Acts 1:3

Act_1:3

To whom also He showed Himself alive after His Passion.

He rose again from the dead

I. The fact itself, or the notion of a resurrection in general. Admitting the power and providence of God, there can be nothing in it repugnant to reason, or incredible.

1. To raise a dead man to life surpasses the power of any creature; but no reason can be assigned why it should be beyond the Divine power; since the doing it involves no contradiction. He that first inspired the soul into the body, may surely be supposed capable of reuniting them.

2. Nor was it apparently in its design unworthy of God, or inconsistent with His holy will: for the ends thereof, such as were pretended by its attesters, were--

(1) Important.

(2) Good.

(3) Reasonable.

II. The witnesses.

1. General considerations:

(1) As to their number, it was not one or two, but many, who conspired in asserting it.

(2) They were no strangers to Jesus, but persons by long conversation familiarly acquainted with Him.

(3) They did aver themselves to be eye or ear-witnesses of the matter, as fully informed about it as senses could make them.

(4) The chief of these witnesses, the apostles themselves, were at first so far from being credulous in this matter, that they took it for a fiction, gave no credence thereto, and were at last with difficulty persuaded of it.

(5) On these grounds they boldly and concurrently aver the fact: they spake the Word of God with boldness: and with great power gave witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Which things being weighed, it appears impossible that the attesters of this fact, supposing them in their wits and senses, could be ignorant therein, or mistaken about it.

2. The character of the witnesses.

(1) They were persons who did (with denunciation of Gods heavy judgments on the contrary practice) preach and press earnestly all kinds of goodness, sincerity, modesty, and equity, as main points of that religion which by this testimony they confirmed.

(2) Their practice was answerable to their doctrine, being exemplary in all sorts of virtue and sincerity, whereby they did in effect conciliate much respect and authority to their words: the life they led was not the life of wicked impostors, but worthy of the divinest men; fit to carry on the best design.

(3) They were:persons of good sense; very wise and prudent; not in the way of worldly or fleshly wisdom, to compass projects of gain or pleasure to themselves; but endued with a wisdom far more excellent, and suitable to the characters they sustained.

(4) As to their purposes in this case: profit, honour, pleasure, or any worldly advantage they could not have in view; for they willingly abandoned all those things, for the sake of this very testimony incurring loss, disgrace, and pain.

(5) And all such afflictions, as they knowingly exposed themselves to them, they did endure with contentedness and joy.

(6) Whence it is evident enough that the satisfaction of their conscience, and expectation of future reward from God for the discharge of their duty, was all the argument that induced them to undertake this attestation, all the reason that could support them in it; neither of which could be consistent with the resolved maintenance of a falsehood.

(7) And how is it conceivable that such persons should be bewitched with so passionate an affection toward a man, who died as a malefactor, that merely for his sake, or rather a vain opinion about him, they should with such obstinacy defy all the world, with its persecutions, and the punishment of hell itself.

(8) Again, we may consider these witnesses to have been persons very unlikely to devise such a plot, very unfit to undertake it, very unable to manage and carry it through.

III. Their testimony.

1. How could such a cheat, if contrived, have so easily prospered,. and obtained so wonderful a progress?

2. The matter of their testimony, and its drift, were very implausible, such as no impostors would be likely to forge, and no hearers, without great evidence of truth, be ready to admit.

3. One would indeed think that this report, had it been false, might easily have been disproved and quashed; they who were mightily concerned, and as eagerly disposed to confute it, wanting no means of doing it.

4. As also this testimony had no human power to sustain it, so it used no sleight to convey itself into the persuasions of men it craved no blind faith: it dared all adversaries and powers to withstand it, relying on the patronage of heaven alone.

5. Furthermore, the thing itself, had it been counterfeit, was adapted to fall of itself; the witnesses clashing together, or relenting for their crime. The advice of Gamaliel on this point had much reason in it.

6. He then who doubts the sincerity of this testimony, or rejects it as incredible, must instead of it admit stronger incredibilities.

7. To these things we may add that God Himself did signally countenance and ratify this testimony, by extraordinary powers and graces conferred on the avowers thereof, as well as by a wonderful success bestowed on them. (F. Barrow, D. D.)

Christ risen, yet not ascended

There is a strong disposition to reverence that which has been connected with the great and good. If the wood of the true Cross had been preserved, few could look upon it but with the deepest interest. It is remarkable, however, that we have few relics of Christs days; while the museums of all civilised lands are filled with well-authenticated fragments from Greece, Rome, Babylon, Egypt. God has wisely ordered this to check the tendency to superstition and idolatry. But can no good use be made of this law of our nature? Our Church has judged that there can, and she teaches us not to seek for relics, but to remember events in Christs life, and then leads our thoughts to the instruction they convey.

I. How, or in what form, did our Lord show Himself after His passion? There was evidently some change in His body and some difference in His manner of appearing. He ate, indeed, with His disciples, yet not as one who needed food, but only to convince them of His corporeal existence. He does not seem to have lived with them familiarly as He bad before done, but came to them occasionally; and the forms of expression intimate something miraculous. He showed Himself as one was invisibly present, but, at will revealing Himself, like the sun shining from a cloud. Then, He vanished out of their sight. At other times He would come when the doors were bolted. The disciples regarded Him far otherwise than in His former state. Their accustomed free intercourse was changed for the deepest reverence. All questions concerning the nature of Christs body must remain unanswered till we know for ourselves what a spiritual and glorified body is.

II. Where? Chiefly in Galilee. There had been the favoured scene of His earthly ministry, and there His followers were most numerous. With what intense interest must those lowly followers have flocked together when the summons was to meet their risen Lord! He offers to meet us in His sacraments, house, word, prayer, yet how carelessly we regard the summons I He has carried the same loving, compassionate spirit with Him to heaven, and we may share with His disciples in His Divine consolations, if we seek them aright.

III. For what purpose. To speak of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, i.e., His Church. They had been hitherto very dull, and Christ in these meetings gave them fuller instructions. It is probable that we have the substance of our Lords conversations in the Acts and Epistles, for in these they would naturally embody and carry out their Masters directions. It is also very likely that many of the customs of the primitive Church were nothing more than our Lords instructions reduced to practice. Hence we see the importance of appealing, for our own guidance, to primitive usage. If, for instance, we find immediately after the apostles times, that infants were baptised, and nothing to oppose this in the New Testament, we might be strengthened in our conclusions, that this was a practice settled by our Lord Himself. How many points there are in civil law which are decided by such an appeal to established usage, and are not found in any written code! Many points, however, upon which our Lord dwelt in these interviews, are recorded. He promised to send them the Comforter, etc.

IV. Its certainty. By many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days. Our faith and hopes rest then on infallible proofs. And the certainty of the gospel increases the guilt and danger of those who neglect it. Are you living as if you believed it true? (W. H. Lewis, D. D.)

Many infallible proofs.

Sense evidence given of Christs resurrection

As the faith of the Church depends on the Resurrection God has given ample evidence of the fact. But He gave none other than that which appeals to the senses--the only way of proving any fact. Even our Maker could not give us better evidence without changing radically our nature. Observe how this bears on the Romish dogma of transubstantiation. The pillar on which that rests is the assumption that the senses deceive and cannot be trusted. But this assumption would leave the Resurrection incapable of proofs. Either the evidence of the senses is a valid proof of a fact or it is not. If it is transubstantiation is false; if it is not the Resurrection is unproved. The very same evidence which proves that Christ has risen proves also that the bread and wine are not changed into Christs body and blood. Thus the Roman apostasy cannot sustain its fundamental superstition without destroying the proof that the Redeemer has risen. (W. Arnot, D. D.)

Being seen of them forty days.--

The forty days

I. For the Lord. The period of--

1. The Sabbath rest after the completion of His work of redemption.

2. The last care of the Shepherd for His disciples.

3. The joyful expectation of His approaching exaltation.

II. For the Disciples. The period of--

1. The last blessed intercourse with their Divine Master.

2. Quiet communion with their own heart (Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?).

3. Earnest preparation for their apostolic mission.

III. For us. An emblem of--

1. The blessed life of faith with Christ in God, concealed from the world (Corinthians 3:3).

2. The blessed work of love in the hearts of our friends in looking forward to our approaching separation.

3. The expectation of hope of our heavenly perfection. (J. P. Lange, D. D.)

The forty days

Mark,

I. How careful our Saviour was to have the fact of His resurrection certified to His disciples beyond the possibility of doubt. Strictly speaking, one meeting was enough. But proofs were multiplied, as His visits were repeated. They grew familiar with His look and aspect; heard Him talk, etc.; and after all this, they could never suppose that a vision had been imposed upon them. The positiveness with which they always spoke on this subject was an important element in their preaching, and it was their Lords purpose to build them up in a confidence which should never be shaken. Through the forty days a work of education was going on the fruits of which were seen in the next forty years.

II. This period was not one of uninterrupted intercourse, but of brief meetings, followed sore-times by days, or possibly weeks, of separation. Very graciously the Lord condescended to His friends, very blessed were these seasons when they came, but there was not the companionship of former days. Now Christ stood forth in His proper character as the Divine Mediator, to whom all power was committed in heaven and earth. The apostles had to learn this truth, and act upon it. Their approaches to the Mercy-seat, while bold, were to be marked with that solemn reverence without which all worship is a mockery.

III. Time was given to teach the apostles much of their Lords will, and to send them forth well equipped for their future work.

1. Particular directions given from time to time. They were to tarry at Jerusalem, where, judging from past experience, they would sow their seed as upon a rock, and peril their lives for nought. From that centre light was to radiate over the wide surface of this fallen world.,

2. Special gifts were promised to them for their work and power from on high.

3. Mistakes and prejudices were corrected.

4. The great truth was enforced, explained, anti illustrated, that their Lords death was the worlds life.

Learn--

1. A lesson of patience. Think what was before Him, and how contentedly He waited for it. No hasting to His crown till all was ready. We may well suppose that there was eagerness on the part of the heavenly hosts. Their harps were ready strung, and the song was on their lips, Lift up your heads, O ye gates, etc. But their King has work to do in this lower world; and the march of triumph must be deferred. Let us then not only put up with our crosses, but wait patiently for the good things to come. What we sow in faith we shall reap one day; and Gods harvest-time is the best. We long to see the Church advancing faster in her march of triumph, to see Christs name more honoured among ourselves. Let us not wish less fervently, but let us wait more humbly. Centuries rolled away before the Son of God was manifested, and many more may come and go before He shall come back again in glory. Ten thousand unconscious agents in different lands are doing His work, and fulfilling His pleasure.

2. To think of Christ as the apostles thought of Him. They knew Him well before as the human Friend, but now as the Divine Redeemer. In both characters may we think of Him as ascended to His throne, and realise His presence with ourselves! You must not so degrade the Saviour as to think of Him only as the worlds great Prophet, or as the perfect Pattern; nor in your attempts to exalt Him, lose sight of the truth that He carried His human nature with Him to heaven. Such an High Priest became us, etc. (J. Hampden Gurney, M. A.)

The best proof of Christs resurrection

The best proof of Christs resurrection is a living Church, which itself is walking in a new life, and drawing life from Him who hath overcome death. (Christlieb.)

