them by Christ, escaped from Jerusalem, when they saw it about to be besieged, and hereby saved themselves from the calamities which fell upon that devoted city. Peter, having shown that a plentiful effusion of miraculous gifts had been foretold, proceeds to show how they came to be bestowed upon them in particular. 22. Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, or, "Jesus of Nazareth proved unto you to be a man from God," by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: In these words you may observe that he speaks of Nazareth as the native place of Jesus, and gives him no higher title than that of a man from God, or one who had a divine mission, and was proved to be so authorized by the miracles which he wrought. 23. Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified * and slain : It was an aggravation of the sufferings of Christ that he was put to death by those enemies of the nation and of true religion, the Romans, who, in the language of the Jews, were called sinners or ungodly men. God, however, was justified in permitting such an event; for it was foreseen by him, and allowed to take place for wise and important ends. • Mr. Wakefield translates, "when ye had mocked," reading προπαιζονίες. 24. Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, rather," the bonds of the grave;" This is a quotation from the Psalms in the Greek version, which was commonly in use in Judæa at this time; but the Hebrew word signifies either bonds or pains, and the authors of that version preferred the latter*. Because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. There was no natural impossibility in the case, but it was impossible because God had foretold that he should be raised from the dead, as Peter proceeds to show in the next verse. REFLECTIONS. 1. The prophecy of Joel, as fulfilled under the Christian dispensation, affords an illustrious proof of the liberal and impartial goodness of the great Father of mankind. For he not only bestows miraculous powers in a great variety of forms, in gifts of tongues, by enabling persons who had never learnt foreign languages to speak them fluently, in powers of healing, in foretelling future events, in the communication of knowledge of persons or things, by dreams, by visions and in a variety of other ways, which it is impossible for us at the present day, perhaps, exactly to ascertain; but yet such as appeared to his wisdom best adapted to the purposes of divine revelation; but also confers them on all classes of persons, on the young as well as the old, the poor as *Pearce, well as the rich, not excepting men-servants and women-servants, who were at that time much more degraded than at present, being slaves, the absolute property of their masters. How great is the condescension of the Almighty, in noticing those outcasts of human society: how highly are they exalted by these testimonies of his regard! Slaves are raised to the dignity of prophets, and of inspired messengers of the divine will to mankind. Let Christians, then, of the meanest condition re joice. The disgrace of that condition is removed; for God has honoured persons in it with the gift of miraculous powers; hereby assuring them that they are as much the objects of his regard as the rich and great; and that, if they take the same pains to serve and please him, according to the advantages which they possess, they shall have the same share in his favour, both now and for ever. Let those who are distinguished by wealth or honours, learn hence not to despise their poorer brethren, but draw from this important event the inference suggested by the apostle Paul, that in Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither bond nor free, male nor female; that these distinctions are overlooked, that all are upon a footing of equality, and the meanest and weakest treated with the same degree of respect and affection as the greatest. 2. We see that the faith of those who believe Jesus to be a human being is established on a scriptural foundation: for it corresponds with the language of an apostle, who calls him a man from God, after his resurrection and ascension, and after that apostle had received the Holy Spirit, and would have learnt to correct any mistakes respecting the person of Christ into which he might be supposed to have fallen. The crime which he imputes to the Jews is not that they had put to death an angel or superangelic being in human shape, much less the Creator of the world but a man from God, or a divine messenger, proved to be so by a great variety of miracles. Had their guilt been attended with that higher aggravation, no doubt, Peter would have mentioned it at this time, when he was endeavouring to impress them with the heinousness of their crime, as a ground for apprehending the approach of divine vengeance, and a motive for immediate repentance. Let no one, therefore, be ashamed of this faith, or afraid to avow it in the most public manner; nor let any one presume to reproach him who does so, with degrading his master. He follows the example of inspired teachers and the best friends of Jesus, who, when they speak in plain terms, devoid of metaphorical language, always represent him as a man. 3. We learn hence what strong evidence we have for the resurrection of Jesus. Not more than six weeks after the event, in the very place where he had been put to death, in the presence of many persons who had been witnesses of the fact (if their hands had not actually been stained with his blood) Peter boldly asserts his resurrection, and declares that he and eleven other persons were witnesses to it, without any one venturing to contradict or oppose him. What better foundation can we have for our faith than the testimony of friends and the silence of enemies? Acts ii. 25-36. In the last section we found Peter vindicating himself and the eleven apostles from the insinuation thrown out against them by some who did not understand the language in which they spoke, that they delivered a jargon, in consequence of being intoxicated with wine, by showing that extraordinary effusions of miraculous powers were foretold of the days of the Messiah; of whom he asserted that he was now come, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth; and that what they now heard and saw was no more than a fulfilment of this prophecy of Joel. He proceeds to show that other prophecies were likewise fulfilled in the history of the same remarkable personage, and particularly in his resurrection from the dead. 25. For David speaketh concerning him; I foresaw, "I saw *" the Lord always before my face; for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: If these words be regarded as the language of David, applied to himself, they may mean that, although banished to a foreign land by Saul, his inveterate enemy and persecutor, and in great trouble, yet, having always made it his object to please God, he should still maintain his confidence in him, and hope to be rescued from danger, and to be preserved for the great object of his wishes, the succession to the throne. But considering David as personating Christ, as the apostle does, they may signify that, seeing the presence and favour of God would be with him at all times, he would have no reason to despair of the divine aid in the most unpromising circumstances, even when reduced to the grave. 26. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad: moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, " my life in the grave," neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. "Thou wilt not leave my life in the grave." The word we translate soul signifies life also. Thus in the • Pearce. |