(John) the Scene With Mary — Willie Mullan

Three Scenes in John 20: Mary, the Disciples, and Thomas

Into John's Gospel, Chapter 20, again this evening. The Gospel by John, Chapter 20, and we're going right to from verse 17 to verse 29, not just exactly finishing the chapter, leaving two very important verses to carry on with next week.

Now we're going through from verse 17 right through to the end of verse 29, and you will notice that we have three scenes in this passage before us this evening. The first scene, our Lord Jesus Christ with Mary.

Mary at the Sepulchre and the Lesson of Faith

It's just a continuation of the scene that began last week, when our Lord suddenly appeared and spoke very tenderly and very lovingly and very touchingly to Mary. Now we're going on with that scene this evening, and you'll find that when our Jesus speaks to Mary and says, touch me not, I believe that Mary was really mystified.

So that we have a mystified Mary here, and then the Lord gave her a great message to carry forth, and the mystified Mary became the messenger of the Lord. And what a message there is in this first scene this evening.

Then we go on from the first scene to the second one, and that is where our Lord appears to His own disciples. You will find that when He appeared, they were distressed, and the moment He appeared and made Himself known, they were delighted.

And then comes that great word from the Lord when He delegated them as His representatives to go into the world with a mighty message. That's a very deep part of the chapter, and we'll need to take time with that this evening.

Then we'll be finishing with the third scene. That's Thomas. We shall have to underline his transgressions, because he did things and said things that he should never have said or done. We'll look at Thomas's transgression, and then we'll listen to Thomas's testimony.

My, what a word he brought forth from the depths of his heart as he gazed at the risen Savior, my Lord and my God. Three scenes this evening. Now, let's begin at verse 17. Jesus saith unto her, touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father.

And this has given many scholars many hours of pondering to try to get the honest sense from this very difficult day. But before we try to get the sense this evening, let us try to get the scene. I believe for you younger ones, if you ever get to a difficult passage, try to picture the scene first.

Let your imagination get working before you let your understanding get working, or you may get muddled. If you can picture the scene as it's in the book, I think it will help you to the sense. So, let's begin with the scene.

You remember that Mary was standing at the chapel, she was weeping last week, and that the Lord Jesus came and very wonderfully revealed Himself to her with just one word. And she stood there. Why I could never imitate this, I should never really try.

She very lovingly and touchingly said, me. You remember how she responded? My, her tears dried, her soul was revived, she almost jumped, she said, Master, Rabona. And I believe as she awoke to the fact that the Master was alive, that she came forward and fell down, and was about, was about, to catch Him by the feet.

It was something she had done many times. Mary had been at His feet more than once, you know. Why, Mary had done wonderful things at the feet of Jesus, and she's just about to catch Him by the feet, when there comes this request, touch me not.

And there comes not only the request here, but there comes a reason for the request. For I am not yet ascended to my Father. Now, there are difficulties here. Why did the Lord request Mary not to touch Him?

I think if you go back to March of 27, you'll get something that surprises you. March of 28. Just have a look at this. It's the very same day, and it's almost in the very same place. March of 28. You remember last week that I pointed out that Mary came very early to the sepulchral while it was yet dark, and that other Gospels teach us that other woman came.

And here is one of these occasions. Verse 5 will do us to start with. March of 28, verse 5. And the angel answered and said unto the woman, Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified.

He is not here, for he is risen. As he said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. And behold, he goeth before you into Galilee.

There shall you see him, though I have told you. They departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, and did run to bring his disciples worthy. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All here.

And they came and held him by the feet. Washington. It's the same day. It comes a very many moments later, and yet on one occasion the Lord said, Touch me not. And on the other occasion, the woman actually holds him by the feet.

Now, why this difference? Makes you think, doesn't it? We shall be finding out in our own chapter this evening, that a week later he actually invited Thomas to put his hand into the side and feel the kneel pierced hand that had come back from the dead.

Now, why does he invite Thomas? Why does he allow the other woman? Why does he request Mary? Touch me not. There is something deep. I know there is something difficult. The beginning of the answer is in the reason he gave.

