Lives of the apostles of Jesus Christ

by David Francis Bacon

The great praise and universal gratitude which followed Barnabas, for this noble and self-denying act of pure generosity, was soon after the occasion of a most shameful piece of imposition, ending in an awful expression of divine vengeance. Led by the hope of cheaply winning the same praise and honor which Barnabas had acquired by his simple-minded liberality, a man named Ananias, with the knowledge and aid of his wife Sapphira, having sold a piece of land, brought only a part of the price to the apostles, and deposited it in the general charity-fund, alleging at the same time, that this was the whole amount obtained for the land. But Peter, having reason to believe that this was only a part of the price, immediately questioned Ananias sternly on this point, charging him directly with the crime of lying to God. He remarked to him that the land was certainly his own, and no one could question his right to do just as he pleased with that, or the money obtained for it; since he was under no obligation to give it away to the poor of the church. But since he had of his own accord attempted to get a reputation for generosity, by a base and avaricious act of falsehood, he had incurred the wrath of an insulted God. No sooner had Ananias heard this awful denunciation, than, struck with the vengeance he had brought on himself, he fell lifeless before them, and was carried out to the burial by the attendants. His wife soon after coming in, not having heard of what had happened, boldly maintained her husband’s assertion, and repeated the lie most distinctly to Peter. He then declared his knowledge of her guilt, and made known to her the fate of her husband, which she was doomed to share. The words had hardly left his lips, when they were confirmed by her instant death, and she was at once carried out and laid with her husband. The effect of these shocking events on the minds of the members of the church generally, was very salutary; exhibiting to them the awful consequences of such deliberate and hardened sin.

Attendants.——The common English translation here gives the expression, “young men,” which is the primary meaning of the Greek νεανισκοι, (neaniskoi,) and is quite unobjectionable; but the connection here seems to justify and require its secondary use in application to “servants,” “attendants,” &c. This interpretation has the authority of the learned Mosheim, who considers the persons here mentioned, to have been regularly appointed officers, who performed the necessary duties about the assemblies of the disciples, and executed all the commands of the apostles. He says, “unless you suppose these young men to have been of this sort, it is hard to understand why they alone instantly rose up and carried out the bodies of Ananias and his wife, and buried them. But if you suppose them to have been men discharging an official duty in the public assembly, you see a reason why, even without orders, they took that sad duty upon themselves. And that there were public servants of this sort in the first Christian church, no one certainly can doubt, who will imagine for himself either its circumstances or the form of the assemblies of that age. For instance, there were the places of meeting to be cleaned,——the seats and tables to be arranged,——the sacred books to be brought and carried away,——the dishes to be set out and cleared off,——in short, there were many things to be done which absolutely required particular men.” (Mosheim, Commentary de rebus Christianorum ante Constantinum, p. 114, b.) This passage is quoted by Kuinoel, and is so clear in its representation of the circumstance, as to justify me in translating it entire.

THE INCREASING FAME OF THE APOSTLES.

The apostles, daily supported anew by fresh tokens of divine aid, went on in their labors among the people, encouraged by their increasing attention and favor. So deep was the impression of awe made by the late occurrence, that none of the rest of the church dared to mingle familiarly with the apostles, who now seemed to be indued with the power of calling down the vengeance of God at will, and appeared to be persons too high and awful for common men to be familiar with. Yet the number of the church members, both men and women, continued to enlarge, and the attendance of the people to increase, so that there was no place which would accommodate the vast crowd of hearers and beholders, except the great porch of Solomon, already described, where the apostles daily met the church and the people, to teach and strengthen them, and to work the cures which their Master had so often wrought. So high was the reputation of the apostles, and so numerous were those who came to solicit the favor of their healing power, for themselves or friends, that all could not get access to them even in the vast court of the temple which they occupied, insomuch that they brought the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, along the path which the apostles were expected to pass, that at least the shadow of Peter, passing by, might overshadow some of them. Nor was this wonderful fame and admiration confined to Jerusalem; for as the news was spread abroad by the pilgrims returning from the pentecost, there came also a multitude out of the cities round about Jerusalem, bringing sick folks and those who were affected by evil spirits, and they were healed, every one.

Mingle familiarly with them.——Commonly translated, “join himself to them,” which conveys a totally erroneous idea, since all their efforts were given to this end, of making as many as possible “join themselves to them.” The context (verse 14,) shows that their numbers were largely increased by such additions. “Yet no one of the common members (οἱ λοιποι) dared mingle familiarly (κολλασθαι) with them; but the people held them in great reverence.” Acts v. 13.

Met the church and people.——This distinction may not seem very obvious in a common reading of the Acts, but in v. 11, it is very clearly drawn. “Great fear was upon the whole church and on all the hearers of these things.” And throughout the chapter, a nice discrimination is made between ὁ λαος, (ho laos,) “the people,” or “the congregation,” and ἡ εκκλησια, (he ekklesia,) “the church.” See Kuinoel in v. 13, 14.