The identification of the risen Christ

Luke, the writer of our twofold gospel of the resurrection, was a physician, who would have been inclined and able to sift the evidences of our Lords bodily presence and identity among His followers. The longest and best accounts of Christs return to earth, except those of John, are by a medical expert. Special past events were referred to by the Lord, which were familiar to the disciples, such as the baptism of John. Stanley carried a boy back up the Congo who had been taken from there when quite small. Coming into the vicinity of the dwelling place of his tribe, a canoe rowed out to meet the steamer. In the boat the lad recognised his elder brother, but the latter was sceptical, and cried, Give me some sign that I may know you. The boy who had been away answered at once, Do you remember the crocodile? His scar is there on your right arm. So Christ to His disciples gave many proofs. His lines of thought and speech during His forty days residence among them were in the familiar phrase of the past, such as the things concerning the kingdom of God. There might have been good evidences of Jesuss resurrection if He had appeared in China or under the Southern Cross or in the clearings of the Danubian forests. Had He gone there after He came from the grave, by the by the tidings would have reached the outer world of some strange and illustrious personage who manifested Himself at one place and another, just as a comet is reported in the sky. Yet we should always be grateful that the Lord showed Himself alive to those apostles whom He had chosen. There was the possibility of verification which we so often ask for. (W. R. Campbell.)

The forty days

A host of reasons suggest themselves as to why He should at once enter into His glory.

I. Earth at best could have been but a very dreary home for Him who had come from the paradise of God. For Him, the high King of Glory, we could find no fit entertainment. What society was there for Him, the all-wise? Thou hast given Thy life, O Lord, O glorious Son of God. Thou canst give no more. And where upon this guilty earth is any rest for Thee now since that dreadful Cross has cast its shadow over all the land!

II. Then Christ Himself longed for rest. He who dwelt in the bosom of the Father was an exile here.

III. Then, again, there waited for Christ His great triumph, that to which He has looked forward during all His life-work, finding in it strength and consolation. For the joy that was set before Him He endured the Cross, despising the shame.

IV. Delay would be worse than unfitting. If His reign means the worlds salvation, gifts for men, the proclaiming of the gospel with the power of the Holy Ghost, dare He linger still upon earth? No, it is not human, this delay, Not our thought nor our way is this. It is all Divine--just like our blessed Lord. This lingering for the forty days is the crowning proof of His tender regard for His little flock. He who had laid down His life for them is loath to leave them. He must tarry with them till He has made them feel that He is just the same friendly, brotherly Jesus that He has ever been, caring for them in their work, watching them with a yearning pity, stooping to kindle a fire for their warmth and to cook the fish for their meal, and then to bid them come and dine.

V. Then again, these days were the necessary preparation for the ascension. A very tender and beautiful upleading of the disciples. Then with this exalted vision of their glorious Lord filling all their soul they went back to Jerusalem. Now they were able worthily to celebrate the Ascension. They returned to Jerusalem with great joy. Now all the familiar songs of triumphs come in to tell of the coronation of the King. Now they heard the rapturous anthem of the angels, Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. So we must know Him. And thus does He seek to lead us in our weakness and dimness of faith into the knowledge of Himself. So day by day does He lead us on our way, ordering our steps that life may make more room for Him, and that He may give us Himself as our salvation and our strength. (M. G. Pearse.)

Forty days with Jesus

Men now-a-days yearn for a repetition of Pentecost without the trouble of preparing for it. The text teaches that that must be preceded by prolonged communion with Jesus.

I. This communion gave the disciples the full persuasion that Christ was the Son of God. They held such a thought before, but the crucifixion had shaken it. The resurrection however restored it and the forty days intercourse confirmed it. No Pentecost without the mastering conviction that Jesus is the Son of God with power.

II. Along with these great thoughts of Christs Godhead the intercourse brought the most delightful consciousness that Jesus was still their brother. He called them by that name, and demonstrated his Brotherhood by many infallible proofs. The realisation of this relationship by love-begetting certitude of Christs presence is necessary to Pentecost. The Holy Spirit simply gives us power to bear witness to facts of which we are sure.

III. The character of this intercourse.

1. It was discriminating. Christ dealt with each man as each required Peter, Thomas, John, etc.

2. It was self-discovering. Unsuspected faults were revealed and hearts were moved to self-renunciation.

3. It was educational.

4. It was encouraging. Knowing what we do of the disciples Pentecost would have been an impossibility before the forty days. So now we all need to be dealt with one by one, to know ourselves, to be humbled, taught, and inspired.

IV. The Subject Dwelt Upon. The kingdom of God--its spirituality, glory, universality, final triumph. This was the matter which they had by the Spirits inspiration to preach. Hence they must know about it from the King. Hence Christ must fire our minds with the same thought before the Spirit can fire our hearts to proclaim it. (J. P. Gledstone.)

After the resurrection

I. Jesus had come back from the mysterious change, but He had forgotten nothing--neither the places, the dear familiar shores, the roads, the mountain paths, the lake, and the hills, the hallowed spots of His life-work. Now, as to the persons, Martha and Mary, and Peter, and the other disciples, were not only still remembered, but still loved. It will be so with us when we also come back from the mysterious regions of the grave. The present life will he something more than a dream. It will be a living reality.

II. Jesus had come back from the mysterious change, but His love remained the same. It will be the same with us. When we have crossed to the other side, we shall still bear with us the fond remembrances of past love. The affections will not be destroyed.

III. Jesus had come back from the mysterious change, but His physical nature remained. And His human nature was visible, tangible, capable of taking food. Our physical powers will, in a certain manner, remain with us after death. There will be conversation and action in the same way as at present. Wherein, then, will be the change? Our human bodies will not be destroyed, but they will be changed. We may gather some particulars from the resurrection of our Lord.

1. It will be the same body fully developed. It is evident to all that our human bodies are cramped and dwarfed by circumstances. They are but elementary, imperfect organisations. If they were perfect they would not change. If they were perfect they could not deteriorate. If perfect they could not die. That they are undeveloped is observable from the capacities which they possess. How strong and mighty the body may become! What we call maturity of character is in reality only its commencement. With regard to the body, take its power of progression, limited to, say, four miles an hour--a rate which would require millions of years to reach the nearest star. The same body will have all its powers fully developed to their utmost capacity.

2. It will be the same body rendered immaterial. (Homilist.)

The significance of the forty days

The period is a significant space of time in Scripture, and is frequently allotted as a term of probation before some great event which concerned Gods kingdom. For forty days and forty nights rain was sent upon the earth as the prelude to the Deluge. Before the giving of the law Moses was in the Mount forty days and forty nights; and when after the destruction of the first tables, the law was renewed again, Moses was with the Lord forty days and nights. The same space of time was spent by the spies who were sent forth to survey Canaan the type of the spiritual inheritance of the people of God. For forty days and nights Elijah journeyed before he came by Divine direction to Horeb the Mount of God. The time of probation and repentance given to Nineveh was a like space of time. When we come to the New Testament we note the same phenomenon. Forty days after His birth our Lord was presented in the Temple. Before He entered on the work of His ministry after His baptism He was forty days tempted in the wilderness. So now He abode on earth forty days before His ascension. What significancy there may be in the number we are not informed: the recurrence, however, of this space of time, usually in connection with events of extraordinary importance, would lead us to believe that there is a mystery in the number. Nor is this diminished when in parallelism with the forty days wandering (Num_14:33-34) Jerusalem had its forty years of trial and space for repentance after the Crucifixion;and not until that period had been accomplished was it destroyed by the Romans. For forty days during which He showed Himself alive they were obdurate, and forty years afterwards each day for a year came the destruction of the nation. (J. Lightfoot, D. D.)

The Epiphanies of the forty days

1. To Mary Magdalene (Mar_16:1-20.; Joh_20:1-31.)

2. To the women who had first visited the sepulchre, by whom the disciples were summoned to meet Christ in Galilee (Mat_28:1-10).

3. To Peter (Luk_24:33-35; 1Co_15:5).

4. To Cleophas and another on the way to Emmaus (Mar_16:12; Luk_24:13-32).

5. To the eleven in the absence of Thomas, at Jerusalem (Luk_24:36-43; Joh_20:19-25).

6. Eight days afterwards to the disciples, Thomas being present (Mar_16:14; Joh_20:26-29; 1Co_15:6).

7. To certain of the disciples when fishing on the lake of Galilee (Joh_21:1-24).

8. To James (1Co_15:7).

9. To the apostles, and probably the whole body of disciples on a certain mountain in Galilee (1Co_15:6).

10. On the morning of the ascension (Luk_24:43-51, and text). Speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

I. Of the Church militant--the kingdom of God on earth.

1. Its governance.

2. The means of its extension.

II. Of the Church triumphant--the kingdom of God in heaven.

1. Its glories.

2. Themeans of obtaining them. (W. Denton, M. A.)

The kingdom of God

1.Its Founder (verse 1).

2. Its laws (verse 2).

3. Its privilege, the personal presence of the Holy Spirit (verses 4, 5).

4. Its extent, the whole world (verse 8).

5. Its King, a risen and ascended Saviour (verse 9).

6. Its hope, a returning Christ.

The conversations of the great forty days

Let us reflect for a little on the characteristics of Christs risen appearances to His disciples. I note then in the first place that they were intermittent, and not continuous--here and there, to Mary Magdalene at one time; to the disciples journeying to Emmaus, to the assembled twelve, to five hundred brethren at one, at other times. In one place in the Gospel narrative we read that our Lord replied thus to a section of His adversaries: In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven. Now we often read of angelic appearances in Holy Scripture, in the Old and New Testament alike. We read too of appearances of Old Testament saints, as of Moses and Elias on the Mount of Transfiguration. And they are all like these of our Lord Jesus Christ after His resurrection. They are sudden, independent of time or space or material barriers, and yet are visible and tangible though glorified. Such in Genesis was Abrahams vision of angels at the tent door, when they did eat and drink with him.

I. Now let us here notice the naturalness of this query concerning the restoration of the kingdom. The apostles evidently shared the national aspirations of the Jews at that time. We can scarcely realise or understand the force and naturalness of this question, Dost Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? as put by these Galilean peasants till one takes up Archbishop Laurences translation of the book of Enoch, and sees how this eager expectation dominated every other feeling in the Jewish mind of that period, and was burned into the very secrets of their existence by the tyranny of Roman rule. They were thinking simply of such a kingdom as the book of Enoch foretold. This very point seems to us one of the special and most striking evidences for the inspiration and supernatural direction of the writers of the New Testament. Their natural, purely human, and national conception of the kingdom of God was one thing their final, their divinely taught and inspired conception of that kingdom is quite another thing. Some persons maintain that Christianity in its doctrines, organisation, and discipline was but the outcome of natural forces working in the world at that epoch. But take this doctrine alone, My kingdom is not of this world, announced by Christ before Pilate, and impressed upon the apostles by revelation after revelation, and experience after experience, which they only very gradually assimilated and understood. Where did it come from? How was it the outcome of natural forces? The whole tendency of Jewish thought was in the opposite direction. Nationalism of the most narrow, particular, and limited kind was the predominant idea, specially among those Galilean provincials who furnished the vast majority of the earliest disciples of Jesus Christ. How could men like them have developed the idea of the Catholic Church, boundless as the earth itself, limited by no hereditary or fleshly bonds, and trammelled by no circumstances of race, climate, or kindred? The magnificence of the idea, the grandeur of the conception, is the truest and most sufficient evidence of the divinity of its origin. If this higher knowledge, this nobler conception, this spiritualised ideal, came not from God, whence did it come? I do not think we can press this point of the catholicity and universality of the Christian idea and the Christian society too far. We cannot possibly make too much of it. There were undoubtedly Christian elements, or elements whence Christian ideas were developed, prevalent in the current Judaism of the day. But it was not among these, or such as these, that the catholic ideas of the gospel took their rise.

II. In this passage again there lies hidden the wisest practical teaching for the Church of all ages. We have warnings against the folly which seeks to unravel the future and penetrate the veil of darkness by which our God in mercy shrouds the unknown. We have taught us the benefits which attend the uncertainties of our Lords return and of the end of this present dispensation. It is not for you to know times or seasons.

