pretty near a mile; but if but five furlongs, it was little more than half a mile: perhaps the true distance might be six furlongs, since Josephus says {a}, the tenth legion was ordered to encamp six furlongs from Jerusalem, at the Mount of Olives, which was over against the city to the east; agreeably to which Epiphanius {b}, who had been a Jew, and was born in Palestine, says,
"it was not lawful to go on the sabbath day beyond six furlongs,''
which were three quarters of a mile.
{n} Prefat. Echa Rabbati, fol. 40. 4. Jarchi in 1 Kings xi. 7. {o} Misn. Parah, c. 3. sect. 6. Echa Rabbati, fol. 52. 4. Misn. Roshhashanah, c. 2. sect. 4. {p} Targum in Cant. viii. 5. {q} Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 4. {r} Antiqu. l. 20. c. 7. sect. 6. {s} Midrash Kohelet, fol. 75. 2. Vid. Maimon. Hilchot Sabbat, c. 27. & 28. & Origin. Philocal. p. 14. {t} Misna Sota, c. 5. sect 3. {u} T. Bab. Erubin, fol. 42. 1. Maimon. Hilch, Sabbat, c. 27, sect. 4. {w} Zohar in Exod. fol. 27. 1. & 83. 2. {x} Maimon. Hiichot Sabbat, c. 97. sect. 1, 2. {y} Misna Erubin, c. 4. sect. 5, 7, 8. {z} Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 2. fol. 178. 4. {a} De Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 3. {b} Centra Haeres. l. 2. Haeres. 66.
Acts 1:13
Ver. 13 And when they were come in,.... "Into it", as the Arabic version reads; that is, into the city of Jerusalem, and into some house in that city; but what house it was is needless to inquire, since it cannot be known. Some think it was the house of John the Evangelist, whither he had taken Mary the mother of our Lord, Joh 19:27 which is not improbable: others, that it was the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where the disciples met for prayer when Peter was put into prison, Ac 12:12 others, that it was the house of Simon the leper; but his house was not at Jerusalem, but in Bethany, Mt 26:6. Some have thought it was the house of Nicodemus, or of Joseph of Arimathea; but after all it seems most likely, that it was not any private house, but the temple into which the disciples immediately went, and where they continued; see
Lu 24:52 and Ac 2:46.
they went up into an upper room; which, if in a private house, they might choose for retirement and secrecy; and might be the same in which they had eaten the passover; and so a Syriac scholiast, in manuscript, on the place, says it was the same. It was usual to meet in upper rooms for devotion and religious conversation;
See Gill on "Mr 2:4" though this upper room might be one of the chambers in the temple; for not only from the scriptural account of the temple, there were chambers round about it, and upper chambers; see 1Ki 6:5 and one of these is called the chamber of Gemariah, in which Baruch read the prophecies of Jeremiah, Jer 36:10 but also from the Jewish writings, in which frequent mention is made of the chamber Palhedrin, where the high priest was brought seven days before the day of atonement {c}; and the chamber of the counsellors {d}; and the chamber Gazith, where the sanhedrim sat; and the chamber of the house of Abtines {e}; and the chamber of wood; and the chamber of the lepers; and the chamber of the house of oil {f}; and the chamber of salt; and the chamber of Parvah; and the chamber of them that wash, besides others {g}. And into a chamber, or upper room in the temple they might be let by Joses Barnabas, a Levite, one of their own company, Ac 4:36 who might have the care of it, for they are said to be continually in the temple, Lu 24:53.
Where abode both Peter, and James, and John. The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions read, "Peter, and John, and James"; and so the Alexandrian copy. These were the three favourite disciples of Christ, and are often mentioned together, as here first;
and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew. The Syriac and Ethiopic versions put Matthew before Bartholomew.
James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas, the brother of James; all the Oriental versions read, "Judas the son of James": of the names of the apostles, See Gill on "Mt 10:2",
See Gill on "Mt 10:3",
See Gill on "Mt 10:4". They are all here mentioned but Judas the betrayer, who was dead, to show, that though one had disbelieved the resurrection of Christ, another had denied him, and all of them had forsook him, and fled; yet they were got together again, and were firm and steadfast in the faith of Christ, waiting for the pouring forth of the Spirit.
{c} Misn. Yoma, c. 1. sect. 1. {d} T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 8. 2. {e} Ib. fol. 19. 1. {f} Misn. Middot, c. 2. sect. 5. {g} Ib. c. 5. sect. 2, 3.
