IN accordance with the command of their lately ascended Lord, the Apostles remained in the Holy City, and there continued with one accord in prayer and supplication (Acts i. 14) with the rest of the little company. This now amounted in all to about 120 (Acts i. 15), and consisted of
1. The Eleven,
2. The Virgin, the women who had accompanied the Saviour from Galilee to Jerusalem, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, Joanna, Susanna, and others,
3. The brethren645 of the Lord, who though at an early period they were not for but against Him (Jn. vii. 5), now undoubtedly believed on Him,
4. The other disciples.
Though the duty enjoined upon them at this time, was that of patient waiting for the bestowal of the promised gift of the Holy Ghost, one thing could be done by way of preparation for the work they were called to perform. They could restore their original number as it was composed by their Lord, and fill up the gap which the treachery of Judas had made in their body.
Accordingly, the Apostle Peter, already beginning to take that lead for which his natural gifts no less than the prophetic words of the Saviour had destined him, stood up in their midst, and called attention to the deserted seat of the traitor. He had fallen, as they all knew, and after a terrible end646 had gone to his own place (Acts i. 25). The language of inspired prophecy had not been silent respecting his shameful treachery, but the same Psalms (Ps. lxix. 25; cix. 8), which had foreshadowed his fall, had spoken also of the election of another to take his charge or office of oversight (Acts i. 20). He advised, therefore, that they should proceed to choose a new Apostle, and suggested, as the conditions of his election, that he should be one who had companied with them from the beginning to the close of their Lord’s official ministry, from the Baptism of John to the Ascension, and so be qualified in an especial degree to be a witness of His Resurrection (Acts i. 22).
His suggestion found favour with the assembled body of the brethren, and they nominated two of their number, who eminently possessed their confidence, as also the special qualifications thus laid down. One was Joseph Bar-Sabas, surnamed Justus, and Matthias, of whom, however, nothing further is known in the New Testament647. These they put forward, and leaving to the Lord the final determination, they prayed that, as the Searcher of hearts, He would indicate whom He had selected for the office, and then gave forth their lots648, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the Eleven Apostles (Acts i. 26).
Thus quietly and without observation was the first seed sown of what was destined to grow into a great tree649 (Mtt. xiii. 31–33). Never did it seem more unlikely that the religion of the crucified Redeemer could be revived. The City had been restored to peace, as though nothing extraordinary had taken place. The Roman guard had been bribed to contradict any rumour that might be bruited about of the Resurrection; in the popular estimation the death of Jesus had extinguished all ideas that He was the Messiah; and no leader of any weight appeared likely to rally the little band of His once attached followers650. The triumph of the Sanhedrin appeared complete.
But this was the very hour when the new Faith was to achieve its first conquest. Ten days passed away after the Ascension. The Fiftieth, the day of Pentecost651, the Feast of Weeks, was come652. The Holy City, crowded with strangers from every quarter of the then known world, presented a scene of unusual animation. There was scarcely a region but had its representative in its streets. Not only from Palestine653 itself, but from the lands beyond the Euphrates, whither the Israelites had been carried by the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities654, Parthia and Media, Elam655 and Mesopotamia656; from the various districts of Asia Minor, Cappadocia and Pontus657, Phrygia and Pamphylia, as well as those fringing the Western coast-line, Mysia, Lydia, and Caria, and now comprehended under one name, Roman Asia658; from the islands of the Mediterranean659; from populous Alexandria and the flourishing region of Cyrene660; from the capital of the West itself, Jews and Hellenists, “proselytes of righteousness661” and “proselytes of the gate,” had flocked to take part in the great Festival (Acts ii. 9–11).
All gathered together in one place, the disciples were awaiting any indications of the Divine will, when suddenly there arose out of heaven a sound as of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the whole house where they were sitting (Acts ii. 2), and simultaneously tongues as if of fire662 distributed663 themselves amongst and settled upon each one of them (Acts ii. 3). The Strengthener, the Comforter, had come, the disciples were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and though poor, illiterate, and obscure men of Galilee, found themselves by the operation of the indwelling Spirit able to speak not only in their own rough unpolished language, but in as many dialects as were represented that day at Jerusalem664 (Acts ii. 4).