The shadow of Peter.——This is one of a vast number of passages which show that high and perfectly commanding pre-eminence of this apostolic chief. The people evidently considered Peter as concentrating all the divine and miraculous power in his own person, and had no idea at all of obtaining benefit from anything that the minor apostles could do. In him, alone, they saw the manifestations of divine power and authority;——he spoke and preached and healed, and judged and doomed, while the rest had nothing to do but assent and aid. Peter, then, was THE great pastor of the church, and it is every way desirable that over-zealous Protestants would find some better reason for opposing so palpable a fact, than simply that Papists support it.

THEIR SECOND SEIZURE AND TRIAL.

The triumphant progress of the new sect, however, was not unnoticed by those who had already taken so decided a stand against it. The Sadducees, who had so lately come out against them, were not yet disposed to leave the apostles to enjoy their boldness with impunity. The high priest Annas, who had always been the determined enemy of Christ, belonging to the Sadducean sect, was easily led to employ all his authority with his brethren, against the apostles. He at last, provoked beyond endurance at their steady and unflinching contempt of the repeated solemn injunction of the Sanhedrim, whose president and agent he was, rose up in all his anger and power, and, backed by his friends, seized the apostles and put them into the common jail, as inveterate disturbers of the peace of the city, and of the religious order of the temple. This commitment was intended to be merely temporary, and was to last only until a convenient time could be found for bringing them to trial, when the crowd of strangers should have retired from the city to their homes, and the excitement attendant on the preaching and miracles of the apostles should have subsided, so that the ordinary course of law might go on safely, even against these popular favorites, and they might be brought at last to the same fate as their Master. After the achievment of this project, “a consummation most devoutly to be wished” by every friend of the established order of things, the sect which was now making such rapid advances would fall powerless and lifeless, when its great heads were thus quietly lopped off. This seems to have been their well-arranged plan,——but it was destined to be spoiled in a way unlooked for; and this first step in it was to be made the means of a new triumph to the persecuted subjects of it. That very night, the prison doors were opened by a messenger of God, by whom the apostles were brought out of their confinement, and told, “Go, stand and speak in the temple, to the people, all the words of this life.” According to this divine command, they went into the temple and taught, early in the morning, probably before their luxurious tyrants had left their lazy pillows. While the apostles were thus coolly following their daily labors of mercy in the temple, the high priest and his train called the council together, and the whole senate of all the children of Israel, and having deliberately arrayed themselves in the forms of law, they ordered the imprisoned heretics to be brought forthwith into the awful presence of this grand council and senate of the Jewish nation and faith. The officers, of course, as in duty bound, went to execute the order, but soon returned to report the important deficiency of the persons most needed to complete the solemn preparation for the trial. Their report was simply, “The prison truly we found shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without, before the doors; but when we had opened, we found no man within.” Here was a non-plus, indeed; all proceedings were brought to a stand at once; and “when the high priest and the chief officer of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them, whereunto they would grow.” But these eminent dignitaries were not left long to perplex their sage heads about the unworthy objects of their tender solicitude; for some faithful sycophant, rejoicing in such a glorious opportunity to serve the powers that were, came running to tell them, “Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.” This very simple but valuable piece of information relieved the grave judges very happily from their unfortunate quandary; and without further delay, a detachment of officers was sent to bring these unaccountable runaways to account. But as it appeared that the criminals were now in the midst of a vast assemblage of their friends, who were too perfectly devoted to them to suffer them to receive any violence, it was agreed to manage the thing as quietly and easily as might be, and to coax them away if possible to the tribunal. To insure the still and effectual performance of this order, the captain of the temple himself went with the officers, and quietly drew the apostles away, with their own consent, and without any violence; for the minions of the law knew perfectly well that the least show of injury towards these righteous men, would insure to those who attempted it, broken heads and bones, from the justly provoked people, whose deserved indignation would soon make the very stones to rise in mutiny for the defence of their beloved teachers and benefactors. The apostles themselves, however, showed no unwillingness whatever to appear before their bitter persecutors again, and presented themselves accordingly, with bold unflinching fronts, before the bar of the Sanhedrim. When they were fairly set before the council, the high priest, turning his lately perplexed face into “a look of austere dignity,” asked them, “Did we not particularly charge you, that you should not teach in his name? And now, indeed, in open contempt of our authority, you have filled all Jerusalem with your doctrine, and mean to bring this man’s blood upon us?” They, the high priest and his supporters, had, at no small pains and trouble, effected the death of Jesus, and had naturally hoped that there would be an end of him; but here now were his disciples constantly using his name to the excitable populace in their daily teachings, thus keeping alive the memory of these painful incidents which it was so desirable to forget, and slowly plotting the means of avenging