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[Sect. 158. not say that it was the third time Jesus appeared, but the third time he appeared to his disciples, i. e. to his apostles in a body; for in reality it was his seventh appearance. Besides, John himself has taken notice of three appearances before this. 15. S when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? more than thy brethren apostles love me? in allusion to the high professions of love and fidelity which Peter had formerly made to him. He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. Being taught modesty and diffidence by his late fall, Peter would not now com pare himself with others, but humbly appealed to his Master's omniscience for the sincerity of his regard to him. Upon this, Jesus first desired him to feed his lambs, i. e. to exhort and comfort the young and tender part of the flock, those who were to be converted. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. Then, to give him an opportunity of renewing his professions, John xxi. 16. He saith unto him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? and he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. From our Lord's asking Peter if he loved him, before he gave kim commission to feed his lambs and his sheep, it is justly inferred, that to render men duly qualified for the ministerial function, they must prefer the interest and honour of Christ to every other consideration whatever. This is the great qualification by which alone a minister can be animated to go through the labours and difficulties of his office, and be fortified against the dangers which may attend it. Moreover, Christ's exhortation to Peter to feed his lambs and sheep, being the reply which he made to Peter's declaration that he loved him, shews us that ministers best testify their love to Christ, by their singular care and diligence in feeding his flock. To conclude, the repetition of this commission three times, may have been in allusion to Peter's three denials. In it the Papists would have us to believe, that supreme dominion over the whole church, clergy as well as laity, was granted to Peter. However it has a quite different meaning; for Peter, by his late cowardice and perfidy, having as it were abdicated the apostleship, was hereby no more than formally restored to his office, through the indulgence of his kind and merciful Master.

"Peter being thus restored to the apostolical office and dignity, from which he had fallen by openly denying his Master three several times, Jesus proceeded to forewarn him of the persecutions to which he in particular would be exposed in the execution of

20. Then

his office; intending thereby to inspire him with courage and constancy. John xxi. 18. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: alluding to the strength and activity which he had now shewed in swimming ashore, after he had girded his fisher's coat upon him: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not: Instead of that liberty which in thy youth thou enjoyedst, thou shalt in thine old age be a prisoner; for thou shalt be bound and carried whither thou wouldest not; carried to prison and to death. Accordingly the evangelist tells us, 19. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. The above words imply only that Peter should glorify God by suffering a violent death. But what Jesus added is understood to signify that Peter was to follow him in the kind of his death. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me: Follow me to the cross. Agreeably to this, the unanimous testimony of antiquity assures us that Peter was crucified. Tertull. Prescrip. c. 36. Euseb. Hist. ii. 25. iii. 1. Lactant. de Mort. Persecut. Prudent. de Passione Petri et Pauli. Peter turning about, namely as he followed Jesus, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? 21. Peter seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Peter, it seems, understanding what Jesus meant when he ordered him to follow him, asked what would happen to his fellow-disciple John, who was now coming after them. 22. Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me: If I incline that he should live till my coming, what is that to thee? So μve signifies, being elliptical for μένειν εν τη σαρκί. We have both the elliptical and the complete phrase, Philip. i. 24, 25. 23. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die. The brethren, it seems, understood by Christ's coming, his coming to judgment; and that they interpreted the phrase rightly, is evident from what the evangelists adds: Yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? 24. This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. From this verse Grotius and others infer, that the Ephesian bishops added this whole chapter to John's gospel after his death. But it evidently proves the contrary, for the verse assures us that John wrote the things contained in this chapter : This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things. Farther, though the evangelist seems to conclude his gospel, chap. xx. 31. it is no unusual thing with the sacred writers to add new matter after such conclusions. See the epistle to

the

the Romans and Hebrews at the end. Moreover, though the writer of this gospel is here spoken of in the third person, it is agreeable to John's manner, (see chap. xix. 35.) who likewise speaks of himself in the plural number, 1 Epist. v. 18.

clude, the verse under consideration is shewed to be genuine by a similar passage in the conclusion of the third epistle, ver. 12. Yea, and we also bear record, and ye know that our record is true. Wherefore, the chapter being genuine, this verse is no addition of the Ephesian bishops, as some critics would have us believe, who propose that it should be read in parenthesis. 25. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even_the* world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” John 25. The world itself could not contain, &c.] Oude autor dizi TOY Κόσμον χωρήσαι τα γραφωμενα βιβλια. According to some this is an hyperbole, a figure which the Asiatics are known greatly to have dealt in, and which they carried far higher than is allowable in the European languages. Thus understood, the clause means that Jesus performed a prodigious number of miracles. Others however are of opinion that, the word goal here has the signification in which it is used, Matt. xix. 11. “All men cannot receive (x8) this saying." And, ver. 12. "He that is able to receive it, (xger) let him receive it. (To)." According to this import of the word, John informs us, that if all the miracles which Jesus performed were written, the world could not receive the books, could not believe them, because they would appear absolutely incredible. But to this interpretation it may be objected, that the phrase, the world itself, cannot mean the men of the world, for which reason the first sense is to be preferred.

CLIX. Jesus appears to five hundred of the brethren in Galilee; and after that to the apostle James alone. Matt. xxviii. 16, 17. 1 Cor. xv. 6.

