[The posts which follow make extensive use of The Acts of the Apostles, by Madame Cecilia, Religious of St Andrew's Convent, Streatham with an Imprimi potest dated 16 October 1907 (Westminster); Burns, Oates & Washbourne Ltd. (London). With grateful prayers for the author and her team:
REQUIEM æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.ETERNAL rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.]
Acts IV : 1-12
_-_James_Tissot.jpg) |
| Annas & Caiphas. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
[2] Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead:
[3] And they laid hands upon them, and put them in hold till the next day; for it was now evening.
[4] But many of them who had heard the word, believed; and the number of the men was made five thousand.
[5] And it came to pass on the morrow, that their princes, and ancients, and scribes, were gathered together in Jerusalem;
[6] And Annas the high priest, and Caiphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest.
[7] And setting them in the midst, they asked: By what power, or by what name, have you done this?
[8] Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said to them: Ye princes of the people, and ancients, hear:
[9] If we this day are examined concerning the good deed done to the infirm man, by what means he hath been made whole:
[10] Be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God hath raised from the dead, even by him this man standeth here before you whole.
[11] This is the stone which was rejected by you the builders, which is become the head of the corner.
[12] Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.
[1] Loquentibus autem illis ad populum, supervenerunt sacerdotes, et magistratus templi, et sadducæi, [2] dolentes quod docerent populum, et annuntiarent in Jesu resurrectionem ex mortuis : [3] et injecerunt in eos manus, et posuerunt eos in custodiam in crastinum : erat enim jam vespera. [4] Multi autem eorum, qui audierant verbum, crediderunt : et factus est numerus virorum quinque millia. [5] Factum est autem in crastinum, ut congregarentur principes eorum, et seniores, et scribae in Jerusalem. [6] Et Annas princeps sacerdotum, et Caiphas, et Joannes, et Alexander, et quotquot erant de genere sacerdotali. [7] Et statuentes eos in medio, interrogabant : In qua virtute, aut in quo nomine fecistis hoc vos? [8] Tunc repletus Spiritu Sancto Petrus, dixit ad eos : Principes populi, et seniores, audite : [9] si nos hodie dijudicamur in benefacto hominis infirmi, in quo iste salvus factus est, [10] notum sit omnibus vobis, et omni plebi Israel : quia in nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi Nazareni, quem vos crucifixistis, quem Deus suscitavit a mortuis, in hoc iste astat coram vobis sanus. [11] Hic est lapis qui reprobatus est a vobis aedificantibus, qui factus est in caput anguli : [12] et non est in alio aliquo salus. Nec enim aliud nomen est sub caelo datum hominibus, in quo oporteat nos salvos fieri.
Notes
1. And as they were speaking. The arrival of the priests interrupted the discourse. The Temple authorities were suspicious of large gatherings in the Temple courts, as such assemblies had often brought them into collision with the Roman governors.
the priests. Evidently those who were on duty that week. The priests were divided into twenty-four courses, each of which served in turn for seven days, beginning on the Sabbath-day.
the officer of the temple. St Luke refers to the magistrates of the temple in his gospel (ch. xxii. 4, 62), where they are spoken of in the plural. It seems that the officer here mentioned was the captain of the various bands of Levites who guarded the Temple night and day. Each band had its own chief, and one officer presided over them all.
From the fact that his name is found joined with that of the chief priests, we may infer that he held a high position. There is a reference to the officer of the Tempe in Bell. Jud., vi. 5. 3. Besides the duty of supervising the Levitical guards, the captain and his subordinate officers looked after the Temple buildings and other material offices. The Talmudists speak of this officer as “ the man of the mountain of the house.”
the Sadducees. These were a sect of Jews, mostly influential and wealthy, who held materialistic views. St Luke gives their principal tenet in ch. xxiii. 8 : The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees confess both.
The name “ Sadducee” is said to be derived from “ Zadok.” Two eminent men bore this name.
1. Zadok, a high-priest, who lived in the time of Solomon.2. Zadok, a disciple of Antigonus Socheus (a Nasi of the Sanhedrin, circa B.C. 260).
The high-priest and his kindred were mostly Sadducees.
came upon them. The same expression is used in some Greek codices of the chief priests, scribes, and ancients who “ came upon” our Lord when He was walking in the Temple, perhaps in that very porch (see St Luke ii. 1). It was thus, too, that the angel appeared to the shepherds of Bethlehem (see St Luke ii. 9).
2. Being grieved that they taught, etc. The hostility of the Sadducees is noticeable after the Resurrection of Christ, on which the apostles laid such stress.
As this doctrine was opposed to the materialistic creed of the Sadducees, they naturally tried to prevent its promulgation, fearing to lose their prestige and influence should it gain ground with the people.
in Jesus, The apostles appealed to the Resurrection of Jesus, since His resurrection is a pledge that all mankind shall rise again.
Cf. For by a man came death, and by a man the resurrection of the dead. And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive (1 Cor. xv. 21, 22).
3. laid hands. The captain with his guards arrested the apostles. As a sect, the Sadducees had no judicial power.
in hold. Lit. “ in custody ” (εἰς τηρησιν), either into private keeping or the public prison. The latter seems more probable, since we read in ch. v. 18, they put them in the common prison.
Lumby remarks: “The Jews only employed imprisonment for this precautionary purpose. It was not a mode of punishment with them, and where we find mention of it as so used in the Scripture records, the authorities who inflicted it were not Jewish ” (Camb. Gk. Test., p, 121).
evening. The apostles had gone up to the Temple at three o’clock, and it was now “ the second evening,” i.e. about six o’clock, when the day ended.
We read in Jer. xxi. 12, O house of David, thus saith the Lord : Judge ye judgment in the morning. On this the Rabbis based their precept that “ judgments about life must be begun in the day and concluded in the day.”
4. many of them, etc. The people were not deterred from accepting the apostles’ teaching by the hostility of their rulers. Possibly some of these converts were among the great multitude who, when Christ preached in the Temple, heard him gladly (St Mark xii. 37). Their eager acceptation contrasts with the hostility of the rulers of Israel.
heard the word, — i.e. St Peter’s sermon.
believed. They accepted Jesus Christ as the Messias.
the number of the men. There were now about five thousand disciples in all, according to the more generally received opinion, which is based on the ordinary meaning of the Greek verb (ἐγενησθη) “ amounted to ” or “ came to ” ; consequently St Luke here gives us to understand that two thousand converts had recruited the ranks since the day of Pentecost.
Some of the fathers (St Jerome, St Jn. Chrys., St Aug.) take the five thousand exclusive of those who were received into the Church at Pentecost, It is probable that “men” is used generically here to include persons of both sexes.
Cf. The queen of the south shall rise in the judgment with the men of this generation (St Luke xi. 31).
5. their, — i.e. the princes or rulers of the Jews. It is clear from the context to whom the pronoun refers.
princes and ancients, and scribes. These three classes constituted the Sanhedrin, which consisted of seventy-one members : —
(a) The chief priests and the twenty-four heads of courses (see St Luke i. 5).(b) The scribes or lawyers.(c) The elders or heads of families.(d) The president and the Sagan or vice-president.
The chief priests and the scribes represented the religious constituent ; the ancients, the political and executive.
The Sanhedrin was the supreme Jewish court of appeal, but under the Romans, it no longer had the power to inflict capital punishment.
in Jerusalem, The preposition used in the Greek varies. Some MSS. read ‘‘ in,” others read “ into.” The latter is used after verbs of motion towards a place. As the affair was urgent, it is highly probable that the members of the Sanhedrin who dwelt in the suburbs had been summoned to assemble in the city.
Those who accept the former reading (ἐν), “ in,” take it as pointing out the city itself as distinct from the Temple, and they infer that the exainination was not held in the “ Gazith ” within the Temple Court, but in the Senate-house, outside the Temple area, by the west wall.
6. Annas the high-priest. Annas was the ex -high-priest, a man of great influence, whose five sons held in turn the office of high-priest. Our Lord was taken to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiphas, who was the high-priest of that year (St John xviii. 13). As this office, by the Mosaic Law, was held for life, the people considered Annas as the pontiff “ de jure,” and the one who actually held the office as the pontiff “ de facto.”
Caiphas, The son-in-law of Annas, who held office from A.D. 18-36, having been appointed by the Roman procurator, Valerius Gratus.
John and Alexander, Nothing is known for certain of these two, but it has been conjectured that they were closely related to the family of the high-priest, as their names are thus noted.
Lightfoot identifies John with the famous Rabbi Johanan ben Zaccai of whom the Talmudists speak, and who, after the fall of Jerusalem, obtained the authorization of the Romans to establish the assemblies of the Sanhedrin at Japhneh. Some think that Alexander was the wealthy alabarch or governor of the Jews in Egypt. According to Josephus, he was a principal person among his contemporaries both for his family and his wealth. He was also more eminent for his piety than his son Alexander, etc. (Antiq., XX., V. 1). Patrizzi remarks that there is nothing to prevent our accepting the hypothesis that this Alexander was on a visit to Jerusalem, and that, on account of his zeal for the Temple, he obtained a seat as a Sanhedrist.
of the kindred of the high-priest. Lit. “ of the high-priestly family.” The Greek adjective here used is rarely found (ἀρχιερατικου). We must understand those who had held the office of high-priest, and also influential members of their families.