Meanwhile the noise665, with which the mighty rushing wind had descended from heaven, had been audible all over the city, and attracted a great multitude to the abode of the disciples. Arriving there they were confounded to find natives of the despised region of Galilee speaking of the wonderful works of God, not only in the language, but the very dialect of the language, which each recognized as his own (Acts ii. 6). In the minds of most this strange portent excited emotions of serious awe. What meaneth this? they exclaimed; are not all these which speak Galilæans? There were not wanting, however, some who ascribed the strange sounds they heard to the effects of drunken excess; these men, said they, are full of new wine (Acts ii. 13).
Thereupon the Apostle Peter stood up with the Twelve, and having in a loud voice indignantly refuted the charge of drunkenness by a reference to the hour of the day, the third only from sunrise666 (Acts ii. 15), proceeded to explain the meaning of what they heard and saw.
“Eight hundred and fifty years before, as they knew from the Scriptures of the Old Testament, the prophet Joel (ii. 28, 29) had foretold the coming of days, when God would pour out of His Spirit on all flesh, not on one or two only, but upon His people generally without distinction of age or rank or sex, upon sons and daughters, upon young men and old, upon servants and handmaidens (Acts ii. 17, 18). Thus had the prophet spoken, and this day they beheld the fulfilment of his words. Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved667 amongst them by miracles668, and wonders, and signs, which God had wrought by Him in their midst, as they themselves knew full well, they had taken and by the wicked hands of Roman soldiers had crucified and slain. But in so doing they had not frustrated the gracious purposes of Him who had sent Him. All things had happened according to His determinate counsel and foreknowledge (Acts ii. 23), and He had raised up that same Jesus, and had loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible that He could be permanently mastered by them. For He, of whom the Psalmist had said that God would not leave His soul in Hades669 nor suffer Him to see corruption, could not be the patriarch David. He had died and been buried, and his ashes had long reposed in the tomb which was before their eyes. It was not of himself that he had thus spoken, but of Another, the fruit of his loins, whom as a prophet he foreknew God would raise up to sit upon his throne; and this King was no other than Jesus (Acts ii. 32). Him God had raised from the dead, and exalted to the right hand of power, and made both Lord and Christ, and He had that day bestowed upon His disciples those wonderful gifts which they saw and heard, the expressions and indications of the presence of the Spirit promised by the Father.”
Such was the substance of the Apostle’s words, and though they clashed with the strongest prejudices of those who had so short a time before given such fearful evidence of their hatred of that crucified Saviour, they produced a deep impression. Pricked to the heart they addressed him and the rest of the Eleven, saying, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Repent670, was the reply, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts ii. 38); for the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off671, even as many as the Lord their God shall call. These and many other similar words of his were not lost; many received them gladly, and were baptized, and the same day there were added to the Church about three thousand souls672 (Acts ii. 41).
THUS at the Feast which celebrated the ingathering of the natural harvest, a rich harvest of souls was for the first time gathered into the Christian garner, the Church assumed its separate and organised existence, and its members gave themselves up to the full requirements of their new life:
1. They continued673 steadfastly, or waited constantly upon the Apostles’ doctrine (Comp. Mtt. xxviii. 20), by whose hands many wonders and signs were wrought (Acts ii. 43), and who were enlightened to remember and commissioned to teach all that their Lord had said and commanded (Jn. xv. 26; xvi. 13).
2. They persevered in fellowship and communion with one another674, cultivating and fostering a spirit of mutual love, and instead of living each for themselves, had all things common, selling their possessions and lands, and parting them to all men, as every man had need (Acts ii. 42–45).
3. They attended constantly on the breaking of the Bread675, and thus consecrated their chief daily meal with the celebration of that Feast, which shewed forth (1 Cor. xi. 26) their Lord’s death, and the sacrifice He had offered.
4. They were stedfast also in their attendance at the public prayers676 in the Temple, at the stated hours of the national worship (Acts ii. 42, 46), praising God, and having favour with all the people.
