Chapter 17: A WITNESS OF THE RESURRECTION
Chapter 17: A WITNESS OF THE RESURRECTION
Acts i. 1-26; ii. i-ii
"Then robing Him in viewless air, He told
His secret to a few of meanest mould:
They in their turn imparted
The gift to men pure-hearted.
While the brute many heard His mysteries high,
As some strange fearful tongue, and crouch'd —they knew not why."
— Newman.
WITH HIS BRETHREN Peter returned from the scene of the Ascension to the city with great joy. Though he must have realized that the blessed intercourse of the last six weeks was now ended, and that his Master had definitely gone to the Father, yet the indubitable evidence of His great power and glory, the memory of those hands outstretched in benediction as He went, the assurance that they were to be endued with the power of the Comforter within the next few days, and the assurance that Jesus when He came again, as He certainly must, would be the same unchangeable Lord and Friend as they had known Him, were sufficient to lift them all into an ecstasy of joy and triumph, which exceeded and overflowed their sense of deprivation. It was even as He had said, their Master had not left them comfortless.
Quite naturally they returned to the Upper Room, hallowed by so many precious associations. It may have been part of the house of the mother of John Mark, which afterwards became the gathering-place for the harried Church; and probably it was filled to its utmost capacity when the entire group of Apostles, disciples, holy women, and the brethren of the Lord, were assembled. Peter seemed naturally and by universal consent to become their leader; but there is no sign of the autocratic power with which some would invest him. He simply acted as chairman or moderator for the time being, because the Lord Himself, though unseen, was recognized by them all as still literally present; and it was to Him that the choice between the two candidates for the Apostolate was referred.
"Do thou. Lord, who knowest all hearts, show which of these two Thou hast chosen." It must have been with intense inward emotion that Peter compared his own position, as the honoured leader of the assembly, with the lot of Judas, whom he had known so intimately. How he must have secretly wondered at and adored the grace which had saved him from taking his own life in that hour of awful anguish, when he too realized that he had failed his Lord in the supreme crisis! The difference between the two men lay in this that the one acted designedly and deliberately, whilst the other — to use the words of another Apostle — was overtaken by a sudden gush of temptation against which he had made insufficient preparation.
The one particular on which we lay stress is the definition which Peter gave of the special work which lay before them, as it had been outlined by the Lord during the previous days. They were to be witnesses to the fact of the Resurrection of their Lord. His words are very definite. "It is necessary," he said, "that of the men who have been associated with us from the beginning of our Lord's ministry in the days of John the Baptist until now, one must be chosen to become with us a witness to His Resurrection."
When their Master had said that they were to be His witnesses, Peter perceived that the one outstanding fact on which their witness-bearing must be concentrated was His Resurrection, that carried with it all the rest and was the keystone to their position.
I. THE SALIENT FEATURE OF PETER'S LIFE-WORK. — It was witness-bearing to the Resurrection. The word translated witness is fraught with solemn and sacred associations. It is martyr. So many of the early witnesses sealed their testimony with their blood, that the word became synonymous with the yielding up of life amid the horrors of fire and sword, of the prison-cell and the amphitheatre. We cannot utter the word lightly. It is significant of tears, and blood, and death-agony, and the light reflected from the face of Jesus on the death pallor of upturned faces.
The Resurrection of Jesus is not primarily to be argued for as a doctrine; it rests on attestation to a fact. It is, indeed, a gospel, a theology, and a philosophy. It was the fitting consummation of the work of Jesus. It satisfies the heart, answers our deepest longing, and harmonizes with the silent analogies of nature. It is consistent with the anticipations of the Prophets, which have been since the world began.
But, primarily, it is an historical fact, communicated and vouched for by a sufficient number of unimpeachable witnesses.
There is a vast difference, therefore, between the arguments on which Plato and others based their belief in the immortality of the soul and our belief in the Resurrection of the Christ. That the soul would live after this brief span of life, like as the bird might flit through a rudely-constructed banqueting-hall, entering from out the stormy darkness at the one end, and, after flying through the lighted chamber, issuing forth again into the night, that there must be a judgment, a weighing, a readjustment of the unequal lots of human life — these and similar processes of reasoning established the strong probability of life hereafter, which impressed Egyptians, Greeks, and Anglo-Saxons. But, at the best, it was only a probability. In the Resurrection of Jesus men were confronted with a fact, which could not be gainsayed, in that the resurrected body of Jesus was "seen for many days of them that came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who became His witnesses to the people." There is a clear distinction, therefore, between the Platonic philosophy which argues for Immortality, and the Christian faith in the Resurrection, which, as a well-attested fact, has brought Life and Immortality to light. "We are witnesses," said Peter and the others, "that the God of our fathers hath raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, hanging Him on a tree." This was his testimony on the Day of Pentecost; and in the house of Cornelius, when he was used to unlock the door of faith to the Gentiles, he said: "Him God raised up on the third day, and shewed Him openly; not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen by God, even to us, who did eat and drink with Him after He rose from the dead."
