XIV. THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. MARK XVI. 19, 20. LUKE XXIV. 50–53. Two of the evangelists, Matthew and John, do not relate this history, an omission, of which the adversaries of Christianity have not failed. to avail themselves. The most important part, they say, is wanting, so that those who read only these two evangelists, would suppose Jesus to be still upon earth with his disciples, in conformity with what he has said: (Matt. xxviii. 21 :) "I am with you always to the end of the world." I could be almost tempted to add strength to this doubt, and to say, that the third evangelist Mark omits it; for the last part of his sixteenth chapter appears to me, as I have several times said, the work of a foreign hand. But now, what arises from this omission? Precisely, that the evangelists did not think it necessary, in a history which belongs to this world, and which narrates the life of Christ, to record the ascension which the apostles afterwards so openly preached, and which they assumed as a notorious fact, in their communication with the world. But a word or two about this omission. John omits it, in the same way as he omits the birth of Jesus; from which however no one would conclude that Jesus was not born, and that the circumstance of his birth was a mere fabrication, an imposture. He conforms here to his usual custom of omitting that which others have accurately related, and which therefore he assumes, from their writings, to be known. His silence is rather confirmation. Nay, more, we may infer from his gospel, that he assumes the ascension of Christ as known, although he does not relate it, when Jesus speaks as he does, vi. 62; and again, where on the very day of his resurrection, xx. 17, he says, "I ascend to my Father, and to your Father; and to my God, and to your God." I will not enter more into detail, such as his speaking (xxi. 22) of his coming, and which some have concluded from the twenty-third verse, to predict his coming to the day of judgment. I might easily accumulate passages. Mark omits it, from his having been interrupted in the progress of his gospel, at the eighth verse of the sixteenth chapter. Matthew omits it, as he probably omitted in the Hebrew gospel, (see my Intro duction to the New Testament, ch. 901,) an account of the birth of Jesus; but every shadow of contradiction vanishes, when we turn to the language of Jesus, as recorded by Matthew (xxvi. 64) previous to his crucifixion: "Hereafter, ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." MARK XVI. 19, 20. 19. "So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20. "And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. 19. "So then after the Lord had spoken with them."] I do not conceive this to refer immediately to the words Jesus had just spoken, but to the frequent conversations he held with his disciples, and in which he enjoined them to act up to the commandments he had given. I do not doubt the fact, as recorded in Mark; but if we had not the assistance of Luke, we should conclude that Jesus ascended to heaven immediately after the words he had spoken with them. It is not for me to discuss the merits of this question, ignorant as I am of the name of the writer of these last verses; but it would be doing injustice to an unknown writer, to charge him with an error, merely because Luke happens, in this instance, to be better informed. 20. Some manuscripts have the "Amen" at the end of this verse. The examples are to be found in Wetstein. Several of our common editions have it not, and they are right. LUKE XXIV. 50-53. 50. "And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. 51. “And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into hea ven. 52. "And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy ; 53." And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing of God. Amen." 50. "He led them out."] Namely, from Jerusalem. As Luke has not related the journey of the disciples to Galilee, it was not necessary for him to mention their return to Jerusalem; and the reader therefore will represent to himself the disciples as being still in Jerusalem. "As far as to Bethany."] This is not to be emphatically construed, "even unto Bethany;" and in fact such a translation is inconsistent with a sound knowledge of the Greek language, and were misplaced, as Bethany was not much. more than nine furlongs from Jerusalem. The Greek properly signifies, " to Bethany." I have explained this in my Comments on 1 Macc. ii. 58. 52. "Worshipped him."] Not merely those who defend, but those who impugn the divinity of Christ, have made the just observation, that this is something more, than what we read in other parts of the gospel, where an individual has thrown himself at the feet of Jesus in a state of gratitude and admiration. If we do this to some one whom we see, it is the common mental prostration, and only a high testimony of personal respect; but if we do this to one whom we do not see, it becomes then actual adoration. 53. The "Amen " here is incorrect. ACTS I. 1-12. 1. "The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2. "Until the day in which he was taken up, |