7. setting them in the midst. So a short time previously, Jesus Himself had been sent to Caiphas the high-priest, where the scribes and the ancients were assembled (St Matt. xxvi. 57). The Sanhedrists sat in a semicircle on raised seats, and the accused stood in the centre. Behind them sat three rows of the disciples of the Rabbis.
The rulers of Israel expected that these simple Galileans would be frightened and deterred from their resolution to preach the Gospel, when they found themselves in the midst of such a solemn assembly of great men. But, strong in their faith of Jesus Christ, the apostles faced their accusers.
they asked. Better, “ began asking ” (ἐπυνθαναντο). The question was put by several, or repeated by the same person.
By what power? Lit. ‘‘What kind of power ?” (Ἐν ποια δυναμει). The word used points to a miraculous power, and it is evident that there is no attempt to deny the miracle, but the rulers probably wished to convict the apostles of sorcery. By the Law of Moses, those who worked wonders by the power of the devil were condemned to death.
by what name ? St Peter had worked the miracle in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (ch. iii. 6), and had openly declared that he had done so by this name (iii. 16). Certainly these facts had been communicated to the Sanhedrin, but they wished to obtain a formal answer, and perhaps hoped that the apostles would not dare to repeat this statement in their presence, and that, consequently, the Name of Jesus would be discredited.
The Jews exorcised by invoking the names of certain angels, of the patriarchs, or the name of Solomon.
have you done this ? There is extreme contempt in the question, and the pronoun “ you ” (ὑμεις ) is very emphatic by its position. The judges also refrain from speaking of the good deed performed as a miracle, but merely call it “ this thing” (τουτο),
8. Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost. Thus our Lord’s promise was fulfilled which St Matthew records in his gospel : But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what to speak : for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak. For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you (x. 19-20. See also St Luke xxi. i2-16). Whence we learn that God always assists His servants in the work which He assigns to them, and this holds good of the humblest disciple.
Ye princes of the people, etc. St Peter pays due respect to those who sit in Moses’ seat; at the same time, he gladly seizes his first opportunity of addressing the rulers of Israel, and of announcing to them the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
9. If. There is no doubt expressed here, and the conjunction used is equivalent in this context to “since.”
we . . . . are examined. The Greek word (ἀνακρινομεθα) is used technically of a judicial enquiry.
In classical Greek it is used only of a preliminary examination, not of an actual trial.
good deed. Lit. “act of benevolence” (εὐεργεσια). Thus St Peter designates the miracle, to which his judges scornfully referred as “this thing.” He also calls attention to the fact that they are being tried not as malefactors but as benefactors.
been made whole. Lit. “ been saved ” (σεσωσται). The word originally referred to soundness of body, then it was applied to healing bodily infirmities, and finally, by analogy, to deliverance from spiritual evils.
10. Jesus Christ of Nazareth. St Peter quotes the very title of the Cross, and boldly utters the Name they so hated.
whom you crucified. The soldiers were the instrument, but the Jews the instigators.
God hath raised from the dead. These words were addressed to the very men who had been told of the wonderful events which took place at the sepulchre on Easter morning. Cf. Behold some of the guards came into the city and told the chief priests all things that had been done (St Matt xxviii. 11). They had given a great of money to the soldiers as a bribe after having taken counsel with the ancients ; yet, in spite of their precautions, the news of the Resurrection had spread.
If Christ had not risen, how easily the Sadducees could have produced His dead body and thus have proved the apostles to be guilty of imposition, but they never suggest such a way of discrediting them, and this inaction on the part of our Lord’s enemies is one of the proofs of the Resurrection.
this man. He stood beside the apostles, and doubtless St Peter pointed to him at this moment. It looks as though the man had been put into custody with them.
11. This is the stone. St Peter follows up his accusation by applying to these rulers of Israel the words of Ps. cxvii. 22, as the lawfully constituted builders.
This psalm was regarded as Messianic, and some of those whom St Peter was addressing had heard our Lord apply it to Himself and their rejection of Him, when they questioned Him in the Temple in Holy Week, saying : By what authority dost thou these things ? and who hath given thee this authority ? (St Matt. xxi. 23). On this occasion they also understood the allusion, for they knew that he spoke of them (Ibid, verse 45).
the stone. Jesus was the corner stone, which unites the two walls and supports the roof of the spiritual edifice, and also the foundation on which it rested. St Peter does not quote the exact words of the psalm.
rejected by you the builders. St Peter’s argument is that those who should have been the first to welcome Christ, were precisely the ones who persecuted and put Him to death, but God, who willed that He should be the corner stone, had raised Him up, and glorified His Name by healing this poor cripple.
12. Neither is there salvation. Better, “ the salvation” (ἡ σωτηρια), that which was promised to Israel. St Peter proceeds from the lesser to the greater, from the cure of bodily ailments to the deliverance from spiritual death.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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