From: Acts 13:22-26
Preaching in the Synagogue of Antioch of Pisidia (Continuation)
(Paul said to the Jews,) [22] "And when He had removed him (King Saul),
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.'
[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."
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 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.
"You that fear God" (verse 26): see the notes on Acts 2:5-11 and 10:2.
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.