THE BEGINNING OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
=1. Immediately after the departure= of our Saviour the disciples
recovered all their faith and courage and returned to Jerusalem from
Bethany.
The first act of the apostles was to restore their number to twelve,
made eleven by the apostasy of Judas. Two nominations were made of
men who, like themselves, had been companions of the Saviour from the
baptism of John to the ascension (Acts 1:21). The men nominated were
Joseph, called Barsabas, and Matthias; the latter was chosen by lot.
=2. The appointment=, or selection, =by lot= was considered sacred
among the ancients; and was performed, as to the mode of the lot, by
casting into some vessel a number of little tablets, pebbles, or strips
of leather or papyrus, upon which were inscribed the names or some
distinguishing marks. The vessel was then shaken, and that name, or its
representative, which first fell upon the floor determined the choice.
In the time of Homer the lot was cast into a helmet and shaken.[179] In
Prov. 16:33 the same idea of casting the lot into a vessel is intended,
with the addition that the result is guided by the Lord, for the
English word “lap” in the passage just quoted in the Hebrew signifies
“the opening,” i. e., of the urn or vessel into which the lot was cast.
The use of lots is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament; at first
over the scapegoat, as described in Lev. 16:8; then in the division
of the holy land, Num. 34:13, and, with supernatural results, at the
detection of Achan, Josh. 7:14, 18, and Jonah 1:7; also in the division
of the priests into their orders, 1 Chron. 24:1‒5.
The term for “lot” in the Latin is _clerus_, and the persons chosen
to any priestly office, or set apart by due ordination to the service
of God, in the Christian church as a body, are called the “clergy,”
declarative of the fact that their possession of or appointment to the
sacred office is by divine decision, as was always supposed to be the
case in the ancient priestly appointment by lots.
PENTECOST.
=3. The next annual feast= took place on the fiftieth day after the
Passover and was called Pentecost, the Greek word for the fiftieth. It
was called the Feast of Weeks, Deut. 16:10, also the Feast of Harvest,
Exod. 23:16, or of the Firstfruits, Num. 28:26. It lasted but one
day, and upon that day two loaves of the first wheat were offered at
the Temple. The festival now called Whitsunday was suggested by this
festival.
When the time for this feast arrived there was at Jerusalem a
remarkable gathering which shows to what extent the Jewish nation had
already been scattered over the world. There were visitors from Parthia,
Media, and Elam, from 600 to 700 miles on the east; from Mesopotamia,
about 400 miles on the northeast; from Cappadocia, 500 miles on the
north and midway between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea; from
Pontus lying on the Black Sea; and from that part of Asia Minor then
called “Asia.”
This last mentioned district, although it afterward gave its name
to the whole vast continent, at this time comprised only the extreme
southwestern parts of the peninsula, such as Caria and Lydia and a part
of Mysia, its chief city being Ephesus. This was in after times the
region of the “seven churches” of Revelation.[180] There were gathered
Jews from Phrygia and Pamphylia, 500 to 600 miles off towards the
northwest, the former on the high tableland and the latter on the
low seacoast southeast. They were there from Egypt on the southwest,
and from Libya and Cyrene, 400 miles west of the Nile, on the African
coast, and from Rome, nearly 1,500 miles to the northwest; also from
the island of Crete, 600 miles west by north, and from Arabia on the
southeast.
=4. It was upon the occasion= of this great gathering to Jerusalem
on the day of Pentecost that Peter exhibited the beginning of
that remarkable Christian courage, knowledge, and endurance which
characterized him ever after. He was now not only the orator, but the
able Christian expositor of the prophets and of the Psalms. The general
outline of his address at this time is given us in Acts 2:14‒40, but
the effect was so great that 3,000 came out publicly and were baptized
on that one day.
=5. The extreme poverty= of the little band of apostles, as a whole,
is evident;[181] but after the Pentecost some of those who were added
contributed to the general fund, and there was no suffering after the
organization was complete, Acts 4:34. Even those who immediately after
the crucifixion returned to their trades were enabled to devote their
whole time to mission work, so far as we have any records of them,
Acts 6:4.
THE IMMEDIATE SUCCESS.
=6. From the various notices= of additions to their number and from
the official appointment of seven men of ability to disburse the funds
and attend to the needy, Acts 6:3, it is evident that the numbers of
the early church before the first great persecution began must have
amounted to many thousands, Acts 2:42, 47; 5:14; 6:1, 7.
THE FIRST PERSECUTION.
=7. Of the seven men= appointed to attend to the management of the
general treasury and to the claims of the poor, the chief was Stephen.