He said, Touch me not. Now, watch it. For I am not yet ascended to my Father. I am not yet ascended to my Father. Would it make you think that between the time that he saw Mary and the time that he saw the other woman that he'd gone to heaven and come back again?

You shouldn't hang your hat, you know, on one or two nails. You need more than that. Let me take you way back into the Old Testament. The book of Leviticus, chapter 23. The book of Leviticus, chapter 23.

The Feast of Firstfruits and Christ’s Resurrection

Sometime, when you get time, maybe you would go through this whole chapter. It's a wonderful one. It's the chapter that outlines all the feasts of Jehovah that the Jews kept in Palestine and still keep.

These feasts of Jehovah. Do you see what it says at the beginning of the chapter? It says in verse four, These are the feasts of the Lord. That is, the feasts of Jehovah, even holy convocations which he shall proclaim in the season.

And the first one, in verse five, was the Passover feast. And there are seven of them in this chapter. And the last one is the feast of Dabernacles. Now, in between there are five others, but here's the one that I want you to watch very closely just now.

Verse nine says, And the Lord speak unto Moses, saying, And speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye become into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest, and he shall weigh the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you.

I want you to watch this reading. On the morrow, after the Sabbath, the priest shall weigh it. This is called the feast of firstfruits. Very important feast in history. Of course, you do know that our Lord Jesus Christ is the center and substance of all these feasts.

I didn't go into that. Well, even the New Testament says that Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. He was the antitype of the Passover, and the day that Jesus died and said it is finished, then the Passover feast of the feast was finished forever.

The antitype had met all the requirements. And that brought redemption, and redemption shall eventually bring us eternal rest. And that will be the feast of tabernacles, the seventh one, perfect rest.

But this one, this is the feast of firstfruits. And when Israel was in the land that they began to reap the harvest on the day that they were reaping their harvest, they brought a sheaf. It is called the firstfruits of the harvest.

And they gave it to the priest. I want you to watch that. And the priest took this sheaf, and he went in before the Lord. Well, that's the bit that's very important. Do you see it all? Watch it, and I'll try to get it out for you.

See at the end of verse 10, ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest. That's what they were to do. And he shall weave the sheaf before the Lord. That's what he was to do.

Now, that meant this, that he received this sheaf of the firstfruits, and he went into the tabernacle, and he went in before the Lord. And a way of offering meant this, that he weaved the sheaf to that side, then he brought it right over, and he weaved it to that side, and then he put it right over to that side, and then he put it right over here.

Which means that this law is the firstfruits of the harvest from the four ends of the earth. That's what he was to do. That's the way of offering. But he was to do it before the Lord. Watch this wee bit, did you see it?

Verse 11, and he shall weave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for you. It doesn't only tell you what he was to do, but it tells you who he was to do it for. He was to do it for the people who brought it, the believers.

But it doesn't only tell you what he was to do and who he was to do it for, it tells you when he was to do it. Did you notice that? On the morrow after the Sabbath, when's the Sabbath? Saturday, the seventh day.

When's the morrow after the Sabbath? Sunday, the first day of the week, the day of resurrection. And the day of resurrection demanded that the one who would be the firstfruits, and when we come to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, it says that our Lord Jesus Christ is the firstfruits from the dead.

And it demanded that the one who would be the firstfruits would go in before the Lord. Now, when you think that he stopped merely from touching, and then a few moments later he allowed the other woman to grasp his feet, you are bound to see that he meant something that was very important when he said, don't touch me for I am not yet ascendant to my Father.

And when I begin to get a deduction from putting the word together, and I get typology to back it up, and I hear our Lord Jesus Christ saying, I have not yet ascended, the deduction, and the implication, and the typology would make me come to the conclusion that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended from the moment he spoke to Mary, and came back again to meet with us.

There is no other way out of it, no other way. I believe he kept to the text, and I believe that he was trying to impress the yet-upon-er, and yet I believe this, that there is not only the interpretation of this thing, there's the interpretation of the passage, but there is the illumination of the woman.

