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Luke xxiv.49.
John xx. 21.

John xx. 22.

John xx. 23.

And he took it, and did eat before them.
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto
you: as my
Father hath sent me, even so send I

you.

And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

Jerusalem.

18.

m Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted m Mat. xviii. unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained.

JOHN XX. part of ver. 19, 20.

19 and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you, 20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands—

John xx. 24.

John xx. 25.

SECTION XXIX.

Thomas is still incredulous.

JOHN XX. 24, 25.

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

SECTION XXX.

Christ appears to the Eleven, Thomas being present.
MARK XVI. 14. JOHN XX. 26-30.

Mark xvi. 14.

" Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they n Luke xxiv. sat *at meat, and si upbraided them with their un- John xx. 19.

31

31 This verse of St. Mark has generally been supposed to refer to our Lord's appearance to his disciples on the evening of his resurrection. But St. Luke and St. John both describe the first appearance of Christ to his disciples, and neither of them gives the least intimation of any thing like reproof, which they then heard from the mouth of their affectionate Lord. The whole of his discourse and behaviour to them was directed at that time to the composing of their troubles, and the satisfying of their doubts. Reprehension was reserved for the following Sunday, when a whole week having been allowed them to examine and

36.

1 Cor. xv. 5. * Or, toge ther.

Jerusalem.

belief and hardness of heart, because they believ-
ed not them which had seen him after he was
risen.

And after eight days" again his disciples were John xx. 26. within, and Thomas with them: then came Je

sus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst,
and said, Peace be unto you.

Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy John xx. 27.
finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither
thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not
faithless, but believing.

And Thomas answered and said unto him, My John xx. 28. Lord and my God 3.

compare the proofs of his resurrection, and to call to mind his own predictions
and promises concerning it. They who continued incredulous were become
more worthy of blame. Then if he said no more by way of reproof than what
he said to St. Thomas, it was a reprehension of the rest of the company who
were in the same state of mind: and it is sufficient to justify St. Mark's expres-
sion, "He upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart." St.
Mark says,
"He appeared unto the eleven," and it was of consequence to in-
form us that he was seen by the apostles: but when he adds, " And he up-
braided them with their unbelief," he extends his view to all those whom he had
spoken of as incredulous in the preceding verse.

32 The first appearances of our Lord to his apostles appear to have taken place uniformly on the first day of the week; and from their consequent observance of that day, originated the Christian Sabbath.

33 ON THE EXCLAMATION OF ST. THOMAS, AND ON THE WORD
ΠΡΟΣΚΥΝΕΩ.

The disbelief of the Apostles is the means of furnishing us with full and satisfactory demonstration of the resurrection of Christ. Throughout the divine dispensations, it is to be observed, that every doctrine, and every important truth, is gradually revealed; and here we have a conspicuous instance of this progressive system. An angel first declares the glorious event! The empty sepulchre confirms the women's report. Christ's appearance to Mary Magdalene shewed that he was alive—that to the disciples at Emmaus proved that it was at least the spirit of Christ, by his expounding the prophecies, and breaking of bread -that to the eleven shewed the reality of his body, and the conviction given to St. Thomas, proved it the self-same body that had been crucified. The resurrection was testified by the conviction of the senses. The ear heard it, and blessed-the eye saw it, and gave witness-the hand was satisfied with feeling -the intellect was fed upon the heavenly teaching, and the Holy Ghost descended in confirmation of the holy truth. The miracle of the draught of fishes gave evidence of the continued existence of the same divine and almighty nature, which had been displayed before the crucifixion, and the Spirit of God was manifested in opening the Scriptures, till their hearts burned within them. Every possible demonstration was vouchsafed that man could receive, or God

John xx. 29.

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou Jerusalem. hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

bestow. The wounds which had been inflicted upon the body of Christ were still visible, bearing testimony to his identity, unclosed, yet free from corruption. Incredulity itself was satisfied, and the convinced apostle exclaims, in the

joy of his heart, "My Lord and my God."

The question whether St. Thomas, at the moment of his conviction, intended his address to our Lord in an act of religious worship, must be decided by a consideration of the conclusions from which it must have originated. St. Thomas had denied the possibility of the resurrection. Our Lord convinced him of his error; then he expressed himself in these remarkable words, "My Lord and my God." "So far," says Bishop Horsley, "as the disciples believed in Jesus as the Messiah, in the same degree they understood and acknowledged his divinity. In the first interview of Nathaniel with our Lord, when he proved to him his omniscience, he exclaimed, Thou art the Son of God,' thou art the divine and expected king of Israel. When the miraculous draught of fishes convinced St. Peter of the power of Christ, he addressed him as his Lord.' When the Angel Jehovah appeared to the patriarchs of old, they all worshipped and paid their homage in the same manner, and with similar expressions to those used by the Evangelists. It was some sudden proof of divinity in the mysterious personage who addressed them, which elicited the language of homage and adoration."

