Judas Cyriacus
Palma il Giovane (1550–1628)
I Gesuiti, Venice - Sacristy.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: Acts 13:13-25
They Cross into Asia Minor
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[13] Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos, and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem; [14] but they passed on from Perga and came to Antioch of Pisidia.
Preaching in the Synagogue of Antioch of Pisidia
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And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. [15] After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, "Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it." [16] So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: "Men of Israel, and you that fear God, listen. [17] The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm He led them out of it. [18] And for about forty years He bore with them in the wilderness. [19] And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave them their land as an inheritance, for about four hundred and fifty years. [20] And after that He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. [21] Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. [22] And when He had removed him, He raised up David 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 worthy to untie.'"
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Commentary:
15. Sabbath services in synagogues went right back to the post-exilic period (after the Babylonian Captivity, which lasted from 586 to 539 B.C.), and by now they had a very settled form. They consisted of readings from Sacred Scripture, preaching and public prayers. No one was especially appointed to preside over these services; the president or ruler of the synagogue could ask any member of the community to take the ceremony (cf. 18:8); he supervised the preparations and made sure that everything was done properly.
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 quotations from Sacred Scripture, chosen to show that the decisive event of the Resurrection 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.