Acts 1:14
Ver. 14. These all continued, with one accord, in prayer and supplication,.... For the promise of the Spirit Christ had given them reason to expect; and that they might be preserved from their enemies, and kept faithful to their Lord; and be abundantly qualified for the preaching of the Gospel, and succeeded in it; and that their hearts might be comforted, and knit together in love: and they were unanimous in their requests, and so were under the promise of being heard; and in this work they were constant, and assiduous, and followed it with importunity. The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions leave out the last clause, "and supplication"; and so likewise the Alexandrian copy: "with the women"; that followed Christ from Galilee, and were at his cross, and at his grave; among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Salome the wife of Zebedee. Some render the words, "with their wives"; the wives of the apostles; and as many as had wives, no doubt but they were with them; and it was necessary they should be, that they might be strengthened and confirmed in the faith of Christ. Beza's most ancient copy adds, "and children";
and Mary the mother of Jesus. This is the last we hear of her; how long she lived after this, is not certain: her continuance with the apostles of Christ shows her religion and piety, and was both for the increase of her faith, and spiritual comfort:
and with his brethren; See Gill on "Mt 13:55".
Acts 1:15
Ver. 15. And in those days Peter stood up,.... That is, in one of the days after Christ's ascension, and before the day of Pentecost, whilst the disciples were waiting for the promise of the Spirit. The Ethiopic version reads, "on that day"; as if it was the same day they came first into Jerusalem, and went into the upper room; and which is likely enough; for no time was to be lost in choosing one in the room of Judas; when Peter, not only as a forward person, and who had been used to be the first mover and actor in any affair; but as willing to show his zeal for Christ, whom he had so lately denied, and as being the senior man in company, as well as the minister of the circumcision, rises, and stands up, as persons used to do, when about to make an oration, and in respect and reverence to the persons addressed:
in the midst of the disciples; not only the other ten, but the whole hundred and twenty. The Alexandrian copy, and some others, read, "in the midst of the brethren", and so reads the Vulgate Latin version; and the Ethiopic version, "in the midst of his own brethren";
and he said what is expressed in the following verses, which before the historian relates, he inserts in a parenthesis this clause,
the number of the names; that is, of persons; see Re 11:13. Some copies read, "of the men", and so the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions; who
together, all put together in one sum, or as meeting together in one and the same place, or as agreeing in the same faith and judgment, so the Arabic version, "and there was there a company whose names and wills agreed in this same opinion"; they were all in one place, and of the same mind; and the sum of them
were about an hundred and twenty; among whom were the eleven apostles, and seventy disciples, which made eighty one; so that there were thirty nine persons more in this company: not that it is to be thought that these were all that were in Jerusalem that believed in Christ; but these were the number of the persons that met and embodied together in a church state, and who not only gave themselves to the Lord, but to one another, by the will of God; and their names being taken and registered, the historian calls the account of them, the number of the names, and not persons; though he means persons. This was a number pretty famous among the Jews; the sanhedrim of Ezra, called the men of the great synagogue, consisted of an "hundred and twenty elders"; the last of which was Simeon the just, and he comprehended the hundred and twenty {h}. And such a number was requisite for a sanhedrim in any place; it is asked,
"how many must there be in a city, that it may be fit for a sanhedrim? "an hundred and twenty"; R. Nehemiah says two hundred and thirty {i}:''
but the decision is according to the former: hence they say {k}, that
"they fix in every city in Israel, where there is an "hundred and twenty", or more, a lesser sanhedrim.---A city in which there is not an hundred and twenty, they place three judges, for there is no sanhedrim less than three.''
{h} Juchasin, fol. 13. 2. Bartenora in Pirke Abot, c. 1. sect. 1. Elias Levit. prefat. 3. ad Sepher Masoret. {i} Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 6. Vid. Maimon. & Bartenora in. ib. & T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 17. 2. {k} Maimon. Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 3, 4.
Acts 1:16
Ver. 16. Men and brethren,.... Which is said not so much by Peter to express his modesty, and humility, and his brotherly love; or on account of the spiritual relation that subsisted between him and the persons he speaks to, as it was a common form used in addresses; see Ac 7:2 it should seem, that the women, were not reckoned into the number of the hundred and twenty here addressed; and the Syriac version calls that number, "the number of men", unless they are supposed to be included in them:
this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled; or "must needs be fulfilled": referring either to Ps 41:9 or rather to the passages after cited out of Ps 69:25. There was a necessity of the fulfilling of it, consistent with the prescience of God, his counsel, and decree, and the veracity of the Scripture; which necessity does not at all excuse the sin of Judas, who acted freely from the wickedness of his own heart, and not from any force that this laid upon him: and the apostle might observe this also, to make the minds of the disciples easy, under this awful providence, since it was no other than what was predicted: and
which the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of David, spake before; even many hundreds of years before the event; and which shows the omniscience, and so the deity of the Holy Ghost, and the divine authority of David's Psalms; as well as the honour that was put upon him to be the instrument by which the Holy Ghost speaks, and to be his amanuensis: the particular referred to, is, "concerning" Judas; who is sometimes called Iscariot, to distinguish him from another apostle of the same name; and what is hereafter said sufficiently does that; or
concerning that Judas, as the Syriac version renders it:
which was a guide to them that took Jesus; to the band of soldiers and officers, who came with swords and staves, as to take a thief, or a robber; before these Judas went and showed them, not only the place where he was, but gave them a sign by which they should know him, and also advice to take him and hold him fast, and lead him away safely; so that he was not only a guide as to the way, but was a director, and conductor, and manager of the whole affair. And it may be observed, that though Peter did not conceal, but declares the sin of Judas; yet not in a rough manner, aggravating it, but with much softness and tenderness; though with no design to lessen it, as appears by what follows, and which may be instructive to us in speaking of other men's sins.