II. PETER'S EQUIPMENT FOR HIS LIFE-WORK. — Before our Lord entered on His ministry He was anointed with the Holy Spirit, and from the wilderness He returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee.
May we not say that He also tarried till He (so far as his human nature required it) was endued with power from on high? That was our Saviour's Pentecost.
What was true of the head must be also true of the body. The sacred oil must descend to the hem of the garments of the High Priest. If He was the Christ, i. e., the Anointed, how much more must His followers stoop beneath the chrism of Pentecost, that they might truly be known as Christians, i. e., anointed ones!
This is what He had promised. He said: "I go to the Father, and will ask of Him, on your behalf, and He will give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of Truth." Having, therefore, passed through the heavens, and taken His seat at the right hand of God, He did not fail of His sure promise, but asked and received of the Father into His Divine-human nature, that fulness of the Holy Spirit, which had been His in His preexistent glory, but which now, as the Head of the Church, He was able to pour forth upon all who were united with Him by a living faith.
Day after day they waited, sometimes in the Upper Room, but perhaps more often, as Luke tells us, in the Temple, worshipping Christ, blessing God with great joy, and wondering how soon, and in what manner, the promised gift of power would be bestowed. How often must they have quoted and pondered those parting words — "Ye shall receive power by the Holy Spirit coming upon you." But they all continued together in prayer, with the women, and Mary, the blessed mother, and His brethren. Each day they expected, but for ten days patience was given the opportunity of perfecting her work.
It was the first day of the week, and a notable day withal, for the priests in the special Temple service would present the first loaves of the new harvest before God. That the fulness of the year had been safely gathered in was the subject of universal congratulation and thankfulness. The city was crowded with people from all the world. It was a time of house decoration, festal dresses, jubilant processions. "How great was His goodness and how great His beauty; corn made the young men cheerful, and the new vintage the maids." It was the early morning, the embryo Church was probably assembled in one of the courts or precincts of the vast Temple area. They were all together in one place, when there was a sound from Heaven, as of the rushing of a mighty wind, which startled the entire city; and there appeared what seemed to be a globe of fire, which broke into tongues as of flame, that rested on each of them. Peter looked on John, and saw the expressive symbol on his bowed head, little realizing that the same sublime event had also happened to himself. Then looking around, and seeing each similarly crowned, he concluded that an equal share in this fiery baptism had been imparted to him also. Perhaps he at that moment remembered the words of his first teacher: "There cometh One after me, who is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to unloose. He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire." The whole company were filled, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance — Peter with the rest.
Meanwhile, summoned by the extraordinary sound, which evidently emanated from the Temple, a vast motley crowd gathered. It was composed of Jews and proselytes, religious men, gathered from every part of the known world. The East, as far as Media, the North to the borders of the Caspian, the West from the coast-lands of Egypt and Libya, and Rome, the world's metropolis, had furnished contingents. As this torrent of excited and questioning multitudes poured into the Temple area, they were accosted by the newly-anointed disciples, who, with an assurance which their new experience had given, went freely amongst them, attesting the risen glory of Him whom their rulers had recently rejected and nailed to the cross. One of them accosted a Jew from Greece, and in the purest Attic, told him that Christ had risen. Another met a Jew who had, by residence in Rome, acquired the right of citizenship, and told the story of Jesus in language that Cicero or Horace could not have excelled. A third encountered a group which, by their dress, had evidently hailed from Arabia, and poured into their astonished ears the Gospel story.
Then Peter stood up and began to speak. His sermon was little else than the citation of long passages of Scripture, accompanied by brief comments, showing their application to the present hour; but the effect was extraordinary. As this Galilean fisherman began to speak, the mob suddenly became a congregation, the stormy waves of tumultuous emotion dropped into a calm, the minds of the audience were penetrated and subdued by the speaker's fervid eloquence, and the crowd became as one body, swayed and inspired by a common impulse. Presently the silence was broken by the cry as of a man who was mourning for his firstborn, and it was met by the wailing as of a woman for an only child. The hearers were convulsed in tears, and sobs, and panic of soul, and from the entire congregation the entreaty arose: "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
That anointing or infilling came to Peter at least twice afterwards, for the Scripture so teaches, but probably it came again and again. He was filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and a second time when he addressed the Court, and was filled again on returning with John from the presence of the Sanhedrim to their own company. Why, then, should we go on year after year without claiming our share in this Pentecostal Power? The manufacturers in our cities are not content with the processes and machinery which sufficed for their fathers, but are ever pressing forward to avail themselves of every fresh invention for the saving of waste and the securing each fresh development of the hidden forces of Nature.
