The Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide: S. Luke
Hence Christ soon after He had eaten, breathed on the Apostles, and bestowed on them the gift of the Holy Ghost for the remission of sins.
Ver. 43. — And He took it, and did eat before them . Christ truly ate of the food, and not in appearance only, after the manner of an angel. “ I did neither eat nor drink, but ye did see a vision.” Tobit xii. 19. Yet He was not thereby nourished. So Theophylact says, “ He ate by some divine power consuming what He was eating.” Similarly, S. Augustine : “ The thirsty earth, and the burning rays of the sun absorb water, each in a different way ; the one because of its need ; the other by its power.” So D. Thomas and the Schoolmen.
The Vulgate adds, “sumens reliquias , dedit eis ; ” but these words, although in the Arabic, are absent from the Greek and from the Syriac versions.
Ver. 44. — And He said unto them. These are the words which I spake unto you , while I was yet with you, &c., i.e. that I was to suffer death upon the Cross and rise again the third day. Acknowledge Me then as the true Messiah, inasmuch as My words have been verified to the letter. Or by a metonomy these are the words, i.e. the things which I spake to you, My passion, death, and resurrection , which ye see accomplished. These things therefore ought not to appear to you strange and unexpected, for they were predicted, not only by me, but in time past by Moses, and the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning Me.
Some think that S. Luke wrote these words by anticipation, and that Christ spake them not on the day of His resurrection but on that of His ascension. For it was then that He bade the disciples remain in Jerusalem (Acts i. 4), as Luke records, verse 49, going on in the verses following to describe the ascension. But perhaps the words were used on both occasions, the oftener to impress them upon the Apostles for the greater confirmation of their faith.
Ver. 45. — Then opened He their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself, as He had done before at Emmaus.
Christ did this both to confirm the Apostles in their belief and to prepare them to teach and to preach the faith. For it was part of the apostolic office to expound the Scriptures. Hence what He here began, Christ perfected at Pentecost, by the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Hence it is clear :
1. That Holy Scripture is not, as heretics say, easy of interpretation to all.
2. That it is not to be interpreted, as they contend, according to the letter, but according to the teaching of that Holy Spirit, which Christ bestowed upon His Apostles, which the Apostles delivered to the Church, and the Church has handed down to us. Hence S. Paul, i Cor. xii., tells us that God hath set teachers in the Church, and among the diversities of gifts numbers “the interpretation of tongues.” And so in former times the Church had her interpreters, whose special duties are described by Baronius, vol. i. p. 394.
Ver. 46. — And said unto them , Thus it is written (Isa. liii., Ps. xxii. et alib.) and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, &c. See how by these articles of faith Christ opened the understanding of the Apostles, to the acknowledging the Scriptures, which foretold these events.
Ver. 47. — And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name, i.e. — 1. By His authority. 2. At His command . 3. In His stead. That the Apostles should continue the teaching of Christ, and spread the doctrine of repentance and remission of sins throughout the world. 4. In His name, ie., in virtue of His meritorious death upon the cross, whereby alone God gives the spirit of repentance and remission of sin.
Beginning at Jerusalem. A command to the Apostles to commence their preaching at Jerusalem, and from thence to go unto all nations. “Beginning” (ἀρξάμενοι, incipientibus, Vulgate). The Apostles were to begin their preaching at Jerusalem : 1. Because there the Synagogue was flourishing, and there the Church had its origin, for the old Jewish dispensation was transformed into the Christian Church by the preaching of Christ, according to the words of the prophet : “ Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Isaiah ii. 3. And again, “ Arise, shine ; for thy light has come.” Ibid. lx. (Vulgate). 2. Because Christ, with all the blessings He came to bestow, was promised to the Jews by the prophets, and Jerusalem was their chief city ; and 3. Because David and Solomon had reigned there, and Christ, the son of David, had come to restore their kingdom, but in a higher and a spiritual sense (see
Ver. 48. — And ye are witnesses of these things. (See commentary on Acts i.)
Ver. 49. — And behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you.
i.e. after a few days, when the Feast of Pentecost is come, I will send you the Holy Spirit, who will teach you clearly many things beside these, and enable you to preach the gospel to all nations.
But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high . ἐνδύσησθε, i.e., with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, for as a general does not permit his soldiers who are about to meet a large number, to go out until they are armed, so also the Lord did not permit His disciples to go forth to the conflict before the descent of the Spirit.” S. Chrysostom in Catena.
Tropologically , S. Gregory (Past iii. 26) says, “ We abide in a city when we keep ourselves close within the gates of our minds, lest by speaking we wander beyond them ; that when we are perfectly endued with divine power we may then as it were go out beyond ourselves to instruct others.”
Ver. 50. — And He led them out as far as to Bethany , and from thence to the mount of Olives. Bethany was about fifteen furlongs [stadia] from Jerusalem, and close by the mount of Olives. Christ went to Bethany to say farewell to Lazarus and his sister, and to bring them with Him to mount Olivet, in order that they might witness His ascension, and share in His triumph.
And He lifted up His hands towards heaven, as if seeking a special blessing for His disciples.
And blessed them , signing them with the sign of the Cross, as Dionysius the Carthusian and others think. Indeed, S. Jerome, commenting on the words, “ I will set a sign among them,” Isa. lxvi. 19, says, Our ascending Lord left us this sign, or rather placed it on our foreheads, so that we may freely say, “ The light of Thy countenance is lifted up upon us, O Lord.” For the Cross is the sign of Christ, which is the fountain of all benediction and grace. Hence the tradition which has come down from the time of Christ and the Apostles that in giving a blessing the hands should always form the sign of the Cross.
Therefore, says Theophylact, we should learn when about to leave our dependents or friends, to give them our blessing, and, signing them with the sign of the Cross, commit them to the keeping of God.
Ver. 52. — And they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. They rejoiced greatly because they had seen their Master triumphantly ascend into heaven, because they eagerly and without doubting looked for the promised gift of the Comforter, and because they had good hope that Christ would, in like manner, after they had laboured in the gospel cause, receive them to Himself according to His gracious promise. S. John.
Ver. 53. — And were continually in the temple , praising and blessing God. Amen. “ Continually.” We may either take this word to refer to the time of the descent of the Holy Spirit, for before His coming they remained at home for fear of the Jews, or we may take it absolutely, for the upper room in which they dwelt was near the temple, so that they could easily go to and fro. Acts i. 13.
In midst of prayers and praises, with eager preparation of heart, they waited for the promise of the Spirit, says Bede, who also observes “that S. Luke, who commenced his Gospel with the ministry of Zacharias, the priest in the temple, very fitly concludes it with the devotion of the Apostles in the same holy place. For he has placed them there, about to be the ministers of a new priesthood , not in the blood of sacrifices, but in the praises of God, and in blessing.”
Morally , the Apostles and the disciples teach us by their example to make the Christian life a perpetual round of praise to God and Christ. For thus we enter upon the life of the blessed, to whom the ceaseless praise of God is, as I have often shown, for everlasting their labour and their rest. “Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house : they will be alway praising Thee.”