Chapter 10

II. PETER’S APOSTLESHIP;ORPETER THE TEACHER AND LEADER.THE PENTECOST.After the ascension, all the apostles seem to have removed their families and business from Galilee, and to have made Jerusalem their permanent abode. From this time no more mention is made of any part of Galilee as the home of Peter or his friends; and even the lake, with its cities, so long hallowed by the presence and the deeds of the son of man, was thenceforth entirely left to the low and vulgar pursuits which the dwellers of that region had formerly followed upon it, without disturbance from the preaching and the miracles of the Nazarene. The apostles finding themselves in Jerusalem the object of odious, or at best of contemptuous notice from the great body of the citizens, being known as Galileans and as followers of the crucified Jesus, therefore settled themselves in such a manner as would best secure their comfortable and social subsistence. When they came back to the city from Galilee, (having parted from their Master on the Olive mount, about a mile off,) they went up into a chamber in a private house, where all the eleven passed the whole time, together with their wives, and the women who had followed Jesus, and with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brethren. These all continued with one accord in this place, with prayer and supplication, at the same time no doubt comforting and instructing one another in those things, of which a knowledge would be requisite or convenient for the successful prosecution of their great enterprise, on which they were soon to embark. In the course of these devout and studious pursuits, the circumstances and number of those enrolled by Christ in the apostolic band, became naturally a subject of consideration and discussion, and they were particularly led to notice the gap made among them, by the sad and disgraceful defection of Judas Iscariot. This deficiency the Savior had not thought of sufficient importance to need to be filled by a nomination made by him, during the brief period of his stay among them after his resurrection, when far more weighty matters called his attention. It was their wish however, to complete their number as originally constituted by their Master, and in reference to the immediate executionof this pious and wise purpose, Peter, as their leader, forcibly and eloquently addressed them, when not less than one hundred and twenty were assembled. The details of his speech, and the conclusion of the business, are deferred to the account of the lives of those persons who were the subjects of the transaction. In mentioning it now, it is only worth while to notice, that Peter here stands most distinctly and decidedly forward, as the director of the whole affair, and such was his weight in the management of a matter so important, that his words seem to have had the force of law; for without further discussion, commending the decision to God in prayer, they adopted the action suggested by him, and filled the vacancy with the person apparently designated by God. In the faithful and steady confidence that they were soon to receive, according to the promise of their risen Lord, some new and remarkable gift from above, which was to be to them at once the seal of their divine commission, and their most important equipment for their new duties, the apostles waited in Jerusalem until the great Jewish feast of the pentecost. This feast is so named from a Greek word meaning “fiftieth,” because it always came on the fiftieth day after the day of the passover feast. Jesus had finally disappeared from his disciples about forty days after his resurrection,——that is forty-two days after the great day of the passover, which will leave just one week for the time which passed between the ascension and the day of pentecost. These seven days the apostolic assembly had passed in such pursuits as might form the best preparation for the great event they were expecting. Assembled in their sacred chamber, they occupied themselves in prayer and exhortation. At length the great feast arrived, on which the Jews, according to the special command of Moses, commemorated the day, on which of old God gave the law to their fathers, on Mount Sinai, amid thunder and lightning. On this festal occasion, great numbers of Jews who had settled in different remote parts of the world, were in the habit of coming back to their father-land, and their holy city, to renew their devotion in the one great temple of their ancient faith, there to offer up the sacrifices of gratitude to their fathers’ God, who had prospered them even in strange lands among the heathen. The Jews were then, as now, a wandering, colonizing people wherever they went, yet remained perfectly distinct in manners, dress and religion, never mixing in marriage with the people among whom they dwelt, but every where bringing up a true Israelitish race, to worship theGod of Abraham with a pure religion, uncontaminated by the idolatries around them. There was hardly any part of the world, where Roman conquest had planted its golden eagles, to which Jewish mercantile enterprise did not also push its adventurous way, in the steady pursuit of gainful traffic. The three grand divisions of the world swarmed with these faithful followers of the true law of God, and from the remotest regions, each year, gathered a fresh host of pilgrims, who came from afar, many for the first time, to worship the God of their fathers in their fathers’ land. Amid this fast gathering throng, the feeble band of the apostles, unknown and unnoticed, were assembled in their usual place of meeting, and employed in their usual devout occupations. Not merely the twelve, but all the friends of Christ in Jerusalem, to the number of one hundred and twenty, were here awaiting, in prayer, the long promised Comforter from the Father. All of a sudden, the sound of a mighty wind, rushing upon the building, roared around them, and filled the apartments with its appalling noise, rousing them from the religious quiet to which they had given themselves up. Nor were their ears alone made sensible of the approach of some strange event. In the midst of the gathering gloom which the wind-driven clouds naturally spread over all, flashes of light were seen by them, and lambent flames playing around, lighted at last upon them. At once the anxious prayers with which they had awaited the coming of the Comforter, were hushed: they needed no longer to urge the fulfilment of their Master’s word; for in the awful rush of that mighty wind, they recognized the voice they had so long expected, and in that solemn sound, they knew the tone of the promised Spirit. The approach of that feast-day must have raised their expectations of this promised visitation to the highest pitch. They knew that this great national festival was celebrated in commemoration of the giving of the old law on Mount Sinai to their fathers, through Moses, and that no occasion could be more appropriate or impressive for the full revelation of the perfect law which the last restorer of Israel had come to teach and proclaim. The ancient law had been given on Sinai, in storm and thunder and fire; when therefore, they heard the roar of the mighty wind about them, the firm conviction of the approach of their new revelation must have possessed their minds at once. They saw too, the dazzling flash of flame among them, and perceived, with awe, strange masses of light, in the shape of tongues, settling with a tremulous motion onthe head of each of them. The tempest and the fire were the symbols of God’s presence on Sinai of old, and from the same signs joined with these new phenomena, they now learned that the aid of God was thus given to equip them with the powers and energies needful for their success in the wider publication of the doctrine of Christ. With these tokens of a divine presence around them, their feelings and thoughts were raised to the highest pitch of joy and exultation; and being conscious of a new impulse working in them, they were seized with a sacred glow of enthusiasm, so that they gave utterance to these new emotions in words as new to them as their sensations, and spoke in different languages, praising God for this glorious fulfilment of his promise, as this holy influence inspired them.An upper room.——The location of this chamber has been the subject of a vast quantity of learned discussion, a complete view of which would far exceed my limits. The great point mooted has been, whether this place was in a private house or in the temple. The passage in Lukexxiv.53, where it is said that the apostles “were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God,” has led many to suppose that the same writer, in this continuation of the gospel story, must have had reference to some part of the temple, in speaking of the upper room as the place of their abode. In the Actsii.46, also, he has made a similar remark, which I can best explain when that part of the story is given. The learned Krebsius (Observationes in Novvm Testamentvm e Flavio Iosepho,pp.162–164) has given a fine argument, most elegantly elaborated with quotations from Josephus, in which he makes it apparently quite certain from the grammatical construction, and from the correspondence of terms with Josephus’s description of the temple, that this upper room must have been there. It is true, that Josephus mentions particularly a division of the inner temple, on the upper side of it, under the name ofὑπερῳον, (hyperoon,) which is the word used by Luke in this passage, but Krebsius in attempting to prove this to be a place in which the disciples might be constantly assembled, has made several errors in the plan of the later temple, which I have not time to point out, since there are other proofs of the impossibility of their meeting there, which will take up all the space I can bestow on the subject. Krebsius has furthermore overlooked entirely the following part of the text in Actsi.13, where it is said, that when they returned to Jerusalem, “they went up into an upper roomwhere they had been staying,” in Greek,οὑ ησαν καταμενοντες, (hou esan katamenontes,) commonly translated “theyabode.” The true force of this use of the present participle with the verb of existence isrepeatedaction, as is frequently true of the imperfect of that verb in such combinations. Kuinoel justly gives it this force,——“ubi commorarisiveconvenire solebant.” But the decisive proof against the notion that this room was in the temple, is this. In specifying the persons there assembled, it is said, (Actsi.14,) that the disciples were assembled there with thewomenof the company. Now it is most distinctly specified in all descriptions of the temple, that the women were always limited to one particular division of the temple, called the “women’s court.” Josephus is very particular in specifying this important fact in the arrangements of the temple. (Jewish War,V.5.2.) “A place on this part of the temple specially devoted to the religious use of the women, being entirely separated from the rest by a wall, it was necessary that there should be another entrance to this. * * * There were on the other sides of this place two gates, one on the north and one on the south, through which the court of the women was entered; for women were not allowed to enter through any others.” (AlsoV.5,6.) “But women, even when pure, were not allowed to pass within the limit before mentioned.” This makes it evident beyond all doubt, that women could never be allowed to assemble with men in this upper chamber within the forbidden precincts, to which indeed it was impossible for them to have access, entering the temple through two private doors, and using only one court, which was cut off by an impenetrable wall, from all communication with any other part of the sacred inclosure.This seems to me an argument abundantly sufficient to upset all that has ever been said in favor of the location of this upper apartment within the temple; and my only wonder is, that so many learned critics should have perplexed themselves and others with various notions about the matter, when this single fact is so perfectly conclusive.Theupper room, then, must have been in some private house, belonging to some wealthy friend of Christ, who gladly received the apostles within his walls. Every Jewish house had in its upper story a large room of this sort, which served as a dining-room, (Markxiv.15: Lukexxii.12,) a parlor, or an oratory for private or social worship. (See Bloomfield’s Annotations, Actsi.13.) Some have very foolishly supposed this to have been the house of Simon the leper, (Matthewxxvi.6,) but his house was in Bethany, and therefore by no means answers the description of their entering it after their return to Jerusalem from Bethany. Others, with more probability, the house of Nicodemus, the wealthy Pharisee; but the most reasonable supposition, perhaps, is that of Beza, who concludes this to have been the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, which we know to have been afterwards used as a place of religious assembly. (Actsxii.12.) Others have also, with some reason, suggested that this was no doubt the same “upper room furnished,” in which Jesus had eaten the last supper with his disciples. These two last suppositions are not inconsistent with each other.Tongues of fire.——This is a classic Hebrew expression for “a lambent flame,” and is the same used by Isaiah, (v.24,) where the Hebrew isלשון אש(leshon esh,) “a tongue of fire;”——commonly translated, simply “fire.” In that passage there seems to be a sort of poetical reference to the tongue, as an organ used in devouring food, (“as the tongue of fire devoureth the stubble,”) but there is abundant reason to believe that the expression was originally deduced from the natural similitude of a rising flame to a tongue, being pointed and flexible, as well as waving in its outlines, and playing about with a motion like that of licking, whence the Latin expression of “alambentflame,”——fromlambo, “lick.” Wetstein aptly observes, that a flame of fire, in the form of a divided tongue, was a sign of the gift of tongues, corresponding to the Latin expressionbilinguis, and the Greekδιγλωσος, (diglossos,) “two-tongued,” as applied to persons skilled in a plurality of languages. He also with his usual classic richness, gives a splendid series of quotations illustrative of this idea of a lambent flame denoting the presence of divine favor, or inspiration imparted to the person about whom the symbol appeared. Bloomfield copies these quotations, and also draws illustrations in point, from other sources.My own opinion of thenatureof this whole phenomenon is that of Michaelis, Rosenmueller, Paulus and Kuinoel,——that a tremendous tempest actually descended at the time, bringing down clouds highly charged with electricity, which was not discharged in the usual mode, by thunder and lightning, but quietly streamed from the air to the earth, and wherever it passed from the air upon any tolerable conductor, it made itself manifest in the darkness occasioned by the thick clouds, in the form of those pencils of rays, with which every one is familiar who has seen electrical experiments in a dark room; and which are well described by the expression, “cloven tongues of fire.” The temple itself being covered and spiked with gold, the best of all conductors, would quietly draw off a vast quantity of electricity, which, passing through the building, would thus manifest itself on those within the chambers of the temple, if we may suppose the apostles to have been there assembled. These appearances are very common in peculiar electrical conditions of the air, and there are many of my readers, no doubt, who have seen them. At sea, they are often seen at night on the ends of the masts and yards, and are well known to sailors by the name which the Portuguese give them, “corpos santos,”——“holy bodies,”——connecting them with some popish superstitions. A reference to the large quotations given by Wetstein and Bloomfield, will show that this display at the pentecost is not the only occasion on which these electric phenomena were connected with spiritual mysteries. No one would have the slightest hesitation in explaining these passages in other credible historians, by this physical view; and I know no rule in logic or common sense,——no religious doctrine or theological principle, which compels me to explain two precisely similar phenomena of this character, in two totally different ways, because one of them is found in a heathen history, and the other in a sacred and inspired record. The vehicle thus chosen was not unworthy of making the peculiar manifestation of the presence of God, and of the outpouring of his spirit;——nor was it an unprecedented mode of his display. The awful thunder which shook old Sinai, and the lightnings which dazzled the eyes of the amazed Israelites, were real thunder and lightning,nor will an honest and reverent interpretation of the sacred text allow us to pronounce them acoustical and optical delusions. If they were real thunder and lightning, they were electrical discharges, and cannot be conceived of in any other way. Why should we hesitate at the notion that He who “holds the winds in the hollow of his hand,” and “makes a way for the lightning of thunder,” should use these same awful instruments as the symbols of his presence, to strike awe into the hearts of men, making the physical the token of the moral power; and accomplishing the deep prophetic meaning of the solemn words of the Psalmist, “He walks upon the wings of the wind——he makes the winds his messengers——the lightnings his ministers.” For this is the just translation of Psalmciv.4. See Lowth, Clarke, Whitby, Calmet, Thomson,&c.But Jaspis, Bloomfield, Stuart,&c., support the common version.Were all assembled,&c.——It has been questioned whether this term, “all,” refers to the one hundred and twenty, or merely to the apostles, who are the persons mentioned in the preceding verse, (Actsi.26,ii.1,) and to whom it might be grammatically limited. There is nothing to hinder the supposition that all the brethren were present, and Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine and other ancient fathers, confirm this view. The place in which they met, need not, of course, be the same where the events of the preceding chapter occurred, but was very likely some one of the thirty apartments, (οικοι,oikoi, Josephus, Antiquities,viii.3.2,) which surrounded the inner court of the temple, where the apostles might very properly assemble at the third hour, which was the hour of morning prayer, and which is shown in verse 15, to have been the time of this occurrence. Besides, it is hard to conceive of this vast concourse of persons (verse 41,) as occurring in any other place than the temple, in whose vast and thronged courts it might easily happen, for Josephus says “that the apartments around the courts opened into each other,”ησαν δια αλληλων, “and there were entrances to them on both sides, from the gate of the temple,” thus affording a ready access on any sudden noise attracting attention towards them.Foreign Jews staying in Jerusalem.——The phrase “dwelling,” (Actsii.5,) in the Greekκατοικουντες, (katoikountes,) does not necessarily imply a fixed residence, as Wolf and others try to make it appear, but is used in theLXX.in the sense of temporary residence; and seems here to be applied to foreign Jews, who chose to remain there, from the passover to the pentecost, but whosehomewas not in Jerusalem; for the context speaks of them as dwellers in Mesopotamia,&c.(verse 9.) A distinction is also made between two sorts of Jews among those who had come from Rome,——the Jews by birth and the proselytes, (verse 10,) showing that the Mosaic faith was flourishing, and making converts from the Gentiles there.PETER’S SERMON.This wonderful event took place in the chamber of the temple, which they had used as a place of worship ever since their Lord’s departure. As the whole temple was now constantly thronged with worshipers, who were making their offerings on this great feast day, this room in which the followers of Jesus were devoutly employed, must, as well as all the others, have been visited by new comers: for the mere prior occupation of the room by the disciples, could not entitle them to exclude from a public place of that kind any person who might choose to enter. The multitude of devotees who filled all parts of the temple, soon heard of what was going on in this apartment, and came together to see and hear for themselves. When the inquiring crowds reached the spot, they found the followers of Christ breaking out in loud expressions of praise to God, and of exhortation, each in such a language as best suited his powers of expression, not confining themselves to the Hebrew, which in all places ofpublic worship, and especially in Jerusalem on the great festivals, was the only language of devotion. Among the crowds that thronged to the place of this strange occurrence, were Jews from many distant regions, whose language or dialects were as widely various as the national names which they bore. Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites,——those who dwelt in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt and Africa, and some even from distant Rome, were all among those who heard the spirit-moving language of the disciples. Some of the more scrupulous among these foreign Jews, were probably, notwithstanding their amazement, somewhat offended at this profanation of worship, in the public use of these heathen languages for the purposes of devotion; and with a mixture of wonder and displeasure they asked, “Are not all these men who are talking in these various languages, Galileans? How then are they able to show such an immense diversity of expression, so that all of us, even those from the most distant countries, hear them in our various languages, setting forth the praises of God?” And they were all surprised and perplexed, and said one to another, “What will this come to?” But to some who were present, the whole proceeding was so little impressive, and had so little appearance of anything miraculous, that they were moved only to expressions of contempt, and said, in a tone of ridicule, “These men are drunk on sweet wine.” This seems to show that to them there was no conclusive evidence of Divine agency in this speaking in various languages; and they, no doubt, supposed that among these Galileans were foreigners also from many other parts of the world, who, mingling with Christ’s disciples, had joined in their devotions, and caught their enthusiasm. Seeing this assembly thus made up, now occupied in speaking violently and confusedly in these various languages, they at once concluded that they were under the influence of some artificial exhilarant, and supposed that during this great festal occasion they had been betrayed into some unseasonable jollity, and were now under the excitement of hard drinking. Such as took this cool view of the matter, therefore, immediately explained the whole by charging the excited speakers with drunkenness. But Peter, on hearing this scandalous charge, rose up, as the leader and defender of these objects of public notice, and repelled the contemptuous suggestion that he and his companions had been abusing the occasion of rational religious enjoyment, to the purposes of intemperateand riotous merriment. Calling on all present for their attention, both foreign Jews and those settled in Jerusalem, he told them that the violent emotions which had excited their surprise could not be caused by wine, as it was then but nine o’clock in the morning, and as they well knew, it was contrary to all common habits of life to suppose that before that early hour, these men could have been exposed to any such temptation. They knew that the universal fashion of the devout Jews was to take no food whatever on the great days of public worship, until after their return from morning prayers in the temple. How then could these men, thus devoutly occupied since rising, have found opportunity to indulge in intoxicating drinks?Peter then proceeded to refer them for a more just explanation of this strange occurrence, to the long recorded testimonies of the ancient prophets, which most distinctly announced such powerful displays of religious zeal and knowledge, as about to happen in those later days, of which the present moment seemed the beginning. He quoted to them a passage from Joel, which pointedly set forth these and many other wonders with the distinctness of reality, and showed them how all these striking words were connected with the fate of that Jesus whom they had so lately sacrificed. He now, for the first time, publicly declared to them, that this Jesus, whom they had vainly subjected to a disgraceful death, had by the power of God been raised from the grave to a glorious and immortal life. Of this fact he assured them that all the disciples were the witnesses, having seen him with their own eyes after his return to life. He now showed them in what manner the resurrection of Jesus might be explained and illustrated by the words of David, and how the psalm itself might be made to appear in a new light, by interpreting it in accordance with these recent events. He concluded this high-toned and forcible appeal to scripture and to fact, by calling them imperatively to learn and believe. “Let all the house of Israel know, then, that God has made this Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” This declaration, thus solemnly made and powerfully supported, in connection with the surprising circumstances which had just occurred, had a most striking and convincing effect on the hearers, and almost the whole multitude giving way to their feelings of awe and compunction, being stung with the remembrance of the share they had had in the murder of Jesus, cried out, as with one voice, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter’s instant reply was,“Change your mind, and be each one of you baptized to the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” That same divine influence, whose in-workings had just been so wonderfully displayed before their eyes, was now promised to them, as the seal of Christ’s acceptance of the offer of themselves in the preliminary sign of baptism. To them and to their children, upon whom, fifty days before, they had solemnly invoked the curse of the murdered Redeemer’s blood, was this benignant promise of pardoning love now made; and not only to them, but to all, however far off in place or in feeling, whom their common Lord and God should call to him. Inspired with the glorious prospect of success now opening to him, and moved to new earnestness by their devout and alarmed attention, Peter zealously went on, and spoke to them many other words, of which the sacred historian has given us only the brief but powerful concluding exhortation,——“Suffer yourselves to be saved from this perverse generation,”——from those who had involved themselves and their race in the evils resulting to them from their wicked rejection of the truth offered by Jesus. The whole Jewish nation stood at that time charged with the guilt of rejecting the Messiah; nor could any individual be cleared from his share of responsibility for the crime, except by coming out and distinctly professing his faith in Christ.THE CHURCH’S INCREASE.The success which followed Peter’s first effort in preaching the gospel of his murdered and risen Lord, was most cheering. Those who heard him on this occasion, gladly receiving his words, were baptized, and on that same day converts to the number of three thousand were added to the disciples. How must these glorious results, and all the events of the day, have lifted up the hearts of the apostles, and moved them to new and still bolder efforts in their great cause! They now knew and felt the true force of their Master’s promise, that they should “be indued with power from on high;” for what less than such power could in one day have wrought such a change in the hearts of the haughty Jews, as to make them submissive hearers of the followers of the lately crucified Nazarene, and bring over such immense numbers of converts to the new faith, as to swell the small and feeble band of disciples to more than twenty times its former size? Nor did the impression made on this multitude prove tobe a mere transient excitement; for we are assured that “they held steadily to the doctrine taught by the apostles, and kept company with them in all their daily religious duties and social enjoyments.” So permanent and complete was this change, as to cause universal astonishment among those who had not been made the subjects of it; and the number of those who heard the amazing story, must have been so much the greater at that time, as there was then at Jerusalem so large an assemblage of Jews from almost every part of the civilized world. On this account, it seems to have been most wisely ordered that this first public preaching of the Christian faith, and this great manifestation of its power over the hearts of men, should take place on this festal occasion, when its influence might at once more widely and quickly spread than by any other human means. The foreign Jews then at Jerusalem, being witnesses of these wonderful things, would not fail, on their return home, to give the whole affair a prominent place in their account of their pilgrimage, when they recounted their various adventures and observations to their inquiring friends. Among these visitors, too, were probably some who were themselves on this occasion converted to the new faith, and each one of these would be a sort of missionary, preaching Christ crucified to his countrymen in his distant home, and telling them of a way to God, which their fathers had not known. The many miracles wrought by the apostles, as signs of their authority, served to swell the fame of the Christian cause, and added new incidents to the fast-traveling and far-spreading story, which, wherever it went, prepared the people to hear the apostles with interest and respect, when, in obedience to their Lord’s last charge, they should go forth to distant lands, preaching the gospel.PETER’S PROMINENCE.This vast addition to the assembly of the disciples at Jerusalem, made it necessary for the apostles to complete some farther arrangements, to suit their enlarged circumstances; and at this period the first church of Christ in the world seems to have so far perfected its organization as to answer very nearly to the modern idea of a permanent religious community. The church of Jerusalem was an individual worshiping assembly, that at this time met daily for prayer and exhortation, with twelve ministers who officiated as occasion needed, without any order of service, as far as we know, except such as depended on their individual weight of character, their natural abilities or their knowledge ofthe doctrines of their Lord. Among these, the three most favored by Christ’s private instructions would have a natural pre-eminence, and above all, he who had been especially named as the rock on which the church should be built, and as the keeper of the keys of the kingdom, and had been solemnly and repeatedly commissioned as the pastor and leader of the flock, would now maintain an undisputed pre-eminence, unless he should by some actual misconduct prove himself unworthy of the rank. Such a pre-eminence it is unquestionable that Peter always did maintain among the apostles; and so decidedly too, that on every occasion when any thing was to be said or done by them as a body, Peter invariably stands out alone, as the undisputed representative and head of the whole community. Indeed the whole history of the apostles, after the ascension, gives but a single instance in which the words of any one of the twelve besides Peter are recorded, or where any one of them, except in that single case, is named as having said any thing whatever. On every occasion of this sort, the matters referred to were no more the concern of Peter than of any other of the twelve, yet they all seem to have been perfectly satisfied with quietly giving up the expression of their views to him. One instance, indeed, occurs, in which some persons attempted to blame his conduct when on a private mission, but even then his explanation of his behavior hushed all complaint. Often, when he was publicly engaged in the company of John, the most beloved of Jesus, and his faithful witness, it would seem that if there was any assumption by Peter of more than due importance, this distinguished son of Zebedee or his equally honored brother would have taken such a share in speaking and doing, as would have secured them an equal prominence. But no such low jealousies ever appear to have arisen among the apostles; not one seems to have had a thought about making himself an object of public notice, but their common and unanimous care was to advance their great Master’s cause, without reference to individual distinctions. Peter’s natural force of character and high place in his Master’s confidence, justified the ascendency which he on all public occasions claimed as his indisputable right, in which the rest acquiesced without a murmur.THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY.In the constitution of the first church of Christ, there seems to have been no other noticeable peculiarity, than the number of its ministers, and even this in reality amounted to nothing; for thedecided pre-eminence and superior qualifications of Peter were such as, in effect, to make him the sole pastor and preacher for a long time, while the other apostles do not seem to have performed any duty much higher than that of mere assistants to him, or exhorters, and perhaps teachers. Still, not a day could pass when every one of them would not be required to labor in some way for the gospel; and indeed the sacred historian uniformly speaks ofthemin the plural number, as laboring together and alike in the common cause. Thus they went on quietly and humbly laboring, with a pure zeal which was as indifferent to fame and earthly honor, as to the acquisition or preservation of earthly wealth. They are said to have held all things common, which is to be understood, however, not as implying literally that the rich renounced all individual right to what they owned, but that they stood ready to provide for the needy to the full extent of their property, and in that sense, all these pecuniary resources were made ascommonas if they were formally thrown into one public stock, out of which every man drew as suited his own needs. To an ordinary reader, this passage, taken by itself, might seem to convey fully the latter meaning; but a reference to other passages, and to the whole history of the primitive Christians, shows clearly, that a real and literal community of goods was totally unknown to them, but that in the bold and free language of the age and country, they are said to have “had all things in common,” just as among us, a man may say to his friend, “My house is yours;——consider every thing I have as your own property;” and yet no one would ever construe this into a surrender of his individual rights of possession. So the wealthy converts to the Christian faith sold their estates and goods, as occasion required, for the sake of having ready money to relieve the wants of those who had no means of support. Thus provided for, the apostles steadily pursued their great work, passing the greater part of every day in the temple; but taking their food at home, they ate what was so freely and generously provided, with thankful and unanxious hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. In these happy and useful employments they continued, every day finding new sources of enjoyment and new encouragement, in the accession of redeemed ones to their blessed community.Taking their food at home.——This is my interpretation ofκλωντες κατ’ οἶκον αρτον, (klontes kat’ oikon arton.) Actsii.46, commonly translated “breaking bread from house tohouse,” a version which is still supported by many names of high authority; but the attendant circumstances here seem to justify this variation from them. A reference to the passage will show that the historian is speaking of their regular unanimous attendance in the temple, and says, “they attended every day with one accord in the temple,” that is, during the regular hours of daily worship, but as they would not suffer untimely devotion to interfere with their reasonable conveniences, he adds, “they broke bread,” (a Hebraistic form of expression for simply “taking food,”) “at home, and partook of their food in humility and thankfulness.” This seems to me, to require a sort of opposition in sense betweenἱερον, (hieron,) “temple,” andοικος, (oikos,) “house” or “home,” for it seems as if the writer of the Acts wished in these few words, to give a complete account of the manner in which they occupied themselves, devoting all their time to public devotion in the temple except that, as was most seemly, they returned to their houses to take their♦necessary food, which they did humbly and joyfully. But thedistributiveforce which some wish to put uponκατ’ οἶκον, by translating it “from house to house,” is one which does not seem to be required at all by any thing in the connection, and one which needs a vast deal of speculation and explanation to make it appear why they should go “from house to house,” about so simple a matter of fact as that of eating their victuals, which every man could certainly do to best advantage at one steady boarding-place. That the expression,κατ’ οἶκον, most commonly means “at home,” is abundantly proved by standard common Greek usage, as shown in the best Lexicons. Butκατα, in connexion with a singular noun, has thedistributiveforce only when the noun itself is of such a character and connection in the sentence as torequirethis meaning. Thusκατα μηνα, would hardly ever be suspected of any other meaning than “monthly,” or “every month,” or “from month to month;”——soκατα πολειςmeans “from city to city,” but the singularκατα πολιν, almost uniformly means “in a city,” without any distributive application, except where the other words in the sentence imply this idea. (Actsxv.21:xx.23.) But here the simple common meaning of the prepositionκατα, when governing the accusative, (that is, the meaning of “at” or “in” a place,) is not merely allowed, but required by the other words in the connection, in order to give a meaning which requires no other explanation, and which corresponds to the word “temple” in the other clause; for the whole account seems to require an opposition in these words, as describing the two places where the disciples passed their time.♦“neeessary” replaced with “necessary”There are great names, however, opposed to this view, which seem enough to overpower almost any testimony that can be brought in defense of an interpretation which they reject. Among these are Kuinoel, Rosenmueller, Ernesti, and Bloomfield, whose very names will perhaps weigh more with many, than the hasty statement of the contrary view which I am able here to give. Yet I am not wholly without the support of high authorities; for De Dieu, Bengel, Heinrichs, Hammond, and Oecumenius, reject thedistributivesense here.THE CURE OF THE CRIPPLE.In the course of these regular religious observances, about the same time or soon after the events just recorded, Peter and John went up to the temple to pray, at three o’clock in the afternoon, the usual hour for the second public prayers. As they went in at the outer gate of the temple, which being made of polished Corinthian brass, was for its splendor called theBeautiful, their attention was called to one of the objects of pity which were so common on those great days of assembly, about the common places of resort. A man, who, by universal testimony, had been a cripple from his birth, was lying in a helpless attitude at this public entrance, in order to excite the compassion of the crowds who were constantly passing into the temple, and were in that place so much under the influence of religious feeling as tobe easily moved by pity to exercise so prominent a religious duty as charity to the distressed. This man seeing Peter and John passing in, asked aims of them in his usual way. They both instantly turned their eyes towards him, and looking earnestly on him, Peter said, “Look on us.” The cripple, supposing from their manner that they were about to give something to him, accordingly yielded them his interested attention. Peter then said to him, “Silver and gold have I none, but I give thee what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, rise up and walk.” As he said this, he took hold of the lame man and raised him; and he at once was able to support himself erect. Leaping up in the consciousness of strength, he stood and walked with them into the temple, expressing thankfulness and joy as he went, both by motions and words. The attention of the worshiping assembly in the great courts of the temple was at once directed to this strange circumstance; for all who had passed in at the gate, recognized this vivacious companion of the two apostles, as the man who had all his life been a cripple, without the power of voluntary locomotion, and they were utterly amazed at his present altered condition and actions. As the recovered cripple, leaning on Peter and John, still half doubting his new strength, accompanied them on to the porch of Solomon, the whole multitude ran after them thither, still in the greatest astonishment. All eyes were at once turned to the two wonderful men who had caused this miraculous change, and the astonishment which this deed had inspired must have been mingled with awe and reverence. Here surely was an occasion to test the honesty and sincerity of these followers of Christ, when they saw the whole people thus unhesitatingly giving to them the divine honor of this miraculous cure. What an opportunity for a calculating ambition to secure power, favor, and renown! Yet, with all these golden chances placed temptingly within their reach, they, so lately longing for the honors of an earthly dominion, but now changed by the inworkings of a purer spirit and a holier zeal, turned calmly and firmly to the people, utterly disclaiming the honor and glory of the deed, but rendering all the praise to their crucified Lord. Peter, ever ready with eloquent words, immediately addressed the awe-struck throngs who listened in silence to his inspired language, and distinctly declared the merit of this action to belong not to him and his companion, but to “that same Jesus, whom they, but a short time before, had rejected and putto death as an impostor.” He then went on to charge them boldly with the guilt of this murder, and summing up the evidences and consequences of their crime, he called on them to repent, and yield to this slain and risen Jesus the honors due to the Messiah. It was his name which, through faith in his name, had made this lame man strong, and restored him to all his bodily energies, in the presence of them all. That name, too, would be equally powerful to save them through faith, if they would turn to him, the prophet foretold by Moses, by Samuel, and all the prophets that followed them, as the restorer and leader of Israel, and through whom, as was promised to Abraham,all the families of the earthshould be blest. But first of all to them, the favored children of Abraham, did God send his prophet-son, to bless them in turning away every one of them from their iniquities.The beautiful gate.——The learned Lightfoot has brought much deep research to bear on this point, as to the position of this gate and the true meaning of its name; yet he is obliged to announce the dubious result in the expressive words, “In bivio hic stamus,” (“we here stand at a fork of the road.”) The main difficulty consists in the ambiguous character of the word translated “beautiful,” in Greek,Ὡραιαν, (horaian,) which may have the sense of “splendid,” “beautiful,” or, in better keeping with its root,Ὡρα, (hora,) “time,” it may be made to mean the “gate of time.” Now, what favors the latter derivation and translation, is the fact that there actually was, as appears from the Rabbinical writings, a gate called Hhuldah, (חולדה) probably derived fromחלד(hheledh) “age,” “time,” “life,”——from the Arabic rootخلد(khaladh) “endure,” “last,” so that it may mean “lasting or permanent.” There were two gates of this name distinguished by the termsgreaterandsmaller, both opening into the court of the Gentiles from the greatsouthernporch or colonnade, called the Royal colonnade. Through these, the common way from Jerusalem and from Zion led into the temple, and through these would be the natural entrance of the apostles into it. This greatroyal porch, also, where such vast numbers were passing, and which afforded a convenient shelter from the weather, would be a convenient place for a cripple to post himself in.There was, however, another gate, to which the epithet “beautiful” might with eminent justice be applied. This is thus described by Josephus. (Jewish War. bookV.chapter 5, section 3.) “Of the gates, nine were overlaid with gold and silver,——* * * but there was one on the outside of the temple, made of Corinthian brass, which far outshone the plated and gilded ones.” This is the gate to which the passage is commonly supposed to refer, and which I have mentioned as the true one in the text, without feeling at all decided on the subject, however; for I certainly do think the testimony favors the gate Huldah, and the primary sense of the wordὩραιαseems to be best consulted by such a construction.The porch of Solomon.——Στοα Σολομωνος, (stoa Solomonos.) This was the name commonly applied to the great eastern colonnade of the temple, which ran along on the top of the vast terrace which made the gigantic rampart of Mount Moriah, rising from the depth of six hundred feet out of the valley of the Kedron. (See note on page94.) The Greek word,στοα, (stoa,) commonly translated “porch,” does not necessarily imply an entrance to a building, as is generally true of our modernporches, but was a general name for a “colonnade,” which is a much better expression for its meaning, and would always convey a correct notion of it; for its primary and universal idea is that of a row of columns running along the side of a building, and leaving a broad open space between them and the wall, often so wide as to make room for a vast assemblage of people beneath the ceiling of the architrave. That this was the case in thisSTOA, appears from Josephus’ description given in my note on page95, section 1. Thestoamight be so placed as to be perfectly inaccessible fromwithout, and thus lose all claim to the name ofporch, with the idea of an entrance-way. This was exactly the situation and construction of Solomon’sstoa, which answers much better to our idea of agallery, than of a porch. (See Donnegan,sub voc.)It took the name of Solomon, from the fact that when the great temple of that magnificent king was burned and torn down by the Chaldeans, this eastern terrace, as originally constructed by him, was too vast, and too deeply based, to be easily made the subject of such a destroying visitation, and consequently was by necessity left a lasting monument of the strength and grandeur of the temple which had stood upon it. When the second temple was rebuilt, this vast terrace of course became again the great eastern foundation of the sacred pile, but received important additions to itself, being strengthened by higher and broader walls, and new accessions of mounded earth; while over its long trampled and profaned pavement, now beautified and renewed with splendid Mosaic, rose the mighty range of gigantic snow-white marble columns, which gave it the name and character of aSTOAorcolonnade, and filled the country for a vast distance with the glory of its pure brightness. (See note on page95. See also Lightfoot, Disquisit. Chor.cap. vi.§ 2.) Josephus further describes it, explaining the very name which Luke uses. “And this was a colonnade of the outer temple, standing over the verge of a deep valley, on walls four hundred cubits in highth, built of hewn stones perfectly white,——the length of each stone being twenty cubits, and the highth six.It was the work ofSolomon, who first built the whole temple.” (Josephus, Antiquities,XX.viii.7.)