I think that's very important too. You see, we must always remember this. I think I've tried to teach the younger ones this before. When you come to any passage, any phrase, any verse, any paragraph, there is only one interpretation.

Well, there can't be a whole lot. If there would be five or six interpretations of a phrase, where would we be? No, there can only be one interpretation. Now, of the same phrase, there may be a thousand applications.

It can be applied in different ways. It can be used as an illustration in quite a number of ways. There is only one interpretation, there are many applications, and there can be a thousand illustrations.

Now, I believe that while the interpretation is the one I've given, it's the only one that's honest. Our Lord Jesus Christ went in as the first fruit, and was acceptable before God, and came back to earth, and then the woman were allowed to touch Him.

I believe that while that is the interpretation, I believe there was an illumination that He was trying to bring to Mary. And I think it's this one. You see, our Lord Jesus Christ is out on resurrection ground, and here is Mary just seeing Him for the first time.

And she runs to bow before Him and grasp His feet, and He says, don't touch. You see, she thought she was going to hold Him with the same old hands that she'd always done. And so did the other. But you know, it's going to be different now.

This is a new position altogether. I'm not out of the grave to remain on earth to be huddled by you, Mary. I'm going up higher, and if you're going to touch me, it will have to be with a hand of faith.

Now, you touch Him today, you know. He was teaching Mary about a new position, and she would need to reach Him with a hand of faith. Do you ever touch Him? Because that's what He was really bringing to her mind in illumination.

The old position's over, Mary. I'm not out of here, you know, to wait on me. I'm going to ascend, and if you want to draw near and touch me, it'll have to be with the hands of faith. It was a great lesson.

It's a believer getting to know Him in a new way. But then He goes on. Not only did He say, touch me not, I am not yet ascended, but He went on to make this mystified woman His messenger. Verse 17 says, But go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my gods and your gods.

You know, I think this is a very lovely thing. You know, you can see two things here. You can see the uniqueness of Christ. He kept Himself out from the rest, you know. He said, I'm going on to my Father and your Father.

He didn't put us all in one bunch and say, our Father, or not, or not. He keeps Himself out, because God was His Father in a very special sense. And we mustn't get these senses mixed up. God was Her Father in quite a different sense.

And so He keeps the uniqueness of His own sonship, and the blessedness of Her sonship, or daughtership. He keeps them all together, separated. And He does the same with God. Yes, He says, I'm the servant of God.

He's my God. But all through the scriptures, He's called the servant of Jehovah. And He's keeping that quite distinct from yourselves, my God, and your God. They were learning about a new position, and they were learning about a new way to know Him.

But look, here's a lovely thing, and I mustn't forget this. When He said, but go to my brethren, I suppose I shall shock some of you who don't really read those scriptures when I say that this is the first time in the New Testament that the Lord Jesus has called His disciples brethren, the first time.

Before this, He called them disciples. He called them friends. He called them servants. Never until this moment did He call them brethren. You see, this wonderful relationship is only ours on resurrection ground.

Yet, being raised from the dead, He's not ashamed to call them brethren. And it's only on resurrection ground that that wonderful relationship comes. Can you see this from the notes? When He said, touch me not, believers are getting to know Him in a new way.

When He said, my Father and your Father, believers are beginning to see their new position. When He said, my brethren, believers are getting to know the new relationship. It was a wonderful message that this mystified messenger had to carry to the disciples.

And Mary carried it out. In verse 18, Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things unto her. That'll do it for the first scene. Let's try to get the second one.

Christ’s Peace and the Bodily Resurrection

Then, the same day of evening. Now, it's the same day. It's the first day of the week, resurrection day. Being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews.

Now, you can see their distress, can't you? You know, it almost amazes you, and yet, when you know your own heart, it really doesn't. Remember, these men had mighty power. You know, they'd gone out, and even the devil was subject on to them.

Why, these fellows had got shepherds, and they'd been healed, and they'd had great experiences of mighty, powerful intruders. And yet, here they are, you know, sitting behind the closed doors, neither afraid.

