From: Acts 2:14, 22-33
Peter’s Address
[29] “Brethren, I may say to you confidently of the patriarch David that he both
died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. [30] Being therefore a
prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that He would set
one of his descendants upon his throne, [31] he foresaw and spoke of the resur-
rection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh see
corruption. [32] This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. [33]
Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the
Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and
hear.”
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
14-36. Even as the Church takes its first steps St. Peter can be seen to occupy
the position of main spokesman. In his address we can distinguish an introduc-
tion and two parts: in the first part (verses 16-21) he is explaining that the mes-
sianic times foretold by Joel have now arrived; in the second (verses 22-36) he
proclaims that Jesus of Nazareth, whom the Jews crucified, is the Messiah pro-
mised by God and eagerly awaited by the righteous of the Old Testament; it is
He who has effected God’s saving plan for mankind.
14. In his commentaries St. John Chrysostom draws attention to the change
worked in Peter by the Holy Spirit: “Listen to him preach and argue so boldly,
who shortly before had trembled at the word of a servant girl! This boldness is a
significant proof of the resurrection of his Master: Peter preaches to men who
mock and laugh at his enthusiasm. [...] Calumny (’they are filled with new wine’)
does not deter the Apostles; sarcasm does not undermine their courage, for the
coming of the Holy Spirit has made new men of them, men who can put up with
every kind of human test. When the Holy Spirit enters into hearts He does so to
elevate their affections and to change earthly souls, souls of clay, into chosen
souls, people of real courage [...]. Look at the harmony that exists among the
Apostles. See how they allow Peter to speak on behalf of them all. Peter raises
his voice and speaks to the people with full assurance. That is the kind of cou-
rage a man has when he is the instrument of the Holy Spirit. [...] Just as a bur-
ning coal does not lose its heat when it falls on a haystack but instead is ena-
bled to release its heat, so Peter, now that he is in contact with the life-giving
Spirit, spreads his inner fire to those around him” (”Hom. on Acts”, 4).
22-36. To demonstrate that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah foretold by the
prophets, St. Peter reminds his listeners of our Lord’s miracles (verse 22), as
well as of His death (verse 23), resurrection (verses 24-32) and glorious ascen-
sion (verses 33-35). His address ends with a brief summing-up (verse 36).
32. To proofs from prophecy, very important to the Jews, St. Peter adds his own
testimony on the resurrection of Jesus, and that of his brothers in the Apostolate.
*********************************************************************************************
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: 1 Peter 1:17-21
The Blood of Christ Is Our Ransom
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
17-21. The Christian has attained the honor of being a son or daughter of God.
The sacred writer summarizes God’s plan for man’s salvation, which comes a-
bout in Christ: from all eternity, it was God’s design to save men through Christ;
this design was made manifest “at the end of the times”, when our Lord offered
Himself as an expiation for the sins of men, and then rose from the dead and
was glorified. This is a further reason why Christians should grow in their desire
for holiness.
“You were ransomed” (verse 18): the image of ransoming used here to explain
Redemption is probably taken from sacred manumission (common at the time
in Asia Minor and Greece) whereby slaves were set free through a sum of mo-
ney being deposited in the temple. When exhorting Christians not to return to
their former sins, St. Paul also stresses the great size of the ransom (cf. 1 Co-
rinthians 6:20 and note). The amount of the ransom, St. Ambrose points out,
“was not reckoned in terms of money but in terms of blood, for Christ died for
us; He has set us free with His precious blood, as St. Peter also reminds us in
his letter [...]; precious because it is the blood of a spotless Lamb, the blood of
the Son of God, who has ransomed us not only from the curse of the Law, but
also from that never-ending death which impiety implies” (”Expositio Evangelii
Sec. Lucam”, 7, 117).
“The blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (verse 19): in the
sacrifice of Jesus was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah about the Messiah’s expia-
tory suffering; and it also finally completed the liberation of the Israelite first-born
in Egypt though the blood of the paschal lamb (Exodus 12; cf. Introduction to this
letter). So, when in the New Testament the figure of the Lamb is applied to Christ,
this is a way of referring to the atoning sacrifice of the Cross and, also, the spot-
less innocence of the Redeemer (cf. note on John 1:29).
17. “If you invoke as Father”: this may be a reference to the saying of the Our
Father, which Christians may have recited at the Baptism ceremony from the
very beginning. We do know (cf. the “Didache”, or “Teaching of the Twelve Apos-
tles”, an anonymous text of the apostolic era) that Christians used to pray the
Our Father three times a day (cf. 8, 3). Frequent reflection on the fact that God
is our Father fills us with peace and joy and stirs us to act as befits children of
such a Father, knowing that God sees us and judges our actions. Therefore, di-
vine filiation can never be taken as a kind of safe-conduct which allows us to be
casual about our duties: “Worldly souls are very fond of thinking of God’s mercy.
And so they are encouraged to persist in their follies.
“It is true that God our Lord is infinitely merciful, but He is also infinitely just:
and there is a judgment, and He is the Judge” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 747).
21. The resurrection of Jesus is the basis of Christian faith and hope and is the
main proof of Jesus’ divinity and His divine mission (cf., e.g., 1 Corinthians 15
and notes on same). The Apostles were, first and foremost, witnesses of our
Lord’s resurrection (cf. Acts 1:22; 2:32; etc.), and the proclamation of the Resu-
rrection was the core of apostolic catechesis (cf. the discourses of St. Peter and
St. Paul in the Acts of the Apostles).
Jesus Christ rose from the dead by His own power, the power of His divine person
(cf. “Creed of the People of God”, 12); the “St. Pius V Catechism” points out that
“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).
*********************************************************************************************
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.