THE PENTECOST.After the ascension, all the apostles seem to have removed their families and business from Galilee, and to have made Jerusalem their permanent abode. From this time no more mention is made of any part of Galilee as the home of Peter or his friends; and even the lake, with its cities, so long hallowed by the presence and the deeds of the son of man, was thenceforth entirely left to the low and vulgar pursuits which the dwellers of that region had formerly followed upon it, without disturbance from the preaching and the miracles of the Nazarene. The apostles finding themselves in Jerusalem the object of odious, or at best of contemptuous notice from the great body of the citizens, being known as Galileans and as followers of the crucified Jesus, therefore settled themselves in such a manner as would best secure their comfortable and social subsistence. When they came back to the city from Galilee, (having parted from their Master on the Olive mount, about a mile off,) they went up into a chamber in a private house, where all the eleven passed the whole time, together with their wives, and the women who had followed Jesus, and with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brethren. These all continued with one accord in this place, with prayer and supplication, at the same time no doubt comforting and instructing one another in those things, of which a knowledge would be requisite or convenient for the successful prosecution of their great enterprise, on which they were soon to embark. In the course of these devout and studious pursuits, the circumstances and number of those enrolled by Christ in the apostolic band, became naturally a subject of consideration and discussion, and they were particularly led to notice the gap made among them, by the sad and disgraceful defection of Judas Iscariot. This deficiency the Savior had not thought of sufficient importance to need to be filled by a nomination made by him, during the brief period of his stay among them after his resurrection, when far more weighty matters called his attention. It was their wish however, to complete their number as originally constituted by their Master, and in reference to the immediate executionof this pious and wise purpose, Peter, as their leader, forcibly and eloquently addressed them, when not less than one hundred and twenty were assembled. The details of his speech, and the conclusion of the business, are deferred to the account of the lives of those persons who were the subjects of the transaction. In mentioning it now, it is only worth while to notice, that Peter here stands most distinctly and decidedly forward, as the director of the whole affair, and such was his weight in the management of a matter so important, that his words seem to have had the force of law; for without further discussion, commending the decision to God in prayer, they adopted the action suggested by him, and filled the vacancy with the person apparently designated by God. In the faithful and steady confidence that they were soon to receive, according to the promise of their risen Lord, some new and remarkable gift from above, which was to be to them at once the seal of their divine commission, and their most important equipment for their new duties, the apostles waited in Jerusalem until the great Jewish feast of the pentecost. This feast is so named from a Greek word meaning “fiftieth,” because it always came on the fiftieth day after the day of the passover feast. Jesus had finally disappeared from his disciples about forty days after his resurrection,——that is forty-two days after the great day of the passover, which will leave just one week for the time which passed between the ascension and the day of pentecost. These seven days the apostolic assembly had passed in such pursuits as might form the best preparation for the great event they were expecting. Assembled in their sacred chamber, they occupied themselves in prayer and exhortation. At length the great feast arrived, on which the Jews, according to the special command of Moses, commemorated the day, on which of old God gave the law to their fathers, on Mount Sinai, amid thunder and lightning. On this festal occasion, great numbers of Jews who had settled in different remote parts of the world, were in the habit of coming back to their father-land, and their holy city, to renew their devotion in the one great temple of their ancient faith, there to offer up the sacrifices of gratitude to their fathers’ God, who had prospered them even in strange lands among the heathen. The Jews were then, as now, a wandering, colonizing people wherever they went, yet remained perfectly distinct in manners, dress and religion, never mixing in marriage with the people among whom they dwelt, but every where bringing up a true Israelitish race, to worship theGod of Abraham with a pure religion, uncontaminated by the idolatries around them. There was hardly any part of the world, where Roman conquest had planted its golden eagles, to which Jewish mercantile enterprise did not also push its adventurous way, in the steady pursuit of gainful traffic. The three grand divisions of the world swarmed with these faithful followers of the true law of God, and from the remotest regions, each year, gathered a fresh host of pilgrims, who came from afar, many for the first time, to worship the God of their fathers in their fathers’ land. Amid this fast gathering throng, the feeble band of the apostles, unknown and unnoticed, were assembled in their usual place of meeting, and employed in their usual devout occupations. Not merely the twelve, but all the friends of Christ in Jerusalem, to the number of one hundred and twenty, were here awaiting, in prayer, the long promised Comforter from the Father. All of a sudden, the sound of a mighty wind, rushing upon the building, roared around them, and filled the apartments with its appalling noise, rousing them from the religious quiet to which they had given themselves up. Nor were their ears alone made sensible of the approach of some strange event. In the midst of the gathering gloom which the wind-driven clouds naturally spread over all, flashes of light were seen by them, and lambent flames playing around, lighted at last upon them. At once the anxious prayers with which they had awaited the coming of the Comforter, were hushed: they needed no longer to urge the fulfilment of their Master’s word; for in the awful rush of that mighty wind, they recognized the voice they had so long expected, and in that solemn sound, they knew the tone of the promised Spirit. The approach of that feast-day must have raised their expectations of this promised visitation to the highest pitch. They knew that this great national festival was celebrated in commemoration of the giving of the old law on Mount Sinai to their fathers, through Moses, and that no occasion could be more appropriate or impressive for the full revelation of the perfect law which the last restorer of Israel had come to teach and proclaim. The ancient law had been given on Sinai, in storm and thunder and fire; when therefore, they heard the roar of the mighty wind about them, the firm conviction of the approach of their new revelation must have possessed their minds at once. They saw too, the dazzling flash of flame among them, and perceived, with awe, strange masses of light, in the shape of tongues, settling with a tremulous motion onthe head of each of them. The tempest and the fire were the symbols of God’s presence on Sinai of old, and from the same signs joined with these new phenomena, they now learned that the aid of God was thus given to equip them with the powers and energies needful for their success in the wider publication of the doctrine of Christ. With these tokens of a divine presence around them, their feelings and thoughts were raised to the highest pitch of joy and exultation; and being conscious of a new impulse working in them, they were seized with a sacred glow of enthusiasm, so that they gave utterance to these new emotions in words as new to them as their sensations, and spoke in different languages, praising God for this glorious fulfilment of his promise, as this holy influence inspired them.

