He eats with them, and commiffions them to act as his Apoftles.

JOHN XX.-20. Then were the Difciples glad, when they faw the Lord.

LUKE XXIV. 41. And

while they yet believed not for Joy, and wondred, he faid unto them, Have ye here any Meat?

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beloved Apostle, who records this Circumftance, Sect. 198.
had the Curiofity particularly to examine it.
(Compare 1 John i. 1.) And the Difciples there- John XX.
fore were exceeding glad, as it might reasonably 20.
be expected they fhould be, when they thus faw
the Lord, and learnt by fuch infallible Tokens
that he was really alive.

And for their further Satisfaction, when [fome Luk.XXIV. of them] were fo tranfported, that they as yet 41. believed not their own Eyes for foy, and were fo aftonished that they hardly knew where they were, he faid to them, Have you any Food here left, that I may eat? And they gave him fuch as 42 they had, even Part of a broiled Fish, and of an Honeycomb, on which they had been fupping juft 43 And he took it, and before. And taking [it] he eat before them, 43 more fully to convince them that he was actually alive, and had a true and real Body. (Compare Acts x. 41.)

42 And they gave him a Piece of a broiled Fish, and

of an Honeycomb.

did eat before them.

And when he had for a while gently upbraided Mark XVI. and reproved them for their Unbelief, and for the 14. Hardness of their Hearts, that they had not believed the repeated Teftimony of those who had already feen him fince he was rifen from the Dead, and that even after his own Appearance to them, they had ftill entertained fo many Doubts; Then John XX. that they might be fatisfied that he had graci- 21. oufly forgiven them, Jefus faid to them again, Peace be unto you: May all Profperity and Happiness attend you! As [my] Father fent me, and gave me Authority to act in his Name, fo alfo I Jend you to act as my Apoftles, under the important Character of my Embaffadors to the Children of Men.

And Jaying this, he in a folemn Manner breathed upon [them], and faid to them as one that had Divine Authority, Receive ye the Holy Spirit, and take this as an Earneft of what you shall further receive not many Days hence: For thus will I shortly breathe out the miraculous Influences of my Spirit upon you, in a greater Abundance than you have ever yet received them, to qualify and furnish you for this important Office; In Confequence of which, whofe foever Sins fhall you Kkkk

remit,

22

23

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John XX.

23.

Reflections on CHRIST's firft Appearance to the Apostles.

tained.

Sect. 198.remit, or fhall declare to be forgiven, they are to them; and whose soever remitted and forgiven to them; [and] whofe foever Sins ye retain, they are re[Sins] you fhall retain, or fhall pronounce to be unpardoned, they are affuredly retained, and their Guilt lies upon them: For you shall have a Power, not only of declaring what is lawful or unlawful under the Gofpel Difpenfation, but also of fending or removing miraculous Punishments, and of difcerning the Spirits of Men in fuch Perfection, as to be able with Certainty to declare to particular Perfons in question, whether they be, or be not, in a State of Pardon and Acceptance with GOD. (See Note (b) on Mat. xvi. 19. Vol. i. pag. 546.)

Luke xxiv. 34

Ver. 36,

41.

John xx.

22.

Ver. 23.

And after this Difcourfe with his Difciples, and this Discovery of himself to them, Jefus departed from them for that Time, and left them to spend the rest of the Evening in those delightful Exercises of Devotion, which this great Occafion had fo natural a Tendency to infpire.

W

IMPROVEMENT.

ITH Pleasure let us echo back the Words of the Apostles, and join in that glad Anthem, which fo well fuits a RefurrectionDay, The Lord is rifen, he is rifen indeed. We owe our daily Praises to GOD, for the abundant Demonftration he has given us of fo important a Fact, for every Appearance of Chrift to his Difciples, and for all the infallible Tokens by which be fhewed himself to be alive after his Paffion. (Acts i. 3.)

He came with Peace and Bleffings in his Mouth; he came to dif perfe their Fears, and to affure them of his forgiving Love. How strong were thofe Prejudices, which fo hardly yielded to fuch convincing Proofs! And how rich was that Grace, which condefcended to overcome them!

