[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 XIX : 1-12
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[2] And he said to them: Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? But they said to him: We have not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Ghost.
[3] And he said: In what then were you baptized? Who said: In John's baptism.
[4] Then Paul said: John baptized the people with the baptism of penance, saying: That they should believe in him who was to come after him, that is to say, in Jesus.
[5] Having heard these things, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
[6] And when Paul had imposed his hands on them, the Holy Ghost came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
[7] And all the men were about twelve.
[8] And entering into the synagogue, he spoke boldly for the space of three months, disputing and exhorting concerning the kingdom of God.
[9] But when some were hardened, and believed not, speaking evil of the way of the Lord, before the multitude, departing from them, he separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.
[10] And this continued for the space of two years, so that all they who dwelt in Asia, heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Gentiles.
[11] And God wrought by the hand of Paul more than common miracles.
[12] So that even there were brought from his body to the sick, handkerchiefs and aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the wicked spirits went out of them.
[1] Factum est autem cum Apollo esset Corinthi, ut Paulus peragratis superioribus partibus veniret Ephesum, et inveniret quosdam discipulos : [2] dixitque ad eos : Si Spiritum Sanctum accepistis credentes? At illi dixerunt ad eum : Sed neque si Spiritus Sanctus est, audivimus. [3] Ille vero ait : In quo ergo baptizati estis? Qui dixerunt : In Joannis baptismate. [4] Dixit autem Paulus : Joannes baptizavit baptismo poenitentiae populum, dicens : In eum qui venturus esset post ipsum, ut crederent, hoc est, in Jesum. [5] His auditis, baptizati sunt in nomine Domini Jesu.
[6] Et cum imposuisset illis manus Paulus, venit Spiritus Sanctus super eos, et loquebantur linguis, et prophetabant. [7] Erant autem omnes viri fere duodecim. [8] Introgressus autem synagogam, cum fiducia loquebatur per tres menses, disputans, et suadens de regno Dei. [9] Cum autem quidam indurarentur, et non crederent, maledicentes viam Domini coram multitudine, discedens ab eis, segregavit discipulos, quotidie disputans in schola tyranni cujusdam. [10] Hoc autem factum est per biennium, ita ut omnes qui habitabant in Asia, audirent verbum Domini, Judaei atque gentiles.
[11] Virtutesque non quaslibet faciebat Deus per manum Pauli : [12] ita ut etiam super languidos deferrentur a corpore ejus sudaria, et semicinctia, et recedebant ab eis languores, et spiritus nequam egrediebantur.
Notes
1. while Apollo was at Corinth. Paley remarks that this reference to Apollo coincides exactly and chronologically with what is said in the epistle to the Corinthians concerning him, where St Paul speaks of Apollo as well known to the Corinthian church, and as hiding there when he himself was absent (see 1 Cor. i. 12, iii. 6).
Apollo joined St Paul at Ephesus before the latter wrote this epistle, since in it he refers to Apollo’s unwillingness to return to Corinth at this particular time (probably on account of the sectarian spirit which existed there), and he promises that Apollo will come when he shall have leisure (ibid. xvi. 12).
the Upper coasts, — i.e. the hilly inland region that St Paul passed through in order to reach Ephesus, which was situated by the sea-coast on a small inclined plain in the valley of the. Meander and its tributary the Cayster. The city was bounded on the south by Mount Prion, on the north by Mount Gallesius, on the east by Mount Pactyes, and on the west by the sea. Hence, whichever land route St Paul took, he came from high ground down to the plain, five miles long from east to west, with an average of three miles broad, on which Ephesus stood.
Ephesus. The capital of Ionia ; it was situated between the Hermus and the Meander. In St Paul's time, Ephesus was the most populous city of proconsular Asia.
certain disciples, — i.e. certain men who had joined the Christians in Ephesus, but who had not received Christ, in baptism.
2. since ye believed. The Greek would he more correctly rendered, “Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed ?” A profession of faith was required of all candidates for baptism.
We have not so much, etc. Better, “ we did not hear whether he be yet given.” The verb “ given ” has to he supplied, as in St John vii. 39 ; For as yet the Spirit was not so given (οὐπω υαρ ἠν Φευμα Ἁγιον).