1. The wisdom of the Divine answer will best be seen if we take the matter thus, and suppose our Lord to have responded to the apostolic appeal fixing some definite date for the winding-up of mans probation state, and for that manifestation of the sons of God which will take place at His appearing and His kingdom. Our Lord, in fixing upon some such definite date, must have chosen one that was either near at hand or else one that was removed far off into the distant future. In either of these cases He must have defeated the great object of the Divine society which He was founding. That object was simply this, to teach men how to lead the life of God amid the children of men. The Christian religion has indeed sometimes been taunted with being an unpractical religion. But is this the case? Has Christianity proved itself unpractical? If so, what has placed Christendom at the head of civilisation? Compare Christendom and India from the simply practical point of view, and which can show the better record?

2. Our Lords answer to His apostles was couched in words suited to develop this practical aspect of His religion. It refused to minister to mere human curiosity, and left men uncertain as to the time of His return, that they might be fruitful workers in the great field of life. And now behold what ill results would have followed had He acted otherwise! The Master in fact says, It is not well for you to know the times or seasons, because such knowledge would strike at the root of practical Christianity. Uncertainty as to the time of the end is the most healthful state for the followers of Christ.

3. There are in the New Testament, taken as a whole, two contrasted lines of prophecy concerning the second coming of Christ. If in one place the Lord Jesus speaks as if the date of His coming were fixed for His own generation and age, Verily, I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all these things shall be fulfilled, in the very same context He indicates that it is only after a long time that the Lord of the servants will return, to take account of their dealings with the property entrusted to them. Suppose Christ had responded to the spirit of the apostolic query, Dost Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? and fixed the precise date of His coming? He would in that case have altogether defeated the great end of His own work and labour. Suppose He had fixed it a thousand years from the time of His ascension. Then indeed the doctrine of Christs second coming would have lost all personal and practical power over the lives of the generation of Christians then living, or who should live during the hundreds of years which were to elapse till the date appointed. The day of their death, the uncertainty of life, these would be the inspiring motives to activity and devotion felt by the early Christians; while, as a matter of fact, St. Paul never appeals to either of them, but ever appeals to the coming of Christ and His appearing to judgment as the motives to Christian zeal and diligence. But a more serious danger in any such prediction lurks behind. What would have been the result of any such precise prophecy upon the minds of the Christians who lived close to the time of its fulfilment? It would have at once defeated the great end of the Christian religion, as we have already defined it. The near approach of the great final catastrophe would have completely paralysed all exertion, and turned the members of Christs Church into idle, useless, unpractical religionists. We all know how the near approach of any great event, how the presence of any great excitement, hinders lifes daily work.

4. Again and again has history verified and amp]y justified the wisdom of the Masters reply, It is not for you to know times or seasons. It was justified in apostolic experience. The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians is a commentary on our Lords teaching in this passage. The language of St. Paul completely justifies our line of argument. He tells us that the spirits of the Thessalonians had been upset, the natural result of a great expectation had been experienced as we might humanly have predicted. The beginning of the second chapter of his Second Epistle proves this: Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him; to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is present. See here how he dwells on mental perturbation as the result of high-strung expectation; and that is bad, for mental peace, not mental disturbance, is the portion of Christs people.

III. Christ, after He had reproved the spirit of vain curiosity which strikes at the root of all practical effort, then indicates the source of their strength and the sphere of its activity. Ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you. (G. T. Stokes, D. D.)

Christs conception of His kingdom

His thought and teaching concerning the kingdom was manifestly different from theirs. Their idea was narrow, small, and limited to Israel after the flesh, while His idea was large, and universally included all peoples, nations, and languages. It is always difficult for us to rise out of our own narrow limitations, and take in Gods great thoughts and purposes. This narrowness of mind on our part is always obtruding itself on Gods great thoughts; indeed, they are higher than ours as the heavens are higher than the earth. Gods thoughts and purposes of mercy have in them a wideness like the wideness of the sea, while ours are bounded by local surroundings. As we come into a closer and more intimate fellowship with Jesus, we shall also come into a larger and more godlike view of things, both in heaven and earth.

Things pertaining to the kingdom of God

Now that Jesus was about to depart, it might reasonably be expected that His parting instructions would be concerning that kingdom which He was to rule as the Invisible Head, and they were to administer as the visible agents.

I. The Church Of Christ is a Kingdom. With Christ and His apostles it was never less. Christ did not come as an ecclesiastic to found a new sect, nor as a philosopher to construct a new school of thought, nor as a democratic leader to form a new social club or to draw up a new social programme. He came as a sovereign to establish a new Kingdom of Truth, of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Hence the apostles felt that they had more to do than to secure a place for Christianity side by side with Judaism and Paganism--they claimed universal sovereign supremacy. Hence, again, they had no philosophy to set over against the school of Hillel or the school of Aristotle. True they reasoned, but that was only because the kingdom rested on a rational and not on a military basis, and its subjects were to be won by the force of persuasion and not by the force of arms. And hence lastly the apostles entered into no revolutionary plots, nor asked any man to rise above or turn aside from the secular occupation; but told slave and governor alike to abide in the callings wherein they were called as servants of the Lord Christ. Note

1. The grandeur of this conception. Sects, systems, programmes are all limited, and one after another pass away. Christians are citizens of a commonwealth which transcends space and outlives time. Compared with the dignity of the Christian that of the proudest autocrat is mean. Here all subjects are royal. The divine right of kings, a myth elsewhere, is a reality here. Christ hath made us kings and priests unto God.

2. The responsibility.

Noblesse oblige

Kings by virtue of their office are under an obligation to live royally. Let us then walk worthy of Him who hath called us to His kingdom and glory.

II. The things pertaining to this Kingdom.

1. The King. Christ Jesus. God and man who occupies the throne because He became obedient to the death of the Cross (Php_2:1-30.).

2. The means of entrance into this kingdom--the new birth (Joh_3:1-36.)

3. The conditions of continuance in the kingdom.

(1) Loyalty to the King.

(2) Love to our fellow subjects.

(3) Endeavours to extend the boundaries of the realm.

4. The glorious prospects of the kingdom. The kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God, etc. He shall reign from sea to sea, etc. (J. W. Burn.)

The unfolding of the Divine kingdom throughout the ages

The patriarchal, the Jewish, and the Christian dispensations, are evidently but the unfolding of one general plan. In the first we see the folded bud; in the second the expanded leaf; in the third the blossom and the fruit. And now, how sublime the idea of a religion thus commencing in the earliest dawn of time; holding on its way through all the revolutions of kingdoms and the vicissitudes of the race; receiving new forms, but always identical in spirit; and, finally, expanding and embracing in one great brotherhood the whole family of man! Who can doubt that such a religion was from God? (Mark Hopkins.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Acts

THE ASCENSION

THE FORTY DAYS

Act 1:3.

The forty days between the Resurrection and the Ascension have distinctly marked characteristics. They are unlike to the period before them in many respects, but completely similar in others; they have a preparatory character throughout; they all bear on the future work of the disciples, and hearten them for the time when they should be left alone.

The words of the text give us their leading features. They bring out-

I. Their evidential value, as confirming the fact of the Resurrection.

‘He showed Himself alive after His passion by . . . proofs.’

By sight, repeated, to individuals, to companies, to Mary in her solitary sadness, to Peter the penitent, to the two on the road to Emmaus. At all hours: in the evening when the doors were shut; in the morning; in grey twilight; in daytime on the road. At many places-in houses, out of doors.

The signs of true corporeity-the sight, the eating.

The signs of bodily identity,-’Reach hither thy hand.’ ‘He showed them His hands and His side.’

Was this the glorified body?

The affirmative answer is usually rested on the facts that He was not known by Mary or the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and that He came into the upper room when the doors were shut. But the force of these facts is broken by remembering that Mary saw nothing about Him unlike other men, but supposed Him to be the gardener-which puts the idea of a glorified body out of the question, and leaves us to suppose that she was full of weeping indifference to any one.

Then as to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Luke carefully tells us that the reason why they did not know Him was in them and not in Him-that it was ‘because their eyes were holden,’ not because His body was changed.

And as to His coming when the doors were shut, why should not that be like the other miracles, when ‘He conveyed Himself away, a multitude being in the place,’ and when He walked on the waters?

There cannot then be anything decidedly built on these facts, and the considerations on the other side are very strong. Surely the whole drift of the narrative goes in the direction of representing Christ’s ‘glory’ as beginning with His Ascension, and consequently the ‘body of His glory’ as being then assumed. Further, the argument of 1Co 15:1 - 1Co 15:58 goes on the assumption that ‘flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,’ that is, that the material corporeity is incongruous with, and incapable of entrance into, the conditions of that future life, and, by parity of reasoning, that the spiritual body, which is to be conformed to the body of Christ’s glory, is incongruous with, and incapable of entrance into, the conditions of this earthly life. As is the environment, so must be the ‘body’ that is at home in it.

Further, the facts of our Lord’s eating and drinking after His Resurrection are not easily reconcilable with the contention that He was then invested with the glorified body.

We must, then, think of transfiguration, rather than of resurrection only, as the way by which He passed into the heavens. He ‘slept’ but woke, and, as He ascended, was ‘changed.’

II. The renewal of the old bond by the tokens of His unchanged disposition.

Recall the many beautiful links with the past: the message to Peter; that to Mary; ‘Tell My brethren,’ ‘He was known in breaking of bread,’ ‘Peace be with you!’ {repetition from Joh 17:1 - Joh 17:26}, the miraculous draught of fishes, and the meal and conversation afterwards, recalling the miracle at the beginning of the closer association of the four Apostles of the first rank with their Lord. The forty days revealed the old heart, the old tenderness. He remembers all the past. He sends a message to the penitent; He renews to the faithful the former gift of ‘peace.’

How precious all this is as a revelation of the impotence of death in regard to Him and us! It assures us of the perpetuity of His love. He showed Himself after His passion as the same old Self, the same old tender Lover. His appearances then prepare us for the last vision of Him in the Apocalypse, in which we see His perpetual humanity, His perpetual tenderness, and hear Him saying: ‘I am . . . the Living One, and I became dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore.’

These forty days assure us of the narrow limits of the power of death. Love lives through death, memory lives through it. Christ has lived through it and comes up from the grave, serene and tender, with unruffled peace, with all the old tones of tenderness in the voice that said ‘Mary!’ So may we be sure that through death and after it we shall live and be ourselves. We, too, shall show ourselves alive after we have experienced the superficial change of death.

III. The change in Christ’s relations to the disciples and to the world. ‘Appearing unto them by the space of forty days.’

The words mark a contrast to Christ’s former constant intercourse with the disciples. This is occasional; He appears at intervals during the forty days. He comes amongst them and disappears. He is seen again in the morning light by the lake-side and goes away. He tells them to come and meet Him in Galilee. That intermittent presence prepared the disciples for His departure. It was painful and educative. It carried out His own word, ‘And now I am no more in the world.’

We observe in the disciples traces of a deeper awe. They say little. ‘Master!’ ‘My Lord and my God!’ ‘None durst ask Him, Who art Thou?’ Even Peter ventures only on ‘Lord, Thou knowest all things,’ and on one flash of the old familiarity: ‘What shall this man do?’ John, who recalls very touchingly, in that appendix to his Gospel, the blessed time when he leaned on Jesus’ breast at supper, now only humbly follows, while the others sit still and awed, by that strange fire on the banks of the lonely lake.

A clearer vision of the Lord on their parts, a deeper sense of who He is, make them assume more of the attitude of worshippers, though not less that of friends. And He can no more dwell with them, and go in and out among them.