THE PENTECOST.

After the ascension, all the apostles seem to have removed their families and business from Galilee, and to have made Jerusalem their permanent abode. From this time no more mention is made of any part of Galilee as the home of Peter or his friends; and even the lake, with its cities, so long hallowed by the presence and the deeds of the son of man, was thenceforth entirely left to the low and vulgar pursuits which the dwellers of that region had formerly followed upon it, without disturbance from the preaching and the miracles of the Nazarene. The apostles finding themselves in Jerusalem the object of odious, or at best of contemptuous notice from the great body of the citizens, being known as Galileans and as followers of the crucified Jesus, therefore settled themselves in such a manner as would best secure their comfortable and social subsistence. When they came back to the city from Galilee, (having parted from their Master on the Olive mount, about a mile off,) they went up into a chamber in a private house, where all the eleven passed the whole time, together with their wives, and the women who had followed Jesus, and with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brethren. These all continued with one accord in this place, with prayer and supplication, at the same time no doubt comforting and instructing one another in those things, of which a knowledge would be requisite or convenient for the successful prosecution of their great enterprise, on which they were soon to embark. In the course of these devout and studious pursuits, the circumstances and number of those enrolled by Christ in the apostolic band, became naturally a subject of consideration and discussion, and they were particularly led to notice the gap made among them, by the sad and disgraceful defection of Judas Iscariot. This deficiency the Savior had not thought of sufficient importance to need to be filled by a nomination made by him, during the brief period of his stay among them after his resurrection, when far more weighty matters called his attention. It was their wish however, to complete their number as originally constituted by their Master, and in reference to the immediate executionof this pious and wise purpose, Peter, as their leader, forcibly and eloquently addressed them, when not less than one hundred and twenty were assembled. The details of his speech, and the conclusion of the business, are deferred to the account of the lives of those persons who were the subjects of the transaction. In mentioning it now, it is only worth while to notice, that Peter here stands most distinctly and decidedly forward, as the director of the whole affair, and such was his weight in the management of a matter so important, that his words seem to have had the force of law; for without further discussion, commending the decision to God in prayer, they adopted the action suggested by him, and filled the vacancy with the person apparently designated by God. In the faithful and steady confidence that they were soon to receive, according to the promise of their risen Lord, some new and remarkable gift from above, which was to be to them at once the seal of their divine commission, and their most important equipment for their new duties, the apostles waited in Jerusalem until the great Jewish feast of the pentecost. This feast is so named from a Greek word meaning “fiftieth,” because it always came on the fiftieth day after the day of the passover feast. Jesus had finally disappeared from his disciples about forty days after his resurrection,——that is forty-two days after the great day of the passover, which will leave just one week for the time which passed between the ascension and the day of pentecost. These seven days the apostolic assembly had passed in such pursuits as might form the best preparation for the great event they were expecting. Assembled in their sacred chamber, they occupied themselves in prayer and exhortation. At length the great feast arrived, on which the Jews, according to the special command of Moses, commemorated the day, on which of old God gave the law to their fathers, on Mount Sinai, amid thunder and lightning. On this festal occasion, great numbers of Jews who had settled in different remote parts of the world, were in the habit of coming back to their father-land, and their holy city, to renew their devotion in the one great temple of their ancient faith, there to offer up the sacrifices of gratitude to their fathers’ God, who had prospered them even in strange lands among the heathen. The Jews were then, as now, a wandering, colonizing people wherever they went, yet remained perfectly distinct in manners, dress and religion, never mixing in marriage with the people among whom they dwelt, but every where bringing up a true Israelitish race, to worship theGod of Abraham with a pure religion, uncontaminated by the idolatries around them. There was hardly any part of the world, where Roman conquest had planted its golden eagles, to which Jewish mercantile enterprise did not also push its adventurous way, in the steady pursuit of gainful traffic. The three grand divisions of the world swarmed with these faithful followers of the true law of God, and from the remotest regions, each year, gathered a fresh host of pilgrims, who came from afar, many for the first time, to worship the God of their fathers in their fathers’ land. Amid this fast gathering throng, the feeble band of the apostles, unknown and unnoticed, were assembled in their usual place of meeting, and employed in their usual devout occupations. Not merely the twelve, but all the friends of Christ in Jerusalem, to the number of one hundred and twenty, were here awaiting, in prayer, the long promised Comforter from the Father. All of a sudden, the sound of a mighty wind, rushing upon the building, roared around them, and filled the apartments with its appalling noise, rousing them from the religious quiet to which they had given themselves up. Nor were their ears alone made sensible of the approach of some strange event. In the midst of the gathering gloom which the wind-driven clouds naturally spread over all, flashes of light were seen by them, and lambent flames playing around, lighted at last upon them. At once the anxious prayers with which they had awaited the coming of the Comforter, were hushed: they needed no longer to urge the fulfilment of their Master’s word; for in the awful rush of that mighty wind, they recognized the voice they had so long expected, and in that solemn sound, they knew the tone of the promised Spirit. The approach of that feast-day must have raised their expectations of this promised visitation to the highest pitch. They knew that this great national festival was celebrated in commemoration of the giving of the old law on Mount Sinai to their fathers, through Moses, and that no occasion could be more appropriate or impressive for the full revelation of the perfect law which the last restorer of Israel had come to teach and proclaim. The ancient law had been given on Sinai, in storm and thunder and fire; when therefore, they heard the roar of the mighty wind about them, the firm conviction of the approach of their new revelation must have possessed their minds at once. They saw too, the dazzling flash of flame among them, and perceived, with awe, strange masses of light, in the shape of tongues, settling with a tremulous motion onthe head of each of them. The tempest and the fire were the symbols of God’s presence on Sinai of old, and from the same signs joined with these new phenomena, they now learned that the aid of God was thus given to equip them with the powers and energies needful for their success in the wider publication of the doctrine of Christ. With these tokens of a divine presence around them, their feelings and thoughts were raised to the highest pitch of joy and exultation; and being conscious of a new impulse working in them, they were seized with a sacred glow of enthusiasm, so that they gave utterance to these new emotions in words as new to them as their sensations, and spoke in different languages, praising God for this glorious fulfilment of his promise, as this holy influence inspired them.

