NOW UPON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK,.... On which day it appears by what follows, Christ rose from the dead, and which was the third day from his death, and so verified the Scriptures, and his own predictions: VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING; just as light began to spring, the day to dawn, and break; the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY FOUND THE STONE ROLLED AWAY THE SEPULCHRE. Which Joseph had laid there, security of the body, and in the sight of these women; and which gave them a concern, as they went along, seeing they were all women, who should roll away the stone for them, Mark 16:3 but when they came to the sepulch... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY ENTERED IN,.... To the sepulchre, being invited, encouraged, and led on by the angel that sat upon the stone; for the Jews' sepulchres were built large enough for persons to go into; Mark 16:5 AND FOUND NOT THE BODY OF THE LORD JESUS; as they expected, having seen him put there, and had o... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS AS THEY WERE MUCH PERPLEXED THEREABOUT,.... About the body of Christ, and its being gone, what should become of it, whither it was removed, and by what means, and by whom; whether by a friend, or foe, for they had no thought, nor expectation of a resurrection; BEHOLD, TWO MEN ST... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS THEY WERE AFRAID,.... That is, the women were afraid of these angels; these bright appearances and majestic forms, as it was usual for good men and women to be, as appears from the cases of Zacharias, the Virgin Mary, and others: AND BOWED DOWN THEIR FACES TO THE EARTH, through great fear an... [ Continue Reading ]
HE IS NOT HERE, BUT IS RISEN,.... So in Matthew 28:6 see the note there: REMEMBER HOW HE SPAKE UNTO YOU WHEN HE WAS YET IN GALILEE; for these women that followed him from Galilee were along with the disciples when he said the following words to them; and which are recorded in Matthew 17:22.... [ Continue Reading ]
SAYING, THE SON OF MAN MUST BE DELIVERED INTO THE HANDS OF SINFUL MEN,.... As Christ was, who is intended by the son of man, he being the son of David, and the son of Abraham, and the son of Adam, though he was the seed of the woman, and born of a virgin; he was truly man, and subject to the infirmi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY REMEMBERED HIS WORDS. That is, the words of Christ, as the Persic version expresses it; which they had forgot, and it may be had never truly understood until now; and had now their memories refreshed with them by the angels, and their understandings opened by the Spirit of God. Saints are s... [ Continue Reading ]
AND RETURNED FROM THE SEPULCHRE,.... Quickly, immediately, as soon as ever the angel had done speaking to them; they fled from the sepulchre in great haste, as persons frightened and amazed, with fear and reverence, on account of the vision they saw, and with joy at what was told them; see Matthew 2... [ Continue Reading ]
IT WAS MARY MAGDALENE,.... Out of whom Christ had cast seven devils, who was a sincere penitent, a true believer in Christ, and an affectionate lover of him, and to whom he first appeared: AND JOANNA; the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, one that had been a follower of Christ, and had ministered to... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEIR WORDS SEEMED TO THEM AS IDLE TALES,.... As fabulous things, as mere whims, and the fancies of their brains: "as a dream", according to the Persic version; or, "as a jest", as the Arabic version renders it. They looked upon them as mere deceptions and delusions, and not real things; the Vul... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN AROSE PETER,.... Who, though he did not believe the report made, yet listened to it, and was alarmed and aroused by it, and was willing to know the truth of it: AND RAN UNTO THE SEPULCHRE; not alone, but with John, being in haste to be satisfied, how things were: AND STOOPING DOWN; Mark 16:5... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BEHOLD TWO OF THEM WENT THAT SAME DAY,.... Two of the disciples, as the Persic version reads; not of the eleven apostles, for it is certain that one of them was not an apostle; but two of the seventy disciples, or of the society of the hundred and twenty that were together: one of these was Cleo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY TALKED TOGETHER,.... As they went along, on their journey: OF ALL THESE THINGS WHICH HAD HAPPENED; concerning their dear Lord and master, Jesus Christ; how that he had been betrayed by Judas, one of his disciples; had been led bound, first to Annas, and then Caiaphas, the high priest, in w... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHILE THEY COMMUNED TOGETHER,.... About the above said things: AND REASONED; with one another; about the truth and credibility of the late report: JESUS HIMSELF DREW NEAR: the Persic version adds, "suddenly"; he came up at once to them, as if he had been a traveller on th... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THEIR EYES WERE HOLDEN, c] The Ethiopic version adds, "and were covered" and the Arabic version renders it, "now he had veiled their eyes", ascribing it to Christ; and the Persic version renders it, "and the eyes of the disciples were shut": to me it seems, that their eyes: were held downwards;... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID UNTO THEM,.... That is, "Jesus", as the Persic version, or "our Lord", as the Ethiopic version, expresses it: WHAT MANNER OF COMMUNICATIONS ARE THESE, THAT YE HAVE ONE TO ANOTHER, AS YE WALK? what is the subject of your discourse; what is it your conversation one with another turns upon... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ONE OF THEM, WHOSE NAME WAS CLEOPHAS,.... Or Alphaeus, for it is the same name; he was one of the seventy disciples, and father of the Apostles James and Jude, and brother to Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Christ, as before observed: ANSWERING, SAID UNTO HIM, ART THOU ONLY A STRANGE... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, WHAT THINGS?.... Still appearing as if he was ignorant, and in order to, draw out of them a particular relation: AND THEY SAID UNTO HIM; both of them, or rather Cleophas, for himself and his companion: CONCERNING JESUS OF NAZARETH; that is, what had happened to him, who was... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HOW THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND OUR RULERS,.... Civil and ecclesiastic: DELIVERED HIM; to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor: TO BE CONDEMNED TO DEATH; the death of the cross, by the said governor, having first seized him and examined him before their sanhedrim, and pronounced him guilty of death:... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WE TRUSTED,.... "In him", as the Ethiopic version adds: THAT IT HAD BEEN HE WHICH SHOULD HAVE REDEEMED ISRAEL; they thought, hoped, and believed, that he was the Messiah, spoken of under the character of the Redeemer of Israel; and they had been in expectation of redemption by him, though only... [ Continue Reading ]
YEA, AND CERTAIN WOMEN ALSO OF OUR COMPANY,.... Who came with them from Galilee, who were of the same religion, professed the same faith, and belonged to the same society and community; who they were, and their names, see Luke 24:10. MADE US ASTONISHED; surprised us, with an account they brought, s... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY FOUND NOT HIS BODY,.... In the sepulchre, as they expected, and so could not do what they intended: THEY CAME; they returned from the sepulchre with great haste, and in a very great fright, and came to the disciples, where they were assembled; SAYING, THAT THEY HAD ALSO SEEN A VISION... [ Continue Reading ]
AND CERTAIN OF THEM WHICH WERE WITH US,.... The apostles and brethren, who were together when the women came, and made the above report; particularly Peter, who is named, Luke 24:12 and John, who also was with him, as appears from John 20:2 these WENT TO THE SEPULCHRE; of Jesus, to satisfy themselv... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN HE SAID UNTO THEM,.... That is, Jesus said unto them, as the Syriac and Persic versions read: O FOOLS; not in a natural sense, as if they were destitute of the common understanding of men; nor in a moral sense, as wicked men, and as they themselves had been in their unregenerate estate; nor in... [ Continue Reading ]
OUGHT NOT CHRIST TO HAVE SUFFERED THESE THINGS,.... Mentioned in Luke 24:20 as to be delivered by the chief priests, to be condemned to death, and to be crucified: Christ suffered many things in his personal character, being traduced as a sinful and wicked man, and a friend and encourager of sinners... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BEGINNING AT MOSES,.... The writings of Moses, the book of Genesis particularly, Genesis 3:15 which is the first prophecy of him, and speaks of the bruising of his heel, or of the sufferings of death by him; and proceeding to open and explain the types concerning his bearing the cross, and the l... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY DREW NIGH UNTO THE VILLAGE,.... Of Emmaus, before they were aware; their conversation was so very agreeable, that the way did not seem tedious, nor the time long: WHITHER THEY WENT: where they intended to go, when they set out; this was the end of their journey; wherefore this village was... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THEY CONSTRAINED HIM,.... The Arabic version renders it, "they held him by force": but the meaning is not, that they laid hands on him, and held him in a forcible manner against his will; but they were very urgent and importunate with him, that he would stay with them; they would take no denial.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS AS HE SAT AT MEAT WITH THEM,.... When they were sat down at table with the provisions before them: HE TOOK BREAD AND BLESSED IT, AND BRAKE, AND GAVE TO THEM; as if he was the master of the house, when he was both a guest, and a stranger, and as he used to do at common meals, whe... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEIR EYES WERE OPENED,.... Not that they were before shut, or closed up, but what before held them was removed, and what hindered their sight and knowledge was taken away; and perhaps these actions of his taking the bread, and blessing, and breaking, and giving it to them, might put them in min... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SAID ONE TO ANOTHER,.... After Christ was gone, being surprised at what happened, that they should not know him all that while; and that as soon as they did, he should disappear, or withdraw himself in this manner: DID NOT OUR HEARTS BURN WITHIN US WHILE HE TALKED WITH US BY THE WAY, AND W... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY ROSE UP THE SAME HOUR,.... Though it was now evening, and the day was spent and gone; and notwithstanding what business they might have to do at Emmaus, about which they came, and even might not have made an end of eating, or sufficiently refreshed themselves; and though they had had a walk... [ Continue Reading ]