Acts 1:17
Ver. 17. For he was numbered with us,.... He was chosen an apostle with: the rest, and was ordained into that office when they were, and was always reckoned one of the twelve, and stands in the catalogue when they are mentioned:
and had obtained part of this ministry; by lot, as the word signifies; the providence of God so ordering it, according to his eternal purpose and decree, that he was not only called an apostle, and enrolled among them, but he really had a part in that ministry; he preached, and baptized, and wrought miracles; and besides all this, carried the bag, was the treasurer, and a sort of a steward in Christ's family, and provided for it.
Acts 1:18
Ver. 18. Now this man purchased a field,.... This verse, with the following, seem to be the words of Luke the historian, which should be read in a parenthesis; for there was no need to have acquainted the disciples with the manner of Judas's death, which was so well known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; nor would Jerusalem, and the inhabitants of it, be mentioned with that propriety by Peter, when he, and those he spoke of, were upon the spot; nor could there be any necessity of his explaining a word in their own tongue, which they understood, and that in a language unknown unto them; nor does it seem likely, that in so short a time as five or six weeks, the field should have obtained the name of "Aceldama", and be commonly known by it. The Ethiopic version calls this field, "a vineyard"; and so it might be, and yet the potter's field too. It is somewhat difficult, that Judas should be said to purchase it, when Matthew says the chief priests bought it, Mt 27:7. Both are true; Judas having received his money of the chief priests two days ago, might not only intend to purchase, but might really strike a bargain with the potter for his field; but repenting of his sin, instead of carrying the money to make good the agreement, went and threw it to the chief priests, and then hanged himself; when they, by a secret providence, might be directed to make a purchase of the same field with his money; or he may be said to purchase it, because it was purchased with his money. The Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions render it, "he possessed" it; not in person, unless he was buried there, as he might be; and so all that he got by his wretched bargain, was only so much ground as to be buried in; or the sense may be, "he caused it to be possessed"; by returning the money which the chief priests used this way;
with the reward of his iniquity; that is, with the thirty pieces of silver, given him as a reward for that vile action of his betraying of his Lord and master: so the reward of divination, or what Balsam got by soothsaying, which was an iniquitous and wicked practice, is called, "the wages of unrighteousness", 2Pe 2:15
and falling headlong he burst in the midst; either falling from the gallows, or tree on which he hanged himself, the rope breaking, upon a stone, or stump, his belly was broke, and burst; or falling from the air, whither he was violently snatched up by Satan, who was in him, and by whom he was thrown down to the earth, and who went out of him by a rupture made in his belly; or being in deep melancholy, he was strangled with the squinancy, and fell down on his face to the ground, as the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions render it,
and burst asunder: and all his bowels gushed out; through the rupture that was made. So we read of a man that fell from the roof of a house, hynyyem qypnw hyork hyeqp, "and his belly burst, and his bowels came out" {l}. And this was the miserable end of Judas. The death of Arius, as related by Athanasius {m}, from Macarius the presbyter, who was present, was much after the same manner; who reports, that having swore to the orthodox faith, and being about to be introduced into the church at Constantinople, after the prayer of Alexander, the bishop of it, he went out to the seat, to ease nature; when he, on a sudden, fell down headlong, and burst in the middle, and immediately expired: and Epiphanius {n} compares his exit with this of Judas, who observes, that he went out in the night to the vault, as before related, and burst asunder, as Judas of old did; and came to his end in a filthy and unclean place. Ruffinus says {o}, that as he sat, his entrails, and all his bowels, came from him into the vault; and so he died in such a place, a death worthy of his blasphemous and corrupt mind. As to the seeming difference between the Evangelist Matthew and the Apostle Peter, it may be reconciled by either of the ways before mentioned;
See Gill on "Mt 27:5" though it seems most likely, that Judas not being able to bear the torments of his mind, he hanged himself, as Achitophel did, and was not strangled by the devil, or by any disease; and that he fell down from the tree on which he hung, either the rope breaking, or the tree falling; and so the things happened to him which are recorded: or he might fall from hence, either through a violent strong wind which blew him down; or through the rushing of wild beasts against the gallows, on which he hung; or by the devil himself, who might throw him down from hence after he had dispatched himself, as some have conjectured: or, which seems best of all, he might be cast down from hence by men, either of themselves, or by the order of the civil magistrates, not enduring such a sight, that one that had destroyed himself should hang long there; and which, according to the law, was not to be admitted; and these not taking him down, in a gentle manner, but using some violence, or cutting the rope, the body fell, and burst asunder, as is here said: and it should be observed, that the Evangelist Matthew speaks of the death of Judas, in which he himself was concerned; and the Apostle Peter reports what befell his carcass after his death, and in which others were concerned. The Vulgate Latin renders it, and being hanged, he burst in the middle; as if this happened to him upon the gallows, without falling.