As for the world-’It seeth Me no more, but ye see Me.’ He was ‘seen of them,’ not of others. There is no more appeal to the people, no more teaching, no more standing in the Temple. Why is this? Is it not the commentary on His own word on the Cross, ‘It is finished!’ marking most distinctly that His work on earth was ended when He died, and so confirming that conception of His earthly mission which sees its culmination and centre of power in the Cross?

IV. Instruction and prophecy for the future.

The preparation of the disciples for their future work and condition was a chief purpose of the forty days. Jesus spoke ‘of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.’ He also ‘gave commandments to the Apostles.’

Note how much there is, in His conversations with them-

1. Of opening to them the Scriptures. ‘Christ must needs suffer,’ etc.

2. Of lessons for their future, thus fitting them for their task.

3. Mark how this transitional period taught them that His going away was not to be sorrow and loss, but joy and gain, ‘Touch Me not, for I have not yet ascended.’

Our present relation to the ascended Lord is as much an advance on that of the disciples to the risen Lord, as that was on their relation to Him during His earthly life. They had more real communion with Him when, with opened hearts, they heard Him interpret the Scriptures concerning Himself, and fell at His feet crying ‘My Lord and my God!’ though they saw Him but for short seasons and at intervals, than when day by day they were with Him and knew Him not. As they grew in love and ripened in knowledge, they knew Him better and better.

For us, too, these forty days are full of blessed lessons, teaching us that real communion with Jesus is attained by faith in Him, and that He is still working in and for us, and is still present with us. The joy with which the disciples saw Him ascend should live on in us as we think of Him enthroned. The hope that the angels’ message lit up in their hearts should burn in ours. The benediction which the Risen Lord uttered on those who have not seen and yet have believed falls in double measure on those who, though now they see Him not, yet believing rejoice in Jesus with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:3 he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive: The Gospels describe the evidence for Christ’s resurrection: Jesus’ tomb was empty (Luke 24:3-4), his grave clothes were undisturbed (John 20:3-9), and many people saw him (see Matt 28; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-53; John 20:11–21:23; 1 Cor 15:3-8). Jesus appeared to the apostles in part to overcome their doubt (Matt 28:17; Luke 24:17-24, 38, 41; John 20:27; see Mark 16:14) • The Kingdom of God was the central theme of Jesus’ teaching (see Acts 1:6-8; Matt 4:17; Mark 1:14-15; Luke 4:43).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Act 1:3. Παρέστησεν ἑαυτὸν, He Presented or showed Himself) Noble language. A sweet return backwards [a retrogression]: He was taken up, He presented Himself alive, His Passion.—παθεῖν, His Passion) reaching to His death.—τεκμηρίοις, proofs) by sight, hearing, touch, etc.; by means of which they might know clearly and for certain both that it was He Himself, and that He was alive.—δἰ ἡμέρων τεσσαράκοντα) for forty days, not continuously, but at intervals. On the other hand, only ten, not forty, days elapsed from the Ascension to Pentecost: the period of His death was three days.—ὀπτανόμενος, appearing to [being seen of] them) in appearances of considerable length: Joh 21:12.—περὶ τῆς βασιλείας, concerning the kingdom) This was the sum of the words of Christ, even before His Passion.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_1:3. Οἷς καί] to whom also. To the foregoing οὓς ἐξελέξ., namely, there is attached a corresponding incident, through which the new intercourse, in which the ἐντειλάμενος κ.τ.λ. took place, is now set forth.

μετὰ τὸ παθεῖν αὐτόν] includes in it the death as the immediate result of the suffering (Act_3:18, Act_17:3, Act_26:23; Heb_13:12).

διʼ ἡμέρ. τεσσαράκ.] He showed Himself to them throughout forty days, not continuously, but from time to time, which is sufficiently indicated as well known by the preceding ἐν πολλ. τεκμηρίοις.

τὰ περὶ τῆς βασ. τ. Θεοῦ] speaking to them that which related to the Messiahs kingdom (which He would erect). The Catholics have taken occasion hence to assume that Jesus at this stage gave instructions concerning the hierarchy, the seven sacraments, and the like.

As to the variation of the narrative of the forty days from the narrative given in the Gospel, see on Luk_24:50 f. This diversity presupposes that a not inconsiderable interval occurred between the composition of the Gospel and that of Acts, during which the tradition of the forty days was formed or at least acquired currency. The purposely chosen ὀπτανόμενος, conspiciendum se praebens (comp. Tob_12:19; 1Ki_8:8), corresponds to the changed corporeality of the Risen One (comp. the remark subjoined to Luk_24:51), but does not serve in the least degree to remove that discrepancy (in opposition to Baumgarten, p. 12), as if it presupposed that Jesus, on occasion of every appearance, quitted the sphere of invisibility. Comp. the ὤφθη in Luk_24:24; 1Co_15:5 ff.; comp. with Joh_20:17; Act_1:21 f., Act_10:41; Luk_24:42 f.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 1:3 . οἷς καὶ παρέστησεν , “he also showed himself,” R.V., but margin “presented himself” ( cf. Act 9:41 ), praebuit se , Vulg. In Act 9:41 monstravit , h. 1. magis demonstravit (Blass). The verb is used thirteen times in Acts (once in a quotation, Act 4:26 ), both transitively and intransitively. St. Luke in his Gospel uses it three times, and as in Acts both transitively and intransitively. In this he is alone amongst the Evangelists. In the Epistles it is found only in St. Paul, and for the most part in a transitive sense. μετὰ τὸ παθεῖν , “after his passion,” so in A. and R.V.; post passionem suam , Vulg.; “too sacred a word to be expunged from this the only place where it occurs in the Bible,” Humphry, Commentary on R.V.; cf. Act 3:18 , Act 17:3 , Act 26:23 . ἐν πολλοῖς τεκμηρίοις τεκμήριον only here in N.T. twice in Wis 5:11 ; Wis 19:13 , and 3Ma 3:24 . The A.V. followed the Genevan Version by inserting the word “infallible” (although the latter still retained “tokens” instead of “proofs”). But R.V. simply “proofs” expresses the technical use of the word τεκμήριον , convincing, certain evidence. Although in a familiar passage, Wis 5:11 , τεκμήριον and σημεῖον are used as practically synonymous, yet there is no doubt that they were technically distinguished, e.g. , Arist., Rhet. , i., 2, τῶν σημείων τὸ μὲν ἀναγκαῖον τεκμ . This technical distinction, it may be observed, was strictly maintained by medical men, although St. Luke may no doubt have met the word elsewhere. Thus it is used by Josephus several times, as Krenkel mentions, but he does not mention that it is also used by Thucydides, ii., 39, to say nothing of other classical writers. Galen writes to τὸ μὲν ἐκ τηρήσεως σημεῖον τὸ δὲ ἐξ ἐνδείξεως τεκμήριον , and the context states that rhetoricians as well as physicians had examined the distinction; Hobart, Medical Language of St. Luke , p. 184. The word also occurs in the Proem of Dioscorides to his De Materia Medica , p. 3, which Vogel and Meyer Weiss hold that Luke imitated in the Prologue to his Gospel (but see Zahn, Einleitung , ii., 384). διʼ ἡμερῶν τεσσαράκοντα . St. Chrysostom comments οὐ γὰρ εἶπε τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας , ἀλλὰ διʼ ἡμερῶν τεσσαράκοντα · ἐφίστατο γὰρ καὶ ἀφίστατο πάλιν . To this interpretation of the genitive with διά Blass refers, and endorses it, Grammatik des Neutestamentlichen Griechisch , p. 129, following the Scholiast. The meaning, if this interpretation is adopted, would therefore be that our Lord did not remain with His disciples continuously ( οὐ διηνεκῶς , Schol.) as before, but that He appeared to them from time to time; non perpetuo, sed per intervalla , Bengel. But cf. also Simcox, Language of the N.T. , p. 140. Men have seen in this period of forty days, mentioned only by St. Luke in N.T., what we may reverently call a symbolical fitness. But in a certain sense the remark of Blass seems justified: Parum ad rem est quod idem ( numerus ) alias quoque occurrit . The parallels in the histories of Moses and Elijah to which Holtzmann and Spitta refer are really no parallels at all, and if it be true to say that there was nothing in contemporary Jewish ideas to suggest our Lord’s Resurrection as it is represented as taking place , it is equally true to maintain that there was nothing to suggest the after sojourn of the forty days on earth as it is represented as taking place; see Edersheim, Jesus the Messiah , ii. 624. ὀπτανόμενος : if we could call this a frequentative verb with some scholars, it would in itself give the meaning “appearing from time to time,” but it is rather a late Hellenistic present, formed from some parts of ὁρᾶν ; Blass, Grammatik des N. G. , pp. 57, 181. But it certainly does not mean that our Lord’s appearances were merely visionary. The verb is found only here in N.T., but also in LXX 1Ki 8:8 and in Tob 12:19 (not in .). In these two passages the word cannot fairly be pressed into the service of visionary appearances. In 1 Kings the reference is to the staves of the ark which were so long that the ends were seen from the holy place before the oracle, but they were not seen from without, i.e. , from the porch or vestibule. In Tobit it is not the appearance of the angel which is represented as visionary, quite the contrary; but his eating and drinking are represented as being only in appearance. But even if the word could be pressed into the meaning suggested, St. Luke’s view of our Lord’s appearances must be judged not by one expression but by his whole conception, cf. Luk 24:39-43 and Act 10:41 . That he could distinguish between visions and realities we cannot doubt; see note below on Act 12:12 . τὰ περὶ τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ θ .: “speaking the things concerning,” R.V., not “speaking of the things,” A.V., but speaking the very things, whether truths to be believed, or commands to be obeyed (Humphry, Commentary on R.V. ). On St. Luke’s fondness for τὰ περί τινος in his writings see Friedrich, Das Lucasevangelium , pp. 10 and 89 (so also Zeller and Lekebusch). The exact phrase is only found in Acts , where it occurs twice (in T.R. three times); cf. Act 19:8 (Act 8:12 ), and see also Act 20:25 ; Act 20:28 (23):31. The expression ἡ βασ . τοῦ θ ., instead of τῶν οὐρανῶν of the Hebrew Evangelist St. Matthew, is characteristic of St. Luke’s writings, although it is found frequently in St. Mark and once in St. John. In St. Luke’s Gospel it occurs more than thirty times, and six times in Acts (only four times in St. Matt.). Possibly the phrase was used by St Luke as one more easily understood by Gentile readers, but the two terms ἡ βασ . τοῦ θ . and τῶν οὐρ . were practically synonymous in the Gospels and in Judaism in the time of our Lord (Schürer, Jewish People , div. ii., vol. ii., p. 171; E. T. and Taylor, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers (second edit.), p. 67; Edersheim, Jesus the Messiah , i. 267; and Dalman, Die Worte Jesu , p. 76 ff.). Dr. Stanton, Jewish and Christian Messiah , p. 226, draws attention to the important fact that the preaching of the original Apostles after the Ascension is not described as that of the preaching of the kingdom of God, but that the phrase is only used of the preaching of St. Paul, and of St. Philip the associate of St. Stephen. But in view of the fact that the original Apostles heard during the Forty Days from their Master’s lips to τὰ περὶ τῆς βασιλ . τοῦ θεοῦ , we cannot doubt that in deed and in word they would proclaim that kingdom. On the question as to whether they conceived of the kingdom as present, or future, or both, see Wendt, Teaching of Jesus , i., 409, E. T., and Witness of the Epistles (Longmans), p. 309 ff., and on the conception of the kingdom of God in the Theology of A. Ritschl and his school see Orr, Ritschlian Theology , p. 258 ff. For the relation of the Church and the Kingdom see also Moberly, Ministerial Priesthood , pp. 28, 36 ff., “Church,” Hastings, B.D., p. 425; Hort, Ecclesia , p. 5 ff.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Christ did not straightway ascend into heaven after his resurrection: because he would thoroughly prove his resurrection: and with his presence confirm his Apostles in the doctrine, which they had heard.