Chrift breathed on the Apoftles, that they might receive the Holy Spi rit. May he alfo breathe on our Souls, and fill us with that glorious and Divine Gift, which, if it qualified the Apostles for their extraordinary Office, may much more furnish us for the common Duties of Life! May we try our State, by the Characters which they have laid down in their infpired Writings; in which Senfe, among others, we may affure ourfelves, that if they have declared our Sins to be remitted, they are remitted: And if indeed they are fo, we need not be much concerned by whom they are retained. Vain and arrogant Men may claim a defpo

The reft tell Thomas they had seen him, but he will not believe.

627

tick Power, which GOD never gave, and which these Words are far from Sect. 198. implying. But whatfoever be the Sentence they may pafs, they whom GOD bleffeth, are blessed indeed. (1 Chron. xvii. 27.) May we always esteem it a very fmall Thing to be judged of Man's Judgment; (1 Cor. iv. 3.) pitying, rather than refenting, the Rafhness of thofe, who claim any fuch difcretionary Sacerdotal Power, as can give the real Penitent any Alarm, or the Impenitent any Encouragement to continue in Sin!

SECT. CXCIX.

CHRIST appears to the Eleven a fecond Time, a Week after the former, particularly offering to Thomas, who had before been abfent, the most fenfible Proofs of bis Refurrection. John XX. 24,—29.

JOHN XX. 24.

BUT

UT Thomas, one of the Twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jefus came.

WĘ

JOHN XX. 24.

25

E mentioned in the laft Section Chrift's Sect. 199. appearing, on the Evening of that Day on which he arose, to his Difciples; but it is far- John XX. ther to be observed, that Thomas, one of the Twelve, who was also called Didymus, or the Twin Brother, was not with them, when Jefus came. 25 The other Difciples The other Difciples therefore, as foon as they met therefore faid unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he with him, told him, We have feen the Lord with said unto them, Except I our own Eyes, and confequently can have no farfhall fee in his Hands the ther Doubt of the Truth of his Refurrection, Print of the Nails, and put for he has condefcended to fhew us the very my Finger into the Print of the Nails, and thruft my Marks of thofe Wounds he received on the Crofs. Hand But he faid to them, This is a Matter of too great Importance for me to believe on any Report, even on yours; and more is neceffary to convince me of the Truth of it, than merely a tranfient Sight of mine own Eyes: For unless I fhall evidently fee in his Hands, as you fay you have done, the Mark of the Nails, and more than that shall put my Finger upon the very individual Mark of the Nails (a), and put my Hand upon the

very

(a) And fhall put my Finger upon the Mark of the Nails.] I am fenfible, it might feem more elegant, with the Pruffian Tranflators to wave the Repetition, and render it, and put

Kkkk 2

my

628

He appears again, when Thomas was present, and he believes.

Sect. 199. very Scar made by the Spear in his Side, I will Hand into his Side, I will not by any Means, or on any Teftimony what- not believe. foever, believe his Refurrection.

John XX. 26.

27

28

And, as there was a great Degree of faulty Obftinacy in fuch a Refolution, our Lord left him a whole Week under the Perplexity which it must neceffarily give him: But after Eight Days, or on that Day feven-night from our Lord's rifing, his Difciples were again within Doors as before, and Thomas was with them; [and] Jefus came to them again, the Doors being shut and faftened, as in the former Inftance; and fuddenly throwing them open, and in a Moment shutting them again, he flood in the Midst of them, and faid, as in his former gracious Salutation, Peace be unto you

And then, to let them fee that he was not unacquainted with what had lately paffed among them in his Absence, as well as to convince the over-fcrupulous Difciple, he faid to Thomas, Reach forth thy Finger hither, and behold, and examine my Hands; and reach thine Hand hither, and put it to my Side (b); and be not incredulous any longer, but believe on this Evidence at least, which addreffes itself at once to fo many of thy Senfes. And Thomas overwhelmed at once with fuch abundant Demonstration, and fuch humble Condefcenfion, fell under the Conviction in a Moment; and instead of entering on any farther Scrutiny (c), answered and faid to him, in the utmost Transport of Astonishment and Joy, My LORD,

26 And after Eight Days, again his Difciples were within, and Thomas with them then came Jesus, the Doors being fhut, and flood in the Midft, and faid, Peace be unto you.

27 Then faith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy Finger, and behold my Hands; and reach hither thy Hand, and thruft it into my Side: and be not faithlefs, but believing.

