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From: Acts 10:34a, 37-43

Peter’s Address

[34] And Peter opened his mouth and said, “(You know the) [37] word which was
proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which
John preached; [38] how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and
with power; how He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by
the devil, for God was with Him. [39] And we are witnesses to all that He did both
in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put Him to death by hanging
Him on a tree; [40] but God raised Him on the third day and made Him manifest;
[41] not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, who
ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. [42] And He commanded us
to preach to the people, and to testify that He is the one ordained by God to be
judge of the living and the dead. [43] To Him all the prophets bear witness that
every one who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”

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Commentary:

34-43. Peter’s short address is his first to non-Jews. It begins with the central
idea that God is impartial: He wants all men to be saved through the proclama-
tion of the Gospel (verses 34-36) and, finally, the statement (the first time it
appears in Acts) that Jesus Christ has been made Judge of the living and the
dead (verse 42). As in all Christian preaching to Gentiles, proofs from Scripture
take a secondary place (verse 43).

34. This verse refers to 1 Samuel 16:7, where the Lord, in connection with the
anointing of David as king of Israel, tells the prophet, “Do not look on his appea-
rance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord
sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord
looks on the heart.” When God calls and offers salvation to His elect, He does
not judge as men do. With Him distinctions regarding social class, race, sex
or education do not count.

Here St. Peter proclaims that the Old Testament prophecies about the Jews and
the Gentiles forming one single nation (Isaiah 2:2-4; Joel 2:28; Amos 9:12; Micah
4:1) and Jesus’ words calling everyone to enter His Kingdom (cf. Matthew 8:11;
Mark 16:15-16; John 10:16) should be interpreted literally.

40. Peter’s summary of the Gospel of Jesus (verses 37-41) reaches its climax
with his statement that “God raised Him on the third day.” This had become the
usual way of referring to our Lord’s resurrection (cf.1 Corinthians 15:4); see note
on Acts 4:10.

42. This verse refers to Christ’s role as Judge: He has been made supreme
Judge over all mankind and will deliver His judgment at His second coming (Pa-
rousia). “The Sacred Scriptures inform us that there are two comings of the Son
of God: the one when He assumed human flesh for our salvation in the womb of
a virgin; the other when He shall come at the end of the world to judge all man-
kind” (”St. Pius V Catechism”, I, 8, 2).

Christ’s coming as Judge means that men will appear before Him twice, to ren-
der an account of their lives—of their thoughts, words, deeds and omissions. The
first judgment will take place “when each of us departs this life; for then He is in-
stantly placed before the judgment-seat of God, where all that he has ever done
or spoken or thought during his life shall be subjected to the most rigid scrutiny.
This is called the Particular Judgment. The second occurs when on the same
day and in the same place all men shall stand together before the tribunal of
their Judge [...], and this is called the General Judgment” (”Ibid.”, I, 8, 3).

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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.