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From: Acts 13:22-26

Preaching in the Synagogue of Antioch of Pisidia

[In those days, Paul said:] [22] And when He had removed him, He raised up Da-
vid to be their king; of whom He testified and said, “I have found in David the son
of Jesse a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’ [23] Of this man’s posterity
God has brought Israel a Savior, Jesus, as He promised. [24] Before His coming
John had preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. [25] And
as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am
not He. No, but after me One is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not wor-
thy to untie.’” [26] “Brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among
you that fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.

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Commentary:

16-41. Paul’s address here is an excellent example of the way he used to present
the Gospel to a mixed congregation of Jews and proselytes. He lists the benefits
conferred by God on the chosen people from Abraham down to John the Baptism
(verses 16-25); he then shows how all the messianic prophecies were fulfilled in
Jesus (verses 26-37), and, by way of conclusion, states that justification comes
about through faith in Jesus, who died and then rose from the dead (verse 38-41).

This address contains all the main themes of apostolic preaching, that is, God’s
saving initiative in the history of Israel (verses 17-22); reference to the Precursor
(verses 24-25); the proclamation of the Gospel or “kerygma” in the proper sense
(verses 26b-31a); mention of Jerusalem (verse 31b); arguments from Sacred
Scripture (verses 33-37), complementing apostolic teaching and tradition (verses
38-39); and a final exhortation, eschatological in character, announcing the future
(verses 40-41). In many respects this address is like those of St. Peter (cf. 2:14ff;
3:12ff), especially where it proclaims Jesus as Messiah and in its many quota-
tions from Sacred Scripture, chosen to show that the decisive event of the Resur-
rection confirms Christ’s divinity.

Paul gives a general outline of salvation history and then locates Jesus in it as
the expected Messiah, the point at which all the various strands in that history
meet and all God’s promises are fulfilled. He shows that all the steps which lead
up to Jesus Christ, even the stage of John the Baptist, are just points on a route.
Earlier, provisional elements must now, in Christ, give way to a new, definitive
situation.

“You that fear God” (v. 26): see the notes on Acts 2:5-11 and 10:2.

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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: Luke 1:57-66, 80

The Birth and Circumcision of John the Baptist

[57] Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a
son. [58] And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great
mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. [59] And on the eighth day they came
to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechariah after his father,
[60] but his mother said, “Not so; he shall be called John.” [61] And they said to
her, “None of your kindred is called by this name.” [62] And they made signs to
his father, inquiring what he would have him called. [63] And he asked for a wri-
ting tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all marvelled. [64] And im-
mediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing
God. [65] And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked
about through all the hill country of Judea; [66] and all who heard them laid them
up in their hearts, saying “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord
was with him.

[80] And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness
till the day of his manifestation to Israel.

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Commentary:

59. Circumcision was a rite established by God under the Old Covenant to mark
out those who belonged to His chosen people: He commanded Abraham to insti-
tute circumcision as a sign of the Covenant He had made with him and all his de-
scendants (cf. Genesis 17:10-14), prescribing that it should be done on the eighth
day after birth. The rite was performed either at home or in the synagogue, and,
in addition to the actual circumcision, the ceremony included prayers and the na-
ming of the child.

With the institution of Christian Baptism the commandment to circumcise ceased
to apply. At the Council of Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:1ff), the Apostles definitely de-
clared that those entering the Church had no need to be circumcised.

St. Paul’s explicit teaching on the irrelevance of circumcision in the context of
the New Alliance established by Christ is to be found in Galatians 5:2ff; 6:12ff;
and Colossians 2:11ff.

60-63. By naming the child John, Zechariah complies with the instructions God
sent him through the angel (Luke 1:13).

64. This miraculous event fulfills the prophecy the angel Gabriel made to Zecha-
riah when he announced the conception and birth of the Baptist (Luke 1:19-20).
St. Ambrose observes: ‘With good reason was his tongue loosed, because faith
untied what had been tied by disbelief” (”Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam. in loc.”).

Zechariah’s is a case similar to that of St. Thomas, who was reluctant to believe
in the resurrection of our Lord, and who believed only when Jesus gave him clear
proof (cf. John 20:24-29). For these two men God worked a miracle and won their
belief; but normally He requires us to have faith and to obey Him without His wor-
king any new miracles. This was why He upbraided Zechariah and punished him,
and why He reproached Thomas: “Have you believed because you have seen Me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (John 20:29).

80. “Wilderness”: this must surely refer to the “Judean wilderness” which stret-
ches from the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea to the hill country of Judea.
It is not a sand desert but rather a barren steppe with bushes and basic vegeta-
tion which suit bees and grasshoppers or wild locusts. It contains many caves
which can provide shelter.

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