II. Conceptions of the Twelve and their asso- ciates in the Acts. — Our discus.sion has brought us to thb early jireaching of the Twelve. Let us see more particularly the way they had come. Their approach was the opposite of St. Paul's. They began with the Man Jesus of Nazareth, and ad- vanced" slowly to the higher thought of Him ; he, as a believer, began with the Divine Lord, and swiftly adjusted all else to that. They marched from earth to heaven ; he came down from heaven to earth. The two forms of expression — 'Jesus Christ' and 'Christ Jesus' — may represent the two lines of experience as well as the two regular standpoints of thought to which Lightfoot has called attention.
1. Statements by Peter, Stephen and Philip, and James. — St. Peter may be considered as repre- senting the Twelve, including St. John, and his teaching may be summed up thus: Jesus of Nazareth is Lord and Messiah, exalted at God's right hand (036 io3«) . into His name, i.e. into allegiance to Him, believers are baptized (2^" 10''^, cf. 1 Co 1'^) ; He is the Holy and Righteous One, the Suffering Servant of God, the only Saviour for men anj'- where under heaven, and so Prince (apxny^'s — Author as well as Ruler) of Life (3"'- '^''■^ 4i-) ; the
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Corner-stone (4") ; tlie last and greatest of the prophets, who becomes the touchstone of desti. y (3--'-); the Judge of living and dead (lO''-). In St. Stephen's address several of these notes recur. Jesus is Lord (T®**'-) ; the Righteous One of whom the prophets spoke (7^-) ; the Son of Man who in Divine glory stands at the right hand of Go4 (7'*''), the designation being especially aj^propriate as indicating that He did not lay aside His humanity when He ascended (cf. Fh 2'" the name Jesus); while the whole trend of the argument is that as Joseph and Moses were God-appointed deliverers, so Jesus is the Supreme Deliverer and Saviour (vv.9-'^----35-37). St. Philip preaches Him as the Messiah and as tlie Sutl'ering Servant of Is 53, which carries with it the ideas of Saviourship and Supremacy (S^- ^-- ^--^s). Of the passages quoted, three (2'*'' 4'^ 10^") indicate the universality of Christ's pre-eminence, at least so far as men are concerned. This involved His being Saviour and Lord to Gentiles as well as Jews. That great fact of Christ's personal relationship to all men St. Peter seems to have seen clearly ; what it involved for Judaism he had not yet apprehended, — an illustra- tion of the fact that a great central truth may be grasped long before it is fully understood in its implications.
Whether St. Peter's conception of Christ's pre-erninence went beyond the world of men to that of higher intelHgences, and the universe generally, is not so clear. And yet is it not implied in the frequent phrase ' at the right hand of God ' ? And might it not be understood from the prefatory words to the great Com- mission (Mt 2S1'*), which would be still ringing in his ears? Further, does noc the language employed compel us to see in his thought of Christ more than mere manhood V Is this not suggested by the use of the word Ki/pios in the Pentecost dis- course? (See, C.J/., VV.-5-S-1. 36. :(yj where it is certainlj' applied both to Jehovah and to Jesus). It is a phenomenon that persists in the NT. We have noticed it already in connexion with St. Paul's experience. Another phenomenon equally persistent is found in vv.i^ and 33 ^ where the outpouring of the Spirit is ascribed first to God and then to the exalted Christ. This, of course, if it stood alone, might be explained on the principle that what one does through another he does himself. But it does not stand alone. His sinlessness, here repeatedly asserted, demands some adequate explanation. To be Judge of the world demands knowledge more than human. Similar pheno- mena occur in St. Stephen's address (730-32)^ where God, the Lord, and the Angel appear to be the same One, between whom and the people Moses mediated (v.38).
We notice next the view of St. James, as gathered from Ac 15 and his Epistle, which is here accepted as of early date. On the understanding that the letter of Ac 1523-29 ^vas drafted by him, we have two points worthy of note in that chapter. The full title ' our Lord Jesus Christ ' is given (v.^^), and the 'our' as well as tlie quotation (vv.^®'^*) show that St. James saw clearly that the .sovereignty of Jesus would be accepted by the Gentiles, as well as by the Jewish world. In his Epistle there is added to the full title the phrase ' of glory,' which ' certainly attributes to Jesus a superhuman character' (Stevens, Thcol. of NT, p. 287), and probably a Divine one (cf. Ac 7^). In 5''"'^ Kijpios is used fir-st of God and then of Christ. In 4^* the Judge seems to be God ; in 5" Christ is Judge. Is there any simpler explanation of this than that they were regarded as the same Person, and identified with the gracious Jehovah of the OT ? He is probably also the Righteous One of 5*, and undoubtedly the Saviour in whom saving faith rests Such expressions from a brother in the flesh who had lived with Jesus from child- hood are surely commandingly striking. The Lord of Glory stands forth in the thought of St. James as at least the Supreme Lord and only Saviour of men.