28 And Thomas answer

ed and faid unto him, My LORD and my GOD.

my Finger into it: But on farther Reflection, there feems to be a Beauty in this Repetition, which admirably represents the Language of a positive Man, declaring again and again what he infifted upon; which I have therefore endeavoured to exprefs in the Paraphrafe, in Terms which fuch Perfons often use.

(b) Reach forth thy Finger hither, &c.] It is obfervable that Spinoza himself could find out no more plaufible Objection against this Evidence of the Refurrection of Chrift, than to fay, that the Difciples were deceived, in what they imagined they faw, heard, and felt; (Vie de Spin. pag. 32.) which if granted, would be in effect to allow, that no Men could be competent Judges of any Fact whatsoever relating to their own Sensations, and confequently would overthrow all Human Teftimony in Courts of Judicature, and elsewhere.

(c) Inftead of entering on any farther Scrutiny.] It is not faid, that he actually touched the Wounds; and our Lord afterwards fays, (ver. 29.) that his Belief was built on Sight; which feems to intimate, that this Condefcenfion of our Lord, together with the additional Evidence, arifing from the Knowledge which he plainly had of that unreasonable Demand, which Thomas had made in his Abfence, quite overcame him: A Turn of Mind, exceeding natural to fo frank a Temper, as that of Thomas appears to have been.

(d) My

Happy are they, who have not feen, and believe.

29 Jefus faith unto him,

Thomas, because thou hast feen me, thou haft believed: bleffed are they that have not feen, and yet have believed.

John XX.

629 LORD, and my GOD! as if he should have Sect. 199. faid, I do not only now acknowledge thee to be Jefus my Lord, infallibly rifen from the Dead, but I confefs thy Divine Knowledge and Power, and proftrate myself before thee, as the great Incarnate Deity, the glorious Emmanuel (d).

28.

Jefus fays to him, Thomas, thou haft believed, 29
because thou hast seen me, and haft received these
fenfible Demonftrations of my Refurrection; and
it is well: But ftill more happy are they, who have
not seen me themselves, and [yet] have believed
on the credible Teftimony of others; for they have
fhewn a greater Degree of Candor and Humility,
which renders the Faith it produces fo much
the more acceptable (e).

IMPROVEMENT

E most evidently fee in this Inftance of Thomas, as well as in John xx. 25. many. Circumstances of the Story mentioned above, how far the Apostles were from being rafhly credulous in the important Fact of Chrift's Refurrection. It is apparent, they erred in the contrary Extream; yet our gracious Lord condefcended to fatisfy Scruples, which were carried to an Extravagance. He renewed his Vifit, and at the fame Time renewed his Ver. 26. Salutation too. Peace be unto you, was ftill his Language; nor did he only fpeak, but act, as one who wifhed it, and was determined to give it.

W Bay fee as well as

What Peace muft it adminifter to the Mind of this good Man, when.

bis Lord faid, Reach hither thy Finger, and behold my Hands, and reach Ver. 27.

bither

(d) My LORD, and my GOD!] The irrefragable Argument arifing from thefe Words in Proof of the Deity of our Bleffed Lord, (which fo many good Writers have stated at large,) cannot be evaded by faying, that thefe Words are only an Exclamation of Surprize, as if he had faid, Good GOD, is it indeed thus! For it is exprefsly declared, he fpoke thefe Words to him: And no doubt, Chrift would feverely have reproved him, if there had not been juft Reafon to addrefs him thus.

(e) Happy are they, who have not feen, and yet have believed.] If it be queried, Why a greater Blefjednefs is pronounced on thofe, who believe on more fender Evidence; it may be answered, that our Lord by no Means intended to affert, that every one, who believes without feeing, is happier than any one believing on Sight; for then the meaneft Chriftian now, would be more happy than the greatest of the Apostles: But only, that where the Effects of that Faith were equal, it argued greater Simplicity, Candor, and Wisdom, to yield to reasonable Evidence without feeing, than could be argued merely from having believed on Sight, after fufficient Evidence of another Kind had been propofed. It was therefore in effect telling Thomas," It would have been more acceptable to him, if he had not "ftood out fo long: And it was doing it in fuch a Manner, as would be most calculated for the Comfort and Encouragement of Believers in future Ages, to whom, in many of his Speeches to the Apoftles themfelves, our Lord expreffes a moft obliging and affectionate Regard.