An upper room.——The location of this chamber has been the subject of a vast quantity of learned discussion, a complete view of which would far exceed my limits. The great point mooted has been, whether this place was in a private house or in the temple. The passage in Lukexxiv.53, where it is said that the apostles “were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God,” has led many to suppose that the same writer, in this continuation of the gospel story, must have had reference to some part of the temple, in speaking of the upper room as the place of their abode. In the Actsii.46, also, he has made a similar remark, which I can best explain when that part of the story is given. The learned Krebsius (Observationes in Novvm Testamentvm e Flavio Iosepho,pp.162–164) has given a fine argument, most elegantly elaborated with quotations from Josephus, in which he makes it apparently quite certain from the grammatical construction, and from the correspondence of terms with Josephus’s description of the temple, that this upper room must have been there. It is true, that Josephus mentions particularly a division of the inner temple, on the upper side of it, under the name ofὑπερῳον, (hyperoon,) which is the word used by Luke in this passage, but Krebsius in attempting to prove this to be a place in which the disciples might be constantly assembled, has made several errors in the plan of the later temple, which I have not time to point out, since there are other proofs of the impossibility of their meeting there, which will take up all the space I can bestow on the subject. Krebsius has furthermore overlooked entirely the following part of the text in Actsi.13, where it is said, that when they returned to Jerusalem, “they went up into an upper roomwhere they had been staying,” in Greek,οὑ ησαν καταμενοντες, (hou esan katamenontes,) commonly translated “theyabode.” The true force of this use of the present participle with the verb of existence isrepeatedaction, as is frequently true of the imperfect of that verb in such combinations. Kuinoel justly gives it this force,——“ubi commorarisiveconvenire solebant.” But the decisive proof against the notion that this room was in the temple, is this. In specifying the persons there assembled, it is said, (Actsi.14,) that the disciples were assembled there with thewomenof the company. Now it is most distinctly specified in all descriptions of the temple, that the women were always limited to one particular division of the temple, called the “women’s court.” Josephus is very particular in specifying this important fact in the arrangements of the temple. (Jewish War,V.5.2.) “A place on this part of the temple specially devoted to the religious use of the women, being entirely separated from the rest by a wall, it was necessary that there should be another entrance to this. * * * There were on the other sides of this place two gates, one on the north and one on the south, through which the court of the women was entered; for women were not allowed to enter through any others.” (AlsoV.5,6.) “But women, even when pure, were not allowed to pass within the limit before mentioned.” This makes it evident beyond all doubt, that women could never be allowed to assemble with men in this upper chamber within the forbidden precincts, to which indeed it was impossible for them to have access, entering the temple through two private doors, and using only one court, which was cut off by an impenetrable wall, from all communication with any other part of the sacred inclosure.

This seems to me an argument abundantly sufficient to upset all that has ever been said in favor of the location of this upper apartment within the temple; and my only wonder is, that so many learned critics should have perplexed themselves and others with various notions about the matter, when this single fact is so perfectly conclusive.

Theupper room, then, must have been in some private house, belonging to some wealthy friend of Christ, who gladly received the apostles within his walls. Every Jewish house had in its upper story a large room of this sort, which served as a dining-room, (Markxiv.15: Lukexxii.12,) a parlor, or an oratory for private or social worship. (See Bloomfield’s Annotations, Actsi.13.) Some have very foolishly supposed this to have been the house of Simon the leper, (Matthewxxvi.6,) but his house was in Bethany, and therefore by no means answers the description of their entering it after their return to Jerusalem from Bethany. Others, with more probability, the house of Nicodemus, the wealthy Pharisee; but the most reasonable supposition, perhaps, is that of Beza, who concludes this to have been the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, which we know to have been afterwards used as a place of religious assembly. (Actsxii.12.) Others have also, with some reason, suggested that this was no doubt the same “upper room furnished,” in which Jesus had eaten the last supper with his disciples. These two last suppositions are not inconsistent with each other.

Tongues of fire.——This is a classic Hebrew expression for “a lambent flame,” and is the same used by Isaiah, (v.24,) where the Hebrew isלשון אש(leshon esh,) “a tongue of fire;”——commonly translated, simply “fire.” In that passage there seems to be a sort of poetical reference to the tongue, as an organ used in devouring food, (“as the tongue of fire devoureth the stubble,”) but there is abundant reason to believe that the expression was originally deduced from the natural similitude of a rising flame to a tongue, being pointed and flexible, as well as waving in its outlines, and playing about with a motion like that of licking, whence the Latin expression of “alambentflame,”——fromlambo, “lick.” Wetstein aptly observes, that a flame of fire, in the form of a divided tongue, was a sign of the gift of tongues, corresponding to the Latin expressionbilinguis, and the Greekδιγλωσος, (diglossos,) “two-tongued,” as applied to persons skilled in a plurality of languages. He also with his usual classic richness, gives a splendid series of quotations illustrative of this idea of a lambent flame denoting the presence of divine favor, or inspiration imparted to the person about whom the symbol appeared. Bloomfield copies these quotations, and also draws illustrations in point, from other sources.

My own opinion of thenatureof this whole phenomenon is that of Michaelis, Rosenmueller, Paulus and Kuinoel,——that a tremendous tempest actually descended at the time, bringing down clouds highly charged with electricity, which was not discharged in the usual mode, by thunder and lightning, but quietly streamed from the air to the earth, and wherever it passed from the air upon any tolerable conductor, it made itself manifest in the darkness occasioned by the thick clouds, in the form of those pencils of rays, with which every one is familiar who has seen electrical experiments in a dark room; and which are well described by the expression, “cloven tongues of fire.” The temple itself being covered and spiked with gold, the best of all conductors, would quietly draw off a vast quantity of electricity, which, passing through the building, would thus manifest itself on those within the chambers of the temple, if we may suppose the apostles to have been there assembled. These appearances are very common in peculiar electrical conditions of the air, and there are many of my readers, no doubt, who have seen them. At sea, they are often seen at night on the ends of the masts and yards, and are well known to sailors by the name which the Portuguese give them, “corpos santos,”——“holy bodies,”——connecting them with some popish superstitions. A reference to the large quotations given by Wetstein and Bloomfield, will show that this display at the pentecost is not the only occasion on which these electric phenomena were connected with spiritual mysteries. No one would have the slightest hesitation in explaining these passages in other credible historians, by this physical view; and I know no rule in logic or common sense,——no religious doctrine or theological principle, which compels me to explain two precisely similar phenomena of this character, in two totally different ways, because one of them is found in a heathen history, and the other in a sacred and inspired record. The vehicle thus chosen was not unworthy of making the peculiar manifestation of the presence of God, and of the outpouring of his spirit;——nor was it an unprecedented mode of his display. The awful thunder which shook old Sinai, and the lightnings which dazzled the eyes of the amazed Israelites, were real thunder and lightning,nor will an honest and reverent interpretation of the sacred text allow us to pronounce them acoustical and optical delusions. If they were real thunder and lightning, they were electrical discharges, and cannot be conceived of in any other way. Why should we hesitate at the notion that He who “holds the winds in the hollow of his hand,” and “makes a way for the lightning of thunder,” should use these same awful instruments as the symbols of his presence, to strike awe into the hearts of men, making the physical the token of the moral power; and accomplishing the deep prophetic meaning of the solemn words of the Psalmist, “He walks upon the wings of the wind——he makes the winds his messengers——the lightnings his ministers.” For this is the just translation of Psalmciv.4. See Lowth, Clarke, Whitby, Calmet, Thomson,&c.But Jaspis, Bloomfield, Stuart,&c., support the common version.

Were all assembled,&c.——It has been questioned whether this term, “all,” refers to the one hundred and twenty, or merely to the apostles, who are the persons mentioned in the preceding verse, (Actsi.26,ii.1,) and to whom it might be grammatically limited. There is nothing to hinder the supposition that all the brethren were present, and Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine and other ancient fathers, confirm this view. The place in which they met, need not, of course, be the same where the events of the preceding chapter occurred, but was very likely some one of the thirty apartments, (οικοι,oikoi, Josephus, Antiquities,viii.3.2,) which surrounded the inner court of the temple, where the apostles might very properly assemble at the third hour, which was the hour of morning prayer, and which is shown in verse 15, to have been the time of this occurrence. Besides, it is hard to conceive of this vast concourse of persons (verse 41,) as occurring in any other place than the temple, in whose vast and thronged courts it might easily happen, for Josephus says “that the apartments around the courts opened into each other,”ησαν δια αλληλων, “and there were entrances to them on both sides, from the gate of the temple,” thus affording a ready access on any sudden noise attracting attention towards them.

Foreign Jews staying in Jerusalem.——The phrase “dwelling,” (Actsii.5,) in the Greekκατοικουντες, (katoikountes,) does not necessarily imply a fixed residence, as Wolf and others try to make it appear, but is used in theLXX.in the sense of temporary residence; and seems here to be applied to foreign Jews, who chose to remain there, from the passover to the pentecost, but whosehomewas not in Jerusalem; for the context speaks of them as dwellers in Mesopotamia,&c.(verse 9.) A distinction is also made between two sorts of Jews among those who had come from Rome,——the Jews by birth and the proselytes, (verse 10,) showing that the Mosaic faith was flourishing, and making converts from the Gentiles there.

