The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 476

again making known to lbem R gospel Ver. 4.-And th!l,t he roae; rnthcr, that which (1) he had preached and (2J they he had been raised. 'l'he burial wns n single- also received; and (3) in which they now act; the Resurrection is permanent and stood fast (Rom. v. 2; Eph. vi. 13); nnd (4) eternal in its issues. Aooording to the by means of which they were now in a Scriptures (Ps. xvi. 10; Isa. liii. 10; Hos. state of safety, tlwy were of the class of vi. 2; Jonah ii. 10; comp. l\1att. xii. 40; sozomenoi (Act.s ii. 47). If ye keep in xvi. 4; Acts ii. 31 ; xiii. :H). memory what I preaohed unto you. The Ver. 5.-Was seen of Cephas (Luke order, which is peculiar, is, "In what words I xxiv. 3!). The nppeamuces to the women, preached to you, if ye hold' [itl fast." (John xx. 14, etc.) are omitted, as being Possibly the "in ~-hat discourse" depends evidential rather to. the apostles than to on "I make known to you." The duty the worM. The twelve (John xx. 19, 26). of "holding fast" what they had heard is Some officious scribes have in some manu- often impressed on the eady converts ( eh. scripts altered the word into " the eleven." xi. 2; 2 Cor. vi. 10; 1 Thess. v. 21 ; Heh. But "the twelve" is here the design11tion x. 23). Ye have beli~ved; rather, ye of an office, and great ancient writers are believed ; i.e. ye became believers. In vain. always indifferent to mere pragmatic- The word may either mean "rAshly," accuracy in trifles which involve nothing. "without evidence," as in classical Greek; To witness to the Resurrection was a main or " to no purpr,se," "without effect," as in function of " the twelve " ( Acts ii. 23 ; Rom. xiii. 4; Gal. iii. 4; iv. 11. In this iii. 15; x. 40, etc.). case they would have received the seed in Ver. 6.-Above five hundred brethren at stony places (l\Iatt. xiii. 21). once. We cannot be certain whether this Ver. 3. -First of all ; literally, among the memorable appeo.ra.nce took place in J erusa- first things ; but this idiom means " first lem or in Galilee. It is, however, most pro of all." It docs not occur elsewhere in the bable that this was the appearance on the· New Testament, but is found in Gen. xxxiii. mountain (Matt. xxviii. 16, 17; comp. 2; 2 Sam. v. 8 (LXX.). This testimony Matt. xxvi. 32). Of whom the greater part to the Resurrection is 'l'ery remarkable, remain unto this present. This sentence-n. because: 1. It is the completest summary. confident contemporary appeal to a very 2. It refers to some incidents which are not large number of living wjtnesses, by ono mentioned in the Gospels. 3. It declares that who would rather have died the.n lied-is the death and resurrtclion of Christ were of the highest evidential vnlue. It shows a subject of ancient prophecy. 4. It shows that the Resurrection was not '' a thing t!ie force of the evidence on which the done in a corner "(Acts xxvi. 26). Fallon apostles relied and the number of living asleep. The beautiful and common word eye-witnesses to whom they could appeal. for death in the New Testament (Matt. xxvii. 5. It is the earliest written testimony to 52; John xi. 11; Acts vii. 60, etc.). Hence tl.i~ Resurrection; for it was penned within the word "cemetery"-" a sleeping-place." twenty-five yean of the event itself. 6. It Ver. 7.-Seen of James. The "J11mes" shows that tl.le evidence for the Resurrection intended is undoubtedly the only James as a literal, hi.storical, objective fact, was then living, who wus known to the whole sufficient to convince the powerful intellect Christian Church, namely, "the Loni",; of a hostiie contemporary observer. 7. It brother," the author of the Epistle, and the probably embodies, and became the model Bishop of Jerusalem (Gal. ii. 9; Acts xv. for, a part of the earliest Creed of the Church. 13; xxi. 18). James the son of Zebedee had For our Bins; literally, on behalf of. 'l'be by this time been martyred, and James the passage is remarkable as the only one in son of Alphrous was never much more than which "on behalf of" is used with ''sins" a name to the Church in genernl. There is in St. Paul. In eh. i. 13 we are told that no mention of this appearance in the Gospel; he died" on behalf of us" (Rom. v. 8; see but in the Gospel of the Hebrews was 11 2 Cor. v. 21; 1 Pet. ii. 2-1). The expressions curious legend (preserved in St. Jerome, involve the image of Christ as a Sin Offering 'De Vil'r. lllust.,' ii.) lhat James had mo.do for the forgiveness of sins. Acoording to the a vow that he would neither eat nor drink Scriptures. The chief passages alluded to till he had seen Jesus risen from the dend, are doubtless lea. !iii. 5, 8 ; Dan. ix. 26; o.nd that Jesus, appearing to him, said, Ps. xxii.; Zech. xii. 10; together with " My brother, cat thy bread, for the Son of such types as the offering of Isaac (Gen. man is risen from the dead." The truth of xxii.) and the Paschal lamb, etc. Our the appearance is strongly supported by Lord had taught the apostles confidently to the fact thut James, like the rest of the ret'er to the Messianic interpretation of Lord's " brothers,'' "did not believe" in the Old Testament prophecies (Luke xxiv. Christ before the Crucifixion, whereas after 25, 46; Acts viii. 35 ; xvii. 3 ; xx vi. 22, 23; the Resurrection we find him and the rest of Jubn ii. 22; xx. 9; 1 Pet. i. 11). "the Lord's brothers" ardently cominccel ,en. xv. 1-58.J '!'HE FIRST EPISTLE 'l'O THE CORINTHIANS. 485