It just tells you, you know, that the servants of God, no matter how much blessing and gift they may have, at the end, they're only men. Never see them as anything else. The best of men are only men. Never get any other ideas.

Here they are, they're afraid. And, I suppose, had we been there, we would have just been behind the doors in the same way, maybe more by the kids up than ever. They were afraid of Caiaphas and his crowd coming, and arresting them, and they too being tried and crucified, and they were afraid.

But God sometimes kicks these things to make glory come to His name. There are some lovely things here. You can see their distress. The doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews.

They came to Jesus and stood in the midst. Now, it's lovely to see Him in His own place, isn't it? Because the midst really belongs to Him. He was in the midst of Calvary, and when we get to eternity, we shall see the Lamb in the midst of the throne.

And this is His rightful position. It's lovely when the meeting takes time to let Jesus get His rightful position. It's lovely. It's not only nice to see Him in His right position, but it's lovely to mark the power that put Him there.

He didn't need to open the doors, you know. This is really something that staggers folks. You see, this mighty resurrection body of His, He was raised from the dead, and it was a bodily resurrection. There were flesh and bones, no blood.

Spirit was now the animating force of that body. But the powers that that body had, we don't perfectly understand them. It could pass through the wall just like that. And you know, if Jesus came now, just now, if the Lord Himself descended from heaven with a shout and the voice of the Archangel, every born-again believer would rise and go through that roof to meet Him.

I just don't know how you go through the roof, and you needn't ask me about it, but I believe. I believe. You know, it's only recently that scientists have found out that this thing is not solid at all.

It's made of atoms. They're all packed in together. And this thing is made of atoms too. And if we could really control the thing, that one can pass through the other. Now, I shall shock this meeting, and I think I'll shock it more on Sunday night, because I intend to bring this into the message on Sunday night.

In 1960, in September, Khrushchev went to America to the great conference there, and I think you remember something about it. He got outrageous, and he hammered the table with his shoe, and he ate the food like he always does.

Now, there were some things behind all this. You see, the Russians determined at that very time, in that very month, to block out three of the states, of the United States. And they had a mighty thing called antimatter.

And they have it tonight. And I've just been reading all about it all this week. And an egg cup full of antimatter turned onto a car. In a split second, you can't find the car anymore. It disappears. Now, they tried this antimatter out, and away at the back of the Siberian desert, there were mountains.

And they took a plane over, and tumbled out some antimatter. And where two mountain peaks used to be, tonight, now, there are two lakes. Mountains are gone. And the American spy of the U .S. 2, you remember, he was captured.

He had gone over, time and again, to take pictures. And he had pictures of these mountains before they were removed. And for two or three times afterwards, he couldn't find them. He said, I'm on the course.

I'm dead on the beam, but they're not there. And the American intelligence wouldn't believe him. But the Russians had used antimatter, and taken the two hills away. And old Khrushchev, when he went to that meeting in America, didn't live in a hotel, you remember.

He lived in the Baltiga, the Russian boat that was well barricaded on every side. And on the night that the Russians were to come over, he was to slip away out to sea. And they were going to blot out three states with antimatter, and let the Americans know the power they had.

Mighty power. Now, when Russians have mighty power like this, you won't sit and quibble about the power that our Lord had. There were no difficulties at all in getting in through the wall. Not at all.

I don't let anybody hear you talking like that, as if there were problems. There were no problems from the Lord. It was mighty power that put them in the midst. And I want you to notice what he said. This is very lovely.

He just suddenly appeared in the midst of these frightened disciples, and he said, "'Peace be unto you.'". It's very lovely to notice that our Lord, just before his death, as he was walking out to Gethsemane—you remember, we had it in John's Gospel, Christine—he said, "'My peace be unto you, so that yesterday, and today, and I believe, I believe for all eternity, his great heart is going out to us, that we might have peace,' because he's the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

It's lovely to see him in his position. It's lovely to notice the power. It's lovely to draw the line under the peace. But I want you to notice the proof, plenty. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hand and his side.

And this is where I love arguments with the Russellites, the Jehovah's Witnesses, the millennial dons. They don't believe that Jesus rose bodily from the grave. Old Russell said in one of his books, that Christ's body dissolved into gases.