His exceeding prominence in public work, his very extensive knowledge
of the Law, and his aggressive ability in defending the gospel gave
great offence to some of the Jews. The result was his arraignment
before the Sanhedrin and examination upon the two points which to the
Jews were the dearest of all, namely, the sanctity of the Temple and
the supremacy of the Law.
Stephen answered the inquiry of the high-priest, Acts 7:1, by a
history accompanied by unmistakable Scripture proof that although
Solomon himself was the builder, the Temple was no better than the
worshippers, and he quoted the prophecy of Isaiah, 66:1, 2, to show
that the temple which the Lord honored was the poor and contrite spirit.
He then immediately charged the Sanhedrin as being unworthy of the
Temple themselves and in heart violaters of the Law in that they had
both betrayed and murdered the one of whom the Law spoke, thus ending
the address with the most terrific charges of infidelity both to the
Temple and to the Law. No such words had ever been uttered before the
Sanhedrin since it had existed.
He was immediately dragged out of the city and stoned to death. Stephen
was the =first Christian martyr=.
=8. This death was the signal= for the first persecution. The immediate
effect of this persecution was to scatter the members of the Christian
community of Jerusalem not only throughout Samaria and Galilee, but
even to Phœnicia, Antioch, and Cyprus, and they went preaching the same
doctrines which had been taught in Jerusalem, Acts 11:19.
The city of Samaria was at this time one of the most beautiful in
Palestine. It was presented to Herod the Great by Augustus, and in
honor of the emperor Herod named it Sebaste.[182]
=9. One of “the seven,”=[183] of whom we have spoken was Philip, who
went to this city and preached the new doctrine with great success.
One of the visitors from distant lands was an officer of Candace,
queen of the Ethiopians. He had come from that country to attend the
celebration at Jerusalem and was returning, when by divine direction
Philip left Samaria to join him on the homeward road. This officer
accepted the company of Philip on the way, and the latter presented
the new doctrine with such ability that the Ethiopian officer, who
was well acquainted with the Scriptures through the Greek translation
(the Septuagint), became the first recorded convert from that distant
country of Ethiopia.
CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL.
=10. At the stoning= of Stephen there was a young man present who
made himself conspicuous by keeping the outer garments of those who
engaged in the act of stoning the martyr. This man was Saul, a Hebrew
name, afterward changed into the Roman form of Paul. He was a native
of Tarsus, a large and celebrated city of Cilicia, a district on the
northern coast of the Mediterranean, but the most eastern on that coast.
Tarsus was a city of learned institutions and learned men. The tutors
of two emperors of Rome dwelt there, and it was a favored city in
many respects, being a place of large commerce. Young Saul was sent
to Jerusalem at an early age and became a pupil of Gamaliel.
This Gamaliel was considered not only one of the most learned in the
Hebrew literature but also in the Greek, and he was president of the
Sanhedrin. He afterward transferred the locality of the Sanhedral
schools from Jerusalem to Jamnia, the Jabneel of Josh. 15:11.
=11. Jabneel=, or =Jabneh=, now called Yebneh, is thirteen miles due
south of Jaffa, the ancient Joppa, and must be distinguished from the
Jamnia seaport four and a half miles northwest, which is sometimes
referred to by the same name, but not so in Scripture. In the time of
the Maccabees the coast town was a more important seaport than Joppa.
During the crusades Jabneh was called Ibelin.[184] It is built on a
hill and is four miles from the sea.
=12. In carrying out his enmity= against the Christians Saul determined
to visit Damascus, where several synagogues existed.
Damascus was about 150 miles by road northeast from Jerusalem.
Obtaining letters of introduction from the high-priest, he set out to
accomplish his purpose. On the way, before entering Damascus, he was
arrested by a supernatural vision and was changed from the condition of
a bitter and determined enemy to that of an equally determined advocate
of the Christian faith, and, after a season of apparent preparation, he
returned to Jerusalem.
But this addition to the Christian community was attended with such
vexation and such disappointment to the Jews that “they went about to
slay him,” and it was thought best by his brethren that Saul should
depart for Tarsus. At his departure the persecution ceased.
AZOTUS, CÆSAREA, LYDDA, JOPPA.
=13. These places= now come into notice in connection with the
missionary tours of Philip, the departure of Saul to Tarsus, and the
visit of Peter to those who had lately joined the new fellowship.
Philip, after leaving the Ethiopian officer of Queen Candace, travelled
northward on the coast of the Mediterranean till he reached Azotus.