First, they discarded hand-power for steam; then steam for electricity, and now electricity for the ether. They are set on obtaining the highest available power to drive their factories. Ah, why do we fail to make use of that vast spiritual dynamic of which Pentecost was the specimen, and the key of which is in the hands of our risen Lord, who waits to open that which no man can shut, though He shuts to all who refuse to employ the one pass-word or pass-key of Faith! We are not straitened in God, but in ourselves. We have not, because we ask not, or because we ask amiss.
The promise is to us, to our children, and to all that are far off — this is the special phrase by which Gentile believers are known — even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Thus the blessing, originally confined to Jews, may become the heritage of Gentiles also who believe in Christ. They also may receive the Holy Spirit through faith. There is not a single believer who reads this page who may not claim a share in the Pentecostal gift. The Spirit may be in us, regenerating and renewing from within, as Jesus was born of Mary through the Spirit; but it is necessary that He should be on us also, as He descended and remained on Jesus in His Baptism, if we are to fulfil our ministry to mankind. No learning, no polished speech, no amount of Evangelical teaching short of the Holy Spirit can avail for preaching the Gospel to the poor, the healing of the broken-hearted, the deliverance of the captive, and the recovering of sight to the blind. We must learn to say with Jesus, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, and He hath anointed Me." Why not acknowledge that there is a blessing here, which is yours by right, but not yours by possession? Why not confess that it is your failure and fault not to have claimed it? Why not search out, confess, and be delivered from the sin or unbelief that has deprived you of your purchased possession? Why not humbly open your heart to the entrance of that blessed Spirit who changes the craven-hearted into courageous confessors, and makes the weakest mighty as the Angel of the Lord?
III. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF PETER'S LIFE-WORK OF WITNESSING. — It was persistent. On the day of Pentecost in Acts ii.; in his next great address, on the healing of the lame man in iii.; in his apology before the rulers, elders, priests, and scribes in iv. lo; by the great power with which he gave witness to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus in iv. 33; in his second conflict with the Council in v. 32; in the answer which he gave to the inquiries of Cornelius and his friends in 10:39-41 — Peter was constantly and consistently a witness to the same outstanding fact that though Jesus was crucified through weakness, yet He was living through the power of God.
Thus, when many years had passed, and he was inditing his last messages to the strangers scattered throughout the regions represented on the Temple plateau when the Spirit was first outpoured, we are not surprised to find him saying that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ had begotten him and others unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and also that emergence from the waters of baptism was a symbol of the rising of the body of Christ from the grave to the right hand of God, angels, authorities, and powers being made subject unto Him.
It was steeped in Scripture quotation. We have already noticed this in the Pentecostal sermon, where out of twenty-two verses in the A. V., twelve are taken up with quotations from the Prophets and Psalms.
We meet with the same feature in the next chapter, where he refers twice to the predictions of the holy Prophets, that it behoved the Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. It seemed as though a very special illumination had been given him by the Holy Spirit of Inspiration, that he might understand the Scriptures and perceive the relevance to Jesus of all things written in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.
This is always the case. The Spirit bears witness to the Word. The Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy. When the God of our Lord Jesus Christ communicates to the soul of man the Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, He becomes the Spirit of Wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of the Scriptures, and they become as a field of the cloth of gold, in the sheen of His uprising; or as the serried range of the Bernese Oberland at dawn and sunset. Spirit of the Risen Lord, open our eyes, we beseech Thee, that we may see the face of Christ reflected in every Scripture, as in a mirror, now darkly, but which one day we shall see face to face!
It grew in clearness of perception. As one climbs a mountain the view extends. Ravishing glimpses of other solemn heights, of wooded slopes, of verdant pastures, of the utmost ocean-rim, where the sunlight sparkles, break successively on the eye. Thus it is with the Spirit's revelation of Jesus! Peter begins with "the Man of Nazareth approved of God." Then "Lord and Christ." Then "Jesus Christ of Nazareth." Then "His Son Jesus." Then the "Holy One and the Just." Then the extraordinary sublimer phrase is piled as a climax and top-stone on all the rest — "the Prince of Life."