{l} T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 56. 2. {m} Epist. ad. Scrapion, Vol. I. p. 523. {n} Contra Haeres. l. 2. Haeres. 68. {o} L. 1. c. 13.
Acts 1:19
Ver. 19. And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem,.... As that he betrayed Jesus of Nazareth into the hands of the chief priests, for thirty pieces of silver; that this was the reward of his iniquity; and that with this a field was purchased for the burying of strangers in; and that he died in such a miserable way: there was scarce an inhabitant in Jerusalem but knew all this,
insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue; or "in their own dialect", the "Jerusalem dialect", Which was now Chaldee, or Syriac; and such is the word that follows, "Aceldama; that is to say, the field of blood": because it was bought with the price of Christ's blood: and if, as some say, Judas hanged him self here, or was thrown headlong here by Satan, and that this was the place where his bowels gushed out; then it may be likewise so called, because it was sprinkled with his blood. It is called in the Alexandrian copy "Acheldamach"; and often by Jerom {p} "Acheldemach", but very wrongly; for not "Demach", but "Dema", in the Syriac and Chaldee dialect, signifies "blood"; which Peter calls the dialect of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, being now spoken by them, in distinction from the Galilean dialect used by him; which, it is plain, was different from the Jerusalem dialect by what is said, Mr 14:70. This field, as it is reported by some, was by the appointment of the Empress Helena compassed about with four walls, in the manner of a tower, upon the top of which are seven distinct doors, like windows, by which the dead bodies of Christians are let down into it; and that it is fifty feet wide, and seventy two long: it stands not far from the valley of Himom, and is upon the south side of Mount Zion, where, as Jerom says {q}, it was showed in his time. Masius {r} affirms, there was a very high mountain near Jerusalem, called Mount Aceldema, from the adjacent field, which was bought with the price of Christ's blood, to bury strangers in.
{p} Comment. in Psal. 108. fol. 73. D. & de locis Hebraicis, fol. 89. C. & 95. H. & de Nominibus Hebraicis, fol. 105. H. {q} De locis Hebraicis, ib. {r} Comment. in Josuam, p. 283.
Acts 1:20
Ver. 20. For it is written in the book of Psalms,.... In
Ps 69:25. These are the words of Peter, citing the Scripture he had said must be fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost, by David, had spoke concerning Judas:
let his habitation be desolate. The Arabic and Ethiopic versions render it, "his city"; meaning, perhaps, the city of Jerusalem; and which afterwards did become desolate, and was utterly destroyed:
and let no man dwell therein; in his habitation. The psalm, out of which these words are cited, is a psalm concerning the Messiah, and there are many passages cited out of it in the New Testament, and applied to him, or referred unto; see Joh 2:17 compared with Ps 69:4 and what the psalmist says of the enemies of the Messiah in general, is applied by the apostle to Judas in particular. In the Hebrew text, in Ps 69:25 the words are in the plural number, "let their habitation be desolate, and let none dwell in their tents"; and refer to all the enemies of Christ, the chief priests, elders of the people, Scribes and Pharisees, who covenanted with Judas to give him so much money to betray Christ into their hands; and who delivered him to the Roman governor, by whom, at their instigation, he was crucified; and particularly may well be thought to include Judas, who betrayed him to them; and therefore are very fitly interpreted of him: though not to be understood to the exclusion of the others, whose house was to be left desolate, and was left desolate, as our Lord predicted, Mt 23:38. The first word in the Hebrew text rendered "habitation", signifies a very magnificent dwelling; it is sometimes translated a "castle", Ge 25:16 and sometimes a "palace", Cant. 8:9, Eze 25:4 and it is interpreted by Nwmra, "a palace", here, by several Jewish writers {s}; and so may intend the dwelling places of the richer sort of Christ's enemies, as the palaces of the high priest, and of the prince, or president of the sanhedrim, and the stately houses of the members of it, of the chief priests and elders of the people, and of the Scribes and Pharisees; all which became desolate at the destruction of Jerusalem: the other word, rendered "tents", may design the cottages of the meaner sort of people, who, with united voices, cried aloud for the crucifixion of Christ; and which also shared the same fate when Jerusalem was destroyed: now inasmuch as Judas was of the meaner sort, the apostle here makes use of a word which signifies but a poor and mean habitation, though it is sometimes used of grander ones, and which seems to answer to the latter; for as there are two words in the original text expressive of habitation, he might choose which he would, and did choose that which was most pertinent in the application of the passage to Judas. However, a Jew has no reason to find fault with this version, since the Targum renders both words by "habitation", thus;
