HE apostles, after the ascension of Jesus, obedient to the command of their Lord, remained in Jerusalem, waiting for the fulfilment of the mysterious promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost. To make their number complete, they chose Matthias to take the place of Judas. He was a disciple who had been a witness of the resurrection of Jesus. Two were selected; and then the choice between them was decided by lot, the apostles praying to their Lord, saying,—
“Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen.”
Upon the day appointed for the feast of Pentecost, about fifty days after the crucifixion, all the disciples in Jerusalem were assembled for prayer. They numbered then but about a hundred and twenty. “Suddenly,” writes the sacred historian, “there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like asof fire, and it sat upon each of them; and they began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
This was the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The disciples, though unlearned men, were now able to preach fluently in the languages of all the many nations represented at Jerusalem. Peter, endowed with new power, so showed the Jews the terrible guilt they had incurred in crucifying the Messiah, that thousands cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” The response which has echoed through all the ages, from that day to this, was, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”[87]
About three thousand converts were that day added to the church. The days passed rapidly on, while the disciples were earnestly engaged in prayer, and in preaching in the temple and in the streets, occasionally performing miracles of healing in the name of Jesus. Wonderful and hitherto unexperienced success attended their labors. Every day, converts were added to the church. In a few days after the commencement of their ministry, the number of avowed disciples in Jerusalem was increased from a hundred and twenty to five thousand.
The timidity of Peter seemed to vanish. He became truly heroic in his boldness. His eloquence, fearlessness, and zeal gave him prominence above the other disciples. Having healed a lame man at the gate of the temple in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the excitement in the city became so great, that the priests and the Sadducees, with the captain of the temple, came upon Peter and John, arrested them, and thrust them into prison, “being grieved,” it is written, “that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection of the dead.”
The next day a meeting of the Sanhedrim was convened, and the prisoners were assembled before that imposing court. To the question, “By what name, or by what power, have ye done this?” Peter replied to Annas and Caiaphas, and the other rulers who were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus,“Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.”
He then earnestly preached to his judges the gospel of Christ, saying,“There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”[88]
The rulers were astonished at this boldness, perceiving “that they were unlearned and ignorant men;” and, being alarmed by the supernatural events which they could not deny, they threatened them, commanding them “not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus,” and let them go. But both Peter and John answered, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye;for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”[89]