" AND now the time approached when Jesus was to shew himself publicly in Galilee. This was the most remarkable of all his appearances. He promised it to the apostles before his death, Matt. xxvi. 32. The angels who attended at his resurrection spake of it to the women who came to the sepulchre, and represented it as promised to them also, Mark xvi. 7. Nay, Jesus himself, after his resurrection, desired the company of wo men to tell his brethren to go into Galilee, where they should see him; as if the appearances he was to make that day, and on the eighth day thereafter, were of small importance in comparison. Moreover, the place where he was to appear in Galilee was mentioned by him. So Matthew informs us, xxviii. 16. Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. Whether there were more present at this appearance than the eleven, the evangelist does not say; nevertheless, the circumstances of the case direct us to believe

*

believe that it had many witnesses. This appearance was known before hand; the place where it was to happen was pointed out by Jesus himself. The report therefore of his being to appear must have spread abroad, and brought many to the place at the appointed time. In short, it is reasonable to think that most of the disciples now enjoyed the happiness of beholding personally their Master raised from the dead. What confirms this supposi tion is, that Paul says expressly, Jesus, after his resurrection, was seen of above five hundred brethren at one time. 1 Cor. xv. "After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep." For the number of the witnesses mentioned by Paul agrees better to the appearance on the mountain in Galilee described by Matthew, than to any other. Galilee having been the principal scene of Christ's ministry, the greatest part of his followers lived there; for which reason he chose to make what may be called his most solemn and public appearance after his resurrection, on a mountain in that country; an appearance to which a general meeting of all his disciples was summoned, not only by the angels who attended his resurrection, but by our Lord himself the very day on which he arose. And when they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. The greatest part were so fully convinced that the person they saw was their Master, that they worshipped him. But with respect to a few, their joy on seeing the Lord put them into a kind of perturbation, and their desire that it might be him made them afraid it was not. This reason is assigned by Luke for the unbelief of some on a former occassion, chap. xxiv. 41. and therefore it may fitly be offered to account for the unbelief of others on this. Besides, the thing is agreeable to nature; men being commonly afraid to believe what they vehemently wish, lest they should indulge themselves in false joys, which they must soon lose. Hence the saying in Terence, Misera mens incredula est: quo plus cupio, minus credo t. Probably at this appearance the

17.

The greatest part of his followers lived there.] To this agrees the particular, mentioned Acts i. 15. namely, that the number of the disciples met at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, about a week after our Lord's ascension, were only one hundred and twenty. In Jerusalem and the country about he had few followers, his disciples being mostly Galileans.

†The case of the disciples, whose desire and joy made them doubt the truth of what they saw, may be illustrated by the instance of the states of Greece and Asia, whose joy and surprize, on hearing a Roman herald declare them all free and at liberty to use their own laws, had a similar effect upon them, as the story is beautifully told by Livy, lib. 33. c. 35. "Audita voce praeconis, majus gaudium fuit quam quod universum homines caperent. Vix satis credere se quisquam audisse. Aliis alios intueri mirabundi, velut somnii vanam speciem. Quod ad quenquam pertineret şuarum autium fidei minimum credentes proximos interrogabant. Rovo

catus

the apostles received orders to return to Jerusalem; for from Acts i. 3,-12. compared with Luke xxiv. 50. it is plain that our Lord's discourses, before his ascension, related Mark xvi. 15. and Luke xxiv. 44. were delivered in or near to the city. Besides, he ascended from the mount of Olives, as we shall see immediately. Wherefore, if the orders for the apostles to repair to Jerusalem were not given at this appearance, Jesus must have shewed himself again, which indeed is not impossible; as it is evident from 1 Cor. xv. that he shewed himself somewhere to the apostle James alone, though none of the evangelists have given the least hint of that appearance. 7. After that (viz. his appearance to the five hundred brethren) he was seen of James. In the college of the apostles there were two persons of this name: one the brother of John, who was killed by Herod, another the brother or cousin of Jesus. Perhaps it was to James the brother of John that our Lord appeared after his resurrection. His being to suffer martyrdom so early, might make this special favour necessary."

catus præco. Cum unisquisque non audire, sed videre libertatis nuncium averet: iterum pronunciaret eadem. Tum ab certo jam gaudio, tantus cum clamore plausus est ortus totiesque repetitus, ut facile appareret, nihil omnium bonorum multitudini gratius, quam libertatem esse.'

§ CLX. Jesus ascends into heaven from the mount of Olives near Jerusalem, in the presence of his eleven disciples. Matt. xxviii. 18,-20. Mark xvi. 15,-20. Luke xxiv. 44,-53. Acts i. 3,-12.

"THUS Jesus, Acts i. 3. shewed himself alive (to the apostles whom he had chosen, and to his other disciples) after his passion, by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. It seems he continued on earth forty days after he arose, and in the several interviews which he had with his disciples during that period, he gave them many infallible proofs of his resurrection, and discoursed to them concerning the new dispensation of religion which he was going to erect in the world by their ministry; and so having accomplished all the purposes of his coming, nothing remained but that he should ascend into heaven in the presence of his apostles. These men were now gone up to Jerusalem to prepare themselves for the feast of Pentecost. Thither Jesus went, and shewed himself to them for the last time. And be

cause

*Shewed himself to them for the last time.] By the history which the evangelists have given of our Lord's resurrection, it is evident that he shewed himself to his disciple and friends only, and not to the Jews in general. Agreeably to this, Peter, in his sermon to the proselyte Cornelius, Acts x. 39. says expressly, "Whom they slew and hanged on a tree.

40. Him

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