let their habitation be desolate, and in their habitations let no one dwell: where Judas's habitation was is not certain; but that he might have one as well as the Apostle John, is not at all improbable, and from hence seems evident:
and his bishopric let another take; which passage stands in
Ps 109:8 and is fitly applied to Judas, and was verified in him, who not only died a violent and infamous death, by which he was in consequence stripped of his office, as a bishop, or overseer; but another was to be put into it, invested with it, and exercise it; and therefore very pertinently does Peter produce it, his intention being to move the disciples to choose another in his room. These words are produced by the apostle, as if they were to be found in the same place with the preceding; whereas they stand in another psalm, as has been observed: and this is no unusual thing with the writers of the New Testament, to put several passages of Scripture together, as if they were in one place, when they are to be sought for in different places; an instance of this, among many, that might be mentioned, is in Ro 3:10 and this is a very common way of citing Scripture with the Jews. Surenhusius {t} has given a variety of instances, in proof of this, out of their writings, as in the margin {u}, which the learned reader may consult and compare at leisure. The psalm, out of which this passage is cited, is not to be understood of David literally, and of what he met with from his enemies, and of his imprecations upon them, either Doeg the Edomite, as Kimchi interprets it, or Ahithophel, as others, but of the Messiah, with whom the whole agrees; against whom the mouth of the wicked Jews, and particularly of the deceitful Pharisees, were opened; and against whom the false witnesses spoke with lying tongues; and who, all of them, compassed him with words of hatred to take away his life, and acted a most ungenerous and ungrateful part; opposed him without a cause, and became his enemies for his love showed to them, both to soul and body, preaching the Gospel, and healing diseases, Ps 109:2. The poverty and distress he submitted to; the griefs and sorrows which he bore; the fatigues he underwent at his examination; and the weakness of body he was then reduced to, as well as the reproach cast upon him on the cross, when his enemies shook their heads at him, are in a very lively manner described, Ps 109:22 and whereas one of his enemies particularly is singled out from the rest, what is said concerning him, by way of imprecation, suits with Judas, and had its accomplishment in him, Ps 109:6 who had a wicked man set over him, as over the rest of the Jews, Pilate, the Roman governor, a very wicked man; and at whose right hand Satan stood, as one of his council, as Aben Ezra interprets it, and put it into his heart to betray his master, and prompted him to it, and then accused him of it, and brought him to black despair for it; and who, when this affair was brought home to his own conscience, and there arraigned for it, was convicted and self-condemned, as he also will be at the general judgment; and as he found no place of mercy then, whatever prayers or entreaties he might make, so neither will he hereafter: his days were but few, being cut off in the prime of them, as may be concluded from the many years which some of his fellow apostles lived after him; and his bishopric, or office, as an apostle, was taken by another, even by Matthias, who was chosen in his room, of which we have an account in the following part of this chapter; for this is to be understood neither of his money, nor of his wife, nor of his own soul committed to his trust, as some of the Jewish writers {w} explain it; but of his apostleship, with which he was invested by Christ. The word signifies an oversight, care, or charge; and so the Hebrew word hdwqp is rendered in Nu 3:32 and designs any office, as the office of the priests and Levites in the house of God; see Nu 4:16. Jarchi interprets it here by wtlwdg, "his greatness", or "dignity"; and explains it by the Spanish word "provostia", an office of honour and authority, as this of being an apostle of Christ was; than which, a greater external dignity could not be enjoyed in the church of God, in which he has set first apostles, 1Co 12:28. That this psalm refers to Judas Iscariot, and to his affair, was so clear a point with the ancients, that they used to call it the Iscariotic Psalm. I lay no stress upon the observation some have made, that thirty curses are contained in it, the number of the pieces of silver for which he betrayed his master, since this may be thought to be too curious.
{s} Kimchi & Sol. ben Melech in Psal. 69. 25. R. Nathan. Concordant. {t} Biblos Katallages, p. 45, 46. {u} T. Bab Roshhoshana, fol. 4. 2. Beracot, fol. 13. 1. Sabbat, fol. 20. 1. Maccot, fol. 13. 2. & 16. 1. Tanchuma, fol. 17. 1, 4. & 25. 1, 4. {w} Aben Ezra, Kimchi, & Sol. ben Melech in loc.
