destroy it[1], lest, perhaps, you be found to oppose God.” They agreed with Gamaliel, and calling in the apostles, they scourged them [2] and charged them to speak no more in the Name of Jesus.
But the apostles went forth from the presence of the Council rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the Name[3] of Jesus. They went daily to the Temple, and from house to house, teaching and preaching to the people, proclaiming everywhere the glory and power of the Crucified Saviour of the world.
COMMENTARY.
Jesus is King and Lord of all the redeemed, and the Supreme Head of the Church, Militant, Suffering, and Triumphant. Jesus being our Lord and King, it follows that we ought to serve Him, do His will in all things, and follow His example.
The Primacy and Supremacy of Peter. God gave special miraculous powers to Peter, so as to distinguish him as the supreme head on earth of His Church. If the sick were brought near him — even within reach of his shadow — they were cured. There is nothing less substantial or less real than a shadow, and yet our Lord worked miracles by even the shadow of His vicar. The primacy of Peter was also signified by his being always the one to speak in the name of the other apostles.
The Indestructibility of the Church is a proof of her divine origin, or, in other words, that she is founded by God. The wise Gamaliel's words were very true! “If this work be of men, it will come to nought: but if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it.” All human works, doctrines and contrivances pass away in time, and only those which have their foundation in the Eternal God endure. The Church of Christ has survived all persecutions, all heresies, and all the divisions of kingdoms and races, and is spreading herself continuously, in spite
- ↑ Not able to destroy it. Even if you kill the apostles. Gamaliel, therefore, admitted the possibility that the teaching of the apostles came from God. Tradition tells us that Gamaliel himself subsequently became a Christian.
- ↑ Scourged than. To satisfy their hatred to some extent they had the apostles scourged. The Jewish scourging was not such a terrible punishment as the Roman scourging which was inflicted on our Blessed Lord, but nevertheless it was painful and degrading. As the Jewish law (Deut. 25, 3) prescribed that the number of strokes given was not to exceed forty, the scourge used was divided into three thongs, with which thirteen strokes were given, so that the total number of strokes received was thirty-nine.
- ↑ For the Name. On account of their faith in Jesus.