That was poison gas, all right. Then, when the Lord Jesus came through the world, he showed them his hand. What would be the use of showing them his hand if it's not the same body? Would you like to come around and tell me?

In one of the other Gospels, he said, "'Handle me and see, a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have,' and here he's showing them his hand and his side. It's the same body. He has been brought out from the dead.

Last week, we saw him rising out through the foam of the linen cloth, bodily resurrection. But there's no blood, it's only flesh and bone. Friends, the spirit was the unamazing force, and what a mighty body it is.

And one day, we shall be like him, made unto his glorious body.". Now, these distressed disciples, when they saw the Lord and were absolutely sure, this little phrase comes in, "'Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.'".

You know, their distress is being changed to delight. I'll be showing you in a moment or two that Thomas wasn't there. You know, I would love to take time tonight to talk to all the believers who ought to be out at God's house on Lord's Day morning, because if you miss the message on the first day of the week, mind you, you might go on your whole week in distress.

How many of God's people have come to God's house on the first day of the week, living downcast, distressed, depressed, despondent, and as the message was presented, Christ appeared, and they got a glimpse, and they saw his face, and they heard his voice, and they felt his touch, and they left the meeting absolutely refreshed.

And you'll lose all that, mind you, if you're not on the Lord's Day morning, because Thomas lost it. He went on a whole week down in the dumps, because he wasn't out on Lord's Day morning. Rather, it was evening here.

The Apostolic Commission and the Authority of the Gospel

Now, we come to the trite bit of the chapter. I want you to get this whole scene again. Verse 21, "'Then said Jesus to them again,' and no wonder he said it again, "'Peace be unto you.'". Now, he looks at each one of them.

They're absolutely sure now that he's alive, and it's the same Jesus, and he starts commissioning them again. "'As my Father sent me, even so send I you.'". Now, he was putting a pathway before them. He had been sent into the world.

Now, he was sending them into the world. He was sending them into the world to proclaim something. There was a pathway, but there was a proclamation that they've got to make to proclaim the gospel. "'Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel' is what we heard in the other gospel this evening.

Now, if they were going into the world to preach this message, well might he say again and again, "'Peace be unto you,' because the devil will try to disturb it. My, you only want to try to preach this book honestly till you find out how the devil gets up against you.

He doesn't like this book. Men would stand up for idols, yet prostrate half in the Roman Catholic churches before they would bow to the truth in God's word, and they're into trouble if you preach the truth.

Well, might they say, "'Peace be unto you.'". And then something else happened. Not only did he send them out on a new pathway with a new proclamation, with peace, verse 22, and when he had said this, when he had said this, now this connects this with what he had said, when he had said this, he breathed on them and said unto them, "'Receive ye the Holy Ghost.'".

Because he knew if they're going out into the world to proclaim the gospel, they'll need power. Oh yes, he knew that all right. You see, you can't really preach the gospel without the power of the Holy Ghost.

Can't do that. Many of our evangelical meetings, why, the gospel is being preached in word only. How horrible this is. Some of the great meetings in the country, yes, they're all fundamental, they're all said, Muslim or God said, but the gospel is being preached in word only.

And it doesn't bear any fruit. You never see anybody say that. Now, you go around and question them. I could rattle them off with my fingers, but Paul said, "'Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Ghost,' the way we like to see it preached.

And when it's preached in power, and in the Holy Ghost, things begin to happen. So he knew that they would need power. Now, I believe that he's speaking here just the way he prayed in John 17. He prayed in John 17, "'I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do.'".

Now, the work wasn't just finished then. In fact, he hadn't been to Gethsemane or the cross, but he was anticipating. He was praying, anticipating the wonderful finish. And I believe that he's anticipating the day of Pentecost here.

I don't think that he gives them the Holy Ghost right there and then. Now, there are arguments about it. There are some great scholars, and they believe that the moment he breathed here, and said, "'Receive ye the Holy Ghost,' that there and then they were engulfed by the Spirit of God.