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The exclamation of the Apostle was Ο Κύριος μοῦ, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς μοῦ, in the nominative, which is frequently put for the vocative, in pure, as well as in Hellenistic Greek. It seems, however, preferable to read the passage où εl, understood, "Thou art my Lord, even my God;" or, as the word Kúpios corresponds to the principal names given in the Old Testament to the manifested God of Israel, it would be better to interpret the exclamation accordingly, as if he had said, x, or, as the Jews were accustomed to omit the ineffable name, and substitute in its place, he might have used only the latter

7. It seems, however, more probable, that on the present occasion he would omit the substituted term, and express himself in the very language of the Scriptures, :obx mm. This was the name given to the manifested God of the Old Testament, and the exclamation of the apostle therefore may be more fully rendered, "Thou art the Lord Jehovab, the manifested God of my fathers."

It is true that the word рooкvvéw, in the original, which is rendered by our translators by the term "worship," is used by the Evangelist to denote civil respect, or the homage due to persons of rank and dignity. But the word is one of general import; and the cases in which it must be understood of religious adoration on the one hand, or of civil homage on the other, can be discriminated only by attending to the circumstances in each instance. To assist in determining the true sense in the examples under consideration, let the following remarks be considered:

1. Out of sixty places in which this word occurs in the New Testament, there are only two or three in which it indisputably bears the inferior sense; there

Jerusalem.

SECTION XXXI.

Christ appears to a large number of his Disciples on a Mountain in Galilee.

MATT. xxviii. ver. 16, 17. and part of ver. 18...

16.

Then the eleven disciples went away into Ga- Matt. xxviii. lilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

And when they saw him, they worshipped him: Matt. xxviii. but some doubted $4.

And Jesus came and spake unto them ".

17.

Mat.xxviii.18.

are forty-three in which it is manifestly to be understood of religious worship; and the remaining instances are those of application to Christ, the genuine import of which we are desirous of ascertaining.

2. Our Lord, during the whole of his public ministry, evidently made it a principle of his conduct, to disavow and refuse all earthly eminence. The repeated attempts which were made to invest him with the regal dignity he inflexibly discountenanced. Even when he was accosted with an epithet which he might have accepted very inoffensively, he rebuked the person who gave it, because he perceived it was the language of adulation rather than of sincere conviction-"Why callest thou me good?" On the contrary, he never refused acknowledgments of spiritual supremacy. He openly claimed to be called Lord and Master, the Son of God, and the King of his Church.

A translation of the New Testament into Hebrew has been lately published by the London Society for Promoting the Conversion of the Jews; in this translation the words of St. Thomas are rendered literally п. This Hebrew translation, so far as I am able to judge, appears to be executed with ability and faithfulness (a).

34 Beza reads this passage ovde dioraσav, "they did not doubt any longer." The Prussian version reads, προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ, οἱ δὲ ἐδίστασαν, “ they worshipped him, even those who had doubted." In which sense it should be oi rɛ. Grotius interprets it, "but some had heretofore doubted." Bishop Pearce conjectures, that those who doubted did so because they might be at a greater distance from him than others, and therefore could not so well distinguish.

35 St. Matthew's words are καὶ προσελθὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς ; implying, that when our Lord first appeared to them it was at a distance: πpoσeλ= Owv is rendered by Grotius, " accedens."-See Townson, p. 167, and Bowyer, p. 136.

(a) Horsley's Letters in reply to Dr. Priestley, p. 239. Sermon on the Adoration of our Lord Jesus Christ, vindicated from the charge of Idolatry. By Dr. Pye Smith, 8vo. 1811.

SECTION XXXII.

Christ appears again at the Sea of Tiberias-His conversation with Peter 36

John xxi. 1.

John xxi. 2.

John xxi. 3.

John xxi. 4.

John xxi. 5.

John xxi. 6.

John xxi. 7.

John xxi. 8.

John xxi. 9.

John xxi. 10.

John xxi. 11.

JOHN XXI. 1-25.

After these things, Jesus shewed himself again Galilee. to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself.

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 shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.

Then Jesus saith unto them, * Children, have ✶ Or, Sirs. ye any meat? They answered him, No.

And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

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.

And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) 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, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three:

36 The contents of this section are very curious and important. So little did the apostles anticipate their future elevation, as the reformers of the religion of the world, that they had absolutely returned to their former occupation as fishermen of Galilee. Humble and unambitious, they appear to have as much forgotten all the splendid hopes and expectations of the past, as they were ignorant of their future high destinies.

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