Thereupon Jesus administered the sharp rebuke:

"If I will that he tarry till I come, exempt from martyrdom and even death, what is that to thee? Follow thou me."

The purely ideal antecedent of the question was afterwards misinterpreted, and the report went out among the brethren that the disciple whom Jesus loved should not die. John himself, in his old age, took pains to correct it by adding the foregoing narrative to his already completed gospel; yet the belief lingered, and as late as the time of St. Augustine it was still a tradition that the beloved apostle in his tomb at Ephesus was not dead but merely sleeping, awaiting the coming.

Within a fortnight after this seventh appearance, occurred the general assembly specially appointed to be held on a mountain in Galilee. It took place doubtless on the same mountain where he had selected the twelve apostles, and where he delivered the famous sermon. There, when the eleven apostles and many disciples, more than five hundred, were gathered, Jesus appeared to them as promised. And when they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. It was on this occasion that Jesus gave forth the second, the great commission, saying:

"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to all the nations. Lo, I am with you alway." 173

Thus the Mt. of Election, the Mt. of Beatitudes, became also the Mt. of Commission.

It was probably during the last week of the six, the apostles having returned as directed to Jerusalem, that Jesus appeared to James. No details are given; only the

bare fact is stated. As this James, surnamed the Less, merely to distinguish him from James the brother of John, afterwards became the presiding elder of the mother church at Jerusalem, ruling with special and stringent authority, it is possible that this private interview with the Lord was in preparation for that high office.174

There is some mystical significance in the forty days, the number passed by Moses on Sinai, and by Elijah in Horeb; the number which Jesus at the beginning passed in the wilderness of temptation, and during which at the end he lingered between two worlds. What it may signify, we know not. Let us be content; for reverent ignorance is wiser than presumptuous knowledge.

On the last of the forty days, Thursday, May 18th, A. D. 30, occurred the tenth appearance, culminating in the Ascension.17 175

The apostles being gathered together by appointment in one place in Jerusalem, Jesus once more appeared in their midst. On this occasion he opened their mind that they might understand the scriptures, and expounded to them the doctrine of the suffering Christ. And therewith he gave them the third commission, or rather the commission for the third time, that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Also he charged them not to depart from the city until they were clothed with power from on high.

And now, notwithstanding all the adverse teachings, and despite the contrary course of events, the fixed idea. of the disciples that he would evict the Romans and reinstate the throne of David, emerges again. So they wistfully ask, and it is their last word:

Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel ? "

With sharp rebuke he replies:

"

'It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within his own authority. But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

The teachings were ended, the commission given. Jesus then led the apostolic band from the city across the Kedron, past Gethsemane, along the familiar route ascending Olivet and passing over its southern shoulder, until beyond its summit Jerusalem is lost to sight, and beloved Bethany, the home of purity and peace, once more, here at the very last, comes into view. There Jesus paused. Then lifting up his wounded hands over the dear friends gathered around him, he pronounced a farewell benediction. O that we had his words! As they listened and looked, he was parted from them, borne upwards by invisible hands, until a white cloud, hovering eagerly near, received him, and veiled him from their sight.

Amazed they stood; and while they were still looking steadfastly into the sky, behold two angels in glistering apparel, spake to them, saying:

"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into the sky? This Jesus, which was received up from you, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven."

Then the apostles returned unto Jerusalem with great joy in the promise of his coming again.

A

XXXIII

THE AFTER DAYS

ND no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended out of heaven, even the Son of

man, which is in heaven. There he sat down at the right hand of God; there he ever liveth to make intercession for us. Having then a great high priest, who hath passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are; yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need.

There were three visions in the after days, whose recital will complete the story of the Nazarene.

At the feast of Pentecost, Sunday, May 28th, ten days after the Ascension, the baptism in the Holy Spirit promised to the disciples was fulfilled. This was the confirmation of the Christian Church, which then grew rapidly in vigor and zeal, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem multiplied exceedingly. Therefore the apostles appointed seven men to help them in their work. Among these was Stephen, a man full of grace and power, who contended earnestly for the faith. Himself a Hellen

ist, he disputed with the Jews of the Hellenist synagogues, and they were not able to withstand the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Enraged, they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and seized him, and brought him before the Sanhedrin, and set up false witnesses which testified, We have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered unto us. The old false charge redressed. And the high priest, president of the Sanhedrin, asked the accused, Are these things so? 176

Then Stephen, whose countenance was lustrous with angelic radiance, rose to his feet, and addressed the council respectfully, saying:

"Brethren and fathers, harken."

He did not seek to exonerate himself well knowing it would be useless, nor did he reply directly to the accusation; but he arrested the attention of his auditors by entering upon a recitation of their typically messianic history, which they were always pleased to hear. As he proceeded, the application to the well-known faith of the Nazarenes, which application he, with high art, left the hearers to make for themselves, became more and more obvious, culminating in a complete vindication of the confession that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ. Then with a burst of indignation, he accused his accusers, and criminated the council, saying:

"As your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? They killed them which showed before of the coming of the Just Man; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers."

Hearing this, they were cut to the heart, and gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, looking up with his shining face steadfastly into heaven, and seeing the glory