But the next chapter will prove it's all nonsense, because there's about seven of them running away into the night, and they never were sent at all, and they couldn't be led by the Spirit of God.'". I know he's only plotting an anticipation of the day of Pentecost.

He knows they're going out into the world. He knows the problems that are ahead, and he knows that they'll need power. Now, when he had said all this, when he said, "'As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you,' and he spoke about them having this power, now we come to this tremendous verse.

He said, "'Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained.'". Now, this is very deep, and admittedly very difficult, and it wants to be faced honestly.

You never dodge verses like this, but you'll never get anywhere if you do. Now, we want to ask the simple question, is our Lord Jesus Christ here in this first day of the week with these disciples, commissioning them to go out into the world?

Is he giving them his own power to forgive, or otherwise? Remember that when our Lord Jesus was working yonder in Mark, chapter 2. Have a look at it. Mark's Gospel, chapter 2. Remember, the man brought the sick of the paltry and let them down through the roof at Christ's feet.

Verse 5 will do us. Now, watch this after me, because this is very fundamental. When Jesus saw their face, he said unto the sick of the paltry, "'Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.'. But there were a second of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, "'Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies?

Who can forgive sins but God only?'. But they were right then. Only God can forgive sins, but they didn't know that Jesus was God. Now, we can see this, that right down through the ages, this has been God's prerogative.

Only God can forgive, and God will only forgive on the ground of atonement.". There are no quibbles about that bit up to that. Now, the point of this is our Lord Jesus taking this great power, this prerogative that was his, and he's handing it out to men and saying, "'Go on, and whom you forgive you, they'll be forgiven, and whom you don't forgive, my, he's doing nothing of the kind.'".

Do you think that you have this power in the hands of men, almighty, and do exactly as you're told, and let me drive you further and further? Do you think that he'll give me power to make you a slave to death forgiveness?

Well, that's what the Roman Catholic Church teaches. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Lord Jesus gave his apostles this power in this place at this time, and that power has been handed down through the ages from one to the other.

I say no, they say yes. I've got to prove my faith, haven't I? And that will be very simple. If I start at the Acts of the Apostles, and I go through every verse and every chapter, will you ever find these men exercising such a power?

Never once. If the Lord Jesus didn't give them power here, what has he given them? You see, let me put it so you'll always remember it. The Roman Catholic Church says he gave them much that they could forgive, or otherwise.

I say that he gave them a message. It's the proclamation of that message in power, and your acceptance of it that will allow me to say whether you're forgiven or not. You know, I've preached this message, and I've seen men in this very place break down and weep.

My, I can remember as I look down these faces now, the night when some of you were saved, and I can see the very men now kneeling at my side, and weeping, and saying, Mr. Mone, I know that this is the truth, that the Lord Jesus came and died for me, and shed his blood and rose again to be my Savior, and tonight and now I accept him as my own and personal Savior by simple faith.

And they're forgiven. And I can look into their face and say they're forgiven. I can, because I've got that authority. And there are some of you who go out of this place every night rejecting the Christ that I have preached my heart out to you with, and you're going out all forgiven, and I know you are.

The Lord didn't give them might to make men cringe at their feet. The Lord only gave them a message, and the proclamation of that message, and your attitude to it determines whether you're forgiven or whether you're not.

Now, I've got to prove that. That's only talk up to now. I must make this watertight tonight, because I wouldn't let the Roman Catholic Church get an inch here. Now, let's get over to the Acts of the Apostles, and we'll start at chapter 10.

Peter’s Preaching and Forgiveness Through Faith

The Acts of the Apostles, and we're at chapter 10. And the reason that I'm starting at chapter 10 is because it's here that Peter, here that Peter, oh yes, we'll take Peter, as he was supposed to have all the power, he is preaching to the Gentiles, and we are Gentiles, so that we're making the thing absolutely dead on this evening.

Now, here's how he preached in the house of Canaanites to the Gentiles. Verse 34, Acts 10, 34, then Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. He'd only learned this truth just a moment ago.

But in every nation he that seetheth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all, that word I say ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee up to the baptism which John preached.

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. And we are here, and we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree.