The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 186

end the cnptail:1 of the temple, and tho chie~ priests" found themsel vcs. And perhaps it miuht havo suited them nnd their reputat10n about ns well if all ha.cl ended here. Btit thi~ was not to be. '!'hey had meddled with strife, nay had not "forborne them meddling with God" (2 Chron. xxxv. 21); and they shall' not" leave off contention" before it has worsted them signally, decisively. lfor: 2. A. sudden relief from undignified bewilderment leaves them no choice but to go on with a prosecution hazardous much more to those who prosecute than to those who are prosecutetl' 'l'hat by this time they began to feel this there a.re not wanting certain indications: (1) Though the narrative is very concise, very condensed, it docs not omit to describe tho tender hanilling of the prisoners found speaking in the temple-a tender handlin" the more notable because they were escaped prisoners. "The captain and officers went nnd brought them without violence; for they feared the people, lest themselves should be stoned "-an unfavourable predicament, all things considered, certainly. (2) Presumably because the narrative is very condensed it asks a second thought on our part as to 'what is the precise meaning when it is said, "The high priest, and the captain of the temple, and the chief priests . . . doubted concerning them [i.e. the apostles], whereunto this would grow." \Ve take it that their innermost darkness began to be harasse,l with dawning day; their iunermost mind with dawning convictions that they bad a. very new sort of men to deal with ; their conscience with dawning of a fear very unfamiliar to their hitherto manner of bearing themselves toward that same conscience. Possibly, more than possibly afterwards, the same messenger who brought word ~ to where the apostles were and what they were doing stated also the apostles' account of how they had got out of the prison. He would have ample time to do this while the captain and the officers went to bring them. 'l'hat awkward interval must have been filled up somehow by the dismayed court. Nor can there be a doubt that it was fille(l up with abundant talk and question and discussion. This or some such view is, it. appears to us, essentially corroborated by the apparent silence of the court, when the apostles were at last ushered into its presence, as to their escape, and by its sedulous abstinence from any interrogations upon the matter. Silence absolute on that subject were certainly their best wisdom when they had heard the real facts, and, hearing, had seen them with eyes forced open. '!'he silence of the narrative is one thing, and is a. token of historic accuracy and fidelity. 'l'he silence of the court is another thing, and is a touch true enough to natw·e, in fact, a great demonstration of nature, which some- times, in the supreme effort tQ cover defeat, then most convicts itself of tlefoat. \Vhat, therefore, with a certain underswell and muttering of conscience first, and then with tile unease wrought by the plain discovery of how things had been, it may be reasonably imagined that the high priest and those associated with him wished already that they were well clear of the whole matter. 3. But the moment has come for the arraignment itself. It is at all events plain, its meaning and its implications not obscure. "You have disobeyed our strict command, have filled Jerusalem with the doctrine we dis- approve, and are going far to fix on us the responsibility and possibly the ¥engeance of the blood of this man." Probably a spirit of contempt and an intention to express it thinly veiled growing fear, when they use the words, "this name," and "your doctrine," and "this man's blood," instead of naming the Name that was already "above every name," and naming the doctrine which was certainly not "the tloctri.ne nor after the commandments of men" (Col. ii. 22), and naming "the blood which spenketh better things than that of A.be!." 4. But the challenge is at once accepted by the apostolic band. 'l'bey admit their disobedience to human command. 'l'hey assert their obedience to Divine command, and assert the necessity of it-its moral ought. 'l'hey at once honour, by a firm and repeated utterance of it, the Name which had just been sorrily flouted, but which, in very deed, designated One who had known the unprecedented transitions of resurrection and ascension, and who owned to the titles of Prince and Saviour of mankind. Hi$ princely gift is the power of" repentance," his saving gift is the" remission of sins." Occupying a position of vast moral purchase over their judges, the apostles do not propose to shield these from an iota of their responsibility. They had declined to name the Name_ of Jesus; the apostle~ do not shrink at all from namin"' the uame of their sin and guilt, nor forbear to dcscnbo them as tho persons answerabl; for the blood of Jesus. "Whom ye slew, and hauge,l ou a tree." A.nd so they make out their text. ,Ve" ought to obey Gvd." Aud ilS GDd. lSZ THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. [cu. v. 1-42.