The laying on of hands.
This is the first mention of the custom in connection with the Christian community. It does not appear that our Lord set apart his apostles to their work by any formal ceremony. A little while before his passion he "breathed on them, and said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." The imposition of hands was an instance of carrying over and adapting a Jewish custom. "It had an analogous meaning in the ritual of Israel (Numbers 27:23) in acts of blessing (Genesis 48:13, Genesis 48:14) and the transmission of functions." It appears to have been used in the Jewish schools on the admission of a scribe to his office as a teacher. "Its primary symbolism would seem to be that of the concentration for the moment of all the spiritual energy of prayer upon him on whom men lay their hands; and so of the bestowal of any office for which spiritual gifts are required." For other Scripture references, see Acts 42:3; 1 Timothy 5:22; Hebrews 6:2. "The origin of this rite is to be looked for in patriarchal times, when it seems to have been a form simply of solemn benediction, as in Genesis 48:14. In the New Testament we find the laying on of hands used by our Lord both in blessing and in healing; and again he promises to his disciples that they too should lay hands on the sick and they should recover. At the time when the Epistle to the Hebrews was written, the doctrine of the 'laying on of hands' was one of the elements of Christian teaching" ('Dict. of Christian Antiquities;' see art. "Imposition of Hands" for the ceremonies in which the Christian Church has adapted the custom). This is an illustration of the importance of preserving valued ancient practices. It cannot be said that we have any Divine commands in regard to the laying on of hands, but the Church has found the practice to be significant and useful. It may be regarded as—
I. A SIGN OF SELECTION. For some reason the individual is singled out. For some particular office he is chosen. The selection is made by the whole Church. It is represented by the act of imposition done by one person, or by several, in the Church's name. The public nature of the act sets the individual forth prominently before the whole Church as the selected one.
II. A SIGN OF UNITED CONFIDENCE. This is more fully indicated in the form of imposition practiced by what are known as the Free Churches. At their ordination services the laying on of hands is done by the assembled presbyters, each laying a single hand on the head of the selected one, and the custom is mainly valued as an expression of mutual confidence in the Divine call of the selected one, and in his spiritual fitness for the office which he is about to undertake. It becomes an important part of an ordination service as a comforting assurance given to the candidate for office; and with this simple meaning of the rite some of the Free Churches are satisfied.
III. AS A SIGN OF COMMUNICATION. "It was connected with other acts that presupposed the communication of a spiritual gift. Through well-nigh all changes of polity and dogma and ritual, it has kept its place with Baptism and the Supper of the Lord, among the unchanging witnesses of the Church's universality and permanence." Hackett takes it as "a symbol of the impartation of the gifts and graces which they (the deacons) needed to qualify them for the office." Olshausen says, "The idea embraced in the laying on of hands was really just this, that by means of it there was effected a communication of the Spirit from the individual consecrating to the one ordained." Two questions need treatment.
1. Was the imposition an actual impartation of Divine gifts or the Divine Spirit? or was it only the outward symbol or sign of a Divine impartation which was beyond man's control?
2. If there was apostolic power to communicate the gift or the Spirit, have we sufficient ground for assuming that the power is retained by the teachers of the Church whom we regard as the successors of the apostles? Decision on and treatment of these questions must depend on our ecclesiastical bias. No earnest Christian need fail to realize the spiritual value and suggestiveness of this custom. It may, no doubt, be made to serve purely ritual purposes; but it may also be an important and useful Church ordinance, when it is observed on due consideration, and with suitable solemnity and prayer.—R.T.
The weakness of persecutors.
Attention is drawn to the fact, which has received frequent illustration through the martyr-ages, that men only resort to persecuting tactics when they become conscious of their moral helplessness and theological inefficiency. The persecutor is like the swearer; No man ever needs to curse if his word is known to he truthful. No man ever needs to persecute if he has the right on his side, and faith in those moral forces which ever uphold the right. As the line of thought is directly based on the incident as narrated in the verses, a brief outline will suffice. We find these advocates of strict Judaism—
I. DEFEATED IN ARGUMENT. (Acts 6:10.) Observe that, in Stephen, there was not merely controversial skill, adequate knowledge, and a good theme; there was a spiritual power which made him irresistible. Perhaps nothing rouses anger more readily than defeat in discussion. Few men can retain self-control at such times. And the permanent value of religious public disputations may be very seriously questioned. Happily the tone of religious controversy in our times is greatly improved.
II. APPEALING TO PHYSICAL FORCE. Always a sign of weakness. Sadly illustrated in Calvin and Servetus, and similar cases of condescending to use the power of the magistrate in purely intellectual and moral disputes. Properly, the public magistrate has only to do with the breaking of the social order, but it has always been found easy to fashion charges cognizable by the magistrate when the real purpose has been to silence a triumphant intellectual or religious foe. Truth-lovers never need ask aid from the world's coarse government weapons. Magna est veritas, et prevalebit.
III. MAKING ALLIANCE WITH LIARS. Suborning bad men and prompting false witnesses. So did the prejudiced Sanhedrim in dealing with our Lord. Honorable men descending to the lowest depths to carry out their malicious schemes. Their spirit and conduct are fully shown up by the company they keep. Loyalty to the right and to God cannot endure fellowship with false witnesses.
IV. TRUSTING TO POPULAR EXCITEMENT. "They stirred up the people." The fickleness of the populace is proverbial. Their susceptibility to excitement makes them the easy tool of the demagogue. And Jewish crowds were remarkable for their sudden impulses. Theudas and Judas and Barchocheha played their purposes on this tightly strung string. When Stephen's enemies had no fair charge to urge against him before the courts, their only hope of accomplishment for their malicious purposes lay in the violence of a popular uprising. Their utter weakness and their shameful badness are revealed in their schemes. Seeming to succeed, they really failed more utterly than with their arguments. They could kill the body, but what more could they do? They could not fly after the winged words which, like seeds, had found their lodgment in the minds and hearts of Barnabas and Saul, and would surely spring up and bear blossom and fruitage to the dismay of all Stephen's enemies. Let the persecutor do his weak and foolish work, for "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church."—R.T.