He calleth those infallible tokens, which are otherwise [termed] necessary: now in that Christ spake, and walked, and ate, and was felt of many, these are sure signs and tokens that he truly rose again.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

showed himself alive--As the author is about to tell us that "the resurrection of the Lord Jesus" was the great burden of apostolic preaching, so the subject is here filly introduced by an allusion to the primary evidence on which that great fact rests, the repeated and undeniable manifestations of Himself in the body to the assembled disciples, who, instead of being predisposed to believe it, had to be overpowered by the resistless evidence of their own senses, and were slow of yielding even to this (Mar 16:14).

after his passion--or, suffering. This primary sense of the word "passion" has fallen into disuse; but it is nobly consecrated in the phraseology of the Church to express the Redeemer's final endurances.

seen of them forty days--This important specification of time occurs here only.

speaking of--rather "speaking."

the things pertaining to the kingdom of God--till now only in germ, but soon to take visible form; the earliest and the latest burden of His teaching on earth.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. To whom - he showed himself alive - by many infallible proofs] πολλοιςτεκμηριοις; by many proofs of such a nature, and connected with such circumstances, as to render them indubitable; for this is the import of the Greek word τεκμηριον. The proofs were such as these:

1. Appearing to several different persons at different times.

2. His eating and drinking with them.

3. His meeting them in Galilee according to his own appointment.

4. His subjecting his body to be touched and handled by them.

5. His instructing them in the nature and doctrines of his kingdom.

6. His appearing to upwards of five hundred persons at once, 1Co 15:6. And,

7. Continuing these public manifestations of himself for forty days.

The several appearances of Jesus Christ, during the forty days of his sojourning with his disciples, between his resurrection and ascension, are thus enumerated by Bishop Pearce: The first was to Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, Mt 28:1-9. The second, to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus, Lu 24:15. The third, to Simon Peter, Lu 24:34. The fourth, to ten of the apostles, Thomas being absent, Lu 24:36, and Joh 20:19. (All these four appearances took place on the day of his resurrection.) The fifth was to the eleven disciples, Thomas being then with them, Joh 20:26. The sixth, to seven of the apostles in Galilee, at the sea of Tiberias, Joh 21:4. The seventh, to James, 1Co 15:7, most probably in Jerusalem, and when Jesus gave an order for all his apostles to assemble together, as in Ac 1:4. The eighth, when they were assembled together, and when he led them unto Bethany, Lu 24:50, from whence he ascended to heaven. But See Clarke on Joh 21:14, for farther particulars.

Pertaining to the kingdom of God] Whatever concerned the doctrine, discipline, and establishment of the Christian Church.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Unto whom, etc He addeth this, that he might make the resurrection to be believed, as a thing most necessary to be known, and without the which the whole gospel falleth flat to the ground, neither remaineth there any more faith. And that I may omit to speak of other discommodities that come by being ignorant of the resurrection of Christ, the gospel loseth his whole authority, unless we know and be also fully persuaded that Christ being alive, speaketh unto us from the heavens. Whereunto Luke hath chiefest respect in this place. Therefore, that the truth hereof might not be called in question, he saith that it was proved by many signs and tokens. Those which Erasmus, following an old interpreter, doth call arguments, I have translated proofs. For Aristotle doth call that τεκμηριον, in the first book of his Rhetorics, which is necessary in signs. This is, therefore, that which I said before, that Christ did make manifest his resurrection unto his apostles by evident tokens, which did serve instead of necessary proofs, lest they should doubt of the same. Furthermore, he doth not reckon up those tokens and signs, saving only that he saith, that Christ did appear unto them about the space of a month and one-half oftentimes. If he had but once appeared unto them, it might have been somewhat suspicious, but in showing himself so often unto them, he dissolveth all doubts which might arise in their minds, and by this means, also, he putteth away the reproach of the ignorance which he said was in the apostles, lest it discredit their preaching.

He intreateth of the kingdom of God He telleth us again that the apostles themselves were well taught before such time as they took upon them to teach others; therefore, whatsoever things they uttered and brought to light, either by word or by writing, touching the kingdom of God, they are those speeches which Christ himself uttered. And hereby doth he briefly set down the end of the doctrine of the gospel; namely, that God may reign in us. Regeneration is the beginning of this kingdom, and the end thereof is blessed immortality; the middle proceedings are in a more ample going forward and increase of regeneration. But that this thing may appear more evidently, we must first note, that we are born, and that we live aliens and strangers from the kingdom of God, until such time as God doth fashion us again unto a new life. Therefore, we may properly set the world, the flesh, and whatsoever is in man’s nature against the kingdom of God, as contrary to it. For the natural man is wholly occupied about the things of this world, and he seeketh felicity here; in the mean season, we are as it were banished from God, and he likewise from us; but Christ, by the preaching of the gospel, doth lift us up unto the meditation of the life to come. And to the end he may the better bring this to pass, he reformeth all our earthly affections, and so having striped us out of the vices of our flesh, he separateth us from the world. And, like as eternal death is prepared for all those which live after the flesh, so in as much as the inward man is renewed in us, that we may go forward in the spiritual life, we draw nearer unto the perfection of the kingdom of God; which is the society of the glory of God. Therefore, God will reign in and amongst us now, that he may at length make us partakers of his kingdom. Hereby we gather that Christ did principally intreat of the corruption of mankind; of the tyranny of sin, whose bond-slaves we are; of the curse and guiltiness of eternal death, whereunto we all are subject, and also of the means to obtain salvation; of the remission of sins; of the denying of the flesh; of spiritual righteousness; of hope of eternal life, and of like such things. And if we will be rightly instructed in Christianity, we must apply our studies to these things.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(3) After his passion.—Literally, after He had suffered. The English somewhat anticipates the later special sense of “passion.”

By many infallible proofs.—There is no adjective in the Greek answering to “infallible,” but the noun is one which was used by writers on rhetoric (e.g., Aristotle, Rhet. i. 2) for proofs that carried certainty of conviction with them, as contrasted with those that were only probable or circumstantial. No other New Testament writer uses it.

Being seen of them forty days.—St. Luke uses a peculiar and unusual word (it occurs twice in the LXX.: 1Ki_8:8, and Tob_12:19) for “being seen,” perhaps with the wish to imply that the presence was not continuous, and that our Lord was seen only at intervals. This may be noted as the only passage which gives the time between the Resurrection and the Ascension. It had its counterpart in the forty days of the Temptation in the wilderness (Luk_4:2), as that had had in the earlier histories of Moses (Exo_24:18; Deu_9:9; Deu_9:18) and Elijah (1Ki_19:8). There was a certain symbolic fitness in the time of triumph on earth coinciding with that of special conflict. If we ask what was the character, if one may so speak, of our Lord’s risen life between His manifestation to the disciples, the history of the earlier forty days in part suggests the answer. Then, as before, the life was, we may believe, one of solitude and communion with His Father, no longer tried and tempted, as it had then been, by contact with the power of evil—a life of intercession, such as that which uttered itself in the great prayer of John 17. Where the days and nights were spent we can only reverently conjecture. Analogy suggests the desert places and mountain heights or Galilee (Luk_4:42; Luk_6:12). The mention of Bethany in Luk_24:50, and of the Mount of Olives in Act_1:12, makes it probable that Gethsemane may have been one of the scenes that witnessed the joy of the victory, as it had witnessed before the agony of the conflict.

The things pertaining to the kingdom of God.—This implies, it is obvious, much unrecorded teaching. What is recorded points (1) to the true interpretation of the prophecies of the Messiah (Luk_24:27; Luk_24:44-45); (2) to the extension of the mission of the disciples to the whole Gentile world, and their admission to the Kingdom by baptism (Mat_28:19); (3) to the promises of supernatural powers and divine protection (Mar_16:15-18); (4) to that of His own perpetual presence with His Church (Mat_28:20).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. after his passion] Literally, after he had suffered.

by many infallible proofs] The adjective here has no representative in the original. The Greek word signifies some sign or token manifest to the senses, as opposed to evidence given by witnesses. The word infallible has been used in the A. V. to bring out this signification. It is better to omit it. The proofs here meant are Christ’s speaking, walking and eating with His disciples on several occasions after His resurrection, and giving to Thomas and the rest the clearest demonstration that He was with them in the same real body as before His death, and not in appearance only (Luk_24:39; Luk_24:43; Joh_20:27; Joh_21:13). As the verity of the Resurrection would be the basis of all the Apostolic preaching, it was necessary that such clear proofs as these should be given by Christ to the twelve who were to be His witnesses.

being seen of them forty days] Better, appearing unto them by the space of forty days. Christ was not continuously with the disciples, but shewed Himself to them frequently at intervals during the forty days between the Resurrection and the Ascension. The period of forty days is only mentioned here, and it has been alleged as a discrepancy between the Gospel of St Luke and the Acts that the former (Luke 24) represents the Ascension as taking place on the same day as the Resurrection. It needs very little examination to disperse such an idea. The two disciples there mentioned (Luk_24:13) were at Emmaus “towards evening” on the day of Christ’s resurrection; they returned to Jerusalem that night and told what they had seen. But after this has been stated the chapter is broken up at Luk_24:36 (which a comparison with John (Joh_20:26-28) shews to be an account of what took place eight days after the Resurrection), and at v. 44 and v. 50, into three distinct sections with no necessary marks of time to unite them, and in the midst of the whole we are told that Christ opened the mind of His disciples that they might understand the Scriptures. No reasonable person would conclude that all this was done in one day. Beside which the objectors prove too much, for according to their reasoning the Ascension must have taken place at night after the two disciples had come again to Jerusalem from Emmaus.

