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From: Acts 6:8-15

Stephen’s Arrest

[8] And Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the
people. [9] Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen
(as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those
from Cilicia and Asia, arose and disputed with Stephen. [10] But they could not
withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. [11] Then they secret-
ly instigated men, who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words a-
gainst Moses and God.” [12] And they stirred up the people and the elders and
the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him, and brought him before the
council, [13] and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to
speak words against this holy place and the law; [14] for we have heard him say
that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs
which Moses delivered to us.” [15] And gazing at him, all who sat in the council
saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

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Commentary:

8-14. From the text it would appear that Stephen preached mainly among Helle-
nist Jews; this was his own background. Reference is made to synagogues of
Jews of the Dispersion (Diaspora). These synagogues were used for worship and
as meeting places. The very fact that these Hellenist Jews were living in the Holy
City shows what devotion they had to the Law of their forebears.

No longer is it only the Sanhedrin who are opposed to the Gospel; other Jews
have been affected by misunderstanding and by misrepresentation of the Chris-
tian message.

The charge of blasphemy — also made against our Lord — was the most serious
that could be made against a Jew. As happened in Jesus’ case, the accusers
here resort to producing false witnesses, who twist Stephen’s words and accuse
him of a crime the penalty for which is death.

15. St. John Chrysostom, commenting on this verse, recalls that the face of Mo-
ses, when he comes down from Sinai (cf. Exodus 34:29-35), reflected the glory
of God and likewise made the people afraid: “It was grace, it was the glory of Mo-
ses. I think that God clothed him in this splendor because perhaps he had some-
thing to say, and in order that his very appearance would strike terror into them.
For it is possible, very possible, for figures full of Heavenly grace to be attractive
to friendly eyes and terrifying to the eyes of enemies” (”Hom. on Acts”, 15).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: John 6:22-29

The People Look for Jesus

[22] On the next day the people who remained on the other side of the sea saw
that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat
with His disciples, but that His disciples had gone away alone. [23] However,
boats from Tiberias came near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord
had given thanks. [24] So when the people saw that Jesus was not there, nor His
disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking
Jesus.

The Discourse on the Bread of Life

[25] When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi,
when did You come here?” [26] Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you,
you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the
loaves. [27] Do not labor for the food which perishes, but the food which endures
to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you; for on Him has God the Fa-
ther set His seal.” [28] Then they said to Him, “What must we do, to be doing
the works of God?” [29] Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that
you believe in Him He has sent.”

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Commentary:

26. Our Lord begins by pointing out that their attitudes are wrong: if they have the
right attitude they will be able to understand His teaching in the eucharistic dis-
course. “You seek me”, St. Augustine comments, “for the flesh, not for the spi-
rit. How many seek Jesus for no other purpose than that He may do them good in
this present life! [...] Scarcely ever is Jesus sought for Jesus’ sake” (”In Ioann.
Evang.”, 25, 10).

This verse marks the beginning of the discourse on the bread of life which goes
up to verse 59. It opens with an introduction in the form of a dialogue between Je-
sus and the Jews (verses 26-34), in which our Lord reveals Himself as the bringer
of the messianic gifts. Then comes the first part of the discourse (verses 35-47),
in which Jesus presents Himself as the Bread of Life, in the sense that faith in
Him is food for eternal life. In the second part (verses 48-59) Christ reveals the
mystery of the Eucharist: He is the Bread of Life who gives Himself sacramental-
ly as genuine food.

27. Bodily food helps keep us alive in this world; spiritual food sustains and deve-
lops supernatural life, which will last forever in Heaven. This food, which only God
can give us, consists mainly in the gift of faith and sanctifying grace. Through
God’s infinite love we are given, in the Blessed Eucharist, the very author of these
gifts, Jesus Christ, as nourishment for our souls.

“On Him has God the Father set His seal”: our Lord here refers to the authority
by virtue of which He can give men the gifts He has referred to: for, being God
and man, Jesus’ human nature is the instrument by means of which the Second
Person of the Blessed Trinity acts. St. Thomas Aquinas comments on this sen-
tence as follows: “What the Son of Man will give He possesses through His supe-
riority over all other men in His singular and outstanding fullness of grace. When
a seal is impressed on wax, the wax receives the complete form of the seal. So
it is that the Son received the entire form of the Father. This occurred in two ways;
eternally (eternal generation), which is not referred to here because the seal and
the sealed are different in nature from one another; what is referred to here is the
other manner, that is, the mystery of the Incarnation, whereby God the Father im-
pressed on human nature the Word, who is the reflection and the very stamp of
God’s nature, as Hebrews 1:3 says” (”Commentary on St. John, in loc.”).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.