1 Dan. vi. 17. sure as ye can. 66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, 'sealing the stone, and setting a watch. XXVIII. 1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Maga ch. xxvii. 56. dalene a and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled Krender, besides [posting] the guard. Gospel was compiled, all à priori arguments of this kind are good for nothing. - 65.] Ye have-the verb rendered may be either 1), indicative, Ye have:but then the question arises, What guard had they? and if they had one, why go to Pilate? Perhaps we must understand some detachment placed at their disposal during the feast-but there does not seem to be any record of such a practice. That the guards were under the Sanhedrim is plain from ch. xxviii. 11, where they make their report, not to Pilate, but to the chief priests:-or 2), imperative; which doubtless it may be; see 2 Tim. i. 13 and note; and the sense here on that hypothesis would be, Take a body of men for a guard. And to this latter I rather incline: see the note in my Greek Test. as ye can] literally as you know how:-in the best manner you can. There is no irony in the words, as has been supposed. The sealing was by means of a cord or string passing across the stone at the mouth of the sepulchre, and fastened at either end to the rock by sealing-clay. CHAP. XXVIII. 1-10.] JESUS, HAVING RISEN FROM THE DEAD, APPEARS TO THE WOMEN. Mark xvi. 1-8. Luke xxiv. 1-12. John xx. 1-10. The independence and distinctness of the four narratives in this part have never been questioned, and indeed herein lie its principal difficulties. With regard to them, I refer to what I have said in the Introduction, that supposing us to be acquainted with every thing said and done in its order and exactness, we should doubtless be able to reconcile, or account for, the present forms of the narratives; but not having this key to the harmonizing of them, all attempts to do so in minute particulars must be full of arbitrary assumptions, and carry no certainty with them. And I may remark, that of all harmonies, those of the incidents of these chapters are to me the most unsatisfactory. Giving their compilers all credit for the best intentions, I confess they seem to me to weaken instead of strengthening the evi 1 render, an angel. dence, which now rests (speaking merely objectively) on the unexceptionable testimony of three independent narrators, and of one, who besides was an eye-witness of much that happened. If we are to compare the four, and ask which is to be taken as most nearly reporting the exact words and incidents, on this there can I think be no doubt. On internal as well as external ground, that of St. John takes the highest place: but not, of course, to the exclusion of those parts of the narrative which he does not touch. The improbability that the Evangelists had seen one another's accounts, becomes, in this part of their Gospels, an impossibility. Here and there we discern traces of a common narration as the ground of their reports, as e. g. Matt. vv. 5-8: Mark vv. 5-8, but even these are very few. As I have abandoned all idea of harmonizing throughout, I will beg the student to compare carefully the notes on the other Gospels. 1. In the end of the sabbath] There is some little difficulty here, because the end of the sabbath (and of the week) was at sunset the night before. It is hardly to be supposed that St. Matthew means the evening of the sabbath, though "dawn" is used of the day beginning at sunset (Luke xxiii. 54, and note). It is best to interpret a doubtful expression in unison with the other testimonies, and to suppose that here both the day and the breaking of the day are taken in their natural, not their Jewish sense. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary] In Mark, Salome also. St. John speaks of Mary Magdalene alone. See notes there. to see the sepulchre] It was to anoint the Body, for which purposes they had bought, since the end of the Sabbath, ointments and spices, Mark. In Mark it is after the rising of the sun; in John, while yet dark; in Luke, at dim dawn; the two last agree with our text. 2.] This must not be taken as pluperfect, "there had been, &c.," which would be altogether inconsistent with the text. The words here must mean that the women were witnesses of the earth с xii. 40: : xx. 19. xvi. 21: xvii. 23: back the stone [m from the door], and sat upon it. 3 b His b Dan. x. 6. countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. 6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you ach. xxvi. 32. into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. 8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. 9 And [as they went to tell his disciples,] behold, Jesus momitted by many ancient authorities. n render, appearance. d • omitted in most of the oldest and best authorities. quake, and that which happened. It is to be observed that St. Matthew re cords only this one appearance to the Apostles, and in Galilee. It appears strange that this should be the entire testimony of St. Matthew: for it seems hardly likely that he would omit those important appearances in Jerusalem when the Apostles were assembled, John xx. 19, 26, or that one which was closed by the Ascension. But perhaps it may be in accord with his evident design of giving the general form and summary of each series of events, rather than their characteristic details. See below on ver. 20. The goeth before here is not to be understood as implying the journeying on the part of our Lord Himself. It is cited from His own words, ch. xxvi. 32, and there, as here, merely implies that He would be there when they arrived. It has a reference to the collecting of the flock which had been scattered by the smiting of the Shepherd; see John x. 4. there shall ye see him is determined, by "there shall they see me," below, to be part of the message to the disciples: not spoken to the women directly, but certainly indirectly including them. The idea of their being merely messengers to the Apostles, without bearing any share in the promise, is against the spirit of the context: see further in note on ver. 17. lo, I have told you is to give solemnity to the command. These words are peculiar to Matthew, and are a mark of accuracy. 8.] "With fear, because of the prodigies; with joy, for the promises," Euthym. 9.] Neither St. Mark nor St. Luke recounts, or seems to have been aware of, this appearance. St. Mark even says "they said nothing to any man: for they were afraid." But (see above) it does not therefore follow Heb. ii. 11. met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 10 Then said Jesus e Rom. viii. 29 unto them, Be not afraid go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me. 11 Now when they were going, behold, some of the P watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. 12 And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, 13 saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. 14 And if this I come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. 15 So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. 16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into P render, guard. A render, be heard before the governor. rrender, bear you harmless. that the narratives are inconsistent. St. Mark's account (see note there) is evidently broken off suddenly; and St. Luke's (see also note there) appears to have been derived from one of those who went to Emmaus, who had evidently but an imperfect knowledge of what happened before they left the city. This being taken into account, we may fairly require that the judgment should be suspended in lack of further means of solving the difficulty. held him by the feet, partly in fear and as suppliants, for the Lord says, "fear not," but shewing also the joy with which that fear was mixed (ver. 8),-joy at having recovered Him whom they loved. 10.] my brethren; so also to Mary Magdalene, John xx. 17. The repetition of this injunction by the Lord has been thought to indicate that this is a portion of another narrative inwoven here, and may possibly belong to the same incident as that in ver. 7. But all probability is against this: the passages are distinctly consecutive, and moreover both are in the well-known style of St. Matthew (e. g., "behold" in both). There is perhaps more probability that this may be the same appearance as that in John xx. 11-18, on account of "touch me not," there, and "my brethren," but in our present imperfect state of information, this must remain a mere probability. 11-15.] THE JEWISH AUTHORITIES BRIBE THE GUARDS TO GIVE A ACCOUNT OF THE RESURRECTION. liar to Matthew. FALSE Pecu This was a meeting of the Sanhedrim, but surely hardly an official and open one; does not the form by a bribe of money, which, "knowing the covetous character of the man, they were confidently able to promise." Trench, on the A. V., p. 72. 15.] Justin Martyr says that the Jews sent men far and wide to disseminate this report. 16-20.] APPEARANCE OF THE LORD ON A MOUNTAIN IN GALILEE. This was after the termination of the feast, allowing two first days of the week, on which the Lord appeared to the assembled Apostles (John xx. 19, 26), to elapse. It illustrates the fragmentary nature of the materials out of which our narrative is built, that the appointment of this mountain as a place of assembly for the eleven has not been mentioned, although the text seems to imply that it has. Stier well remarks (Reden Jesu, vii. 209) that in this verse St. Matthew gives a hint of some interviews having taken place previously to this in Galilee. And it is important to bear this in mind, as suggesting, if not the solution, at least the ground of solution, ver. 7. g Dan. vii. 13, 14. ch, xi. 27 xvi. 28. Luke s a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And fch. xxvi. 32. when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. ye [t therefore], and hu teach all nations, baptizing Eph. i. 10, 21. Phil. ii. 9, 10. Heb. i. 2: ii. 8. 1 Pet. iii. 22. Rev. xvii. 14. $ render, the. render, make disciples of. 1.32 x 22. v. 22: xiii. 8: John iii. 35: xvii. 2. Acts ii. 36. Rom. xiv. 9. 1 Cor. xv. 27. h Isa. lii. 10. Acts ii. 38, tomitted by many ancient authorities. ▾ render, the nations. of the difficulties of this passage. Ver. 17 seems to present an instance of this fragmentary narrative. The impression given by it is that the majority of the eleven worshipped Him, but some doubted (not, whether they should worship Him; which is absurd, and not implied in the word). This however would hardly be possible, after the two appearances at Jerusalem in John xx. We are therefore obliged to conclude that others were present. Whether these others were the 500 brethren at once' of whom St.Paul speaks 1 Cor. xv. 6, or some other disciples, does not appear. Olshausen and Stier suppose, from the previous announcement of this meeting, and the repetition of that announcement by the angel, and by our Lord, that it probably included all the disciples of Jesus; at least, all who would from the nature of the case be brought together. 18. came] They appear to have first seen Him at a distance, probably on the top of the mountain. This whole introduction forbids us to suppose that the following words are a mere compendium of what was said on various occasions. Like the opening of ch. v., it carries with it a direct assertion that what follows, was spoken then, and there. All power is given, &c.] The words are a reference to the prophecy in Daniel, which compare. Given, by the Father, in the fulfilment of the Eternal Covenant, in the Unity of the Holy Spirit. Now first is this covenant, in its fulness, proclaimed upon earth. The Resurrection was its last seal: the Ascension was the taking possession of the Inheritance. But the Inheritance is already won; and the Heir is only remaining on earth for a temporary purpose-the assuring His joint-heirs of the verity of His possession. All power in heaven and earth: see Eph. i. 20-23; Col. ii. 10; Heb. i. 6; Rom. xiv. 9; Phil. ii. 9-11; 1 Pet. iii. 22. 19.] therefore is not found, or found in varying forms, in many of the ancient authorities. It is probably a gloss, but an excellent one. It is the glorification of the Son by the Father through the Spirit, which is the foundation of the Church of Christ in all the world. And when we baptize into the Name (i. e. into the fulness of the consequence of the objective covenant, and the subjective confession) of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, it is this which forms the ground and cause of our power to do sothat this flesh of man, of which God hath made all the nations, is glorified in the Person of our Redeemer, through whom we all have access by one Spirit to the Father. Go.... and make disciples] Demonstrably, this was not understood as spoken to the Apostles only, but to all the brethren. Thus we read (Acts viii. 2, 4), "they were all scattered abroad except the Apostles :-they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word." There is peculiar meaning in make disciples of. All power is given me-go therefore and . subdue? Not so: the purpose of the Lord is to bring men to the knowledge of the truth-to work on and in their hearts, and lift them up to be partakers of the Divine Nature. And therefore it is not 'subdue,' but make disciples of (see below). Be all the nations again is closely connected with "all power in earth.”" all the nations] including the Jews. It is absurd to imagine that in these words of the Lord there is implied a rejection of the Jews, in direct variance with his commands elsewhere, and also with the world-wide signification of "in earth," above. sides, the (temporary) rejection of the Jews consists in this, that they are numbered among all the nations, and not a peculiar people any longer and are become, in the providence of God, the subjects of that preaching, of which by original title they ought to have been the promulgators. We find the first preachers of the gospel, so far from excepting the Jews, uniformly bearing their testimony to them first. With regard to the difficulty which has been raised on these words,-that if they had been thus spoken by the Lord, the Apostles would never have had any doubt about : them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with I alway, even unto the end of the world. [ Amen.] W render, into. render, all the days. you the admission of the Gentiles into the Church, I would answer that the Apostles never had any doubt whatever about admitting Gentiles,-only whether they should not be circumcised first. In this command, the prohibition of ch. x. 5 is for ever removed. baptizing them] Both these present participles are the conditions of the imperative preceding. The making disciples consists of two parts-the initiatory, admissory rite, and the subsequent teaching. It is much to be regretted that the inadequate rendering, teach,' has in our Bibles clouded the meaning of these important words. It will be observed that in our Lord's words, as in the Church, the process of ordinary discipleship is from baptism to instruction-i. e. is, admission in infancy to the covenant, and growing up into observing all things commanded by Christ-the exception being, what circumstances rendered so frequent in the early church, instruction before baptism in the case of adults. On this we may also remark, that baptism, as known to the Jews, included, just as it does in the Acts (ch. xvi. 15, 33), whole households-wives and children. As regards the command itself, no unprejudiced reader can doubt that it regards the outward rite of BAPTISM, so well known in this gospel as having been practised by John, and received by the Lord Himself. And thus it was immediately, and has been ever since, understood by the Church. As regards all attempts to explain away this sense, we may say even setting aside the testimony furnished by the Acts of the Apostles,that it is in the highest degree improbable that our Lord should have given, at a time when He was summing up the duties of His Church in such weighty words, a command couched in figurative or ambiguous language-one which He must have known would be interpreted by His disciples, now long accustomed to the rite and its name, otherwise than He intended it. into the name ..] Reference is apparently made to the Baptism of the Lord himself, where the whole Three Persons of the Godhead were in manifestation. Not the names-but the name-setting forth the Unity of the Godhead. into] It is unfortunate again here that our English Bibles do not give us the force of this word. y omit. "In " should have been into, (as in Gal. iii. 27 al.,) both here and in 1 Cor. x. 2, and wherever the expression is used. It imports, not only a subjective recognition hereafter by the child of the truth implied in the Name, &c., but an objective admission into the covenant of Redemption-a putting on of Christ. Baptism is the contract of espousal (Eph. v. 26) between Christ and His Church. Our word in’ being retained both here and in formula of Baptism, it should always be remembered that the Sacramental declaration is contained in this word; that it answers (as Stier has well observed, vii. 268) to the This is my Body," in the other Sacrament. On the difference between the baptism of John and Christian baptism, see notes on ch. iii. 11: Acts xviii. 25; xix. 1-5. our 20.] Even in the case of the adult, this teaching must, in greater part, follow his baptism; though as we have seen (on ver. 19), in his exceptional case, some of it must go before. For this teaching is nothing less than the building up of the whole man into the obedience of Christ. In these words, inasmuch as the then living disciples could not teach all nations, does the Lord found the office of Preachers in His Church, with all that belongs to it,the duties of the minister, the schoolteacher, the scripture reader. This 'teaching' is not merely the preaching of the gospel-not mere proclamation of the good news-but the whole catechetical office of the Church upon and in the baptized. and, lo, . .] These words imply and set forth the Ascension, the manner of which is not related by our Evangelist. I, in the fullest sense: not the Divine presence, as distinguished from the Humanity of Christ. His Humanity is with us likewise. The vine lives in the branches. Stier remarks the contrast between this 'I am with you,' and the view of Nicodemus (John iii. 2) no man can do these miracles-except God be with him.' with you] mainly, by the promise of the Father (Luke xxiv. 49) which He has poured out on his Church. But the presence of the Spirit is the effect of the presence of Christ-and the presence of Christ is part of the gift of all power above-the effect of the well-pleasing of |