The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 147

~lood in need of "' word from the !!;OVernor Porcius Festus of just thirty yeal'l!I l11ter, when he said to King AgrippR, in reference to Paul," For it seemeth to me unrel\sonablo to send a prisoner, and not withal signify the crimes !Rid against him" (eh, xxv. 27), The Sanhrdrim Rre guilty of this very unl'easonableness, 1. 'l'hoy interrogate instead of indicting. They are going the WRY to make themselves beholden to their own prisonel'l! for some information and instruction. 2, There is this pl'ima /acit weakness in the very interrog11tion, that it is not directed to the chara.cter of what has been done, but simply as to how something has been done, that is all the while tacitly admitted to he unchallengeable in its nature. 3. However, though their course be ever so much at fault for informality and for worse reasons, it ha.s one commanding excellence about it, It does go at once to the point. It goes home to what was in their own heart, They cannot, in the nature of things, find fault with Peter and John for relieving of his lameness a man now "above forty years old," and who had never been anything but lame. And they cannot find fault with them for doing this on a "sabbath day," because it was not the sabbath. So it is only left them to try and find something to take hold of, in "the kind of power," or "the kind of name," by or in which they had "Jone this thing;" which, it is noticeable, they do not choose to call here by its right name, "a notable miracle," as they do immediately afterwards in their secret con- clave (ver. 16). And, further, they may hope to find something to take hold of in "the kind" of answer the two apostles may profl:er. But this docs not prove to be the cnse; fur their discretion, silence, temperateness, cannot bo surpassed. If the picture, then, or this trial shows the court put in "' foolish position, it shows the accused or the prisoners in an intrinsically proud position. Thoy are masters of the position, strange to •Y• II. Tm: DEF'EN'CE. (V ers. 8-12.) Notice in this defence: 1, That the method of it may be justly assigned to the presence of the Holy Spirit. Peter is emphatically described as " filled with the Holy Ghost." 2. That, nevertheless, it is of the 11implcst character. It might be said to be of nature's simplest style. (1) It consists of a mere statement of facts. "You ask," says Peter, "of a deed, a 'good deed, done to an impotent man.' You ask by what, by what virtue~ll it 'power' or call it a 'nawe' as you will-that impoteet man has taken the advantage of what is contained in that good deed." And Peter continues, without a word, or tone, or sign of apology, "Be it known to you, and to the whole nation beside, that it is by the virtue of One whom you and they know but too well-Jesus of Nazareth, whom you and they crucified, and-wonderful contrast of rebuke-whom God raised from the dead. Here standina before you, and beside us, your prisoners, is a man, who is more to be remark;a upon for the fact that he was made whole by that Name, than simply for the fact iuielf, that (as none can deny) he has been made whole-genuinely made whole." (2) It consist&, further, of a quotation from the Old Testament, of words most personal to the court listening to Peter, and the application of which to them Peter minces not at alL Peter speaks just as though it were one of those cases in which tNJ,th, must and will out. '!'here can have been no effrontery in the manner of Peter's utterance, nor any appearance of intentional affront, else we cannot imagine that his sentence would ha\·e been allowed to come to an end. Often as wrong manner prejudices the interest of welcome truth, the present was an instance of the converse how truth of the most unwelcome kind got its fair force, being unprejudiced by any flavour of bitterness, spite, taunt, or malignity. (3) It consisted of a word of genuine universal gospel as well. Now does even Peter speak a more catholic gospel than he is at the moment conecious of. He anticipates in one breath the apostle of the Gentiles, who was yet to come. But independently of this, and stoppin~ short of it, Peter's aim is to speak ~f that Name of Christ as the Name of the only Saviour, rather than to speak of the universal sweep of his dominion and virtue. He has got his foot in; h11 eees the narrow end of the grand wedge in; he seizes the priceless opportunity, and 1111es it. 'l'he defence had the seeds of triumph in it, and it triumphed. IIL TaE EllBARBASSHENT 0.1' THE OOUBT. (Vers. 13---18.) This was, in very deed, a most pronounced embarrassment. It is spoken by the historian in five plalo enough sLatcments. 'l'he signs of it, also, were probably only too plain, or otherwise the case was a great exception to a very general rule. 1. Those who sat in the seat of authority wtre, uufortunately for the position th1>y filled, stricken with amazement, "'.l'he-r OH, IV. 1-37.) THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 113