The disciples of St John, supposing them to have received instruction from his own lips, must have heard liim speak of the Holy Spirit, for we read, John answered, saying unto all ; I indeed baptize you with water, but there shall come one mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to loose ; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire (St Luke iii, 16). Also the Jews were familiar with such expressions as “ the Spirit of the Lord,” “ the Spirit of God,” e.g. —
(a) The Spirit of God moved over the waters (Gen. i. 2).
(b) The Spirit of the Lord came upon him (1 Kings x. 10).
(c) Take not thy Holy Spirit from me (Ps. 1. 13).
Although there are numerous references in the Old Testament to the Holy Spirit, the Jews had no definite teaching concerning His Divine Personality as distinct from that of the Father.
3. In John's baptism. Those who received St John’s baptism made a special profession of repentance and of faith in the Messias who should come, but this baptism of penance had no sacramental efficacy. Its effects depended solely on the dispositions of the recipient.
4. penance. See Annot. on ii. 38.
That they should believe in him, etc. St John the Baptist taught most clearly that faith in Christ was necessary for salvation, e.g. — He that believeth in the Son, hath life everlasting, bat he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him (St John iii. 36).
in Jesus. Some MSS. add “Christ,” and the Bezan text continues “for the forgiveness of sins.”
5. they were baptized. Probably not by St Paul himself.
in the name, — i.e. in the acceptance of all that Christ taught concerning Himself and of the means of salvation.
Baptism involves a profession of the Christian Faith, and the intention to live up to its teaching. This holds good of every baptized Catholic.
6. when Paul had imposed his hands. St Paul, being an apostle and a bishop, had the power of giving confirmation. Although called to the apostleship as one born out of due time (1 Cor. xv. 8), he lacked none of the apostolic gifts.
This example is another proof (see supra, viii. 17) of the importance the apostles attached to the reception of Confirmation. The Church teaches that it is a grievous sin culpably to neglect receiving this sacrament.
spoke with tongues and prophesied. Sec Annot. on ii. 4 and xiii. 1.
8. the space of three months. This embraces the period during which St Paul evangelized in the synagogue. St Paul remained three years in Ephesus, which may mean, according to the Jewish method of computing time, two full years and a part of a third. The time spent in the school of Tyrannus was preceded and followed by certain incidents which would account fairly for about three years.
“In these three quiet eventful years, not only were the foundations of the great Ephesian church laid by Paul and his chosen companion, but also the early stages of those famous Christian congregations known as the churches of Asia as well as the churches of Lycus, Colossæ, Laodicæa, and Hieropolis” (Schaff, Comm., p. 459).
disputing and exhorting. Bettor, “ reasoning and persuading ” (διαλεγομεος και πειθων). St Paul endeavoured to convince the intellect and move the will of his hearers.
concerning the kingdom of God. The truths revealed by Christ and the means of salvation.
9. some were hardened, — i.e. were hardening themselves (τινες ἐσκληρυνοντο). They wilfully refused to accept the truths taught by the apostle, although they could not refute them. Their infidelity had its seat in the will, and pride prevented their obeying the commands of Christ delivered through His minister.
believed not. Better, “were disobedient” (ἠσειθουν), but their disobedience was the result of their unbelief.
speaking evil. (κακολογουντες .) This is a strong word, which is sometimes rendered “cursing” (as in St Matt. xv. 4: He that shall curse (ὁ κακολογων) father or mother, etc.). The same word occurs in St Mark : There is no man that doth a miracle in my name, and can soon speak ill of me (ix. 38). It is almost equivalent to blaspheming.
of the Lord. These words are not in the Greek, but are implied in “the Way,” i.e. the one true way of salvation which God alone can reveal.
before the multitude. St Paul feared lest these evil words should turn some from the faith, and weaken it in the souls of those who had accepted it.
he separated the disciples. There was no scene of violence, as when St Paul withdrew from the Jews of Antioch and Corinth. Being the shepherd of these sheep, it was his duty to protect them from evil influences. Superiors are hound to remove occasions of scandal from their inferiors, as far as it lies in their power.
daily. The Bezan text adds here : From the fifth to the tenth hour, i.e. from about midday until sundown, just when the people would be at leisure. Of this time sppent at Ephesus, St Paul thus wrote : But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great door and evident is opened unto me, and many adversaries (1 Cor. xvi. 8-9).
As the synagogues were only open three times weekly, viz. on the Sabbath, on Mondays and Thursdays, St Paul had more opportunities of instructing the people after he withdrew from the synagogue and taught in the school of Tyrannus.
