"Granny's Chapters" Part 17

"Remit" here means _forgive_; sins remitted are sins forgiven. To "retain" means just the contrary--not forgiven sins; "retained" means sins that are not forgiven, of which the guilt still rests upon those who have committed them. Jesus did not, of course, mean that His Apostles, or any human being, had power to forgive or remit the smallest sin committed against G.o.d; none can forgive sin, but G.o.d only. But our Lord meant, that when, by the teaching of the Apostles, poor sinners should be brought to believe the Gospel and repent, they, the Apostles, might safely declare unto them the blessed truth, that their sins are forgiven, and done away with, for the sake of all that Jesus Christ has done for us.

But in the same way, the Apostles must warn all who will not believe and repent, that their sins cannot be forgiven; but that their guilt remains, and must hereafter meet with due punishment.

Chapter XLVII.--UNBELIEF OF THOMAS.

"But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came." As soon as they met again, "the other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord." Thomas, however, was so convinced that it was impossible for Jesus to appear again in His own body, that he declared that he would not believe, unless he actually _saw_ that it was the very same body which had been crucified: therefore, "he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print," or hole made by "the nails, and thrust my hand into" the wound made by the spear in "his side, I will not believe."

This want of faith was wrong: Thomas knew that the other Apostles would not say anything that they did not believe to be true; and it was impossible that all the ten, should have merely _fancied_ that they had seen and talked with their beloved Lord and Master.

Thomas was now left for one whole week in his unbelief; and a good many of the disciples, who had not themselves seen Jesus, took his view of the matter: though the ten Apostles, and a great number of the disciples, were convinced that Christ was indeed risen.

"And after eight days again," that is, on the first day of the next week, "the disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut," so that He could not possibly have come into the room that way, "and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you."

The disciples were probably at supper, for St. Mark says, "he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen." To "upbraid" means to reproach: all had deserved reproach for their slowness and unwillingness to believe the testimony of others, but to Thomas such upbraiding was princ.i.p.ally addressed: but whilst he reproved, Jesus also showed mercy: for "then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands: and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing." Thomas had now received the proofs which he had demanded; he saw and was convinced that Jesus had indeed, according to the Scriptures, risen in his own human body from the grave. "And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my G.o.d.

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they, that have not seen, and yet have believed." These are comfortable words for all Christians who believe without seeing: and we may indeed thank G.o.d for the unwillingness of this Apostle to believe, as it afforded a still further testimony to the reality of the Resurrection.

It seems that the next appearance of Jesus Christ was to a large number of His disciples at once. We read, "Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them." Here many other disciples must have joined them; for another part of Scripture tells us, that "he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once." "And when they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted." It appears probable that at first, Jesus showed Himself at a great distance, so that some could still hardly believe that He was the Lord. "But Jesus came and spake unto them." We may imagine how all doubts were removed at once, and with what joyful gladness the disciples acknowledged Him now, as the long-expected Messiah. "After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias." It seems that the Apostles had so little idea of the nature of the work they were from henceforth to do, that they had returned to their usual occupation of fishermen. "There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.

Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the sh.o.r.e; but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat?" meaning, have ye now taken any fish. To this question, put, as they supposed, by a man, the disciples "answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find." It seems probable that the disciples now began to have some suspicions as to the true nature of Him, who gave them this direction, since no mere man could have foretold the result of their casting the net in one particular spot. "They cast, therefore, and now they were not able to draw it, for the mult.i.tude of fishes." This completely convinced the disciples; "therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved, saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now, when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea," eager to swim quickly to the land on which his beloved Master stood. The word "naked," in this place, only means that Peter had not his outer garments on--only the inner one he wore whilst fishing; and this he girt on, bound close round him, that it might be no hindrance whilst he swam. "And the other disciples came in a little ship (or boat), for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits (about 120 yards), dragging the net with fishes. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up (to help), and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine." The word here translated _dine_, means rather breakfast, the first meal of the day, for it was now early morning.

"And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise."

St. John, in his account of this meeting of Jesus and His disciples at the sea of Tiberias, says, "This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead." It is the third appearance mentioned by St. John; and it was the third time that Jesus had appeared to the Apostles, when all or most of them were together; and this is probably what St. John meant.

The first of these appearances, was to the ten on the day of His Resurrection, when Thomas was not with them; the second took place on the first day of the next week, when all the eleven were a.s.sembled; and the third, was the one of which we have just been speaking at the sea of Tiberias. Of Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene and the other women, to Peter alone, to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus, and to "above five hundred brethren at once," John makes no mention.

St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, speaking of the appearing of Jesus after the Resurrection, says, "He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once: after that, he was seen of James, then of all the Apostles." Now none of the Gospels gives an account of any special appearance to James: we may therefore conclude that we are not told of every appearance vouchsafed to His disciples, during the time that Jesus remained on earth after His Resurrection; though enough are related, to prove the reality of that blessed fact.

