he goeth before you into Galilee: there sball ye see him, as he said unto you. 8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid. 9¶ Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. 10 And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. 12 After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. 13 And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them. 14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believ the joyful CHAP. XVI. [his disciples. ed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall re cover. 19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (G) EXPOSITION. (G) Ver. 9-20. Jesus, upon his resurrection, appears to certain women; and afterwards to his Apostles, whom he commissions to preach the gospel throughout the world.-Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene, on whom he had wrought a miracle of singular mercy, and to some other pious females, who immediately communicated news to his Apostles and disciples, to all of whom, at first, it appeared incredible. Before his ascension, however, Jesus appeared to all the apostles, and to more than 500 brethren. His last appearance is introduced here rather abruptly, and must be connected with Matthew's introduction, (Chap. xxviii, 16-18,) which has already been consider ed. Our farther remarks will be directed to the commission here given to the apostles, and to the great topics therewith con nected. The commission itself is here somewhat more generally expressed, than in St. Matthew: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature ;”—i. e. of the human race. The Rev. Dr. Morrison, our learned and indefatigable Missionary in China, before quoted, (p. 130,) seriously laments, that in none of the churches of this country, established or dissentient, "is there, in their constitution or collective capacity, any provision made, either of men or of means, to obey the exalted Saviour's command." After the first three centuries, the object died away from the recollection of Christians, and it seems to have been generally deferred to the age of the Millennium, when the gift of tongues, it was supposed, must necessarily be imparted" for the conversion of the world." Within the last thirty years, however, the subject has been revived, miraculous powers have been found not absolutely necessary to fulfil our Lord's command, and more has been done in the missionary cause, than for 13 or 14 centuries before. If the propagation of the Scriptures, the establishment of schools, and missionary labours, continue NOTES. they were all in his copy. See Horne's Introd. 4th Ed. vol. iv. p. 254, &c. Ver. 9. Out of whom he had cast seven devils.-See Luke viii. 2. Ver. 15, 16. Go ye, &c. - Compare Matt. xxviii. 19, 20. Ver. 18. They shall take up serpents, &c.-See Acts xxviii. 3-5. Christ's commission] S. MARK.-CHAP. XVI. EXPOSITION-Chap. XVI. Continued. to increase as they have done for the last 10 or 15 years, we may at least hope that our children may live to see the dawn of the millennial age. Another excellent Missionary, the late Mr. Ward of Serampore, remarks, that "Much stress is laid on faith, in the New Testament..... Faith is credence to a report made. It is the nature of the tidings believed, which produces saving effects on the heart and character. A man can scarcely believe what the Scripture says of sin and its consequences, of judgment, and the everlasting punishment of the wicked, without being deeply affected.... The declaration that Christ gives pardon to the condemned, liberty to the captives, rest to the weary, and life to the dead, must produce a powerful effect on the believer, and tend to draw him to Christ for a share in these blessings. The news of the gospel then, it is plain, has a reference to a prior state of danger, or want, or misery and as holding forth mercy to the criminal, deliverance to the captives, and salvation to the lost, it is called good news (or gospel). This report, that there is mercy for all the guilty who will truly seek it, is to be believed. He who feels himself guilty, and believes the report, will necessarily come and put in his claim for the blessing and in proportion to the strength of his faith, he will be the subject of peace, joy, and gratitude. "Baptism is here placed by the side of faith, as though it were also essential to [to his apostles. salvation; but as baptism is that duty by which a person assumes the Christian profession, I apprehend the apostle (rather evangelist) placed it here as the pledge of our whole obedience: and if this idea be correct, it will then be-he that believes and obeys shall be saved ;-an explanation which makes the passage harmonize with the whole body of Christian truth." (Ward's Reflections, p. 158, 9.) With the propagation of this gospel to all nations, is connected the power of working miracles, at that time absolutely necessary to its universal propagation. This power had reference to the casting out demons-the gift of tongues-the healing of the sick-and invulnerability to danger. These powers were bestowed in all their plenitude on the day of Pentecost; and of the latter we have a striking instance in the apostle Paul at Melita. See Acts xxviii. 