PROOFS OF INSPIRATION; THE FORTY DAYS AFTER THE RESURRECTION.
T. G., Florence. In your letter you say: “In Matt. 28 and Mark 16:77But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. (Mark 16:7), the angel says, ‘He goeth before you into Galilee, there shall ye see him.’ In Matt. 28:1010Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me. (Matthew 28:10) the Lord says, ‘They go into Galilee, and there they shall see me.’ But in Luke 24:4949And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. (Luke 24:49) the Lord says, ‘But tarry ye in Jerusalem until ye be endued.’ &c. Also in Matt. 28:99And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. (Matthew 28:9) we read ‘and held him by the feet;’ but in John 20:1717Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17) the Lord says, ‘Touch me not.’ And apparently these two are the same occasion.”
That which at first sight may appear a contradiction, contains the clearest proof of divine inspiration. You will find each of the writers gives the history of the events after the resurrection, not according to memory, but in keeping with the aspect of our Lord’s history on this earth which each gives. Let us notice them. Matthew keeps to that which concerns Christ’s Messiah ship—the rejected king of Israel, owned only by the remnant. Consequently he omits here every word that refers to the church. The order is therefore: verse 1, the end of the Sabbath, our Saturday night. Verses 2-10, what took place in the morning of the Lord’s day. The company of women receive the message of the angel; but not a word about the Holy Ghost, and the intended work at Jerusalem. He is rejected of the Jews, and will meet the remnant in Galilee. They are to announce His resurrection. Jesus meets them, and as their message is concerning Galilee, there is not that haste, but they may hold Him by the feet and worship Him. In “touch me not” we shall find it altogether different.
Then verses 11-15 relate to the Jews, and are entirely omitted by the other Gospels. Then verses 16 to end, the remnant meet Him in the former scenes of His labors with them. And these verses throw great light on the millennial kingdom, and the gospel which will then be preached to all nations. As to the church, or special character of the present grace of God, the ascension of Christ, or the work at Jerusalem, or the return of Jesus, not a word. How much Matthew must have remembered. But we are deeply convinced he only wrote the words the Holy Ghost gave him to write.
Mark also says very little. Verse 1 is also separated from verse 2. Verses 2-8 describe what took place early in the morning of the first day of the week. But such tenderness, in keeping with His servant character: “the stone was rolled away;” and “tell his disciples and Peter.” In verse 9 to end, new facts are recorded; but up to that verse it is Galilee that is named, as in Matthew. The fact is just mentioned that He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, then to two, then to the eleven; their unbelief; and the commission to preach the good tidings of His resurrection; and His ascension also is named. Just a short outline; but no contradiction to Matthew.
In Luke we seldom get the historic order of events, but their moral order or connection. Jesus is here the Son of man, as in Matthew He is the righteous Jew, or Messiah. Perhaps we might say Matthew is the Jewish Gospel, and Luke the Gentile, or to man. Verse 1 begins with the events of the early morn. There are again fresh interesting particulars which you may trace out, and enjoy, as verses 6 and 7. Also we are told who these women were. (Ver. 10.) One verse only as to the two disciples who ran to the sepulcher. (Ver. 12.) The wonderful interview with Mary is entirely omitted. Verses 13-36, the most instructive narrative of the two disciples at Emmaus. It is the fullest account of any event, describing as it does the three states of soul during this dispensation: the sad hearts, the burning hearts, and hearts in communion—marvelous church lessons. Then verses 36-43, the pattern of the assembly—Jesus in the midst. Oh hear Him! All this has to do with the setting up of the church, first at Jerusalem. To that place they returned from Emmaus. Then verses 44-48, the great present commission, totally distinct from the remnant commission in Matthew. Here the Holy Ghost is wholly occupied with the setting up of the church at Jerusalem. Not a word about Galilee. And as the Holy Ghost would set it up at Jerusalem, they must wait in the city of Jerusalem until they “be endued with power from on high.” All this in strict keeping with the fact, that Luke was the vessel the Spirit had chosen to go on and describe the formation and early history of the church, as formed by the Holy Ghost. Thus, instead of going to Galilee, Luke closes here with Jesus being parted from them and carried up into heaven.
In Acts 1 he takes up the history as given to him to narrate. In verse 3 we learn that Jesus was seen forty days, but, as usual, he does not give the order, he does not say when in Jerusalem and when in Galilee. The Holy Ghost does not give him a word to say about Galilee, though he must well have remembered the events of Galilee. Verse 4, he does not say whether this was after they had seen Him in Galilee; but verse 6 may describe the coming together from Galilee, and what took place from that moment until He was taken up. They must have returned to Jerusalem. Indeed, in speaking to them He plainly impresses them with the fact, that grace must begin and triumph in the city of His murderers. Only bear in mind that the Holy Ghost uses Luke to bring the great moral facts before us. He then goes on to describe the formation of the assembly of God on the day of Pentecost, in Jerusalem, and subsequently from the Gentiles at Antioch.
Hitherto we have certainly no contradiction, but each writer states only that which he is inspired to write, and certainly not all which he could remember.
In 1 Cor. 15 we learn He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve, then of about five hundred brethren at once, and lastly of Paul.
We now turn to the Gospel of John. The inspired account of John demands our utmost attention. Given by the Holy Ghost so many years after the rest, and when the Jews had utterly rejected Christ, and also after the church had so signally failed, bow much that is new, both at the supper and after the resurrection! In John, Mary Magdalene has a very special place. She is singled out in verse 1, and in verse 2 “she runneth.” Afterward she remained at the sepulcher when the two disciples went home. In verse 16 Jesus speaks to her: “Mary.” He appeared first to her. (Mark 16:99Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. (Mark 16:9).) When He met the women (Matt. 28:99And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. (Matthew 28:9)), when they held Him by the feet and worshipped Him, it was then only a question of going to tell His brethren that He was risen and would meet them in Galilee, but there need be no haste as to that.
But it was altogether (here in John) another matter. It was not through His mother He chose to announce the wondrous news, but by Mary Magdalene. “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father; BUT GO to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” This was not, I go to Galilee, but a present fact, the result of His death and resurrection. It was the new creation, new relationship. He was the first-born from the dead. They were one now forever with Himself. How His heart longed for them to know it. Touch me not; go and tell them they stand in the same relationship to my Father and God as I stand in to Him. Haste to tell them—there was no need for the women with the other message to haste, they might for the moment take Him by the feet and worship Him.
And think of His joy that evening when He appeared in their midst, and said, Peace be unto you. This was not Galilee, but peace made by the death of the cross—present and eternal. For proof, He showed them His hands and His side. And in still further contrast to Galilee, He said, “Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you;” and He breathes on them the Holy Ghost, that they might make known the peace and forgiveness of sins to others that He had made known unto them. All this is beyond what we get in Matthew, and unspeakably precious. The end of chapter 20 closes the Gospel of John. Then follows a supplementary chapter after these things—and here the scene is Galilee! It is a figure of the millennial morn, quite in keeping with all we have had in Matthew and Mark, and is Jewish: Peter, the apostle of the circumcision, is the chief person. He it was that fed the sheep and lambs of the Jewish fold. This is added, as the ministry of John has its place when Peter’s had ceased to the Jews. Thus all is in inspired harmony. To our God be all praise.
C S.
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