the kingdom of God] This expression is found most frequently in the last three Evangelists, St Matthew’s form being “the kingdom of heaven.” It has several significations, but here, as in Mar_1:14, it includes the whole Christian dispensation, its message, progress and economy. Some traces of the nature of these communications in the forty days we find in the Gospels. The disciples were sent as Christ Himself was sent (Joh_20:21), their understandings were opened that they might understand the Scriptures (Luk_24:45); the extent of their commission was set before them, as well as the solemn issues of their work (Mar_16:15-16), and to that was added the promise of their Lord’s constant presence (Mat_28:20).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion,.... That is, after his sufferings and death; for that he suffered many things, and at last death itself, is certain from the acknowledgment of the Jews themselves, who own, that they put him to death on the passover eve (d); as well as from the accounts of the evangelists; and from the soldiers not breaking his legs, when the rest that were crucified with him were broken, because he was already dead; and from his "ricardium" being pierced with a spear, from whence blood and water sprung, after which it was impossible he should be alive; and from the testimony of the centurion who watched him, to whom Pilate sent to know if he was dead, and how long he had been dead; and from his being buried, and lying in the grave so long as he did: and yet after, and not withstanding this, "he showed himself alive"; he raised himself from the dead, and hereby declared himself to be the Son of God with power, which cannot be said of others; there were others that were alive after death, but not by their own power; as the widow of Sarepta's son, the daughter of Jairus, Lazarus, and the widow of Nain's son; but these did not "show themselves alive", as Christ did, who appeared often to his apostles: for after he had first appeared to Mary Magdalene, he showed himself to the two disciples going to Emmaus; then to ten of them, Thomas being absent; after that to them all, Thomas being present, when he convinced him of the truth of his resurrection; after that he appeared to seven of the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and then to all the apostles; and to five hundred brethren at once on a mountain in Galilee; and once to James alone, and to them all again when he was parted from them and went up to heaven; and so they must be proper and sufficient witnesses of his resurrection: and this evidence of his being alive, he gave to them, by many infallible proofs; or by many signs and tokens, and which were most sure and unquestionable arguments of his being alive; as his eating and drinking with them, walking and talking with them in a free and familiar manner, showing them his hands and his feet, and side, that they might see the scars which the nails and spear had made; and which were not only a proof that he was risen again, but risen again in the same body in which he suffered; and that they might feel and handle him, and know that he was not a spirit, a phantom, a mere apparition, but was really risen and alive: being seen of them forty days; not that he was seen by them for forty days together continually, but at certain times, within the space of forty days; for between his first and last appearance, many others intervening, such a length of time run out; so that it was not a single and sudden appearance that surprised them; but there were many of them, and a distance between them, and this for a considerable term of time; hence they had opportunity of reflecting upon these appearances, and of satisfying themselves of the truth of things. This number of "forty days" is a remarkable one in Scripture. The flood was forty days upon the earth; and so long Moses was in the mount with God; such a number of days the spies were searching the land of Canaan; so many days Goliath presented himself to the armies of Israel; and so long a time Elijah went in the strength of the meat the angel provided for him; and for such a length of time the prophet Ezekiel was to bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; and such a term of time was given out by Jonah for the destruction of Nineveh; and so many days Christ fasted, and was tempted in the wilderness. The Jews pretend (e), that forty days before Jesus was put to death he was led forth, and a crier went before him, declaring, that whoever would, had liberty to testify to his innocence if they could, but no man appeared for him: but this is false; the truth of the matter is, that for forty days after his resurrection he showed himself to his disciples, and by proving the truth of his resurrection, he proved his own innocence and uprightness. If the testimony of Rabbenu Hakadosh, as cited by Galatinus, could be depended on, the Jews had a notion of this forty days' conversation of the Messiah with his disciples, after his resurrection; who say (f),

"the Messiah, after his resurrection, shall converse with the righteous, and they shall hear his precepts "forty days", answerable to those forty days in which he shall be in the wilderness to afflict his soul, before they shall kill him; and these being finished, he shall ascend to heaven, and sit at the right hand of God, as it is said, Psa 110:1.

But this seems rather to be the pious fraud of some Christian, than the words of a Jew: however, they do say (g), that "the days of the Messiah are "forty days", as it is said, Psa 95:10 "forty years long was I grieved"; or, as they interpret it, "shall I be grieved with this generation":

intimating, that the generation of the Messiah, and of the wilderness, would be much alike, and equally grieving to God, and reckoning a day for a year, as the Lord did with that generation, Num 14:33. These forty days Christ was with his disciples, may be an emblem of the forty years which were to run out from his death, to his coming again to take vengeance on the Jewish nation; for so long time was there from thence to the destruction of Jerusalem. And Christ was not only seen of the disciples at certain seasons during this space of time, but he was also heard by them: for it follows,

and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God; the kingdom of the Messiah, the Gospel dispensation; concerning the doctrines of the Gospel they were to preach, and the ordinances of it they were to administer; concerning the church of God, the nature, order, and officers of it, and the laws and rules by which it should be governed; concerning the kingdom of grace, what it consists of, and wherein it lies; and of the kingdom of glory, of meetness for it, his own grace, and of the right unto it, his own justifying righteousness: some of these things they might have before but very little knowledge of; and may be these are the things he had to say to them, and which, till now, they could not bear; and being no more to be with them in person, he instructs them in them,

(d) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 43. 1. (e) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 43. 1. (f) Gale Razeya apud Galatin. de Arcan. Cathol. ver. l. 8. c. 23. (g) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 99. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

Ver. 3. Speaking of the things] Those that are leaving the world should leave wholesome counsel to those that survive them.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He showed himself - The resurrection of Jesus was the great fact on which the truth of the gospel was to be established. Hence, the sacred writers so often refer to it, and establish it by so many arguments. As the fact of his resurrection lay at the foundation of all that Luke was about to record in his history, it was of importance that he should state clearly the sum of the evidence of it in the beginning of his work.

After his passion - After he suffered, referring particularly to his death as the consummation of his sufferings. The word “passion” with us means commonly excitement or agitation of mind, as love, hope, fear, anger, etc. The original means “after he suffered.” The word “passion,” applied to the Saviour, denotes his last sufferings. Thus, in the Litany of the Episcopal Church, it is beautifully said, “By thine agony and bloody sweat; by thy cross and passion, good Lord, deliver us.” The Greek word of the same derivation is rendered sufferings in 1Pe 1:11; 1Pe 4:13; Col 1:24.

By many infallible proofs - The word rendered here “infallible proofs” does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. In Greek authors it denotes an infallible sign or argument by which anything can be certainly known (Schleusner). Here it means the same - evidence that he was alive which could not deceive, or in which they could not be mistaken. That evidence consisted in his eating with them, conversing with them, meeting them at various times and places, working miracles Joh 21:6-7, and uniformly showing himself to be the same friend with whom they had been familiar for more than three years. This evidence was infallible:

(1) Because it was to them unexpected. They had manifestly not believed that he would rise again, Joh 20:25; Luk 24:19-24. There was, therefore, no delusion resulting from any expectation of seeing him, or from a design to impose on people.

(2) It was impossible that they could have been deceived in relation to one with whom they had been familiar for more than three years. No people in the possession of reason could be made to believe that they really saw, talked with, and ate with, a friend whom they had known so long and familiarly, unless it was real.

(3) There were enough of them to avoid the possibility of deception. Though it might be pretended that one man could be imposed on, yet it could not be that an imposition could be practiced for forty days on eleven men, who were all at first incredulous.

(4) He was with them sufficient time to give evidence of his personal identity. It might be pretended, if they had seen him but once, that they were deceived. But they saw him often, and for the space of more than a month.

(5) They saw him in various places and at times in which there could be no deception. If they had pretended that they saw him rise, or saw him at twilight in the morning when he rose, it might have been said that they were deluded by something that was merely the result of imagination. It might have been said that, expecting to see him rise, their hopes, in the agitated state of their minds, deceived them, and that they only fancied that they saw him. But it is not pretended by the sacred writers that they saw him rise. An impostor “would have affirmed this, and would not have omitted it.” But the sacred writers affirmed that they saw him after he was risen; when they were free from agitation; when they could judge coolly; in Jerusalem; in their own company when at worship; when journeying to Emmaus; when in Galilee; when he went with them to Mount Olivet; and when he ascended to heaven: and how could they have been deceived in this?

(6) He appeared to them as he had always done, as a friend, companion, and benefactor; he ate with them, performed a miracle before them, was engaged in the same work as he was before he suffered, renewed the same promise of the Holy Spirit, and gave them his commands respecting the work which he had died to establish, and the work which he required them to do - carrying out the same purposes and plans which he had before he died. In all these circumstances it was impossible that they should be deceived.

Being seen of them forty days - There are no less than thirteen different appearances of Jesus to his disciples recorded. For an account of them, see the notes at the end of the gospel of Matthew.

Speaking to them ... - He was not only seen by them, but he continued the same topics of discourse as before his sufferings; thus showing that he was the same person that had suffered, and that his heart was still intent on the same great work. And as his heart was occupied with the same purposes which endued his attention before he suffered, we are taught by this that we should aim at the same great work in all the circumstances of our being. Afflictions, persecutions, and the prospect of death never turned him from his great plan; nor should they be allowed to divert our minds from the great work which God has given us to do.

The things pertaining to the kingdom of God - For an explanation of this phrase, the kingdom of God, see the notes on Mat 3:2. The meaning is, Jesus gave them instructions about the organization, spread, and edification of his church.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Appearing, &c. Why did he not appear to all, but only to his disciples? Because to many of them, who did not know the mystery, he would have seemed a phantom. For if the disciples themselves were diffident, and terrified, and required to touch him with their hands, how would others have been affected? But we know from their miracles, the truth of the resurrection, which is made evident to all succeeding generations. Perhaps the apostles did not perform miracles. How then was the world converted? This is a fact which cannot be denied, and that it should have been brought about by twelve poor illiterate fishermen, without miracles, would be the greatest of all miracles, far beyond the reach of all human means. (St. John Chrysostom, hom. i. chap. 1. on Acts.) --- "And speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God," as we read in the Greek, and in the Protestant version, that is, pertaining to the Church, which is the kingdom of God, Greek: ta peri tes basileias tou theou, which plainly makes for unwritten tradition. (Estius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

To whom, i.e. the apostles, he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs; eating, drinking, speaking, walking with them; nay, showing them his very wounds, and permitting them to be touched; God suffering Thomas’s infidelity to contribute to the strengthening of our faith.

Being seen of them forty days; not continually, but upon occasion as he pleased; it was so long from his resurrection to his ascension; and the same space in which God showed himself unto Moses in Mount Sinai. So long also he was pleased to stay with them, that he might more abundantly testify the truth of his humanity, and of his resurrection.

And speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God; either his kingdom in heaven, the church triumphant or his kingdom on earth, the church militant; what future bliss and happiness he was going to prepare, and what means they ought to use towards the obtaining of it.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Showed himself alive—Gloriously and repeatedly displayed himself in his resurrection nature.

Infallible proofs—As Christ is the great miracle, so in him the resurrection is the central miracle apparent to men; and it was important, therefore, that this miracle should be sustained by infallible proofs. The evangelists record nine appearances of Jesus. In regard to Jesus’ risen body, see note on Luk_24:36.

Forty days—Compare note on Luk_24:44-45.

Between the Passover (when Christ was crucified) and the Pentecost were, inclusive, fifty days; during forty of which the various showings of himself took place, and the remaining ten days were the those days of Act_1:15. Forty, seventy, and one hundred and twenty are the three primal sacred numbers multiplied by the decimal. See on Act_1:15. Forty days according to Wordsworth, on this passage, is the period indicating “a probation before some great event;” that is, the completion of some preparatory stage. Such was the fact with Moses before the giving of the law, Exo_24:18; Exo_34:28; Deu_9:9; Deu_10:10; with Hebrew spies, Num_13:25; Num_14:34; with Elias, 1Ki_19:8; with Nineveh, Jon_3:4. And as the purification by the presentation of a male child in the temple required a period of forty days, so forty days was Jesus’ probation before he was presented, Luk_2:22; forty days his probationary temptation, Mar_1:13; and forty days his earthly resurrection stage before ascension. And this last forty days were the apostolic probation before the Pentecostal preparatories commenced.

Things pertaining—Doubtless fully and clearly as their advancement in knowledge allowed, yet not so successfully but that they asked the unwise question in Act_1:6.

Kingdom of God—Not that a large body of new teachings was given, but the kingdom of God was the topic of all he did say.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Proofs for infallible proofs, A.V; appearing unto them for seen of, A.V; concerning for pertaining to, A.V The addition of the words by many proofs makes it necessary to understand the words allowed himself (paresthsen eJauton) in the sense which it bears both in classic and Scriptural Greek, of proved or demon-strafed: "To whom he gave distinct proofs of his being alive after his passion;" the proofs follow being "seen of them" for forty days at intervals, talking with them, and (ver. 9) "being taken up while they were looking." Doubtless, too, he had in his mind those other proofs which he records in Act_10:41, and those referred to by St. Paul. (1Co_15:5-8) For this sense of paristhmi, see Act_24:13, "to rove:" and Lysias"s "Oration against Eratosthenes" (p. 125), where the almost identical phrase occurs which we have here, jAmfotera tauta polloiv tekmhrioiv parasthsw, "I will prove both these things by many certain proofs." The A.V rendering, "infallible proofs," was quite justified. Stephanus says, "De certo et indubitato signo dicitur apud Rhetoricos" ("Thesaurus," 9216); and the technical meaning of tekmhrion in Aristotle is a "demonstrative proof," as opposed to a shmeion, which leaves room for doubt; and in medical writers, which is important as regards St. Luke, the tekmhrion is the "infallible symptom." St. Luke, by the use of the word here, undoubtedly meant to express the certainty of the conclusion based on those proofs. Appearing unto them. The Greek ojptanomenov, corresponding to the fanerwqeiv of the Epistle of Barnabas, cap. 15., only occurs in the New Testament in this place. In the Septuagint of, 1Ki_8:8 it is used of the staves of the ark within the veil, which "were not seen without." The idea intended to be conveyed, both by the use of this verb and by the use of dia (by the space of) is that our Lord was not with the apostles always, as he was before the Resurrection, but that he came and again disappeared (St. Chrysostom). They were fleeting appearances spread over forty days. The nearly related substantive, ojptasia, means "a vision," and is frequently used by Luk_1:22 Luk_24:23. It is also found in 2Co_12:1. Concerning the kingdom of God; a subject which had deeply engaged their thoughts, (Luk_19:11) and on which it was most needful that they should now be fully instructed, that they might teach others. (Act_20:25)

The risen Jesus.

whom he also showed himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing unto them by the space of forty days, and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God.

I THE WITNESSES.

1. Prepared and trained for the work. Not shown to all, but to those who could look at the miracle in its spiritual aspect, who could see the fulfillment of God"s Word.

2. The certain knowledge of Christ"s resurrection a solemn responsibility which all were not able to bear. "Nothing secret but that it may come abroad. Not to the wise of this world, who know not how to use Divine secrets, but to the babes in disposition, simple, humble, self-forgetful, waiting on God.

3. The main work of Christ"s servants is witnessing, not theorizing; not building up ecclesiastical structures; not seeking dominion over the faith of others; but "showing forth" the great facts. Our, preaching should be of the nature of witnessing. "Add to our seal that God is true. Although apostles had distinct duties as leaders and founders of the visible Church, they share with all the Lord"s people the office of witnesses. "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord." See to it that we speak as those who "know the certainty of the things.

II THE PROOFS. The Resurrection must be proved infallibly (tekmhrioiv); that is, beyond all reasonable doubt. We must build on a foundation of fact and testimony. Our first teachers must be those who could say that they had tasted, handled, felt of the Word of Life. (1Jn_1:1-4) Now the proofs were:

1. Appearances of the risen Jesus, thirteen in number, in various circumstances, to different kinds of witnesses, and with amply sufficient tests of reality.

2. Coincidence of the facts with-the words of our Lord himself and the promises of the Old Testament.

3. Distinction of the signs and proofs of the Resurrection from any other facts; from the possible misapprehensions or illusions of disciples. It was unexpected; proved against unbelief; with growing assurance; and with concurrence of many sincere and faithful men who knew their responsibility as witnesses.

4. Jesus showed himself alive after his resurrection. The fact to which apostles testified was not the mystery of the Resurrection itself, but the simple fact that Jesus was alive. No one saw him rise, but they saw him after he was risen. They might mistake what occurred at the sepulcher; they could make no mistake in talking with a living man, handling him, eating with him, and that for forty days and on many occasions, in one another"s presence. Necessity that we should set the proof of the Resurrection and risen life of Jesus first and foremost in our defense of Christianity. It is the key-stone of the arch.

III THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE FACE OF JESUS CHRIST. The forty days and their influence on the first disciples, and through them on all future ages.

1. The personal presence of Jesus lifted up into a more glorious fact. The infirmities gone. The fact of his victory shining in his face. The influence of his condescension; the risen Jesus still the Friend and Companion of his people. The expectation of his return to heaven: "I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God". (Joh_20:17) The effect on Thomas: "My Lord and my God!" The necessity that disciples should cease to "know Christ after the flesh." Henceforth they felt his presence spiritually.

2. Forty days of special instruction "concerning the kingdom of God." The history which follows corrects the view sometimes put forward that the risen Savior imparted to his apostles any body of ecclesiastical laws. Had they received them they would certainly have referred to them. He spoke of the kingdom itself, which is not meat and drink, not external ordinances and regulations, not creeds and shibboleths; but "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." He called to remembrance what he had preached. He opened their understandings to the meaning of the Old Testament. He corrected their worldly views. He showed them the relation of the gospel facts to the kingdom; that is, that he could reign by the power of these facts. "The Messiah ought to suffer, and to enter into his glory." He led them back to Calvary with new faith before he took them to Olivet. Jesus was a Teacher to the last. He is the Way, the Truth, the Life. R.

HOMILIES BY P.C. BARKER

The world"s supreme question to the front.

of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." We hold in our hands, in these words, the key, not of a brief section of this chapter and this book alone, but rather of a very long stretch of time, and an immensely important and absorbingly interesting stretch of the world"s history. Matters of the deepest and most touching individual interest, like all the charming incident of the four Gospels, must yield, we are here tacitly reminded yield both in time and in high equity also to those of collective, of national, of universal interest. All the capacity of Old Testament history, abounding in monographs of thrilling human import, long led the way onward to this development. And now it might be said the crisis had arrived. All that even Jesus himself had done and taught before "his passion" is to be called only a beginning. He had done, indeed, unnumbered benefits to unnumbered persons. He had taught unnumbered lessons of wisdom and goodness to unnumbered persons. And he had been a light, a wonder, a glory, to a nation. But now, after his passion and resurrection, on to his ascension, his work shows as though cast in larger mould. Its character speaks comprehension beyond what it formerly did. And this is its simple, grand, motto things pertaining to the kingdom of God." We have here

I THE MANIFEST INSTALLATION, LONG AWAITED, OF THE ONE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF THE WORLD. Henceforth the question that shall be to the front for the whole world is "the kingdom of God." The kingdom of God and the Church of Christ are not, indeed, identities. But they stand in most real correlation. The just analogy of the relation that holds between them is that of the perfect type, the original model to the faithful copy a copy ever realizing greater faithfulness of resemblance. For this supreme installation, now come with so little of ceremony, at so unexpected a time, in so unexpected and modest a way, the world had waited thousands of years, while "kings and prophets" had been on the watch-tower. These had died with "hope deferred," but in many cases with faith never stronger than in that dying hour. But further, during the last thirty-three years, since in strangest consent a heavenly band of angels, and certain shepherds, and certain "wise men of the East," and a certain very unwise king, Herod, struck to the heart cowardly, had seemed to set them going, wave after wave of excited expectation and of suspense had swayed to and fro the hearts of multitudes. The expectation and the suspense were just now put to rest, and it should be a satisfied rest, for "this time," to be soon superseded by an untold period of hard work and severe conflict. During the past thirty-three years, this kingdom had been foreshadowed among a thousand things "done" and "taught" that seemed of nearer import, by

1. The distinct preaching of John the Baptist (Mat_3:1) and of Jesus Christ himself. (Mat_4:17)

2. The introduction of it into the model prayer taught by Jesus to his disciples, "Thy kingdom come Thine is the kingdom.

3. The many parables of Jesus, of which "the kingdom of God" or "the kingdom of heaven" was the subject.

4. The missionary tours of the twelve disciples (Mat_10:7, Mat_10:8) and of the seventy. (Luk_10:9)

5. The detached observations made by Jesus, having the kingdom as their subject (Luk_17:20; Joh_18:33-37) But now, during so special aperiod as the forty days, this subject things pertaining to the kingdom of God is spoken of as the characteristic and discriminating theme of Christ"s discourse and instruction to the apostles. The inference is plain.

II THE INDICATIONS OF THE AUGUST CRISIS, WHEN THE MOST ARDUOUS WORK, MOST ENNOBLING PRIVILEGE, MOST TREMENDOUS RESPONSIBILITY, WERE DEVOLVED ON HUMAN AGENTS. And two things are specially to be noted at this amazing juncture.

1. The carrying on of the work of Christ on earth, in the establishing and propagating of the kingdom of God, is given into the hands of men. We know nothing like all which Jesus said to his apostles during these "forty days." Probably we do not know even all the occasions on which he appeared to them and instructed them. But there can be no doubt that there was one reason, and only one chief reason, why the theme of Christ"s conversation or discourse was what we are here told it was. The reason this, that the apostles should now be prepared, both in heart and hand, to undertake the lead of the great work, as they had never Before been prepared, probably not even to the conceiving of such a thing.

2. The carrying on of that work, now devolved or about immediately to be devolved on the servants by the Master, is for so we are irresistibly led to concludenot prescribed too closely, is not provided for in anything approaching literal detail. Christ spoke of the things pertaining to" the kingdom of God. One inevitably imagines that under this description principles were imparted possibly enough information savoring of the character of revelation. These would be lighted up and warmed by the presence of gracious promise and stirring glimpses of the above and of the future. Yet, all as inevitably, one is impressed with the conviction that even that poor earthly judgment of those poor earthly men, who had so often slipped and failed even under the eye of the Master, was not fettered, hampered, overpowered by the severity of binding detail. We seem to see Jesus doing at that germinal time what the history of the Church clearly enough shows he ever has done since, throwing himself and his own expensive work and grand sacrifice alike on the love and the judgment of his servants! It is a marvelous thought of work and honor devolved on men! Nor could it be easy to find either a more stirring or inspiring stimulus both of love and of wisdom"s best efforts. The conjunction of the trust Christ offers to repose practically, not on our hearts" love alone, but even on our fallible discretion, illustrates the height of his surpassing grace to us, in the very gracefulness of the grace.

III THE SUGGESTIONS OF THE SOURCE OF THE KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM THAT UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD BE REQUIRED. He who "spake" to loving disciples, friends, servants, and who instructed them now, would by the very act, often repeated before his passion," but now (it is impossible to refrain from the word) with increased sanctity after his resurrection, ensure their memory, and their grateful memory, of himself. These he would make his own more surely than the child hallows more and more the memory of the father; more surely than the pupil never conquers, nor wishes nor tries to conquer, the reverence he used to feel to a teacher, whom he once pictured as possessed of all knowledge. To him who gives the grace of conversion, we look instinctively for that of sanctification; as to those who give us life, we instinctively, unconsciously look for the support and rearing of that life. "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world," were words, we may rest assured, not heard exactly for the first time in the rapt moments of the literal Ascension! We are also immediately informed that Christ emphatically directed his disciples, now hanging on his lips, to look for and wait for the Holy Spirit, one of whose main offices was and ever is to bring to remembrance the things already spoken by Christ. Until, then, "God is all in all," and the mediatorial reign of Christ is resigned, he is our one Hope and Trust. He is the Giver of light, knowledge, love. He is the one only Head of his Church. He the Savior and the King of men, who now so condescendingly "showed himself alive" to the apostles, "after his passion, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. B.

Sensible proofs of Christ"s resurrection.

The resurrection of our Lord is declared to have been a literal and historical fact, of which satisfactory proofs could be given such proofs as men are accustomed to accept. Here it is stated that our Lord "showed himself alive;" that he "appeared -unto the disciples" (see Revised Version), that the proofs he offered of his restored life were "infallible," as well as "numerous; i.e. they were not merely "probable," or "circumstantial," they were such as naturally and properly carried conviction. The disciples were not deluded or deceived; they acted as reasonable men, and accepted the fact of the Resurrection because convinced by adequate proofs. But when the historical fact is thus fully assured, we must be prepared to receive the further fact which our Lord"s ascension declares, viz. that his resurrection was essentially a spiritual resurrection. We have in it the assurance that he himself, the spiritual person, Jesus, lived; we have but the formal part of the truth before us when we say that his body was restored to life. The bodily manifestations during the forty days were necessary, in order to give the disciples and us such proofs as they and we can apprehend, of the real continuance of the life of Jesus himself; through these sensible proofs our minds grasp the fact that he ever liveth." The spiritual" cannot be apprehended by us save by the help of figure, body, and form; and our Lord"s whole life on the earth is a gracious bringing home to our carnal minds of spiritual truths and realities by sensible appearances and deeds and words. Luke briefly declares the sufficiency of the proofs of the Resurrection. Each point may be illustrated and enforced by the facts detailed in the Gospels, and by the summary given in 1Co 15.

I THE TIME COVERED BY THE PROOFS WAS PROLONGED. It was forty days. Any sudden and passing manifestation of Christ might be explained as a mental delusion or a ghostly vision. The time, in this case, gave sufficient opportunity for testing the veritableness of Christ"s restored life. Spirit-manifestations never remain for forty days.

II THE OCCASIONS ON WHICH THE PROOFS WERE GIVEN WERE MANY, For them see Paul"s summary. (1Co 15) Some were given at Jerusalem; others in Galilee; others, again, at Olivet. Some on the shore; others on the mountain; others, again, in the house. Some with the sound of voice which all recognized; others with the showing of the crucifixion marks; others with the sharing of bodily food; and yet others with the signs of the old miraculous power. Impress the force that lies in cumulative evidence.

III THE WITNESSES WHO TESTIFY TO THE PROOFS WERE VARIOUS. Individual men may be selected, such as the skeptical Thomas, or the questioning Philip, and the value of their testimony may be shown. But equally important is the witness of Peter"s intensity and John"s insight. Add the evidence of the women, and that of "five hundred" disciples, to the majority of whom personal appeal could be made when Paul wrote to the Corinthians. Show what a stream of witnesses. They "crowd the court." Was ever any fact more adequately assured by sober testimony and sensible proofs, such as ought to carry conviction?

IV THE SUBJECT OF CHRIST"S TEACHING IN THE FORTY DAYS WAS THE SAME. The importance of this continuity needs to be carefully shown. Jesus resumed his work, carried it on from the point where he left off, completing his personal instructions to his disciples, with precise adaptation to his new relations as the risen and ascending Lord, and to their new duty as the preachers of his gospel to the world. Really in this lies the best proof of the Resurrection. Impress the security of the foundation fact on which the gospel rests. Christ "is risen," and our preaching is "not vain. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Being seen by them forty days - That is, many times during that space. And speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God - Which was the sum of all his discourses with them before his passion also.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Observe, 1. The time which our Lord spent here upon earth, between his resurrection and ascension; it was forty days; Christ would not presently ascend into heaven, as soon as he was risen, but thought fit to stay some time with his disciples, to confirm their faith in the belief of his resurrection, and to satisfy them that it was he himself, their Lord and Master, that died for them, that was indeed risen and now appeared to them; He was seen of them forty days.

Observe, 2. What our Saviour did in that forty days stay upon earth: He shewed himself alive unto his disciples, appearing sometimes to them, and giving them many infallible proofs of the verity of his resurrection, by eating, drinking, talking, and conversing with them, by shewing his wounds to them, and submitting himself to be touched and handled by them. Not that Christ’s conversation with his disciples, in this his exalted state after his resurrection, was so frequent and familiar, as it was before his death, when he was in a state of humiliation: and accordingly we never read, I think, that Christ ever lodged or continued all night with his disciples, after he was risen from the grave. But he conversed with them only upon occasion, as he pleased himself, and when he pleased.

Observe, 3. What our Saviour said, as well as what he did, in this intervening time betwixt his resurrection and ascension, being forty days; He spake to his disciples of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God;

That is, 1. Of the things pertaining to his church militant, or the kingdom of grace here on earth, how he would have his church planted and propagated by the apostles doctrine, guided and governed by their discipline;

Or, 2. By the kingdom of God, may be understood the church triumphant, or the kingdom of glory in heaven; what perfect bliss and happiness he was now going ot prepare for them in the presence of his Father.

Where note, That Christ’s kingdom is purely spiritual; that Christ’s spiritual kingdom is his church: and the preaching of the gospel is the great instrumental mean for the erecting of the kingdom of grace, and enlarging of the kingdom of glory.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

3. I am so sorry that nothing has been elaborately revealed appertaining to the precious ministry of our Lord with His apostles during the forty days of His glorified sojourn upon the earth between His resurrection and ascension. It is merely here stated that He spent the time “speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God.” Doubtless this explains the thrilling enthusiasm of apostolic preaching relative to the coming kingdom, and their incessant buoyant expectancy of their Lord’s return on the throne of His Millennial glory during their personal ministry. The kingdom of God is the Divine government. It was predominant in Eden, suffering total eclipse in the Fall. It was partially restored among the antediluvians, received a great impetus in the flood, flashed along the patriarchal ages, thundered out from Sinai, was predicted by the old prophets, preached by John the Baptist, our Savior and His apostles, and, during the Gospel dispensation, is to be heralded to all the nations on the face of the whole earth, calling out the elect and preparing them for the Lord’s glorious coming, when He will be crowned King of all nations and reign from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, “and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. As our author is about to present the apostles testifying to the resurrection of Jesus, he sees proper, in his introduction, to state briefly the ground of the qualifications for this testimony. He does this in the remainder of the paragraph of which we have already quoted a part: (3) “ To whom, also, he presented himself alive, after his suffering, by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days, and speaking the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” From the concluding chapters of the former narrative, we learn more particularly the nature and number of these infallible proofs. These, having been fully stated by himself and others, are not here repeated. We learn here, however, a fact not there related: that the space from the resurrection to the ascension was forty days.

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. To whom he shewed himself alive. He is a living Savior. Otherwise he could no more be a Savior than Socrates, Buddha, or any other sage. After his passion. Suffering on the cross. Seen of them forty days. At various times during forty days. Eleven appearances are recorded. There were probably others. Pertaining to the kingdom of God. His church, about to be established on the earth.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

3. τεσσεράκοντα is the spelling of אAB and other authorities.

3. μετὰ τὸ παθεῖν αὐτόν, after He had suffered. The death is included with the other forms of the passion.

ἐν πολλοῖς τεκμηρίοις. This use of ἐν for expressing the means by which anything is done, is from a translation of the Hebrew בְּ = in. Thus the LXX. have (Ecc 9:15) καὶ διασώσῃ αὐτὸς τὴν πόλιν ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ αὐτοῦ.

A τεκμήριον is such an evidence as to remove all doubt. It is explained by Hesychius as σημεῖον ἀληθές. See also Aristot. Rhet. i. 2. So 3Ma 3:24, καὶ τεκμηρίοις καλῶς πεπεισμένοι. The proofs which Christ gave of His true resurrection were His speaking, walking and eating with His disciples on several occasions after His resurrection, and giving to Thomas and the rest the clearest demonstration that He was with them in the same real body as before His death (Luk 24:39; Luk 24:43; Joh 20:27; Joh 21:13). As the verity of the Resurrection would be the basis of all the Apostolic teaching, it was necessary for the Twelve who were to be His witnesses to have every doubt removed.

δι’ ἡμερῶν. The preposition intimates that the appearances of Jesus to His disciples happened from time to time during the forty days, a force which is scarcely to be gathered from A.V. So Chrysostom who remarks οὐκ εἶπεν τεσσεράκοντα ἡμέρας ἀλλὰ δι’ ἡμερῶν τεσσεράκοντα, ἐφίστατο γὰρ καὶ ἀφίπτατο πάλιν.

The period of forty days is only mentioned here, and it has been alleged as a discrepancy between St Luke’s Gospel and the Acts that the former (Luke 24) represents the Ascension as taking place on the same day as the Resurrection. It needs very little examination to disperse such an idea. The two disciples there mentioned (Luk 24:13) were at Emmaus ‘towards evening’ on the day of the Resurrection. They came that night to Jerusalem and told what they had seen. But after this has been stated, the chapter is broken up at Luk 24:36 (which a comparison with John (Joh 20:26-28) shews to be an account of what took place eight days after the Resurrection), and again at Luk 24:44 and Luk 24:50, into three distinct sections, with no necessary marks of time to connect them. And in the midst of the whole we are told that Christ opened the minds of His disciples that they should understand the Scriptures. No reasonable person can suppose that all this was done in one day. Beside which the objectors prove too much, for according to their reasoning the Ascension must have taken place at night, after the two disciples had returned from Emmaus to Jerusalem.

ὀπτανόμενος. A rare word. It is used Tob 12:19 by the angel Raphael, πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ὠπτανόμην ὑμῖν, and in the LXX. of 1Ki 8:8 about the staves on which the ark was carried, and which when it rested in the Most Holy place were not seen outside.

βασιλ. τοῦ θεοῦ. The more frequently used phrase is βασιλ. τῶν οὐρανῶν. Here the meaning is, the new society which was to be founded in Christ’s name, and in which all members were to be His soldiers and servants and to bear His name. On the nature of the intercourse between Christ and His disciples during this period, see Joh 20:21; Mat 28:20; Mar 16:15-16; Luk 24:45. They received their solemn commission, and were made to understand the Scriptures, and also were comforted by the promise of the Lord’s constant presence to aid them in their great work.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. ἐν π. τεκμ.] See Luk 24:31, Luk 24:39, Luk 24:43. The ἐν is in its signification of investiture, in which it introduces the element or condition in which, and thus the means by which, an agent operates.

ὀπτανόμενος] οὐ γὰρ ὥσπερ πρὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ὡς ἀεὶ μετʼ αὐτῶν ἦν, οὕτω καὶ τότε· οὐ γὰρ εἶπε τεσσεράκοντα ἡμέρας, ἀλλὰ διʼ ἡμερῶν τεσσεράκοντα· ἐφίστατο γὰρ καὶ ἀφίστατο πάλιν, Chrysostom. This is the only place where the interval between the Resurrection and the Ascension is specified.

τὰ περ. τ. β. τ. θ.] τά, in the widest sense; not ῥήματα merely:—the matters. The article has been taken to imply (and so in some of my earlier editions), that during this period they received from our Lord the whole substance of the doctrine of ‘the Kingdom of God.’ But this remark seems to lose its propriety owing to the present participle λέγων. Both the participles, ὀπτανόμενος and λέγων, carry with them a ratiocinative force, in dependence on τεκμηρίοις: “proofs, consisting in this, that He” &c. And thus the art. τά gives the sentence the meaning, “and inasmuch as the things which he said were those pertaining to the Kingdom of God;” thus serving only to define λεγόμενα. [What things these were, we are not told. Certainly, not future events in their detail,—as the next portion of the narrative shews us. I should rather believe them to have concerned the future founding and government of the Church: though even here the greatest Apostles were apparently left to the unfolding of the teaching of the Holy Spirit as years went on.]

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Shewed himself [παρεστησεν] . This verb is rendered in a variety of ways in the New Testament, as give or furnish, present, provide, assist, commend. The original meaning is to place beside, and so commend to the attention. Hence, to set before the mind; present, shew.

Infallible proofs [τεκμηριοις] . The word is akin to tekmar a fixed boundary, goal, end; and hence a fixed or sure sign or token. The Rev. omits infallible, probably, assuming that a proof implies certainty. Being seen [οπτανομενος] . Only here in New Testament. Rev., appearing.

Forty days [δι ημερων τεσσερακοντα] . Lit., "through forty days." Rev., by the space of. The only passage where the interval between the resurrection and the ascension is given.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.