them to preach, "that men fhould repent, "for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Which is the fubftance of what John Baptist and Jefus himself had preached before. And as John Baptift exhorted men to repentance, by preaching remiffion of fins if men did repent, it is moft highly probable, that the doctrine of remiffion of fins was then preached by the apoftles alfo, in virtue of this commiffion, as the great motive to repentance; and feems to be included in what Mark fhortly fays, that they preached that men "fhould repent." To give credit to what they faid, Chrift gave them power over all devils and diseases"; he gives them this power and authority; or he affures them, that when they had faith, or a full perfuafion, that he would caft out devils, and heal difeafes, on their using his name, in confirmation of the truth of the meffage on which he fent them, diseases fhould be healed, and the devils caft out, Matthew adds to the power of the commiffion, "to heal the lepers w;" but that is only fpecifying one of the difcafes to be healed, which, confidering it in all its circumftances, was one of the very worst to which men were at that time fubject; and which, perhaps, the Jews thought nothing but the W Mark i. 5. power power of God could heal; and which they expected would be one of the diseases that fhould be healed in the days of the Meffiah *. He likewise adds, "and raise the dead." But as Grotius and Mill obferve, that is not in many manuscripts, and feems not be a part of the text, if we compare it with Matt. x. 1. or with chap. vi. 13. Jefus fending the apostles with these powers, fays, "He that receiveth you, receiveth "me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth "him that fent me y." He fends them with these instructions, and these powers," to the "loft sheep of the house of Ifrael" only; expreffly prohibiting them to go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans ". a Mark relates how fully they executed the whole of this commiffion, by telling us, that they went out and preached that men "fhould repent: and they caft out many de"vils, and anointed with oil many that were ❝fick, and healed them "." And St. Luke acquaints us, that "they returned, and that "then they told him (Jefus) all that they "had done "." And here this commiffion seems to determine, as being fully executed; for we read no more of their being sent, or their going out, or returning, or doing any Vajik Rab. on Lev. xiv, 2. Sank. ii. § 18. y Matt. x. 40. • Mark vi. 12, 13. z Ibid. ver. 5, 6. b Luke ix. 10. thing but accompanying Jefus; which they were now to do, fully to anfwer one of the ends for which he ordained them, namely, that they might be with him ; to the intent that they might be the better acquainted with "all that Jefus began to do and teach, until "the day in which he was taken up, after "that he through the Holy Ghost had given "commandments unto his apoftles whom he "had chosen :" and that fo they might be the better qualified, by "accompanying with Jefus all the time that he went in and out "among them, beginning from the baptifm "of John, unto the day that he was taken up from them, to be witneffes of his refur"rection;" as St. Peter fays he must be, that was to take the place in the apostleship, from which Judas by tranfgreffion felle: therefore our Saviour bespeaks them thus, in another place, "You have continued with me in my 66 66 temptations f." And that they had then continued with him for fome time, we further learn from John xvi. 32. when Jefus fays, "Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now "come, that ye all shall be scattered every "man to his own home, and ye shall leave "me alone." And to the intent that they might continue with Jefus, notwithstanding • Mark iii. 14. d Acts i. 12. B 4 the the harveft was great; foon after their re- 1 8 The time of the apoftles giving an account of the execution of their commiffion, was juft before the third paffover Jefus was at after entering on his public miniftry. The feventy are appointed in his way from Galilee to the laft feaft of tabernacles; and feem to return to give an account of the execution of their commiffion at his return from the feaft. See L'abrégé de L'Hiftoire Evangel. Meffrs. de Beaufob. & L'Enfant, p. 253. 257, 258. par Luke x. 1. i Ibid. ver. 10. that that the commiffion to the seventy was to fupply the place of the former to the twelve, after it was determined. Jefus alfo fpeaks to the twelve, just before his being apprehended, of this their commiffion, as being fully executed, and fome time fince determined; when he says to them, "When I fent you ❝ without purse and scrip, and fhoes, lacked 86 ye any thing? and they faid, Nothing. "Then faid he unto them, But now he that "hath a purse, let him take it, and likewife his fcrip: and he that hath no fword, let "him fell his garment and buy one k." And perhaps their being without any commiffion, is the reason why from the time that they returned to Jefus, to give an account of the execution of their commiffion, we never read the name apostles made ufe of by the evangelifts in their gofpels; or even the name of the twelve, till Jefus is going up to Jerufalem to fuffer; and when he begins both to foretell his fufferings plainly, and to open to them their new commiffion they were to receive for life, and the powers which were to attend it; and that after he had told them, they fhould have the power of binding and loofing, juft as he was going up to Jerufalem to fuffer, and then by way of diftinction of them only. But in other places they are generally, if not always, mentioned under the comLuke xxii. 35, 36. ! Ibid. xvii. 5. xxii. 14. mon |