Matthew Henry's Commentary on the
Lesson
(Acts 1:10-14)
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he
went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also
said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same
Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner
as ye have seen him go into heaven.
V. The disciples, when he had gone out of their sight, yet still
continued looking up stedfastly to heaven (v.
10), and this longer than it was fit they should; and why so? 1. Perhaps
they hoped that Christ would presently come back to them again, to restore
the kingdom to Israel, and were loth to believe they should now part with
him for good and all; so much did they still dote upon his bodily presence,
though he had told them that it was expedient for them that he should go
away. or, they looked after him, as doubting whether he might not be
dropped, as the sons of the prophets thought concerning Elijah (2
Kings ii. 16), and so they might have him again. 2. Perhaps they
expected to see some change in the visible heavens now upon Christ's
ascension, that either the sun should be ashamed or the moon confounded
(Isa.
xxiv. 23), as being out-shone by his lustre; or, rather, that they
should show some sign of joy and triumph; or perhaps they promised
themselves a sight of the glory of the invisible heavens, upon their opening
to receive him. Christ had told them that hereafter they should see
heaven opened (John
i. 51), and why should not they expect it now?
VI. Two angels appeared to them, and delivered them a seasonable
message from God. There was a world of angels ready to receive our Redeemer,
now that he made his public entry into the Jerusalem above: we may
suppose these two loth to be absent then; yet, to show how much Christ had
at heart the concerns of his church on earth, he sent back to his disciples
two of those that came to meet him, who appear as two men in white
apparel, bright and glittering; for they know, according to the duty of
their place, that they are really serving Christ when they are ministering
to his servants on earth. Now we are told what the angels said to them, 1.
To check their curiosity: You men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up
into heaven? He calls them men of Galilee, to put them in mind of
the rock out of which they were hewn. Christ had put a great honour
upon them, in making them his ambassadors; but they must remember that they
are men, earthen vessels, and men of Galilee, illiterate men, looked upon
with disdain. Now, say they, "Why stand you here, like Galileans,
rude and unpolished men, gazing up into heaven? What would you see?
You have seen all that you were called together to see, and why do you look
any further? Why stand you gazing, as men frightened and perplexed,
as men astonished and at their wits' end?" Christ's disciples should never
stand at a gaze, because they have a sure rule to go by, and a sure
foundation to build upon. 2. To confirm their faith concerning Christ's
second coming. Their Master had often told them of this, and the angels are
sent at this time seasonably to put them in mind of it: "This same Jesus,
who is taken up from you into heaven, and whom you are looking thus long
after, wishing you had him with you again, is not gone for ever; for there
is a day appointed in which he will come in like manner thence, as you
have seen him go thither, and you must not expect him back till that
appointed day." (1.) "This same Jesus shall come again in his own
person, clothed with a glorious body; this same Jesus, who came once
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, will appear a second time
without sin (Heb.
ix. 26, 28), who came once in disgrace to be judged, will come again in
glory to judge. The same Jesus who has given you your charge will
come again to call you to an account how you have performed your trust;
he, and not another,"
Job
xix. 27. (2.) "He shall come in like manner. He is gone away in a
cloud, and attended with angels; and, behold, he comes in
the clouds, and with him an innumerable company of angels! He is gone
up with a shout and with the sound of a trumpet (Ps.
xlvii. 5), and he will descend from heaven with a shout and with the
trump of God,
1
Thess. iv. 16. You have now lost the sight of him in the clouds and in
the air; and whither he is gone you cannot follow him now, but shall
then, when you shall be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the
air." When we stand gazing and trifling, the consideration of our
Master's second coming should quicken and awaken us; and, when we stand
gazing and trembling, the consideration of it should comfort and encourage
us.
The Apostles in Jerusalem.
12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet,
which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey. 13 And when they were
come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James,
and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James
the son of Alphæus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. 14
These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the
women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
We are here told, I. Whence Christ ascended--from the mount of
Olives (v.
12), from that part of it where the town of Bethany stood,
Luke
xxiv. 50. There he began his sufferings (Luke
xxii. 39), and therefore there he rolled away the reproach of them by
his glorious ascension, and thus showed that his passion and his ascension
had the same reference and tendency. Thus would he enter upon his kingdom in
the sight of Jerusalem, and of those undutiful ungrateful citizens of his
that would not have him to reign over them. It was prophesied of him (Zech.
xiv. 4), That his feet should stand upon the mount of Olives, which
is before Jerusalem, should stand last there; and presently it follows,
The mount of Olives shall cleave in two. From the mount of Olives he
ascended who is the good olive-tree, whence we receive the
unction,
Zech. iv. 12; Rom. xi. 24. This mount is here said to be near Jerusalem,
a sabbath day's journey from it, that is, a little way; no further
than devout people used to walk out on a sabbath evening, after the public
worship was over, for meditation. Some reckon it a thousand paces, others
two thousand cubits; some seven furlongs, others eight. Bethany indeed was
fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem (John
xi. 18), but that part of the mount of Olives which was next to
Jerusalem, whence Christ began to ride in triumph, was but seven or eight
furlongs off. The Chaldee paraphrast on Ruth 1 says, We are commanded to
keep the sabbaths and the holy days, so as not to go above two thousand
cubits, which they build upon
Josh.
iii. 4, where, in their march through Jordan, the space between them and
the ark was to be two thousand cubits. God had not then thus limited
them, but they limited themselves; and thus far it is a rule to us, not to
journey on the sabbath any more than in order to the sabbath work; and as
far as is necessary to this we are not only allowed, but enjoined,
2
Kings iv. 23.
II. Whither the disciples returned: They came to Jerusalem,
according to their Master's appointment, though there they were in the midst
of enemies; but it should seem that though immediately after Christ's
resurrection they were watched, and were in fear of the Jews, yet
after it was known that they were gone into Galilee no notice was taken of
their return to Jerusalem, nor any further search made for them. God can
find out hiding-places for his people in the midst of their enemies, and so
influence Saul that he shall not seek for David any more. At Jerusalem they
went up into an upper room, and there abode; not that they all lodged
and dieted together in one room, but there they assembled every day, and
spent time together in religious exercises, in expectation of the descent of
the Spirit. Divers conjectures the learned have about this upper room. Some
think it was one of the upper rooms in the temple; but it cannot be thought
that the chief priests, who had the letting of these rooms, would suffer
Christ's disciples constantly to reside in any of them. It was said indeed,
by the same historian, that they were continually in the temple (Luke
xxiv. 53), but that was in the courts of the temple, at the hours of
prayer, where they could not be hindered from attending; but, it should
seem, this upper room was in a private house. Mr. Gregory, of Oxford, is of
this opinion, and quotes a Syriac scholiast upon this place, who says that
it was the same upper room in which they had eaten the passover; and
though that was called anogeon, this hyperoon,
both may signify the same. "Whether," says he, "it was in the house of St.
John the evangelist, as Euodius delivered, or that of Mary the mother of
John Mark, as others have collected, cannot be certain." Notes,
ch. xiii.
III. Who the disciples were, that kept together. The eleven
apostles are here named (v.
13), so is Mary the mother of our Lord (v.
14), and it is the last time that ever any mention is made of her in the
scriptures. There were others that are here said to be the brethren of our
Lord, his kinsmen according to the flesh; and, to make up the
hundred and twenty spoken of (v.
15), we may suppose that all or most of the seventy disciples
were with them, that were associates with the apostles, and were employed as
evangelists.
IV. How they spent their time: They all continued with one
accord in prayer and supplication. Observe, 1. They prayed, and made
supplication. All God's people are praying people, and give
themselves to prayer. It was now a time of trouble and danger with the
disciples of Christ; they were as sheep in the midst of wolves; and, Is
any afflicted? Let him pray; this will silence cares and fears. They had
new work before them, great work, and, before they entered upon it, they
were instant in prayer to God for his presence with them in it. Before
they were first sent forth Christ spent time in prayer for them, and now
they spent time in prayer for themselves. They were waiting for the descent
of the Spirit upon them, and therefore abounded thus in prayer. The Spirit
descended upon our Saviour when he was praying,
Luke
iii. 21. Those are in the best frame to receive spiritual blessings that
are in a praying frame. Christ had promised now shortly to send the Holy
Ghost; now this promise was not to supersede prayer, but to quicken and
encourage it. God will be enquired of for promised mercies, and the nearer
the performance seems to be the more earnest we should be in prayer for it.
2. They continued in prayer, spent much time in it, more than
ordinary, prayed frequently, and were long in prayer. They never missed an
hour of prayer; they resolved to persevere herein till the Holy Ghost came,
according to the promise, to pray, and not to faint. It is said (Luke
xxiv. 53), They were praising and blessing God; here, They
continued in prayer and supplication; for as praise for the promise is a
decent way of begging for the performance, and praise for former mercy of
begging further mercy, so, in seeking to God, we give him the glory of the
mercy and grace which we have found in him. 3. They did this with one
accord. This intimates that they were together in holy love, and that
there was no quarrel nor discord among them; and those who so keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace are best prepared to receive
the comforts of the Holy Ghost. It also intimates their worthy
concurrence in the supplications that were made; though but one spoke, they
all prayed, and if, when two agree to ask, it shall be done for them,
much more when many agree in the same petition. See
Matt. xviii. 19.
