and that, after His resurrection, He said to Mary Magdalene, "Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God" (John xx. 17). Nor are the other sacred writers entirely silent about the ascension. St. Paul expressly says that Christ "was received up into glory" (1 Tim. iii. 16); and St. Peter declares that Christ "is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God" (1 Pet. iii. 22); and yet even more distinctly, in his first address to the Jews, when contrasting David with Christ, he says, "For David is not ascended into the heavens" (Acts ii. 34),-thus treating the ascension as a known fact (see also Acts i. 22). And the book of Revelation is full of proofs that Christ in His glorified humanity has entered into heaven. But besides

these direct proofs, as Olshausen has well remarked, the ascension is necessarily presupposed in the idea of the resurrection. Jesus having risen from the dead, no other mode of departure from this world is conceivable than an ascension into heaven. We cannot possibly imagine that He would die again; for if so, instead of overcoming death, He would in the end be overcome by it. Even although Luke had given us no account of the visible ascension of Christ in the presence of His apostles, yet His last interview with them, and His disappearance from them, must have been regarded by us as a removal to heaven.

Still, however, although not as an argument against the ascension, the fact remains, that this great event is less frequently alluded to by the sacred writers than we might have expected. Can we assign a reason for this? We think, with Lange and Olshausen, that it is to be found in this, that the ascension was not regarded by the sacred writers as a distinct and separate event, but as part of the resurrection and glory of the Redeemer. The resurrection was the essential point the triumph of the Redeemer over death, the completion of salvation, the public manifestation of His divine Sonship, the commencement of His heavenly life. The ascension was a part of that glory which followed; so much so, indeed, that all those passages which refer to Christ's

exaltation, virtually include His ascension. For this reason both the sacred writers and the early Church gave far greater prominence to the resurrection than to the ascension. "Everything of importance," observes Olshausen, "in a doctrinal point of view was concentrated in the resurrection: with it closed the earthly being of Christ. The ascension, and also the outpouring of the Spirit, which was connected with the ascension, and dependent upon it, are only the results of the resurrection, viewed as the glorification of the body, and the consequences of the victory over death."1

Ver. 10. Whilst the apostles stood gazing up to heaven, and fixed in mute astonishment, their attention was drawn by the sudden appearance of two men in white garments. These were doubtless angels in the form of men; the white garments being the emblem of heavenly purity. As angels proclaimed His birth to the shepherds of Bethlehem, and announced His resurrection to the women at the sepulchre ; so they now appear to the apostles at His ascension, and predict His second advent.

Ver. 11. O kai einav-Who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up to heaven? The apostles are here gently reprimanded for spending their time in idle contemplation; whilst their mission was actively to be engaged as witnesses for Christ, and patiently to await His second coming.

Οὗτος ὁ Ἰησοῦς—οὐρανόν. Whilst the angels reprove the apostles for their inactive contemplation, they also comfort them with the prospect of Christ's second coming. He will come again as He went to heaven, with similar glory, and in similar circumstances. As He ascended in a visible manner, so, when He appears the second time, every eye shall see Him. As a cloud received Him out of the sight of His apostles, so shall He come again in the clouds of heaven. And as angels accompanied Him on His ascension to heaven, so shall they attend Him at His second coming.

Ver. 12. ̓Απὸ ὄρους τοῦ καλουμένου Ἐλαιῶνος-from the

1 See Olshausen on the Gospels and Acts, vol. iv. pp. 234–238; also Lange's Life of Christ, vol. v. pp. 134-140.

mount called Olivet. This mount was so called from the number of olive trees which grew upon it. Its highest point, the so-called "Mount of the Ascension," is about 2700 feet above the level of the sea, being, however, only 200 feet above Mount Zion, and 300 feet above the temple. It lies to the east of Jerusalem, being between it and the Dead Sea. At its foot, on the western side, is situated the garden of Gethsemane; and Bethany lies on the other side, being two miles distant from Jerusalem. The highest point is in the centre, and is, according to tradition, the spot where Christ ascended. It was here that the Empress Helena erected her church as a memorial of that event.

The tradition which fixes upon "the Mount of the Ascension" as the true spot is probably erroneous. In the Acts we are indeed informed that the apostles returned from the mount called Olivet; but St. Luke in his Gospel tells us that "Jesus led them out as far as Bethany" (Luke xxiv. 50). Nor is there any discrepancy in these accounts, as Bethany lay near the foot of the Mount of Olives, on its eastern slope, away from Jerusalem. This being the case, it would follow that the ascension did not take place from the summit of Mount Olivet, the so-called "Mount of the Ascension," but at least a mile distant from it, in the neighbourhood of Bethany.1 Still it was on the same mount where He endured His great agony. "The same place, therefore," as Olshausen remarks, "where the deepest humiliation of our Lord occurred, viz. in the conflict of Gethsemane, witnessed also His sublimest elevation."

Zaßßárov ódóv-a Sabbath-day's journey. This, according to the traditions of the Jews, was two thousand cubits, or about three-quarters of a mile. It was the supposed distance between the camp and the tabernacle in the wilderness (Josh. iii. 4). The law of Moses gave no directions about this matter; but the regulation was not considered the less binding, nor was the violation of it the less punishable, on that account. This is one of those examples in which the 1 Others suppose that by Bethany is meant not the village, but the district of Bethany. See Wordsworth's Commentary.

traditions of the elders were as carefully observed as the commands of the law. Hence our Saviour, in His prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem, tells His disciples to pray that their flight might not be on the Sabbath-day (Matt. xxiv. 20), when probably they would.have been prevented. But what distance is here mentioned? Bethany, the place to which our Lord led His disciples, is, we are informed in St. John's Gospel, fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem (John xi. 18). The Mount of Olives, on the other hand, is said by Josephus in one place to be five furlongs distant (Ant. xx. 8. 6), and in another place to be six furlongs (Bell. Jud. v. 2, 3). From this, then, it would seem that not the distance of the precise spot where the ascension took place, but of the Mount of Olives, on which it happened, is intended by the sacred historian.1

1 See Hackett on the Acts, p. 41; Smith's Dictionary-Mount of Olives; Meyer's Apostelgeschichte, p. 32.

SECTION II.

THE ELECTION OF MATTHIAS-ACTS I. 13-26.

13 And when they came in, they went up into the upper room, where abode both Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James of Alphæus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas of James. 14 These all continued with one accord in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren. 15 And in those days, Peter, rising up in the midst of the brethren, said (the number of the names together was about an hundred and twenty), 16 Men and brethren, it was necessary that this scripture should be fulfilled which the Holy Ghost foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us, and received the office of this ministry. 18 Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it was known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so that that field was called in their own dialect, Akeldama, that is, The field of blood. 20 For it is written in the book of Psalms, "Let his habitation be desolate, and let there be no dweller therein;" and, "His office let another take." 21 Therefore it is necessary that, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 Beginning from the baptism of John, unto the day when He was taken up from us, one should become a witness with us of His resurrection. 23 And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 24 And having prayed, they said, Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all, show whom of these two Thou hast chosen, 25 To take the place of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas turned aside, that he might go to his own place. 26 And they cast lots for them; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

CRITICAL NOTES.

Ver. 14. Καὶ τῇ δεήσει is wanting in all the uncial MSS., and is rejected by Griesbach, Tischendorf, Lachmann,