1-6.) Whether these powers shall ever be renewed we pretend not to determine; but on one point we are most clear; namely, that the propagation of the gospel ought not to be delayed for them. The facilities of travelling, and of acquiring languages; the fame of European skill, and the protection of the British power;-have been increased to a degree little short of miraculous; and nothing is wanting but the outpouring of divine grace from above, to give the gospel abundant success among the rudest savages and the basest idola tors. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. INTRODUCTION. "CONCERNING this Evangelist (says Mr. Horne), we have but little certain information; from what is recorded in the Scriptures, as well as from the circumstances related by the early Christian writers, the following particulars have been obtained. "According to Eusebius, Luke was a native of Antioch, by profession a physician, and for the most part a companion of the Apostle Paul. The report first announced by Nicephorus Callisti, a writer of the fourteenth century, that he was a painter, is now justly exploded, as being destitute of foundation, and countenanced by no ancient writers. From his attending Paul in his travels, and also from the testimony of some of the early fathers, Basnag,e Fah icius, and Dr. Lardner have been led to conclude that this Evangelist was a Jew; and Origen, Epiphanius, and others, have supposed that he was one of the seventy disciples: but this is contradicted by Luke's own declaration that he was not an eye-witness of our Saviour's actions.* Michaelis is of opinion that he was a Gentile, on the authority of Paul's expressions in Col. iv. 10, 11. 14. The most probable conjecture is that of Bolten, adopted by Kuinöel; viz, that Luke was descended from Gentile parents, and in his youth had embraced Judaism, from which he was converted to Christianity. The Hebraic Greek style of writing, observable in his writings, and especially the accurate knowledge of the Jewish religion, rites, ceremonies, and usages, every where discernible both in his Gospel, and in the Acts of the Apostles, sufficiently evince that their author was a Jew; while his intimate knowledge of the Greek language, displayed in the preface to his Gospel, which is composed in elegant Greek, and his Greek name (Loukas) evidently show that he was descended from Gentile parents. This conjecture is farther supported by a passage in the Acts, and by another in the Epistle to the Colossians. In the former (Acts xxi. 27), it is related that the Asiatic Jews stirred up the people, becausé Paul had introduced Gentiles into the temple; and in the following verse it is added, that they had before seen with him in the city, Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple. No mention is here made of Luke, though he was with the Apostle. Compare Acts xxi. 15, 17, where Luke speaks of himself among the companions of Paul. Hence we infer, that he was reckoned among the Jews, one of whom he might be accounted, if he had become a proselyte from Gentilism to the Jewish religion. In the Epistle to the Colossians (iv. 11, 14), after Paul had written the salutations of Aristarchus, Marcus, and of Jesus, surnamed Justus, he adds,' who are of the circumcision. These only,' he continues, are my fellow-workers (meaning of the circumcision) unto the kingdom of God.' Then in the 14th verse he adds, Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, salute you.' As the Apostle in this passage opposes them to the Christians who had been converted from Judaism, it is evident that Luke was descended from Gentile parents. ་ * We conceive this to be somewhat doubtful. Many think that his proem only implies that he was not an eye-witness from the beginning;" that is, not an Apostle, so Lardner. : S. LUKE. "The first time that this Evangelist is mentioned in the New Testament, is in his own history of the Acts of the Apostles. We there find him (chap. xvi. 10, 11) with Paul at Troas thence he attended him to Jerusalem; continued with him in his troubles in Judea; and sailed in the same ship with him, when he was sent a prisoner from Cæsarea to Rome, where he stayed with him during his two years' confinement. As none of the ancient fathers have mentioned his suffering martyrdom, it is probable that he died a natural death." (Critical Introd. vol. iv. pt. 2. ch. ii. §. 4.) Of the authenticity of this Gospel, there is no reasonable doubt, it being quoted by four of the apostolical fathers; by Justin Martyr, Irenæus, Tertullian, Origen, and “a host of later writers." But some attempts have been made of late years to impugn the authority of the first two chapters, as containing an account of the miraculous concep tion; and it has been said that Marcion, the heretic, rejected them on that account, as he did also the third and part of the fourth. But if we listen to such objections, there are but few chapters of the New Testament that have not been objected to by some heretic or other. Many of the most eminent modern critics, as Griesbach, Marsh, and others, are of opinion that he rejected the whole, and not St. Luke's only, but all the other three, using only a compilation of his own. This objection is therefore not worthy of any serious attention. It has, indeed, been intimated to us, that in the introduction to our first volume (p. iv.) we have spoken too strongly of the inspiration of the Evangelists, particularly Mark and Luke, neither