In addition to his public discourses, he went from “house to house” (See infra, xx. 20)
school. The word in the original signifies “leisure” (σχολη), whence it came to mean any employment fora leisure hour, especially discussing popular or philosophical topics ; finally, it was applied to the places in which such discussions were held. This “school” may have been a “Bethmidrash,” i.e. a private rabbinical school, or a room where public lectures on rhetoric or philosophy were delivered.
Tyrannus. Nothing is recorded of this man elsewhere in the New Testament. The name rather points to a Hellenistic Jew or a Gentile. Some commentators think that he was a Greek philosopher or rhetorician, whose school was well known in Corinth, and they take the phrase “school of Tyrannus” in the sense of “the teaching of Tyrannus.”
10. all they who dwelt in Asia, etc. Numerous conversions resulted ; and in a letter to Trajan, written some forty years later, by Pliny, the governor of Bithynia, he speaks of there being swarms of Christians in his district, and complains of numbers of both sexes and of all ranks and ages, even in the country villages, being infected with the superstitions of the Christian sect.
11. God brought, etc. He confirmed the words of His apostle by “signs” worked throngh St Paul.
more than common^ — i.e. not such as are usual ; hence, extraordinary. The same expression occurs in Acts xxviii. 1, “no small courtesy,” i.e. unusual courtesy.
miracles. Better, “powers” (δυναμιας). Special miracles were performed in Ephesus, because the people were very superstitious and attached great importance to prodigies. Had the apostle not worked miracles there, the Ephesians would have considered that their sooth-sayers, oracles, and wonder-workers were far superior to the preachers of the Gospel. In the same way miracles were worked by St Peter and St John in Samaria, precisely where Simon Magus had “bewitched” the people by his magical arts.
“ We are not to suppose that the apostles were always able to work miracles at will. An influx of supernatural power was given to them at the time, and according to the circumstances that required it. And the character of the miracles was not always the same. They were accommodated to the peculiar forms of sin, superstition, and ignorance they were required to oppose. Here, at Ephesus, St Paul was in the face of magicians, like Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh; and it is distinctly said that his miracles were ‘ not ordinary wonders ’ ; from which we may infer that they were different from those which he usually performed” (Conybeare and Howson, Life and Epistles of St Paul, p. 371-2).
12. from his body. Lit. “from his skin” (χρωτος), but “body” gives the true meaning.
handkerchiefs. (ςυδαρια.) The “sudaria” used by Orientals to wipe off the perspiration.
aprons. (σιμικινθια.) The “ semicinctia ” were probably aprons which only go half round the waist such as men use when working. Some commentators take the semicinctia to mean narrow “belts” or “girdles” i.e. of half the ordinary width, but the derivation of the word points rather to aprons. Both “ sudarium ” and “ semicinctium ” are Latin words.
Compare with this the miracles worked by means of Moses’ rod (Exod. xvii,), of Elias’s cloak which divided the waters of the Jordan (4 Kings ii. 8), of the bones of Eliseus raising a dead man to life (4 Kings xiii. 21), and the miracles worked by St Peter’s shadow.
diseases departed. The woman with an issue of blood was cured by touching the fringe of the Lord’s garment, and He had promised to give His apostles power to work even greater miracles than He Himself did, in confirmation of the truths they taught, and as a proof that He had risen from the dead. Cf. The works that I do, he also shall do, and greater than these shall he do, because I go to the Father (St John xiv. 12). Here, then, we see a fulfilment of Christ’s prophecy and promise, a proof of His Ascension, and an assurance of His perpetual presence and operation in the Church.
Alford has an excellent paragraph on this subject: “The rationalists and semi-rationalists are much troubled to reconcile the fact related, that such handkerchiefs and aprons were instrumental in working the cures, with what they are pleased to call a popular notion foundcd in superstition and error. But in this and similar narratives (see ch. v. 16, note) Christian faith finds no difficulty whatever. All miraculous working is an exertion of the direct power of the All-powerful; a suspension by Him of His ordinary laws ; and whether He will use any instrument in doing this, or what instrument, must depend altogether on His own purpose in the miracle— the effect to be produced on the recipients, beholders, or hearers. Without His special selection and enabling, all instruments were vain ; with these all are capable. In the present case, as before in ch. V. 15, it was His purpose to exalt His Apostle as the Herald of His Gospel, and to lay in Ephesus the strong foundation of His Church. And He therefore endues Him with this extraordinary power " (Greek Testament, h. 1., p. 196).
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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