From: Acts 4:13-21
Address To the Sanhedrin (Continuation)
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[13] Now when they (the Sanhedrin) saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they wondered; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus. [14] But seeing the man that had been healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. [15] But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred with one another, [16] saying, "What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is manifest to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. [17] But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to any one in this Name." [18] So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. [19] But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God you must judge; [20] for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." [21] And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people; for all men praised God for what had happened.
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Commentary:
13. The members of the Sanhedrin are surprised by Peter's confidence and by the way these men, who are not well versed in the Law, are able to use Sacred Scripture. "Did not the Apostles," (St. John) Chrysostom asks in admiration, "poor and without earthly weapons, enter into battle against enemies who were fully armed [...]? Without experience, without skill of the tongue, they fought against experts in rhetoric and the language of the academies" (Hom. on Acts, 4).
18-20. In one of his homilies Pope St John Paul II gives us a practical commentary on this passage, which help us see the right order of priorities and give pride of place to the things of God: "Whereas the elders of Israel charge the Apostles not to speak about Christ, God, on the other hand, does not allow them to remain silent. [...] In Peter's few sentences we find a full testimony to the Resurrection of the Lord. [...] The word of the living God addressed to men obliges us more than any other human commandment or purpose. This word carries with it the supreme eloquence of truth, it carries the authority of God Himself. [...]
"Peter and the Apostles are before the Sanhedrin. They are completely and absolutely certain that God Himself has spoken in Christ, and has spoken definitely through His Cross and Resurrection. Peter and the Apostles to whom this truth was directly given--as also those who in their time received the Holy Spirit--must bear witness TO IT.
BELIEVING means accepting with complete conviction the truth that comes from God, drawing support from the grace of the Holy Spirit 'whom God has given to those who obey Him' (Acts 5:32) to accept what God has revealed and what comes to us through the Church in its living transmission, that is, in Tradition. The organ of this Tradition is the teaching of Peter and of the Apostles and of their successors.
"Over the centuries the sanhedrins change which seek to impose silence, abandonment or distortion of this truth. The "sanhedrins of the contemporary world" are many and of all types. These sanhedrins are each and every person who rejects divine truth; they are systems of human thought, of human knowledge; they are various "conceptions of the world" and also the various programs of human behavior; they are also the different "forms of pressure" used by so-called public opinion, mass civilization, media of social communication, which are materialist or secular agnostic or anti-religious; they are, finally, certain contemporary "systems of government" which--if they do not totally deprive citizens of scope to profess the faith--at least limit that scope in different ways, marginalize believers and turn them into second-class citizens...and against all these modern types of the Sanhedrin of that time, the response of faith is always the same: 'We must obey God rather than men' (Acts 5:29)" (Homily, 20 April 1980).
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene and to Two Disciples
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[9] Now when He (Jesus) rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast our seven demons. [10] She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. [11] But when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.
[12] After this He appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. [13] And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
Jesus Appears to the Eleven. The Apostles' Mission
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[14] Afterwards He appeared to the Eleven themselves as they sat at table; and He upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw Him after He had risen. [15] And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation."
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Commentary:
11-14. When reporting these first appearances of the risen Jesus, St. Mark stresses the disciples' disbelief and their reluctance to accept the fact of the Resurrection, even though Jesus foretold it (cf. Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34). This resistance shown by the Apostles is a further guarantee of the truth of Jesus' resurrection; they were to be direct, specially-appointed witnesses to the risen Christ, yet they were reluctant to accept this role. They had personal, direct proof of the truth of the Resurrection.
However, our Lord will say: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (John 20:29). In the Apostles' case, they needed, in addition to faith in the risen Christ, clear evidence of His resurrection, for they were to be the eye-witnesses, key witnesses who would proclaim it as an irrefutable fact. In this connection [Pope] St. Gregory the Great comments: "The reason why the disciples were slow to believe in the Resurrection was not so much due to their weakness as to our future firmness in the faith; what other purposes does this have (the very Resurrection being demonstrated by many arguments to those who were in doubt) than that our faith should be strengthened by their doubt?" (In Evangelia Homilae, 16).
12. Our Lord's appearance to these two disciples is reported more fully by St. Luke (cf. 24:13-35).
15. This verse contains what is called the "universal apostolic mandate" (paralleled by Matthew 28:19-20 and Luke 24:46-48). This is an imperative command from Christ to His Apostles to preach the Gospel to the whole world. This same apostolic mission applies, especially to the Apostles' successors, the bishops in communion with Peter's successor, the Pope.
But this mission extends further: the whole "Church was founded to spread the Kingdom of Christ over all the earth for the glory of God the Father, to make all men partakers in redemption and salvation....Every activity of the Mystical Body with this in view goes by the name of `apostolate'; the Church exercises it through all its members, though in various ways. In fact, the Christian vocation is, of its nature, a vocation to the apostolate as well. In the organism of a living body no member plays a purely passive part, sharing in the life of the body it shares at the same time in its activity. The same is true for the body of Christ, the Church: `the whole body achieves full growth in dependence on the full functioning of each part' (Ephesians 4:16). Between the members of this body there exists, further, such a unity and solidarity (cf. Ephesians 4:16) that a member who does not work at the growth of the body to the extent of his possibilities must be considered useless both to the Church and to himself.
"In the Church there is diversity of ministry but unity of mission. To the apostles and their successors Christ has entrusted the office of teaching, sanctifying and governing in His name and by His power. But the laity are made to share in the priestly, prophetical and kingly office of Christ; they have therefore, in the Church and in the world, their own assignment in the mission of the whole people of God" (Vatican II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 2).
It is true that God acts directly on each person's soul through grace, but it must also be said that it is Christ's will (expressed here and elsewhere) that men should be an instrument or vehicle of salvation for others.
Vatican II also teaches this: "On all Christians, accordingly, rests the noble obligation of working to bring all men throughout the whole world to hear and accept the divine message of salvation" ("ibid.", 3).