We may remark, that "Cephas" is a Greek word, meaning the same as Peter, that is, a rock, or stone; and that as St. Paul was writing to the inhabitants of a city of Greece, he called Simon Peter by his Greek name: by "the twelve," the body of the Apostles is meant, though at that time there were, in fact, only eleven of them.

When the Apostles had eaten their meal of fish and bread, to which they had been invited by the Lord, a remarkable conversation took place. We read, "So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?"--that is, dost thou love me more than these other of my disciples love me? You will remember how before the Crucifixion, Peter, in his self-confidence, declared, that though all the other disciples should forsake Jesus, he never would, but would die for Him if necessary: but his grievous fall had shown him his own weakness; and now, so far from boasting of his greater love, he humbly replied, "Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs." By lambs and sheep, our Saviour meant all his people, young and old: all, who should believe in Him, and so belong to His Church, or flock, as it is often called.

This mode of speaking of the people of G.o.d, as of a Flock, consisting of sheep and lambs, is very common throughout the Scripture. David pleading for his people, who were suffering from pestilence in consequence of his sin in numbering them, says, "But these sheep, what have they done?" The same idea is often repeated in the Psalms, and in the Prophets; and in our Liturgy, or Church Service, we confess that we "have erred and strayed like lost sheep."

Peter would well understand this figurative manner of speaking. The question was repeated: "Jesus saith to 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." Three times had Peter denied his Lord; three times now had he been asked, Lovest thou me? Well might he be grieved at the remembrance of that sin, which could have cast a doubt upon the love he bore his divine Master: deeply did he feel the rebuke which he had deserved. Humbly, without making any professions, did he appeal to Him, who knows all hearts, to judge whether he loved Him. Peter's love for Jesus was both strong and sincere, and his whole future life bore witness to its strength and sincerity, until he did indeed lay down his life for his Master's sake. Let us take Peter for our example, and try, by every action of our lives, to show that we do love and wish to please our G.o.d and Saviour.

After this Jesus said to Peter, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify G.o.d. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me." About thirty years after this time, in the reign of the Emperor Nero, Peter was crucified at Rome by the heathens, because he tried to make them Christians; he stretched out his arms on the cross, and another bound him and carried him to execution. Faithfully did Peter obey his Master's command, "Follow me"; for he went about teaching after His example, until He died by the same death. But in his death, Peter gave a further proof of humility; for considering himself unworthy even to die in the same way as Jesus had done, he begged to be crucified with his head downwards; and this request was granted.

Death for the sake of our religion is called martyrdom, and those who so suffer, are martyrs.

Chapter XLVIII.--JESUS TAKEN INTO HEAVEN.

We are not told that Peter made any remark upon what Jesus told him, "signifying by what death he should glorify G.o.d:" we only read, "Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved, following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?" This you will remember was John, one of the sons of Zebedee; the same John who alone gives us any account of what pa.s.sed on this occasion. "Peter, seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?" Jesus, instead of satisfying Peter's curiosity, gave him an answer, which should teach us all, that we must not seek curiously to know things hidden from us; and that the great point is, for every man to follow Christ by faith and practice, and not to concern himself too much about others; any further than by setting a good example, and using what influence he may have over others, for a good purpose.

In answer to Peter's question, "Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die," but should _tarry_, or remain alive upon earth, until the Saviour should come again to judge the world. There was no ground for the disciples to form such a mistaken notion; for as St. John truly says, "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?"

Jesus then appeared again to His Apostles at Jerusalem, and gave them His last directions as to their conduct, when He should have left them to return to His Father in heaven. "Being a.s.sembled together with them, (he) commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence." In these words, Jesus reminded the disciples of His frequent promises to send upon them the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to be their guide; and He bade them wait in Jerusalem, until this promise should be fulfilled. "And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures," and see how exactly His death and resurrection had accomplished everything prophesied of the Messiah. "And (he) said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."

Such were our Lord's last directions to the Apostles whom He was about to leave; and either immediately after this conversation, or a few days later, "he led them out as far as to Bethany," where He purposed to take His final leave of them on earth. The Bethany here meant, was not the actual village of that name, which was about two miles from Jerusalem, but a part of Mount Olivet, or the Mount of Olives, nearer to the city. The Mount Olivet began about 5 furlongs (little more than half a mile) from Jerusalem: the first tract or part of the Mount was called Bethphage, and in this tract was the village bearing that name: another portion of the Mount went by the name of Bethany, and in that tract was the village of Bethany. Jesus led his Apostles to the spot where the tract of Bethany joined that of Bethphage. "When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?"