PETER’S SERMON.This wonderful event took place in the chamber of the temple, which they had used as a place of worship ever since their Lord’s departure. As the whole temple was now constantly thronged with worshipers, who were making their offerings on this great feast day, this room in which the followers of Jesus were devoutly employed, must, as well as all the others, have been visited by new comers: for the mere prior occupation of the room by the disciples, could not entitle them to exclude from a public place of that kind any person who might choose to enter. The multitude of devotees who filled all parts of the temple, soon heard of what was going on in this apartment, and came together to see and hear for themselves. When the inquiring crowds reached the spot, they found the followers of Christ breaking out in loud expressions of praise to God, and of exhortation, each in such a language as best suited his powers of expression, not confining themselves to the Hebrew, which in all places ofpublic worship, and especially in Jerusalem on the great festivals, was the only language of devotion. Among the crowds that thronged to the place of this strange occurrence, were Jews from many distant regions, whose language or dialects were as widely various as the national names which they bore. Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites,——those who dwelt in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt and Africa, and some even from distant Rome, were all among those who heard the spirit-moving language of the disciples. Some of the more scrupulous among these foreign Jews, were probably, notwithstanding their amazement, somewhat offended at this profanation of worship, in the public use of these heathen languages for the purposes of devotion; and with a mixture of wonder and displeasure they asked, “Are not all these men who are talking in these various languages, Galileans? How then are they able to show such an immense diversity of expression, so that all of us, even those from the most distant countries, hear them in our various languages, setting forth the praises of God?” And they were all surprised and perplexed, and said one to another, “What will this come to?” But to some who were present, the whole proceeding was so little impressive, and had so little appearance of anything miraculous, that they were moved only to expressions of contempt, and said, in a tone of ridicule, “These men are drunk on sweet wine.” This seems to show that to them there was no conclusive evidence of Divine agency in this speaking in various languages; and they, no doubt, supposed that among these Galileans were foreigners also from many other parts of the world, who, mingling with Christ’s disciples, had joined in their devotions, and caught their enthusiasm. Seeing this assembly thus made up, now occupied in speaking violently and confusedly in these various languages, they at once concluded that they were under the influence of some artificial exhilarant, and supposed that during this great festal occasion they had been betrayed into some unseasonable jollity, and were now under the excitement of hard drinking. Such as took this cool view of the matter, therefore, immediately explained the whole by charging the excited speakers with drunkenness. But Peter, on hearing this scandalous charge, rose up, as the leader and defender of these objects of public notice, and repelled the contemptuous suggestion that he and his companions had been abusing the occasion of rational religious enjoyment, to the purposes of intemperateand riotous merriment. Calling on all present for their attention, both foreign Jews and those settled in Jerusalem, he told them that the violent emotions which had excited their surprise could not be caused by wine, as it was then but nine o’clock in the morning, and as they well knew, it was contrary to all common habits of life to suppose that before that early hour, these men could have been exposed to any such temptation. They knew that the universal fashion of the devout Jews was to take no food whatever on the great days of public worship, until after their return from morning prayers in the temple. How then could these men, thus devoutly occupied since rising, have found opportunity to indulge in intoxicating drinks?Peter then proceeded to refer them for a more just explanation of this strange occurrence, to the long recorded testimonies of the ancient prophets, which most distinctly announced such powerful displays of religious zeal and knowledge, as about to happen in those later days, of which the present moment seemed the beginning. He quoted to them a passage from Joel, which pointedly set forth these and many other wonders with the distinctness of reality, and showed them how all these striking words were connected with the fate of that Jesus whom they had so lately sacrificed. He now, for the first time, publicly declared to them, that this Jesus, whom they had vainly subjected to a disgraceful death, had by the power of God been raised from the grave to a glorious and immortal life. Of this fact he assured them that all the disciples were the witnesses, having seen him with their own eyes after his return to life. He now showed them in what manner the resurrection of Jesus might be explained and illustrated by the words of David, and how the psalm itself might be made to appear in a new light, by interpreting it in accordance with these recent events. He concluded this high-toned and forcible appeal to scripture and to fact, by calling them imperatively to learn and believe. “Let all the house of Israel know, then, that God has made this Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” This declaration, thus solemnly made and powerfully supported, in connection with the surprising circumstances which had just occurred, had a most striking and convincing effect on the hearers, and almost the whole multitude giving way to their feelings of awe and compunction, being stung with the remembrance of the share they had had in the murder of Jesus, cried out, as with one voice, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter’s instant reply was,“Change your mind, and be each one of you baptized to the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” That same divine influence, whose in-workings had just been so wonderfully displayed before their eyes, was now promised to them, as the seal of Christ’s acceptance of the offer of themselves in the preliminary sign of baptism. To them and to their children, upon whom, fifty days before, they had solemnly invoked the curse of the murdered Redeemer’s blood, was this benignant promise of pardoning love now made; and not only to them, but to all, however far off in place or in feeling, whom their common Lord and God should call to him. Inspired with the glorious prospect of success now opening to him, and moved to new earnestness by their devout and alarmed attention, Peter zealously went on, and spoke to them many other words, of which the sacred historian has given us only the brief but powerful concluding exhortation,——“Suffer yourselves to be saved from this perverse generation,”——from those who had involved themselves and their race in the evils resulting to them from their wicked rejection of the truth offered by Jesus. The whole Jewish nation stood at that time charged with the guilt of rejecting the Messiah; nor could any individual be cleared from his share of responsibility for the crime, except by coming out and distinctly professing his faith in Christ.THE CHURCH’S INCREASE.The success which followed Peter’s first effort in preaching the gospel of his murdered and risen Lord, was most cheering. Those who heard him on this occasion, gladly receiving his words, were baptized, and on that same day converts to the number of three thousand were added to the disciples. How must these glorious results, and all the events of the day, have lifted up the hearts of the apostles, and moved them to new and still bolder efforts in their great cause! They now knew and felt the true force of their Master’s promise, that they should “be indued with power from on high;” for what less than such power could in one day have wrought such a change in the hearts of the haughty Jews, as to make them submissive hearers of the followers of the lately crucified Nazarene, and bring over such immense numbers of converts to the new faith, as to swell the small and feeble band of disciples to more than twenty times its former size? Nor did the impression made on this multitude prove tobe a mere transient excitement; for we are assured that “they held steadily to the doctrine taught by the apostles, and kept company with them in all their daily religious duties and social enjoyments.” So permanent and complete was this change, as to cause universal astonishment among those who had not been made the subjects of it; and the number of those who heard the amazing story, must have been so much the greater at that time, as there was then at Jerusalem so large an assemblage of Jews from almost every part of the civilized world. On this account, it seems to have been most wisely ordered that this first public preaching of the Christian faith, and this great manifestation of its power over the hearts of men, should take place on this festal occasion, when its influence might at once more widely and quickly spread than by any other human means. The foreign Jews then at Jerusalem, being witnesses of these wonderful things, would not fail, on their return home, to give the whole affair a prominent place in their account of their pilgrimage, when they recounted their various adventures and observations to their inquiring friends. Among these visitors, too, were probably some who were themselves on this occasion converted to the new faith, and each one of these would be a sort of missionary, preaching Christ crucified to his countrymen in his distant home, and telling them of a way to God, which their fathers had not known. The many miracles wrought by the apostles, as signs of their authority, served to swell the fame of the Christian cause, and added new incidents to the fast-traveling and far-spreading story, which, wherever it went, prepared the people to hear the apostles with interest and respect, when, in obedience to their Lord’s last charge, they should go forth to distant lands, preaching the gospel.PETER’S PROMINENCE.This vast addition to the assembly of the disciples at Jerusalem, made it necessary for the apostles to complete some farther arrangements, to suit their enlarged circumstances; and at this period the first church of Christ in the world seems to have so far perfected its organization as to answer very nearly to the modern idea of a permanent religious community. The church of Jerusalem was an individual worshiping assembly, that at this time met daily for prayer and exhortation, with twelve ministers who officiated as occasion needed, without any order of service, as far as we know, except such as depended on their individual weight of character, their natural abilities or their knowledge ofthe doctrines of their Lord. Among these, the three most favored by Christ’s private instructions would have a natural pre-eminence, and above all, he who had been especially named as the rock on which the church should be built, and as the keeper of the keys of the kingdom, and had been solemnly and repeatedly commissioned as the pastor and leader of the flock, would now maintain an undisputed pre-eminence, unless he should by some actual misconduct prove himself unworthy of the rank. Such a pre-eminence it is unquestionable that Peter always did maintain among the apostles; and so decidedly too, that on every occasion when any thing was to be said or done by them as a body, Peter invariably stands out alone, as the undisputed representative and head of the whole community. Indeed the whole history of the apostles, after the ascension, gives but a single instance in which the words of any one of the twelve besides Peter are recorded, or where any one of them, except in that single case, is named as having said any thing whatever. On every occasion of this sort, the matters referred to were no more the concern of Peter than of any other of the twelve, yet they all seem to have been perfectly satisfied with quietly giving up the expression of their views to him. One instance, indeed, occurs, in which some persons attempted to blame his conduct when on a private mission, but even then his explanation of his behavior hushed all complaint. Often, when he was publicly engaged in the company of John, the most beloved of Jesus, and his faithful witness, it would seem that if there was any assumption by Peter of more than due importance, this distinguished son of Zebedee or his equally honored brother would have taken such a share in speaking and doing, as would have secured them an equal prominence. But no such low jealousies ever appear to have arisen among the apostles; not one seems to have had a thought about making himself an object of public notice, but their common and unanimous care was to advance their great Master’s cause, without reference to individual distinctions. Peter’s natural force of character and high place in his Master’s confidence, justified the ascendency which he on all public occasions claimed as his indisputable right, in which the rest acquiesced without a murmur.THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY.In the constitution of the first church of Christ, there seems to have been no other noticeable peculiarity, than the number of its ministers, and even this in reality amounted to nothing; for thedecided pre-eminence and superior qualifications of Peter were such as, in effect, to make him the sole pastor and preacher for a long time, while the other apostles do not seem to have performed any duty much higher than that of mere assistants to him, or exhorters, and perhaps teachers. Still, not a day could pass when every one of them would not be required to labor in some way for the gospel; and indeed the sacred historian uniformly speaks ofthemin the plural number, as laboring together and alike in the common cause. Thus they went on quietly and humbly laboring, with a pure zeal which was as indifferent to fame and earthly honor, as to the acquisition or preservation of earthly wealth. They are said to have held all things common, which is to be understood, however, not as implying literally that the rich renounced all individual right to what they owned, but that they stood ready to provide for the needy to the full extent of their property, and in that sense, all these pecuniary resources were made ascommonas if they were formally thrown into one public stock, out of which every man drew as suited his own needs. To an ordinary reader, this passage, taken by itself, might seem to convey fully the latter meaning; but a reference to other passages, and to the whole history of the primitive Christians, shows clearly, that a real and literal community of goods was totally unknown to them, but that in the bold and free language of the age and country, they are said to have “had all things in common,” just as among us, a man may say to his friend, “My house is yours;——consider every thing I have as your own property;” and yet no one would ever construe this into a surrender of his individual rights of possession. So the wealthy converts to the Christian faith sold their estates and goods, as occasion required, for the sake of having ready money to relieve the wants of those who had no means of support. Thus provided for, the apostles steadily pursued their great work, passing the greater part of every day in the temple; but taking their food at home, they ate what was so freely and generously provided, with thankful and unanxious hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. In these happy and useful employments they continued, every day finding new sources of enjoyment and new encouragement, in the accession of redeemed ones to their blessed community.

PETER’S SERMON.

This wonderful event took place in the chamber of the temple, which they had used as a place of worship ever since their Lord’s departure. As the whole temple was now constantly thronged with worshipers, who were making their offerings on this great feast day, this room in which the followers of Jesus were devoutly employed, must, as well as all the others, have been visited by new comers: for the mere prior occupation of the room by the disciples, could not entitle them to exclude from a public place of that kind any person who might choose to enter. The multitude of devotees who filled all parts of the temple, soon heard of what was going on in this apartment, and came together to see and hear for themselves. When the inquiring crowds reached the spot, they found the followers of Christ breaking out in loud expressions of praise to God, and of exhortation, each in such a language as best suited his powers of expression, not confining themselves to the Hebrew, which in all places ofpublic worship, and especially in Jerusalem on the great festivals, was the only language of devotion. Among the crowds that thronged to the place of this strange occurrence, were Jews from many distant regions, whose language or dialects were as widely various as the national names which they bore. Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites,——those who dwelt in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt and Africa, and some even from distant Rome, were all among those who heard the spirit-moving language of the disciples. Some of the more scrupulous among these foreign Jews, were probably, notwithstanding their amazement, somewhat offended at this profanation of worship, in the public use of these heathen languages for the purposes of devotion; and with a mixture of wonder and displeasure they asked, “Are not all these men who are talking in these various languages, Galileans? How then are they able to show such an immense diversity of expression, so that all of us, even those from the most distant countries, hear them in our various languages, setting forth the praises of God?” And they were all surprised and perplexed, and said one to another, “What will this come to?” But to some who were present, the whole proceeding was so little impressive, and had so little appearance of anything miraculous, that they were moved only to expressions of contempt, and said, in a tone of ridicule, “These men are drunk on sweet wine.” This seems to show that to them there was no conclusive evidence of Divine agency in this speaking in various languages; and they, no doubt, supposed that among these Galileans were foreigners also from many other parts of the world, who, mingling with Christ’s disciples, had joined in their devotions, and caught their enthusiasm. Seeing this assembly thus made up, now occupied in speaking violently and confusedly in these various languages, they at once concluded that they were under the influence of some artificial exhilarant, and supposed that during this great festal occasion they had been betrayed into some unseasonable jollity, and were now under the excitement of hard drinking. Such as took this cool view of the matter, therefore, immediately explained the whole by charging the excited speakers with drunkenness. But Peter, on hearing this scandalous charge, rose up, as the leader and defender of these objects of public notice, and repelled the contemptuous suggestion that he and his companions had been abusing the occasion of rational religious enjoyment, to the purposes of intemperateand riotous merriment. Calling on all present for their attention, both foreign Jews and those settled in Jerusalem, he told them that the violent emotions which had excited their surprise could not be caused by wine, as it was then but nine o’clock in the morning, and as they well knew, it was contrary to all common habits of life to suppose that before that early hour, these men could have been exposed to any such temptation. They knew that the universal fashion of the devout Jews was to take no food whatever on the great days of public worship, until after their return from morning prayers in the temple. How then could these men, thus devoutly occupied since rising, have found opportunity to indulge in intoxicating drinks?

Peter then proceeded to refer them for a more just explanation of this strange occurrence, to the long recorded testimonies of the ancient prophets, which most distinctly announced such powerful displays of religious zeal and knowledge, as about to happen in those later days, of which the present moment seemed the beginning. He quoted to them a passage from Joel, which pointedly set forth these and many other wonders with the distinctness of reality, and showed them how all these striking words were connected with the fate of that Jesus whom they had so lately sacrificed. He now, for the first time, publicly declared to them, that this Jesus, whom they had vainly subjected to a disgraceful death, had by the power of God been raised from the grave to a glorious and immortal life. Of this fact he assured them that all the disciples were the witnesses, having seen him with their own eyes after his return to life. He now showed them in what manner the resurrection of Jesus might be explained and illustrated by the words of David, and how the psalm itself might be made to appear in a new light, by interpreting it in accordance with these recent events. He concluded this high-toned and forcible appeal to scripture and to fact, by calling them imperatively to learn and believe. “Let all the house of Israel know, then, that God has made this Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” This declaration, thus solemnly made and powerfully supported, in connection with the surprising circumstances which had just occurred, had a most striking and convincing effect on the hearers, and almost the whole multitude giving way to their feelings of awe and compunction, being stung with the remembrance of the share they had had in the murder of Jesus, cried out, as with one voice, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter’s instant reply was,“Change your mind, and be each one of you baptized to the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” That same divine influence, whose in-workings had just been so wonderfully displayed before their eyes, was now promised to them, as the seal of Christ’s acceptance of the offer of themselves in the preliminary sign of baptism. To them and to their children, upon whom, fifty days before, they had solemnly invoked the curse of the murdered Redeemer’s blood, was this benignant promise of pardoning love now made; and not only to them, but to all, however far off in place or in feeling, whom their common Lord and God should call to him. Inspired with the glorious prospect of success now opening to him, and moved to new earnestness by their devout and alarmed attention, Peter zealously went on, and spoke to them many other words, of which the sacred historian has given us only the brief but powerful concluding exhortation,——“Suffer yourselves to be saved from this perverse generation,”——from those who had involved themselves and their race in the evils resulting to them from their wicked rejection of the truth offered by Jesus. The whole Jewish nation stood at that time charged with the guilt of rejecting the Messiah; nor could any individual be cleared from his share of responsibility for the crime, except by coming out and distinctly professing his faith in Christ.

THE CHURCH’S INCREASE.

The success which followed Peter’s first effort in preaching the gospel of his murdered and risen Lord, was most cheering. Those who heard him on this occasion, gladly receiving his words, were baptized, and on that same day converts to the number of three thousand were added to the disciples. How must these glorious results, and all the events of the day, have lifted up the hearts of the apostles, and moved them to new and still bolder efforts in their great cause! They now knew and felt the true force of their Master’s promise, that they should “be indued with power from on high;” for what less than such power could in one day have wrought such a change in the hearts of the haughty Jews, as to make them submissive hearers of the followers of the lately crucified Nazarene, and bring over such immense numbers of converts to the new faith, as to swell the small and feeble band of disciples to more than twenty times its former size? Nor did the impression made on this multitude prove tobe a mere transient excitement; for we are assured that “they held steadily to the doctrine taught by the apostles, and kept company with them in all their daily religious duties and social enjoyments.” So permanent and complete was this change, as to cause universal astonishment among those who had not been made the subjects of it; and the number of those who heard the amazing story, must have been so much the greater at that time, as there was then at Jerusalem so large an assemblage of Jews from almost every part of the civilized world. On this account, it seems to have been most wisely ordered that this first public preaching of the Christian faith, and this great manifestation of its power over the hearts of men, should take place on this festal occasion, when its influence might at once more widely and quickly spread than by any other human means. The foreign Jews then at Jerusalem, being witnesses of these wonderful things, would not fail, on their return home, to give the whole affair a prominent place in their account of their pilgrimage, when they recounted their various adventures and observations to their inquiring friends. Among these visitors, too, were probably some who were themselves on this occasion converted to the new faith, and each one of these would be a sort of missionary, preaching Christ crucified to his countrymen in his distant home, and telling them of a way to God, which their fathers had not known. The many miracles wrought by the apostles, as signs of their authority, served to swell the fame of the Christian cause, and added new incidents to the fast-traveling and far-spreading story, which, wherever it went, prepared the people to hear the apostles with interest and respect, when, in obedience to their Lord’s last charge, they should go forth to distant lands, preaching the gospel.

PETER’S PROMINENCE.

This vast addition to the assembly of the disciples at Jerusalem, made it necessary for the apostles to complete some farther arrangements, to suit their enlarged circumstances; and at this period the first church of Christ in the world seems to have so far perfected its organization as to answer very nearly to the modern idea of a permanent religious community. The church of Jerusalem was an individual worshiping assembly, that at this time met daily for prayer and exhortation, with twelve ministers who officiated as occasion needed, without any order of service, as far as we know, except such as depended on their individual weight of character, their natural abilities or their knowledge ofthe doctrines of their Lord. Among these, the three most favored by Christ’s private instructions would have a natural pre-eminence, and above all, he who had been especially named as the rock on which the church should be built, and as the keeper of the keys of the kingdom, and had been solemnly and repeatedly commissioned as the pastor and leader of the flock, would now maintain an undisputed pre-eminence, unless he should by some actual misconduct prove himself unworthy of the rank. Such a pre-eminence it is unquestionable that Peter always did maintain among the apostles; and so decidedly too, that on every occasion when any thing was to be said or done by them as a body, Peter invariably stands out alone, as the undisputed representative and head of the whole community. Indeed the whole history of the apostles, after the ascension, gives but a single instance in which the words of any one of the twelve besides Peter are recorded, or where any one of them, except in that single case, is named as having said any thing whatever. On every occasion of this sort, the matters referred to were no more the concern of Peter than of any other of the twelve, yet they all seem to have been perfectly satisfied with quietly giving up the expression of their views to him. One instance, indeed, occurs, in which some persons attempted to blame his conduct when on a private mission, but even then his explanation of his behavior hushed all complaint. Often, when he was publicly engaged in the company of John, the most beloved of Jesus, and his faithful witness, it would seem that if there was any assumption by Peter of more than due importance, this distinguished son of Zebedee or his equally honored brother would have taken such a share in speaking and doing, as would have secured them an equal prominence. But no such low jealousies ever appear to have arisen among the apostles; not one seems to have had a thought about making himself an object of public notice, but their common and unanimous care was to advance their great Master’s cause, without reference to individual distinctions. Peter’s natural force of character and high place in his Master’s confidence, justified the ascendency which he on all public occasions claimed as his indisputable right, in which the rest acquiesced without a murmur.

THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY.

In the constitution of the first church of Christ, there seems to have been no other noticeable peculiarity, than the number of its ministers, and even this in reality amounted to nothing; for thedecided pre-eminence and superior qualifications of Peter were such as, in effect, to make him the sole pastor and preacher for a long time, while the other apostles do not seem to have performed any duty much higher than that of mere assistants to him, or exhorters, and perhaps teachers. Still, not a day could pass when every one of them would not be required to labor in some way for the gospel; and indeed the sacred historian uniformly speaks ofthemin the plural number, as laboring together and alike in the common cause. Thus they went on quietly and humbly laboring, with a pure zeal which was as indifferent to fame and earthly honor, as to the acquisition or preservation of earthly wealth. They are said to have held all things common, which is to be understood, however, not as implying literally that the rich renounced all individual right to what they owned, but that they stood ready to provide for the needy to the full extent of their property, and in that sense, all these pecuniary resources were made ascommonas if they were formally thrown into one public stock, out of which every man drew as suited his own needs. To an ordinary reader, this passage, taken by itself, might seem to convey fully the latter meaning; but a reference to other passages, and to the whole history of the primitive Christians, shows clearly, that a real and literal community of goods was totally unknown to them, but that in the bold and free language of the age and country, they are said to have “had all things in common,” just as among us, a man may say to his friend, “My house is yours;——consider every thing I have as your own property;” and yet no one would ever construe this into a surrender of his individual rights of possession. So the wealthy converts to the Christian faith sold their estates and goods, as occasion required, for the sake of having ready money to relieve the wants of those who had no means of support. Thus provided for, the apostles steadily pursued their great work, passing the greater part of every day in the temple; but taking their food at home, they ate what was so freely and generously provided, with thankful and unanxious hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. In these happy and useful employments they continued, every day finding new sources of enjoyment and new encouragement, in the accession of redeemed ones to their blessed community.

Taking their food at home.——This is my interpretation ofκλωντες κατ’ οἶκον αρτον, (klontes kat’ oikon arton.) Actsii.46, commonly translated “breaking bread from house tohouse,” a version which is still supported by many names of high authority; but the attendant circumstances here seem to justify this variation from them. A reference to the passage will show that the historian is speaking of their regular unanimous attendance in the temple, and says, “they attended every day with one accord in the temple,” that is, during the regular hours of daily worship, but as they would not suffer untimely devotion to interfere with their reasonable conveniences, he adds, “they broke bread,” (a Hebraistic form of expression for simply “taking food,”) “at home, and partook of their food in humility and thankfulness.” This seems to me, to require a sort of opposition in sense betweenἱερον, (hieron,) “temple,” andοικος, (oikos,) “house” or “home,” for it seems as if the writer of the Acts wished in these few words, to give a complete account of the manner in which they occupied themselves, devoting all their time to public devotion in the temple except that, as was most seemly, they returned to their houses to take their♦necessary food, which they did humbly and joyfully. But thedistributiveforce which some wish to put uponκατ’ οἶκον, by translating it “from house to house,” is one which does not seem to be required at all by any thing in the connection, and one which needs a vast deal of speculation and explanation to make it appear why they should go “from house to house,” about so simple a matter of fact as that of eating their victuals, which every man could certainly do to best advantage at one steady boarding-place. That the expression,κατ’ οἶκον, most commonly means “at home,” is abundantly proved by standard common Greek usage, as shown in the best Lexicons. Butκατα, in connexion with a singular noun, has thedistributiveforce only when the noun itself is of such a character and connection in the sentence as torequirethis meaning. Thusκατα μηνα, would hardly ever be suspected of any other meaning than “monthly,” or “every month,” or “from month to month;”——soκατα πολειςmeans “from city to city,” but the singularκατα πολιν, almost uniformly means “in a city,” without any distributive application, except where the other words in the sentence imply this idea. (Actsxv.21:xx.23.) But here the simple common meaning of the prepositionκατα, when governing the accusative, (that is, the meaning of “at” or “in” a place,) is not merely allowed, but required by the other words in the connection, in order to give a meaning which requires no other explanation, and which corresponds to the word “temple” in the other clause; for the whole account seems to require an opposition in these words, as describing the two places where the disciples passed their time.