SAYING,.... The following words; and which are not the words of the two disciples, but of the apostles, whom they found gathered together; and who, just as these two entered the room, said to one another, or rather to these two disciples, to whom at once, and as soon as ever they saw them, not being... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY TOLD WHAT THINGS WERE DONE IN THE WAY,.... That is, when the eleven had done speaking, and had finished their report, which they did with great joy and pleasure; then "these two disciples", as the Persic version expresses it, to confirm them the more in the truth of Christ's resurrection, g... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS THEY THUS SPAKE,.... While the two disciples, that came from Emmaus, were giving the above relation; just as they had finished it, and had scarcely done speaking: JESUS HIMSELF STOOD IN THE MIDST OF THEM; the apostles; who were assembled together in a certain house, the doors being shut for... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THEY WERE TERRIFIED AND AFFRIGHTED,.... At the sight of him, and at his sudden appearance among them, without being heard, or seen before, and the doors shut and bolted; they could not tell how to account for it, that it should be Jesus himself risen from the dead in his own body, though they ha... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, WHY ARE YE TROUBLED,.... Who had more reason to rejoice, and be glad, as they were when they knew that it was Jesus: AND WHY DO THOUGHTS ARISE IN YOUR HEARTS? whether what they saw was Jesus, or an apparition, which gave them a great deal of trouble and uneasiness, and filled... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD MY HANDS, AND MY FEET,.... The Evangelist John adds, "and side"; that is, the prints of the nails and spear, in his hands, and feet, and side; and the wounds they made there, and the scars they left behind; by which they might be convinced he was not a spirit, and be assured of the truth of h... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE HAD THUS SPOKEN,.... And put them into a method of satisfying themselves by their senses: HE SHOWED THEM HIS HANDS AND HIS FEET; that is, he held them forth to be seen and handled by them, which no doubt they did; and which were the infallible proofs by which he showed himself alive to... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHILE THEY YET BELIEVED NOT FOR JOY,.... Though they had been prepared for the belief of resurrection, by the report of the women, the relation of Simon Peter, and the account of the two disciples that came from Emmaus; yet such was the joy they were transported with, upon the evidence of it, th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY GAVE HIM A PIECE OF A BROILED FISH,.... Which was left by them at supper, of which they had been eating; for being fishermen, most of them, this was agreeable food to them: AND OF AN HONEYCOMB; not to eat with the fish, but after it.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE TOOK IT, AND DID EAT BEFORE THEM. That is, he took both the fish, and the honeycomb, and ate of them before them, they looking on all the while; and which was a proof of his being truly risen from the dead, and not a spectre, or apparition, and which they failed not afterwards to make use of;... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, THESE ARE THE WORDS WHICH I SPAKE UNTO YOU,.... Or this is the substance of them, the sense and meaning of them; for what follows, we do not find any where expressed in so many words: WHILE I WAS YET WITH YOU; that is, whilst he was in his state of humiliation, whilst he dwel... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN OPENED HE THEIR UNDERSTANDING,.... He not only opened their hearts, to attend to what he said, and the proofs he gave of his resurrection from the dead in a true body; but he removed the veil from the eyes of their minds, and gave them an understanding of the sacred writings, respecting this ma... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, THUS IT IS WRITTEN,.... In the above cited books of the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms; not what after follows, in so many words, but the matter and substance thereof: AND THUS IT BEHOVED CHRIST TO SUFFER, AND TO RISE FROM THE DEAD THE THIRD DAY; it was necessary, both bec... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THAT REPENTANCE AND REMISSION OF SINS,.... Which are the sum of the Gospel ministry; see Acts 20:21 the doctrine of "repentance" is not of the law, which neither requires, nor admits of it, but of the Gospel. The Persic version calls it, "the Gospel of repentance"; a doctrine preached by John th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND YE ARE WITNESSES OF THESE THINGS. As they were witnesses of the truth of his humanity, having seen, and heard, and handled him, both before, and after his resurrection from the dead, and of all that he did, of all the miracles that he wrought in Jerusalem, Judea, and Galilee, and of his transfig... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BEHOLD, I SEND THE PROMISE OF MY FATHER UPON YOU,.... By which is meant the promise of the Spirit, called the promise of the Father, because he was promised by the Father to be sent, and poured on the saints in the times of the Messiah, Isaiah 44:3 and because Christ promised to pray the Father... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE LED THEM OUT AS FAR AS BETHANY,.... Not the town of Bethany; could that be thought, it might be supposed that he led his disciples thither, to pay a visit to his dear friends there, Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, before his ascension; but the town of Bethany was fifteen furlongs, or near two mile... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHILE HE BLESSED THEM,.... Just as he was finishing the words, by which he expressed the blessings he bestowed on them: HE WAS PARTED FROM THEM; as Elijah was from Elisha: their spiritual and mystical union by him remained, which is indissoluble; nor was his gracious presence f... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY WORSHIPPED HIM,.... Not with a civil worship, as he was sometimes worshipped by men, in the days of his flesh, who, though they took him for some extraordinary person, knew him not to be the Son of God; but with religious worship as God: for by his resurrection from the dead, Christ was dec... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WERE CONTINUALLY IN THE TEMPLE,.... At the time of worship, at the hours of prayer, or of public service; and perhaps always privately in an upper room in it, where they, with others, met frequently, and continued, with one accord, in prayer and supplication; Acts 1:14, a practice worthy of imit... [ Continue Reading ]