Acts 1:21
Ver. 21. Wherefore of these men which have companied with us,.... Seeing there was such an imprecation, which carried in it the nature of a prophecy, that another should take the bishopric of Judas, or be made an apostle in his room, it was absolutely necessary that one should be immediately chosen to that office; and this is the force of the illative particle, wherefore; and it was highly proper that this choice should be of one among the men, and not the women; whom it did not become to bear any office, and exercise any authority in the church; hence it is said, "of these men", to the exclusion of women: and it was exceeding right, and a very good notion, that the choice should be of one from among themselves, and who was known unto them; with whose abilities, integrity, wisdom, and holy conversation, they were acquainted: and therefore it is added, "which have companied with us"; one of our own company, and not a stranger; with whom we have familiarly conversed, and whose character is well known to us: a rule which ought to be attended to, in the choice of inferior officers, as pastors and deacons; who ought to be of the body and community, among whom they are chosen to an office; and their qualifications for it be well known, and that for some time past, as follows:
all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us; that is, ever since Christ called them to be his disciples and followers; and conversed with them, and discharged his office among them, governed, directed, taught, and instructed them; for it was not proper that a novice, a new plant, or one that was lately become a disciple, should be put into such an office; and the same holds good in proportion in other offices; men called to office should be of some standing, as well as of superior gifts.
Acts 1:22
Ver. 22. Beginning from the baptism of John,.... Not from the time trial John first administered the ordinance of baptism; for Christ was not so soon made known, or had followers; but from the time of the administration of it by John, to Christ, when he was made known to Israel; and quickly upon this, he called his disciples, and entered on his public ministry: now Peter moves, that one who had been so early a follower of Christ, who had heard his excellent discourses, and seen his miracles, and who had steadfastly and constantly adhered to him, might be chosen in the room of Judas; one whose faith in Christ, love to him, and firmness of mind to abide by him, had been sufficiently tried and proved; who had continued with Christ and his apostles, from the beginning of his ministry, to that time: or as Peter adds,
unto the same day that he was taken up from us; by angels, and received by a cloud, and carried up to heaven; or "he ascended from us", as the Ethiopic version renders it; or "lifted up himself from us", as the Arabic version; for as he raised himself from the dead by his own power, by the same he could raise himself up from earth to heaven; the sense is, to the time of his ascension to heaven, whether by himself, or by the ministry of angels:
must one be ordained; there was a necessity of this, partly on the account of the above prophecy, and partly to keep up the number of the twelve apostles, Christ had thought fit to pitch upon; answering to the twelve tribes of Israel, and to the twelve gates, and twelve foundations of the new Jerusalem: and this choice or ordination was moved to be made, and was made, not by the other eleven apostles, but by the whole company of an hundred and twenty; for these are the persons addressed by the apostle, and to whom he said, as the Arabic version renders it, "one of these men ye must choose": and if the choice and ordination of such an extraordinary officer was made by the whole community, then much more ought the choice and ordination of inferior officers be by them: the end of this choice was,
to be a witness with us of his resurrection; the resurrection of Christ from the dead, which supposes his incarnation and life, and so his obedience, ministry, and miracles in it; and also his sufferings and death, with all the benefits and advantages thereof; and is particularly mentioned, because it not only supposes and includes the above things, but is the principal article, basis, and foundation of the Christian religion; and the sign which Christ gave to the Jews, of the truth of his being the Messiah; and was what the disciples were chosen to be witnesses of; and a principal part of their ministry was to testify it to men: and since this was their work and business, it was necessary that one should be chosen, and joined with them, who had been with them, and with Jesus, from the beginning, to the time of his ascension; and who was an eyewitness of his resurrection, that he might join with the apostles in their testimony.
