From: Acts 4:8-12
Address to the Sanhedrin (Continuation)
[8] Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of
the people and elders, [9] if we are being examined today concerning a
good deed done to a cripple, by what means this man has been healed,
[10] be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God
raised from the dead, by Him this man is standing before you well.
[11] This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, but which
has become the head of the corner. [12] And there is salvation in no
one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by
which we must be saved."
Commentary:
8-12. The Apostles' confidence and joy is quite remarkable, as is their
outspokenness in asserting that "we cannot but speak of what we have
seen and heard" (verse 20). "This is the glorious freedom of the
children of God. Christians who let themselves be browbeaten or become
inhibited or envious in the face of the licentious behavior of those
who do not accept the Word of God, show that they have a very poor idea
of the faith. If we truly fulfill the law of Christ--that is, if we
make the effort to do so, for we will not always fully succeed--we will
find ourselves endowed with a wonderful gallantry of spirit" ([St] J. Escriva,
"Friends of God", 38).
Christians have a duty to confess their faith where silence would mean
its implicit denial, disrespect for religion, an offense against God or
scandal to their neighbor. Thus Vatican II: "Christians should
approach those who are outside wisely, 'in the Holy Spirit, genuine
love, truthful speech' (2 Corinthians 6:6-7), and should strive, even
to the shedding of their blood, to spread the light of life with all
confidence (Acts 4:29) and apostolic courage. The disciple has a grave
obligation to Christ, his Master, to grow daily in his knowledge of the
truth he has received from Him, to be faithful in announcing it and
vigorous in defending it" ("Dignitatis Humanae", 14).
Pope Paul VI asked Catholics to check on any weak points in their
faith, including ignorance and human respect, "that is, shame or
timidness in professing their faith. We are not speaking of that
discretion or reserve which in a pluralist and profane society like
ours avoids certain signs of religion when with others. We are
referring to weakness, to failure to profess one's own religious ideas
for fear of ridicule, criticism or others' reactions [...] and which is
a cause--perhaps the main cause--of the abandonment of faith by people
who simply conform to whatever new environment they find themselves in"
([Pope] Paul VI, "General Audience", 19 June 1968).
8. Even in the very early days of Christianity Jesus' prediction is
borne out: "Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to
councils.... When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are
to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given
you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your
Father speaking through you" (Matthew 10:17-20).
10. "Whom God raised from the dead": St. Peter once again bears witness
to the Resurrection of Jesus, the central truth of apostolic preaching;
he uses here the same words as he did at Pentecost. These are
compatible with our holding that Jesus "rose by His own power on the
third day" ([Pope] Paul VI, "Creed of the People of God", 12). The
power by which Christ rose was that of His divine person, to which both
His soul and His body remained joined even after death separated them.
"The divine power and operation of the Father and of the Son is one and
the same; hence it follows that Christ rose by the power of the Father
and by His own power" (St. Thomas Aquinas, "Summa Theologiae", III, q.
53, a. 4).
"By the word 'Resurrection'," the "St. Pius V Catechism" explains, "we
are not merely to understand that Christ was raised from the dead,
which happened to many others, but that He rose by His own power and
virtue, a singular prerogative peculiar to Him alone. For it is
incompatible with nature and was never given to man to raise himself by
his own power, from death to life. This was reserved for the almighty
power of God. [...] We sometimes, it is true, read in Scripture that
He was raised by the Father; but this refers to Him as man, just as
those passages on the other hand, which say that He rose by His own
power, relate to Him as God" (I, 6, 8).
11. St. Peter applies the words of Psalm 118:22 to Jesus, conscious no
doubt that our Lord had referred to Himself as the stone rejected by
the builders which had become the cornerstone, the stone which keeps
the whole structure together (cf. Matthew 21:42 and par.).
12. Invocation of the name of Jesus is all-powerful because this is our
Savior's own name (cf. note on Matthew 1:21). Our Lord Himself told
His Apostles this: "If you ask anything of the Father, He will give it
to you in My name" (John 16:23), and they, trusting in this promise,
work miracles and obtain conversions "in the name of Jesus". Today--as
ever--the power of His name will work wonder in the souls of those who
call upon Him. Monsignor Escriva gives this advice: "Don't be afraid
to call our Lord by His name--Jesus--and to tell Him that you love Him"
("The Way", 303); and the Liturgy of the Hours invites us to pray: "God
our Father, You are calling us to prayer, at the same hour as the
Apostles went up to the temple. Grant that the prayer we offer with
sincere hearts in the name of Jesus may bring salvation to all who call
upon that holy name" (Week 1, Monday afternoon).
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.