of whom were Apostles, nor perhaps numbered among the seventy, nor even eye-witnesses of the facts which they relate. If they were not inspired, we frankly confess that we think they deserve but little credit. For what credit can we give to the relation of facts and discourses upon the authority of persons unknown, unless the relator be endowed with such extraordinary powers as may enable him to distinguish certainly between truth and error; that is, unless he be inspired? Farther, as many private individuals had already drawn up narratives of these events, what occasion was there for Luke to write upon the subject, unless he had the means of being either more full or more correct? Or how should the faith of Theophilus be rendered certain by the narrative of one who wrote merely on the evidence of others, without being inspired, and that too in the age of inspiration? Various other considerations are mentioned in Dr. Doddridge's " Dissertation on the Inspiration of the New Testament," appended to his Exposition, which argue the necessity of admitting that Luke wrote by inspiration. He particularly quotes Origen, who reckons the four gospels in the order in which we have them, and places them in the number of those writings" which were received as divine by all the churches of God, and were the elements of the church's faith." He also declares that if a man would not confess himself to be an infidel, he must admit the inspiration of the Scriptures; among which, we have seen, he includes the Gospels. So that it is difficult to allow any man to be a Christian who rejects the inspiration of the four commonly received Gospels; and we believe there are few who do this, that do not equally reject the inspiration of the New Testament in general. The date of this Gospel is uncertain. Dr. H. Owen places it in A. D. 53; others as late as 63 or 64, which is the opinion of Dr. Lardner, who cites on the same side Mr. Jer. Jones, Estius, Mill, Dodwell, and Basnage. (Sup. to Cred. vol. i. p. 79.) It is generally supposed to have been written chiefly for the use of Gentile converts to Christianity. An angel appears] CHAP. I. CHAP. I. FORASMUCH as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; 3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, 4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. 5 THERE was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain Priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. 8 And it came to pass, that while [to Zacharias. he executed the Priest's office before God in the order of his course, 9 According to the custom of the Priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. 11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn NOTES. CHAP. I. Ver. 1. To set forth in order-Doddr. "To compose the history;" Camp. " a narrative:" so Boothroyd.- Of those things that are most surely believed - Doddr. "Have been confirmed among us with the fullest evidence;"-Camp. and Boothr. "Which have been accomplished;"-Parkburst," Fully proved," or "confirmed with the fullest evidence." Ver. 2. Ministers of the word-Gr. "The Logos," which term St. John, in the preface to his Gospel, applies personally to Christ; but as the same term is by all the Evangelists applied to the Gospel, either preached or written, we think it would be wrong here to restrict its meaning. Ver. 3. Having had perfect understandingDoddr. and Camp." Having accurately (or exactly) traced all things from the first," or from their origin. —It seemed good to me also....to write unto thee in order-Camp. "A particular account;" Doddr. "An orderly account." From this expression, some have understood that St. Luke meant to pay particolar attention to the order in which the several events occurred; this, however, does not appear to have been the case in every instance; but he certainly gives a longer series of events, beginning from "the very first," the vision of Zacharias, and continuing his narrative to the ascension of our Saviour into heaven, which neither Matthew nor John men tion; which Mark indeed mentions, but Luke only describes. From the very first.-Some render the Gr.(anothen) "from above," and found thereon an an argument for Luke's inspiration; but as the term is equivocal, we think, with Doddridge, it is too weak authority to support an inference so important. Ibid. Most excellent Theophilus-Some consider this an epithet denoting the character of the person named; others as an honorary title, in which sense it is applied to Felix and Festus, when governors. See Acts xxiii. 26; xxiv. 3; xxvi. 25. See Camp. Ver. 5. Herod, the king of Judea-that is," Herod the Great." -Zacharias, of the course of Abia.This was one of the 24 courses into which David divided the priests, and that of which Abia, or Abijah was the head. Comp. 1 Chron xxiii.6; xxiv. 10. Ver. 15. Even from his mother's womb.—See ver. 41. Ver. 17. To turn the hearts, &c.-This is a quotation from Mal. iv. 6, which see. The only doubt remaining in the text seems to be, whether the passage should be rendered as in our translation, which implies reconciliation and harmony among the people; or, as Doddr. renders it, to "convert the hearts of the fathers with the children," which implies the preparation of the people for Messiah. As these senses are not inconsistent, the question is not important. |