And in the Temple occurred the next eventful incident in the history of the early Church. Two of the Apostles, Peter and John, were going up thither at the ninth hour677, the hour of prayer and the offering of the evening sacrifice. At the entrance they encountered a man lame from his birth, who was in the habit of being laid day by day at the Gate known as the “Beautiful Gate678,” for the purpose of exciting the compassion and appealing to the charity of the passing worshippers. On the present occasion he appealed to the two Apostles, and supplicated their aid. Thus accosted they stopped, and fixing upon him an earnest gaze, bade him look on them (Acts iii. 4). Expecting perhaps some charitable offering, he did so679, when Peter addressing him said, Silver and gold have I none, but what I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk (Acts iii. 6, 7), and with the words took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and he, who had been lame from his birth, found strength suddenly restored to his crippled feet680 and ankles, found himself able to spring up, stand, and walk, found himself able to accompany the Apostles into the Temple, and there give thanks to God (Acts iii. 8).
The cure of such a man in such a manner was quickly noised abroad amongst the worshippers crowding the Temple-courts. Filled with wonder and amazement the people ran together with one accord into the porch or colonnade of Solomon681, and there beheld the two Apostles, and clinging682 to them in the first transport of grateful attachment, the very man they had so long and so often seen sitting for alms at the Beautiful Gate (Acts iii. 11). It was a meet occasion for addressing the astonished throng, and Peter commenced one of those heart-stirring discourses, whereby in these early days, as his Lord had predicted, he strengthened his brethren (Lk. xxii. 32).
“Why marvel ye, said he, at this? Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by magical power or holiness of our own we have caused that this man should walk? The God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whom for years ye have owned and worshipped, He and no other has been working by us. Though ye delivered up, and denied in the presence of Pilate His Servant683 Jesus, and demanded that, in place of the Holy One and the Just, a murderer, Barabbas, should be granted unto you; though ye killed the Prince of life, yet God hath raised Him from the dead, and our faith in His Name hath restored this cripple, as your eyes behold (Acts iii. 16).
“In ignorance, indeed, ye and your rulers did this. But in so doing ye fulfilled a mysterious purpose of Divine Love, even the counsels of that God, who predicted by the mouth of all His prophets that Christ should suffer. Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, and that so684 seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and He may send unto you Christ Jesus, whom the heavens must retain till the times of the restitution of all things, of which God from the beginning hath spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets. Moses, your great lawgiver, said when your fathers stood before the awful mount of Sinai, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you from among your brethren. Him shall ye hear according to all things whatsoever He shall say unto you, and it shall be, that every soul which shall not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people (Deut. xviii. 15, 18). This Prophet hath appeared in the person of Jesus, and to you first685 hath God sent Him forth, blessing you in turning away each one from your iniquities (Acts iii. 17–26).”
This powerful address had a still greater effect than the previous discourse of the Apostle. Upwards of five thousand avowed themselves believers in the Crucified, and swelled the ranks of the Christian Church (Acts iv. 4). But it had other issues also. The Sanhedrin, which had hitherto stood aloof686 from all notice of the movements of the Apostles, resolved to act with decision. As the evening of this eventful day closed in, the priests, the captain of the Levitical guard687, and the Sadducees688, naturally annoyed at the proclamation of the resurrection of the dead through the power of a risen Saviour, laid hands on the two Apostles and the healed cripple689 (Comp. Acts iv. 14), and committed them to prison, intending on the morrow to institute a formal trial (Acts iv. 3).
Accordingly on the next day the rulers, the elders, and scribes, Annas690 the high-priest and Caiaphas, John691 and Alexander692, and others of the pontiff’s family, assembled probably in their hall Gazith, and when the Apostles had been placed in the midst of the judicial circle, enquired by what authority and by virtue of what commission they had acted as they had done.
Thereupon Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts iv. 8), again stood forward, and boldly declared that the miracle of the previous day was due entirely to the mighty working of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had crucified, but whom God had raised from the dead. He was the Stone whom, in the language of the cxviiith Psalm, they the builders of the nation and its appointed teachers had rejected as worthless, but which had become the head of the corner, nor was there in any other the Salvation, for which all hoped; for there was no other Name under heaven given among men, whereby they could be saved (Acts iv. 8–12).