Acts 1:23
Ver. 23. And they appointed two,.... The motion made by Peter was attended to by the whole company; they approved of it, and accordingly proposed two persons by name; one of which was to be chosen, not by the apostles, but by the whole assembly. The Arabic version reads, "he appointed two", as if Peter singly did this: contrary to all copies, and other versions, and to the context; which shows, that the whole body of the people were concerned in this affair, who prayed and gave forth their lots and suffrages: the persons nominated were,
Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. The former of these has three names; in one ancient copy of Beza's he is called Joses; and by some thought to be the same with Joses, surnamed Barnabas, in Ac 4:36 partly because in one copy, and in the Syriac version there, that Joses is called Joseph; and partly, because of the nearness in sound between Barsabas and Barnabas: hence the Ethiopic version here reads, "Joseph, who was called Barnabas", and so Beza's most ancient copy; but though Joses is here meant for Jose, or Joses is, with the Jews, an abbreviation of Joseph; yet not Joses the Levite, who was of the country of Cyprus, but Joses of Galilee, the son of Alphaeus and Mary; and who had two brothers, James and Jude, already apostles; see Mt 13:55. Moreover, though the two names, Barnabas and Barsabas, differ little in sound, yet much in sense: the former is interpreted "the son of consolation", Ac 4:36 but the latter signifies much the same with Bathsheba; as that may be interpreted "the daughter", this "the son of an oath"; or as others, "a son of wisdom"; and by others, "the son of fulness"; I should choose to take it to be the same name with
abo rb, and interpret it, "the son of an old man"; as Alphaeus might be, when Joses, or Joseph was born, and he be the younger brother of James and Jude; as for his surname Justus, this was a name not only in use among the Grecians and Romans, especially the latter, but among the Jews: hence we often read of Rabbi ajowy, "Justa", and sometimes, yjowy, "Justi", and at other times, yajowy "Justai" {x} whether he had this surname from his being a very just man, as Aristides was called Aristides the just; and so Simeon the high priest, the last of Ezra's great synagogue, was called Simeon the just {y}; and so James the brother of this Joseph, or Joses, was called by the Jews {z}; and it may be, that he himself might have his name from the patriarch Joseph, who used to be called by them, Joseph, qyduh, "the just" {a}: for Matthias, his name is Jewish, and he was no doubt a Jew; hence we read aytm ybr, "Rabbi Matthia ben Charash" {b}; his name signifying the same as Nathanael does, namely, the gift of God, made Dr. Lightfoot conjecture they might be the same; but this agrees not with another conjecture that learned man, who elsewhere thinks, that Bartholomew and Nathanael were the same; and if so, he must have been an apostle already; Clemens of Alexandria was of opinion, that this Matthias was Zacchaeus {c}.
{x} T. Hieros. Beracot, fol. 12. 3. & Trumot. fol. 48. 1. & Erubin, fol. 19. 3. & 23. 3. T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 99. 1. & Juchasin, fol. 95. 2. & 96. 1. Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 17. 4. {y} Pirke Abot, c. 1. sect. 2. {z} Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 2. c. 23. {a} Zohar in Exod. fol. 104. 1. {b} T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 61. 2. & Juchasin, fol. 108. 1. {c} Stromat, l. 4. p. 488.
Acts 1:24
Ver. 24. And they prayed and said,.... Having proposed the above two persons, and not well knowing which to pitch upon, they being both very agreeable and fit for such service; they chose not to determine the affair without seeking to God for direction; a method to be taken in all cases, and especially in matters of importance: and the substance of their petition, though perhaps not in just the same words, was,
thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men; which is a character peculiar to the one only living, and true God; for none knows the hearts of men, but God, who is the Maker of them; and he knows all the thoughts, counsels, and purposes of them, and the good or bad that is in them:
shew whether of these two thou hast chosen; being desirous of having their choice directed by the choice God had made, in his eternal mind; and which they desired might be signified and pointed out to them, in some way or another, that they might be certain of the mind and will of God, and act according to it.
Acts 1:25
Ver. 25. That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship,.... Of the ministry of the apostles, or of the apostolical ministration; which lay in preaching the Gospel, administering ordinances, planting churches, and working miracles; and which part, lot, or inheritance, Judas had; see Ac 1:17.
And from which Judas by transgression fell; by betraying his Lord, whose apostle he was, he was turned out of his office, and had no longer part in the apostolical ministry:
that he might go to his own place; which may be understood of Judas, and of his going to hell, as the just punishment of his sin; which is commonly so called by the Jews, who often explain this phrase, "his place", by hell; as when it is said of Laban, Ge 31:55 that he "returned to his place", it intimates, say they {d}, that he returned to his place, which was prepared for him in hell; and so likewise when it is said of Balaam, Nu 24:25 that he "returned to his place", they observe {e}, that
"he did not return from his evil way, but returned to his place; and so intimates by saying, to his place, that which was prepared for him in hell, as the Rabbins of blessed memory say {f}; "they came everyone from his own place", Job 2:11 a man from his house, a man from his country it is not written, but a man from his place, which was prepared for him in hell; and because they came to show mercy to Job, they were delivered from hell, and became worthy of the world to come; and so here, and "he returned to his place", Mnyhgb wl Nkwmh, "which was prepared for him in hell".''
And another of their writers {g}, on the same passage, has this remark, and he returned to his place, and he does not say,
"he went on his way, for he was driven out of his way, and went down to hell.''
And agreeably to what is said of Job's friends, the Targumist on Job 2:11 paraphrases the words thus;
"and there came a man, or everyone from his place, and by this merit they were delivered from the place, prepared for them in hell.''
And which place the same Targumist on Job 8:4 calls Nwhydrm rta, "the place of their rebellion"; that is, procured by it: and so Judas's own place was what he had merited by his sin, and was righteously appointed for him; and though it was not peculiar to him, but common to all impenitent sinners, yet very proper for him, as a betrayer; for it is a settled point with the Jews {h}, that
"he that betrays an Israelite into the hands of the Gentiles (so Judas betrayed his master), whether in his body, or in his substance, has no part in the world to come.''