Prince! He is royal, and deserves the homage of all the living. Prince of Life! There is a world, beyond the range of sense, where all live, and live unto Him! Prince of Life! In the literal rendering of this great word He is the Author and Giver of Life, so that he who believes In Him, though he has died, yet shall he live; whilst he that liveth and believeth in Him shall never die. Prince of Life! All hail!
Let us count all things but dross that we may win the full-orbed knowledge of the Son of God, beneath the tutelage and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let us leave behind us all we have known of Him, and press on to know Him, and the power of His Resurrection. Let us count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. Even if the Divine Teacher may have to place us at points of suffering or deprivation in order to give us fresh aspects of the knowledge of the Son of God, let us not complain, for the heart of man has never entered into the full apprehension of Christ unless it has learnt to be conformed to Him in His death. The merchantman found himself well repaid when he carried away the pearl of great price, though he had parted with everything to get it.
It was based on present experience. It is remarkable that in Peter's witness to the Master's Risen Life he does not refer to the spectacle of the empty grave, the ordered clothes, the garden interview, the vision of His hands and side, the breakfast by the Lake, or the Ascension from Olivet. He says: You may judge for yourselves by this, "which ye now see and hear." In other words, he felt that not only was Jesus on the other side of the thin veil, which hides the unseen world, but that He was doing things. He had reached the Father's right hand, and was sending the Spirit, as He promised. He was empowering them with boldness, insight, and utterance. He was working with them, and confirming their words with signs following. He was making lame men walk, prison-doors open, hard hearts to break. Jacob could hardly have been convinced, if his sons had confined themselves to affirming that they had seen Joseph in Egypt, but when they brought the old man out to view the wagons that Joseph had sent — wagons of Egyptian manufacture, oxen such as only Egypt could breed — the patriarch was satisfied and exclaimed: "Joseph is yet alive. This is just what I might have expected of him. I will go and see him before I die." Peter said: "He whom ye delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, is alive, of this we all are witnesses, and so is also the Holy Spirit." Thus the testimony of those early witnesses came not only in power, but in much assurance. When they affirmed that Jesus died and rose and lived, the Holy Paraclete corroborated with His affirmation. "Yea, saith the Spirit." He stood beside them, not only convincing men of sin, righteousness and judgment, but showing wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; "blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke."
Similarly a holy life will corroborate our witness to the living Christ. If contrary to our former habit we seek the things which are above; if we manifestly derive from an unseen source the power that overcomes the world; if our joy abounds in pain and sorrow, like springs of fresh water amid the ocean; if though poor, we make many rich, being hated, we love, being refused, we entreat, being crucified, we invoke forgiveness on the agents of our shame — we prove that Jesus lives; like Stephen we must say: "Behold I see heaven opened and the Son of man standing"; and the angel-look on our faces must corroborate our words.
We know that Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified and buried, but the sources of our life do not spring from the hole dug on Calvary to receive His cross. We are not called to live always in the far-off scenes of His agony and death. We do not need the aqueduct of the unbroken witness-bearing of the Church to conduct to us the blood which is life indeed. We have direct and immediate fellowship with the Prince of Life. The life that left His heart a moment ago is now beating in our pulses. The purposes that are forming in His thought and becoming energized by His will are ours also. We have the mind of Christ. The prayers which He is offering beside the golden altar are the much incense which makes our own intercessions acceptable. We speak of things that we know, and testify of things we have seen. That which we have seen, and handled, in our own experience, are what we communicate.
If only we, who profess the Name of Jesus, would tarry at His doors until He gave us audience, as Esther did in the palace of Ahasuerus, we should go to men with His accent on our tongues, and His light upon our hearts, and they would be compelled to admit that such witness could only be accounted for on the hypothesis that within the veil stood One whom they knew not.
But why should we not? We are called to stand within the Holy Place. Behind us the remnants of the torn veil, and before, the glory of God in the face of Jesus. With unveiled face we are called upon to behold and reflect that glory. Let us not abdicate from our high privilege. Let us not allow systems of doctrine, ritual, or service, or even our efforts after a sanctified life, to come between us and the direct vision of the Risen One. Then we shall issue forth upon the world bearing such evident traces of a life that cannot be accounted for, that those who know us best will be compelled to look from us to Him who lives for evermore. The light on the opaque surface of the moon, which has no lustre of her own, attests beyond contradiction the existence of the sun, though we see him not; and as we live in conference with Christ, we shall be witnesses of His Resurrection, and secure the co-witness of the Yea of Pentecost.