upon the Sanhedrim the death of their Master. To this sort of address, Peter and all the other apostles, who now shared the fate of their two distinguished friends, replied, even as had been said on the previous summons, “We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree: him now has God uplifted to sit beside his own right hand, to be a Prince and a Savior, to give to Israel a change of heart and views, and remission of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things, and what is far more, so also is the Holy Spirit, which God has given to those who obey him, as the reward and the sign of their obedience.” This bold and solemn speech, breathing nothing but resistance against all hindrances, and steady persistance in their course,——and denouncing, too, as murderers, the judges, while it exalted their victim to honors the highest in the universe, was not at all calculated to conciliate the friendly regard of the hearers of it, but roused them to the most violent and deadly hate. Deeply wounded and insulted as they were, they determined to try remonstrance no longer; but in spite of the danger of popular ferment, to silence these audacious bravers of their authority, in death. While they were on the point of pronouncing this cruel decision, the proceedings were stayed by Gamaliel, a man of vast learning and influence, an eminent Pharisee of great popularity, and beyond all the men of that age, in knowledge of the law of Moses and of Hebrew literature. This great man, rising up in the midst of their wrathful resolutions, moved to suspend the decision for a few minutes, and to withdraw the prisoners from the bar, until the court could form their opinions by deliberating with more freedom than they could in the presence of the subjects of the trial. As soon as the apostles were put out of the court, Gamaliel addressed them, prompted by a noble humanity, as well as by a deep knowledge of human nature, and acting in accordance, also, with the general principles of the Pharisees, who were very averse to cruelty and bloodshed, and were generally disposed to punish even criminals in the mildest ways. Possibly, too, he might have been affected by some jealousy of the forwardness of the rival sect. His words were these: “Men of Israel! take care what you do to these men. For you know that, not long ago, rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody, and gathered a gang about him, to the number of four hundred. But as soon as the attention of our Roman masters was drawn to his outrageous doings, they put him entirely down at once, killing him and breaking up his band, by slaughter and banishment; so that without any trouble or exertion on our part, all this sedition was brought to nought. And when, after him, Judas the Galilean raised a great party about him, in the days of the taxing, this rebellion against the government met with the same inevitable fate, from the resistless soldiery of Rome; and all this was done without any need of interference from us. And now, with these remarkable instances in view, I warn you to let these men alone, and leave them to determine their fate by their own future conduct. For if, in all their active efforts of seeming benevolence, they have been prompted by any base ambition to head a faction, which may raise them to the supreme power in religious and political affairs, and by a revengeful wish to punish those concerned in the death of their Master;——if, in short, their plan or their work is a mere contrivance of men, it will come to nought of itself, without your interference, as did the two miserable riots which I have just mentioned. But if, inspired by a holier principle of action, they are laboring with pure love of their converts; if all these wonderful cures which you consider mere tricks and impostures, shall prove to be true miracles, wrought by the hand of God, and if their plan be of God,——you cannot overthrow it; and do you look to it, sirs, that you do not find yourselves at last fighting against God.” This noble and sensible speech, aided by the high rank and great weight of character which belonged to the speaker, instantly hushed all the lately outrageous proposals which had been made against the prisoners. If there were any in the council who did not feel satisfied with his reasoning, they were wise enough to acquiesce, with at least the appearance of content. They knew too well, that Gamaliel, supported by his unbounded popularity with the whole nation, and his eminently exalted character for justice and virtue, was abundantly able to put down every appearance of opposition, and set the apostles free, in spite of high priest and Sadducees. Adopting his resolution, therefore, they called in the apostles, and having vented their paltry malice by beating them, and having exposed themselves to new contempt by repeating their oft-despised command, that the apostles should not speak in the name of Jesus, they let them go, being fully assured that the first use the apostles would make of their freedom would be to break this idle injunction. For they went out of the judgment-hall, rejoicing that they were honored by suffering this shameful treatment in their Master’s name. They now recalled to mind his early words of encouragement, which he had given them in a wise determination to prepare them for evils of which they had then so little notion. The passage from the sermon on the mount was particularly appropriate to their present circumstances. “Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my name’s sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.” Comforted by such words as these, they returned to their labors as before, and daily, in the temple, and moreover in private houses, ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ, in the very face of the express prohibition of their thwarted persecutors.

Messenger.——This is a fair and literal interpretation of αγγελος, (angelos,) and one justifiable in every place where it occurs in the Bible. Wherever it is applied to a supernatural being sent from God, the connection will abundantly explain the term, without rendering it by a different word. Thus I have chosen to do, and to leave each reader to judge for himself, from the other attendant circumstances, of the character of the messenger. See Kuinoel in loc.