The boldness, power, and knowledge, which this speech betrayed, astonished the Sanhedrin beyond measure, and the more so when they reflected that the speaker and his fellow Apostle were of the common class, unlearned and ignorant693, in whom they recognised694 the obscure followers of Jesus of Nazareth (Acts iv. 13). The miracle, indeed, which they had wrought could not be gainsaid, for the restored cripple, a man more than 40 years of age (Acts iv. 22), stood beside them (Acts iv. 14), ready to support by his testimony the power by which he had been so marvellously healed. It was deemed, therefore, inexpedient to go into the question of evidence, and after a secret conference (Acts iv. 15) it was resolved to prevent, if possible, the spread of the report of the miracle amongst the people, and to forbid for the future any preaching or teaching in the name of Jesus.
Accordingly the Apostles, who had been ordered to withdraw during the consultation, were recalled and informed of their decision. But they absolutely declined to act upon it. They could not, they said, refrain from proclaiming what their own eyes had seen and their own ears had heard, or hearken to the council rather than to that God, whose commissioned witnesses they were. After further threats, therefore, they were dismissed; for the Sanhedrin saw plainly that they had done nothing deserving punishment, and the popular feeling ran so strongly in their favour, that they dared not resort to violence (Acts iv. 21).
Thus released they returned to the rest of the disciples, and recounted all that had occurred. Their tidings had not the effect of lessening the courage of their hearers. Lifting up their voices with one accord to the Lord and Maker of heaven and earth, they declared their conviction of the vanity of the machinations of their rulers against the Supreme and the Messiah whom He had sent. Herod, and Pontius Pilate, the nations and people of Israel, had gathered themselves together against their Master, but only to do what His hand and counsel had foreordained should come to pass. The threats, therefore, of their foes they regarded not, and only prayed that, while695 the Lord stretched forth His hand to heal, and caused signs and wonders to be performed through the Name of His holy servant Jesus, they themselves might receive still greater strength to preach His Word (Acts iv. 23–30).
Their petition received an immediate and sensible response. The place where they were assembled was shaken as by an earthquake, and a fresh and special communication of the Holy Ghost filled them with still greater boldness to proclaim their message and deliver their testimony (Acts iv. 31).
THUS terminated the first collision of the Christian community with the ruling powers at Jerusalem. Within that community itself all as yet went well. While the Apostles with increased power gave forth their testimony to the resurrection of their Lord, the disciples proved the sincerity of their convictions by the self-denial of their lives. All being of one heart and of one soul (Acts iv. 32), they regarded their possessions as belonging to a common fund, and such as were possessed of lands or houses sold them, and brought the price and laid it at the Apostles’ feet, who caused distribution to be made thereof according to the requirements of each (Acts iv. 35).
Of this self-denying goodwill no one afforded a brighter example than a man of the tribe of Levi696, and a native of Cyprus, whose name was Joseph, or, as he was called by the Apostles, Barnabas697, the Son of Consolation, or rather of Exhortation, on account of the extraordinary gifts of inspired discourse and exhortation by which he was distinguished698 (Acts iv. 36). His estates, which were probably considerable, he sold, and rejoiced in the distribution of the price amongst his poorer brethren.
Before long, however, a sad incident occurred, which told of evil already at work within the Christian society. A certain man named Ananias, with the privity of his wife Sapphira, sold a possession, and having appropriated a portion of the price, laid the remainder at the Apostles’ feet, giving it to be understood that that was the whole sum he had received (Acts v. 1, 2). But his aspiration after high honour amongst his brethren with so little cost to himself did not escape the detection of the Apostle Peter. Fixing his eye upon him as he brought the portion and laid it before him, he enquired how he had permitted Satan to tempt him to deceive the Holy Ghost. While it remained, said he, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God (Acts v. 4). At these words, so stern, so solemn, and yet so true, reading his heart to its lowest depths, the wretched man was utterly overwhelmed, and fell down and gave up the ghost. When the awe of the assembly at this instant judgment on the sin of hypocrisy had somewhat subsided, the young men699 who were present rose up, and wrapping the body in the usual burial clothes700 bore it forth to a tomb without the city701 (Acts v. 6).