♦“neeessary” replaced with “necessary”

♦“neeessary” replaced with “necessary”

♦“neeessary” replaced with “necessary”

There are great names, however, opposed to this view, which seem enough to overpower almost any testimony that can be brought in defense of an interpretation which they reject. Among these are Kuinoel, Rosenmueller, Ernesti, and Bloomfield, whose very names will perhaps weigh more with many, than the hasty statement of the contrary view which I am able here to give. Yet I am not wholly without the support of high authorities; for De Dieu, Bengel, Heinrichs, Hammond, and Oecumenius, reject thedistributivesense here.

THE CURE OF THE CRIPPLE.In the course of these regular religious observances, about the same time or soon after the events just recorded, Peter and John went up to the temple to pray, at three o’clock in the afternoon, the usual hour for the second public prayers. As they went in at the outer gate of the temple, which being made of polished Corinthian brass, was for its splendor called theBeautiful, their attention was called to one of the objects of pity which were so common on those great days of assembly, about the common places of resort. A man, who, by universal testimony, had been a cripple from his birth, was lying in a helpless attitude at this public entrance, in order to excite the compassion of the crowds who were constantly passing into the temple, and were in that place so much under the influence of religious feeling as tobe easily moved by pity to exercise so prominent a religious duty as charity to the distressed. This man seeing Peter and John passing in, asked aims of them in his usual way. They both instantly turned their eyes towards him, and looking earnestly on him, Peter said, “Look on us.” The cripple, supposing from their manner that they were about to give something to him, accordingly yielded them his interested attention. Peter then said to him, “Silver and gold have I none, but I give thee what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, rise up and walk.” As he said this, he took hold of the lame man and raised him; and he at once was able to support himself erect. Leaping up in the consciousness of strength, he stood and walked with them into the temple, expressing thankfulness and joy as he went, both by motions and words. The attention of the worshiping assembly in the great courts of the temple was at once directed to this strange circumstance; for all who had passed in at the gate, recognized this vivacious companion of the two apostles, as the man who had all his life been a cripple, without the power of voluntary locomotion, and they were utterly amazed at his present altered condition and actions. As the recovered cripple, leaning on Peter and John, still half doubting his new strength, accompanied them on to the porch of Solomon, the whole multitude ran after them thither, still in the greatest astonishment. All eyes were at once turned to the two wonderful men who had caused this miraculous change, and the astonishment which this deed had inspired must have been mingled with awe and reverence. Here surely was an occasion to test the honesty and sincerity of these followers of Christ, when they saw the whole people thus unhesitatingly giving to them the divine honor of this miraculous cure. What an opportunity for a calculating ambition to secure power, favor, and renown! Yet, with all these golden chances placed temptingly within their reach, they, so lately longing for the honors of an earthly dominion, but now changed by the inworkings of a purer spirit and a holier zeal, turned calmly and firmly to the people, utterly disclaiming the honor and glory of the deed, but rendering all the praise to their crucified Lord. Peter, ever ready with eloquent words, immediately addressed the awe-struck throngs who listened in silence to his inspired language, and distinctly declared the merit of this action to belong not to him and his companion, but to “that same Jesus, whom they, but a short time before, had rejected and putto death as an impostor.” He then went on to charge them boldly with the guilt of this murder, and summing up the evidences and consequences of their crime, he called on them to repent, and yield to this slain and risen Jesus the honors due to the Messiah. It was his name which, through faith in his name, had made this lame man strong, and restored him to all his bodily energies, in the presence of them all. That name, too, would be equally powerful to save them through faith, if they would turn to him, the prophet foretold by Moses, by Samuel, and all the prophets that followed them, as the restorer and leader of Israel, and through whom, as was promised to Abraham,all the families of the earthshould be blest. But first of all to them, the favored children of Abraham, did God send his prophet-son, to bless them in turning away every one of them from their iniquities.

THE CURE OF THE CRIPPLE.

In the course of these regular religious observances, about the same time or soon after the events just recorded, Peter and John went up to the temple to pray, at three o’clock in the afternoon, the usual hour for the second public prayers. As they went in at the outer gate of the temple, which being made of polished Corinthian brass, was for its splendor called theBeautiful, their attention was called to one of the objects of pity which were so common on those great days of assembly, about the common places of resort. A man, who, by universal testimony, had been a cripple from his birth, was lying in a helpless attitude at this public entrance, in order to excite the compassion of the crowds who were constantly passing into the temple, and were in that place so much under the influence of religious feeling as tobe easily moved by pity to exercise so prominent a religious duty as charity to the distressed. This man seeing Peter and John passing in, asked aims of them in his usual way. They both instantly turned their eyes towards him, and looking earnestly on him, Peter said, “Look on us.” The cripple, supposing from their manner that they were about to give something to him, accordingly yielded them his interested attention. Peter then said to him, “Silver and gold have I none, but I give thee what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, rise up and walk.” As he said this, he took hold of the lame man and raised him; and he at once was able to support himself erect. Leaping up in the consciousness of strength, he stood and walked with them into the temple, expressing thankfulness and joy as he went, both by motions and words. The attention of the worshiping assembly in the great courts of the temple was at once directed to this strange circumstance; for all who had passed in at the gate, recognized this vivacious companion of the two apostles, as the man who had all his life been a cripple, without the power of voluntary locomotion, and they were utterly amazed at his present altered condition and actions. As the recovered cripple, leaning on Peter and John, still half doubting his new strength, accompanied them on to the porch of Solomon, the whole multitude ran after them thither, still in the greatest astonishment. All eyes were at once turned to the two wonderful men who had caused this miraculous change, and the astonishment which this deed had inspired must have been mingled with awe and reverence. Here surely was an occasion to test the honesty and sincerity of these followers of Christ, when they saw the whole people thus unhesitatingly giving to them the divine honor of this miraculous cure. What an opportunity for a calculating ambition to secure power, favor, and renown! Yet, with all these golden chances placed temptingly within their reach, they, so lately longing for the honors of an earthly dominion, but now changed by the inworkings of a purer spirit and a holier zeal, turned calmly and firmly to the people, utterly disclaiming the honor and glory of the deed, but rendering all the praise to their crucified Lord. Peter, ever ready with eloquent words, immediately addressed the awe-struck throngs who listened in silence to his inspired language, and distinctly declared the merit of this action to belong not to him and his companion, but to “that same Jesus, whom they, but a short time before, had rejected and putto death as an impostor.” He then went on to charge them boldly with the guilt of this murder, and summing up the evidences and consequences of their crime, he called on them to repent, and yield to this slain and risen Jesus the honors due to the Messiah. It was his name which, through faith in his name, had made this lame man strong, and restored him to all his bodily energies, in the presence of them all. That name, too, would be equally powerful to save them through faith, if they would turn to him, the prophet foretold by Moses, by Samuel, and all the prophets that followed them, as the restorer and leader of Israel, and through whom, as was promised to Abraham,all the families of the earthshould be blest. But first of all to them, the favored children of Abraham, did God send his prophet-son, to bless them in turning away every one of them from their iniquities.

The beautiful gate.——The learned Lightfoot has brought much deep research to bear on this point, as to the position of this gate and the true meaning of its name; yet he is obliged to announce the dubious result in the expressive words, “In bivio hic stamus,” (“we here stand at a fork of the road.”) The main difficulty consists in the ambiguous character of the word translated “beautiful,” in Greek,Ὡραιαν, (horaian,) which may have the sense of “splendid,” “beautiful,” or, in better keeping with its root,Ὡρα, (hora,) “time,” it may be made to mean the “gate of time.” Now, what favors the latter derivation and translation, is the fact that there actually was, as appears from the Rabbinical writings, a gate called Hhuldah, (חולדה) probably derived fromחלד(hheledh) “age,” “time,” “life,”——from the Arabic rootخلد(khaladh) “endure,” “last,” so that it may mean “lasting or permanent.” There were two gates of this name distinguished by the termsgreaterandsmaller, both opening into the court of the Gentiles from the greatsouthernporch or colonnade, called the Royal colonnade. Through these, the common way from Jerusalem and from Zion led into the temple, and through these would be the natural entrance of the apostles into it. This greatroyal porch, also, where such vast numbers were passing, and which afforded a convenient shelter from the weather, would be a convenient place for a cripple to post himself in.

There was, however, another gate, to which the epithet “beautiful” might with eminent justice be applied. This is thus described by Josephus. (Jewish War. bookV.chapter 5, section 3.) “Of the gates, nine were overlaid with gold and silver,——* * * but there was one on the outside of the temple, made of Corinthian brass, which far outshone the plated and gilded ones.” This is the gate to which the passage is commonly supposed to refer, and which I have mentioned as the true one in the text, without feeling at all decided on the subject, however; for I certainly do think the testimony favors the gate Huldah, and the primary sense of the wordὩραιαseems to be best consulted by such a construction.

The porch of Solomon.——Στοα Σολομωνος, (stoa Solomonos.) This was the name commonly applied to the great eastern colonnade of the temple, which ran along on the top of the vast terrace which made the gigantic rampart of Mount Moriah, rising from the depth of six hundred feet out of the valley of the Kedron. (See note on page94.) The Greek word,στοα, (stoa,) commonly translated “porch,” does not necessarily imply an entrance to a building, as is generally true of our modernporches, but was a general name for a “colonnade,” which is a much better expression for its meaning, and would always convey a correct notion of it; for its primary and universal idea is that of a row of columns running along the side of a building, and leaving a broad open space between them and the wall, often so wide as to make room for a vast assemblage of people beneath the ceiling of the architrave. That this was the case in thisSTOA, appears from Josephus’ description given in my note on page95, section 1. Thestoamight be so placed as to be perfectly inaccessible fromwithout, and thus lose all claim to the name ofporch, with the idea of an entrance-way. This was exactly the situation and construction of Solomon’sstoa, which answers much better to our idea of agallery, than of a porch. (See Donnegan,sub voc.)

It took the name of Solomon, from the fact that when the great temple of that magnificent king was burned and torn down by the Chaldeans, this eastern terrace, as originally constructed by him, was too vast, and too deeply based, to be easily made the subject of such a destroying visitation, and consequently was by necessity left a lasting monument of the strength and grandeur of the temple which had stood upon it. When the second temple was rebuilt, this vast terrace of course became again the great eastern foundation of the sacred pile, but received important additions to itself, being strengthened by higher and broader walls, and new accessions of mounded earth; while over its long trampled and profaned pavement, now beautified and renewed with splendid Mosaic, rose the mighty range of gigantic snow-white marble columns, which gave it the name and character of aSTOAorcolonnade, and filled the country for a vast distance with the glory of its pure brightness. (See note on page95. See also Lightfoot, Disquisit. Chor.cap. vi.§ 2.) Josephus further describes it, explaining the very name which Luke uses. “And this was a colonnade of the outer temple, standing over the verge of a deep valley, on walls four hundred cubits in highth, built of hewn stones perfectly white,——the length of each stone being twenty cubits, and the highth six.It was the work ofSolomon, who first built the whole temple.” (Josephus, Antiquities,XX.viii.7.)

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