This clause is by some understood not of Judas, but of Matthias, or of him that was to come in the room of Judas; and by "his own place" it is thought is meant, the "part of the ministry and apostleship", in the former clause, and which the Alexandrian copy reads, "the place of this ministry", he was to take; and now Judas by his iniquity falling from it, made way for another, for Matthias to go to his own place, which God had in his counsel and purposes designed for him; or "into his place", as the Syriac and Arabic versions render it; that is, into the place of Judas, to take his place among the apostles, in his room and stead: the Alexandrian copy reads, "into that righteous place".
{d} Tzeror Hammor, fol. 43. 2. {e} Ib. fol. 127. 1. {f} Vid. Midrash Kohelet, fol. 74. 3. {g} Baal Hatturim in Numb. xxiv. 25. {h} Maimon. Hilchot Chobel, &c. c. 8. sect. 9.
Acts 1:26
Ver. 26. And they gave forth their lots,.... Or "gave forth lots for them", as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions; for Joseph and Matthias; some for one, and some for another; and which were cast into a man's lap, or into a vessel, and was no other than balloting for them; and so he that had the majority upon casting them up, when taken out, was declared the person chosen; or "they cast their lots"; that is, into an urn, or vessel; which lots had the names of the two persons on them; and into another vessel, as is thought, were put two other lots; the one had the name of "apostle" upon it, and the other nothing; and these being taken out by persons appointed for that purpose, the lot with Matthias's name on it, was taken out against that which had the name of apostle on it, upon which he was declared to be the apostle: it may be that this was done in the same manner, as the goats on the day of atonement had lots cast on them, Le 16:8 which the Jews say was thus performed: there was a vessel which they call "Kalphi", set in the court, into which two lots, which were made of wood, or stone, or metal, were put; the one had written on it, for Jehovah, and on the other was written, "for the scapegoat"; the two goats being, the one at the right hand of the priest, and the other at the left; the priest shook the vessel, and with his two hands took out the two lots, and laid the lots on the two goats; the right on that which was at his right hand, and the left on that which was at his left {i}; and so the goat which had the lot put upon him, on which was written, "for the Lord", was killed; and that which had the other lot, on which was written, for the scapegoat, was presented alive; so the lot here is said to fall upon Matthias: or the lots being cast into the vessel, as above related, these two drew them out themselves; and Matthias taking out that which had the word apostle on it, the lot fell on him: the manner of Moses's choosing the seventy elders, is said to be this {k}:
"Moses took seventy two papers, and on seventy of them he wrote, Nqz, "an elder"; and upon two, qlx, "a part"; and he chose six out of every tribe, and there were seventy two; he said unto them, take your papers out of the vessel; he into whose hand came up "an elder" (i.e. the paper on which it was so written) he was sanctified (or set apart to the office); and he, in whose hand came up "a part" (the paper that had that on it), to him he said, the Lord does not delight in thee.''
And the lot fell upon Matthias; that is, either he had the largest number for him, their minds being so disposed by the providence of God; and it may be, contrary to the first thoughts and general sense of the body; since Joseph is mentioned first, and was a man of great character, and of many names and titles; but God, who knows the hearts: of men, and can turn them as he pleases, and to whom they sought for direction, inclined their minds to vote for the latter; or it was so ordered by divine providence, that in the casting or drawing the lots, the lot of the apostleship should fall on him:
and he was numbered with the eleven apostles; either chosen by the common suffrages of the people, as the word used signifies; or rather, he took his place among the apostles; he was registered among them, and ever after was reckoned one of them; Beza's ancient copy reads, "with the twelve apostles", their number being now complete.
{i} Maimon. Hilchot Yom Hacippurim, c. 3. sect. 1, 2, 3. Misn. Yoma, c. 4. 1. & Bartenora in ib. {k} Jarchi in Numb. xi. 26. Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 15. fol. 218. 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
Our Lord told the disciples the work they were to do. The
apostles met together at Jerusalem; Christ having ordered them not
to depart thence, but to wait for the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.
This would be a baptism by the Holy Ghost, giving them power to
work miracles, and enlightening and sanctifying their souls. This
confirms the Divine promise, and encourages us to depend upon it,
that we have heard it from Christ; for in Him all the promises of God
are yea and amen.
Our Lord told the disciples the work they were to do. The
apostles met together at Jerusalem; Christ having ordered them not
to depart thence, but to wait for the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.
This would be a baptism by the Holy Ghost, giving them power to
work miracles, and enlightening and sanctifying their souls. This
confirms the Divine promise, and encourages us to depend upon it,
that we have heard it from Christ; for in Him all the promises of God
are yea and amen.
Sources: Matthew Henry; Gill's Exposition; Matthew Henry Concise
Commentary
Commentary