Three hours had scarcely elapsed before his wife Sapphira, not knowing what had occurred, entered the place where the disciples were met together, and was straightway asked by Peter whether she and Ananias had really sold the farm for the price which the latter had alleged. To this she replied in the affirmative, and thus made her husband’s sin her own, and deliberately confirmed the fraud. The Apostle had not denounced the awful judgment, which had befallen her husband, he had only denounced the offender. But now he not only denounced the sin, but declared its instant penalty, saying, Behold the feet of them which buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Thus informed at one and the selfsame moment of her husband’s fate and her own, she too dropped down a corpse, and was instantly conveyed to the grave by those who had just returned from burying Ananias (Acts v. 8–10).
The effect of this terrible but just judgment was very great. Fear came upon all who saw and all who heard what had taken place, and the Apostles, by whose hands many signs and wonders continued to be wrought, acquired still greater reverence. Those who did not yet believe, forbore to join themselves to the Christian society rashly or from light motives, while the common people, impressed with a sense of the supernatural power possessed by the Apostles, brought forth their sick, and placed them on beds and couches in the streets, that they might have the benefit even of Peter’s shadow passing by702 (Acts v. 15). Soon the populations of the towns round about Jerusalem imitated their example, and experienced the effects of the healing word as addressed either to the sick or those possessed by unclean spirits (Acts v. 16).
The excitement thus aroused could not escape the notice of the Sanhedrin. Annas and Caiaphas and the Sadducaic faction saw that they must make another effort to suppress the new sect so quickly gaining adherents in their very midst. Accordingly they caused the Apostles to be seized and cast into the common prison, and on the morrow calling together the whole Council, sent their officers to summon them into their presence.
When, however, they reached the prison, the officers found indeed the doors fast closed, but the prisoners had disappeared! On receiving this intelligence the high-priest and the Sanhedrin703 were in the utmost perplexity, which was still further increased by the entrance of a messenger, announcing that the Apostles were in the Temple, where indeed they had been since daybreak, having been released by an angel during the night (Acts v. 18–25). Thereupon the Captain of the Levitical guard was despatched to fetch them, and even he found himself obliged to act with caution and gentleness, for the feelings of the people were largely on the side of the Apostles, and stones were ever ready at hand in the precincts of the Temple, to furnish weapons for a tumultuous resistance704.
But the Twelve readily accompanied the officers, and presented themselves before the Sanhedrin, and in reply to the high-priest’s complaint that they had not obeyed the injunctions of the council to forbear preaching in the Name of Jesus, evinced even more boldness and resolution than before. Peter, once more their spokesman, declared that obedience was due to God rather than to man, for he had raised up from the dead that same Jesus, whom they had crucified and slain, and exalted Him to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. To the fact of His resurrection they were witnesses, and their testimony they were bound to deliver (Acts v. 29–32).
These words, breathing such dauntless resolution, roused the Council to the utmost fury, and the majority, especially the Sadducaic party, were eager for the execution of their prisoners. But the rising of one of their number was the signal for calmer measures.
This was the famous Rabbi Gamaliel705, an illustrious teacher of the Law, who was held in the utmost reverence by the people, and according to Jewish tradition was the president of the Sanhedrin. He advised that the Apostles should withdraw for a while, and then proceeded to urge his brethren to moderation and calmness. There was no need, he said, for any apprehension from such an obscure band of Galilæans. Could not the Council recall how a few years before one Theudas706 had arisen, boasting himself to be some great one, and had collected a body of 400 followers? But what was the issue? Was he not slain, and as many as followed him dispersed and annihilated? And then again in the days of the taxing did there not rise up707 Judas of Galilee, who also drew away much people after him? But was he a whit more successful? Did he not perish with all his followers? Let these instances, he continued, suffice, and let the assembly refrain from these men. If their work or counsel was of men, it would come to nought, but if it was of God, it would be impossible to overthrow it, and they ought to be on their guard lest they should by any chance be found fighting against God708 (Acts v. 34–39).
The weight of the speaker’s name and his high reputation prevailed over the bitterness of faction. His prudent advice was adopted. The Apostles were recalled, and after being beaten with rods, were dismissed with strict injunctions to abstain from speaking any more in the name of Jesus (Acts v. 40). But threats and stripes were alike ineffectual to seal their mouths. They went forth from the council rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer for the Name of their Master, and ceased not publicly in the Temple courts, and privately from house to house, to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah (Acts v. 41, 42).