This was the most important city of the Philistines in the time of
David, and was known as Ashdod, but by the Greeks called Azotus. It is
three miles inland from the coast, and situated on the slope of a large
hill 140 feet above the sea level. It is twenty-one miles north from
Azotus to Joppa, and thirty-two from Joppa to Cæsarea, and along this
way on foot Philip travelled, preaching as he went.
Cæsarea was built by Herod the Great upon the former site of a little
village called Strato’s Tower, and named after Cæsar Augustus. It was
magnificently constructed as a city and as a harbor, and vessels sailed
between it and many distant parts of the Mediterranean: hence it was
at this time and long afterward the great shipping port of Palestine.
Josephus gives us a full description of the city, and states that its
completion was celebrated, B. C. 13, by splendid games. It was the
chief residence of the Roman officers and governors of Judæa.
=14. We have evidences= that a Christian church had been planted here
at a very early period, and in A. D. 200 it became the residence of
a bishop who was primate of all the bishops in Palestine, Jerusalem
included. Origen taught here in the third century, and here Eusebius
was educated and afterward became its bishop; he died A. D. 340. In
A. D. 1101 Cæsarea was captured from the Moslems by Baldwin I., and
among the rich booty was found a hexagonal vase of green crystal
supposed to have been a sacramental cup, and this plays an important
part in mediæval poetry as the “holy grail.”
=15. It was to this port= that Saul was taken to find a passage direct
for Tarsus, which was about 300 miles north. Tarsus is ten miles off
the coast and twelve or fifteen miles from the present Mersina, or
ancient Soli, which was its port.
=16. Philip went to Cæsarea= from Azotus, preaching in all the cities,
and here he seems to have finally settled, as years after, when Paul
returned from his last missionary tour, he stopped at his house and
stayed with Philip before going up to Jerusalem. At that time Philip
had four daughters who were gifted with the spirit of prophecy, Acts
21:9. It is probable, therefore, that the extensive Christian influence
which pervaded Cæsarea for so many centuries afterward was greatly
due to the early work and presence of Philip. We should not confound
the two Philips: (1) Philip the apostle, and (2) this Philip, who is
sometimes called Philip the evangelist. The latter probably died in
Cæsarea, but the apostle in Asia Minor.
=17. Lydda and Joppa.= Joppa is upon the sea-coast thirty-five miles
northwest from Jerusalem, measured on a straight line, and Lydda is
twelve miles southeast of Joppa. Joppa is mentioned in the inscriptions
of Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, who reigned B. C. 705‒681, as
Jo-ap-pa, so that the name Joppa is ancient, and the place was the
seaport of Jerusalem in the time of Solomon, B. C. 1015, at which he
received wood “out of Lebanon,” 2 Chron. 2:16. This is the first
mention in Scripture.
It is now called Yafa, and its population is much greater than that
which generally appears in the guide-books, being about 18,000, as
the author has been informed by a long resident physician. Both of
these places are on the great coast-plain known as the plain of Sharon,
or Saron, which was, in the time of Solomon, a great pasture-land,
1 Chron. 27:29.
It is probable that at this time greater opportunity was allowed the
Christians to work on in peace, not only because of the conversion of
Saul, but because at the death of Tiberius, March, A. D. 37, Caligula
became emperor, and the attention of the Jews was violently drawn to
care for themselves.
On his accession to power Caligula ordered that divine honors should
be paid to him throughout the empire. In furtherance of this order
he directed that an image of himself should be placed in the Holy
of holies, the most sacred place in the Temple at Jerusalem. Such a
profanation of the Temple was so abhorrent to the Jews that it seemed
at one time to the prefect of Syria, Pétronius, that the Jews must be
exterminated if the order was carried out, and he wrote to Caligula in
accordance with his impression. But the emperor was inexorable, and it
is impossible to say what would have been the result had not Caligula
been assassinated, on the 24th of January, A. D. 41.[185]
=18.= A. D. 38. =It was during these troublous= times in the Jewish
community that the apostle Peter went to Lydda in the course of his
visits to the Christian churches. There he raised Æneas from a sick-bed,
Acts 9:33, and going from Lydda to Joppa he raised Dorcas to life,
Acts 9:40.
A. D. 41. Peter now visited Cæsarea by the invitation of Cornelius,
the centurion, or captain of a band called the Italian band, or cohort,
probably because it was a company of soldiers who were all from Italy,
enlisted under Roman orders.
The soldiers usually employed were provincial, that is, belonging
to the country where they were stationed; but in this case they were
sent here from Italy and were generally composed of both infantry and
cavalry, serving as a body-guard for the governor, and were probably at
this time garrisoning Cæsarea.[186]