Hechos 7:1

3. Stephen’s Funeral Dispersion of Jerusalem Church, Acts 7:1-4 .

1. And (rather, but)

Saul A transitional sentence. The same Saul, the indorser of the completed martyrdom, is leader of the coming persecution.

At that time Literally, and doubtless truly, on that day. The martyrdom was the first act of the persecution.

Church… at Jerusalem First mention of a city Christian Church; designating the organic body of all the congregation; a spiritual republic. The word Church ( εκκλησια ) is used in the New Testament to denote, (1) The whole body of believers, (Matthew 16:18; 1 Corinthians 10:32; Galatians 1:13; Ephesians 1:22; Ephesians 3:10; Ephesians 5:23-24; Ephesians 5:27; Ephesians 5:29; Ephesians 5:32; Philippians 3:6; 1 Timothy 3:15, etc.;) (2) A part of this whole, a particular congregation, as that at Jerusalem, or at Antioch, or at Rome, (1 Corinthians 11:18; 1Co 14:19 ; 1 Corinthians 14:33.) (Shaff., Apost. History.)

All The entire Jerusalem Church, with an exception soon to be noted.

Scattered abroad That this dispersion was truly total (with the apostolic exception soon to be considered) is abundantly evident in spite of the unauthorized doubt of most commentators. Luke tells us that all the Church was scattered scattered abroad into different countries; scattered by a most thorough persecution, ransacking every house, and sparing no class or character. (Acts 7:3.) So far as Saul’s keen eye could detect, not a Christian was left in Jerusalem. And it was because he was well satisfied that his work was thoroughly done in Jerusalem that he extended it to Damascus. And this terrible inquisition, as Mr. Lewin calculates, lasted a full six months.

Except And surely where Luke states explicitly the exception, for himself all other exceptions are excluded.

Except the apostles Why the apostolic twelve remained after the disappearance of the Church from Jerusalem, and how they remained safely, are two very interesting questions, treated scarce satisfactorily to our own mind by the body of commentators. First, the apostles remained, beyond all question, from some known imperative duty, such as an extension of the injunction in Acts 1:4, would impose. Now a very early tradition reaches us, through different independent channels, affirming that that injunction upon the apostles to remain in Jerusalem was extended to twelve years. Thus Eusebius tells us that Apollonius, a writer of the second century, records that “It was handed down by tradition that our Saviour commanded his disciples not to depart from Jerusalem for twelve years.” In an apocryphal work, the “Preaching of Peter,” it is said, “The Lord said to his apostles, If any one therefore of Israel repent, and through my name be willing to believe in God, his sins shall be forgiven him. After twelve years go ye out into the world, lest any say, We have not heard.” This tradition so accords with the fact by Luke here stated, with our Lord’s command. (Acts 1:4,) with the great rule obeyed even by Paul, “the Jew first, then also the Gentile,” that it may safely be accepted as an aid in solving the question of the apostles braving the danger of this terrible moment. And all this goes far to answer the second question. If the great Head of the Church required the presence of the twelve at Jerusalem, He provided for their safety. Not a hair of their head should perish if he needed their survival. Some powerful or skilful concealers, whose conscience was Christian, but whose courage (like that of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea) dared not assume the Christian profession, might, with an inconsistent bravery, venture to cover and protect them from the searching eye of Saul himself, and leave the lion’s whelp bereaved of his prey. Many a lurking place those turbulent times had provided, such as the cells subterranean of the spacious tombs, enabling the apostles to anticipate the Church of the Catacombs. None the less were they the enthroned viceroys of the Great King, (Matthew 19:28,) and none the less would they hold communion with and supervision over the scattered missionaries who were spreading the Gospel abroad. When Philip’s success in Samaria reaches their ears it is as an organic body that they delegate two of their college to supervise the new field. Yet their home is still Jerusalem; and in confining their mission mainly to Jews, they hold themselves as fulfilling the true nature of the Lord’s command. We very decidedly reject the theory of Baumgarten, that the twelve themselves were, as Jews, thrown into the background by the call of Paul, as being a sort of failure. Here in Jerusalem, and after their own missionary dispersion, they were life-long heads of the universal Church, with but one additional colleague, (Paul,) and with no successor.