The Apostles had not yet a clear idea of the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom, nor of the time which was to elapse, before it should be established upon earth; and they seem even to have thought that now, when by His rising from the dead He had proved Himself to be the Messiah, the King of the Jews, He would at once restore them to their former state of prosperity, and make Judaea again an independent kingdom. Jesus reproved them for asking such a question, and "said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own hand." There are, indeed, many things said of future blessings in store for the Children of Israel; but _how_ or _when_ G.o.d will give them, is one of the secret things, which are at present hidden from us. After reproving His disciples for undue curiosity as to future events, Jesus calls their attention back to matters more nearly concerning themselves; namely, to the work which they were now to do, in bearing witness of all that He had done, and in teaching men everywhere the blessed truths of the Gospel; and for this important and arduous task, Jesus again promises them that divine help, without which man can do nothing good. Therefore, he said unto them, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

"And he said unto them, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be d.a.m.ned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 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 recover. And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

By being baptized, those who heard the Gospel preached, showed their faith in Christ, and their determination to follow His precepts and commands: and by Baptism, G.o.d gave them grace and strength to do so.

By Baptism, we are now received into Christ's Church--we become Christians. In the time of the Apostles, of course, the grown-up people were baptized: when they had heard the Gospel preached, and believed that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, they would repent of all their sins, and try to serve and obey Him; and then they would be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; to show that they _did_ mean to dedicate, or give themselves up, to the service of G.o.d: and He, in return, would pour out upon them His Holy Spirit, to enable them to do so.

But G.o.d, who is a merciful Father, does not require His creatures to wait for the blessings of Baptism, until they are old enough to understand and value them; and therefore amongst Christian nations, Infants are baptized long before they can either believe or repent, and so they become the children of G.o.d--lambs of His flock; and receive His blessing before they have sense to know anything about it.

When they are old enough, they must learn to know what great blessings were given to them by Baptism, and what solemn promises were made for them--promises which they are bound to keep, if they would partake of the benefits, and live with Jesus hereafter in heaven. In our own strength, no one can keep these promises entirely; but we must continually _strive hard_ to do so, and above all pray without ceasing, that we may be strengthened to do it.

After Jesus had given His Apostles commands to preach the Gospel to every creature, and to baptize all who were willing, He told them, as we have read, that they should have power to work miracles, in order to prove to all men that they really were the chosen messengers of G.o.d, giving His messages to His people: for if they were able to cast devils out of the bodies of men, to heal the sick, to speak languages which they had never learned, and to take up venomous serpents, or drink poison without suffering any harm, it would be quite plain that G.o.d was with them; since only by His special grace could a man do any of these things.

"And when he had spoken these things, he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pa.s.s while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and a cloud received him out of their sight, and (he was) carried up into heaven." "So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of G.o.d."

"And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."

From the question asked by these angels, it would seem that even now the Apostles could hardly believe that their beloved Lord was gone from their sight for ever, upon the earth. They are therefore reminded, that their "gazing up" is useless; but that a day shall come when He shall return to earth: but then it will be as a judge, to pa.s.s sentence of happiness or misery upon every living creature. We know not how soon that awful day may come; let us therefore watch and pray, that we may find mercy before our judge--the Saviour of all who so believe in Him, as to love Him and keep His commandments.

The words of the angels recalled the disciples' minds to earth, and to the work which their Master had left them to do. "And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem, from the mount called Olivet, with great joy. And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing G.o.d."

"And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following." Not immediately, however; but in these words St. Mark, as it were, sums up the future history of the Apostles; stating how they at once set to work to fulfil the commandments given to them by Jesus Christ.

Here, then, the History of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ must end; and we cannot do better than close it with the words of St. John himself, speaking of our Lord's miracles: "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of G.o.d; and that believing, ye might have life through his name."

St. John ends his account of His Master's life and death with the following words: "This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. 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."

PART II.

Chapter I.--THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST.

After the Four Gospels, there is in the New Testament a book called "The Acts of the Apostles," which gives us an account of the princ.i.p.al acts, or doings, of some of the Apostles, after the Lord was taken from them. This Book of Acts was written by St. Luke, who also wrote one of the Four Gospels; and it is the only Scriptural account we have of what the Apostles said and did, though we gather a few more particulars from the Epistles, or letters written by the Apostles themselves, to the brethren in different places.

The Book of Acts furnishes us with much that has been said of the Ascension, or "_going up into heaven_," of Jesus Christ. We have already heard that the Apostles returned to Jerusalem with "joy,"

which might seem strange when one they so dearly loved had just been taken from them. But they had indeed cause for joy: they had seen their Lord suffer and die, to purchase pardon for sinners; they had seen Him come to life again, thus showing that He had indeed made a sufficient atonement for all: and now they had beheld Him received up into heaven, proving that, for His sake, all His true disciples might follow Him: "where I am, there shall ye be also." Great therefore was their joy, and they showed it in the most fitting manner, by being "continually in the temple, praising and blessing G.o.d."

The first thing we have an account of after their return from Mount Olivet to Jerusalem is, that, "when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew (called also Nathanael), and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus (known to us as the Less), and Simon Zelotes, and Judas (or Jude) the brother of James." The word "Zelotes"

means full of zeal, or eagerness; and this Simon was probably so called, because he was eager in doing the work of G.o.d. St. Matthew speaks of him as "Simon the Canaanite"; and it is supposed that he was a native of the city of Cana, in Galilee. Here we find the eleven Apostles all together: and they "continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and with Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren": waiting for the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit.