Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
First Reading:
From: Acts 13:44-52
Paul and Barnabas Preaches to the Pagans
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[44] The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered together to hear the Word of God. [45] But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted what was spoken by Paul, and reviled him. [46] And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, "It was necessary that the Word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. [47] For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, 'I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.'"
[48] And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the Word of God; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. [49] And the Word of the Lord spread throughout all the region. [50] But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. [51] But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and went to Iconium. [52] And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
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Commentary:
45. The opposition of these Jews, who in their jealousy contradict what Paul says, will from now be the typical attitude of the synagogue to the Gospel. It emerges everywhere the Apostle goes, with the exception of Beroea (cf. 17:10-12).
46. Paul may have been hoping that Christianity would flourish on the soil of Judaism, that the Jews would peacefully and religiously accept the Gospel as the natural development of God's plans. His experience proved otherwise: he encountered the terrible mystery of the infidelity of most of the chosen people, his own people.
Even if Israel had been faithful to God's promises, it would still have been necessary to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. The evangelization of the pagan world is not a consequence of Jewish rejection of the Word; it is required by the universal character of Christianity. To all men Christianity is the only channel of saving grace; it perfects the Law of Moses and reaches out beyond the ethnic and geographical frontiers of Judaism.
47. Paul and Barnabas quote Isaiah 49:6 in support of their decision to preach to the Gentiles. The Isaiah text referred to Christ, as Luke 3:32 confirms. But now Paul and Barnabas apply it to themselves because the Messiah is "light for the Gentiles" through the preaching of the Apostles, for they are conscious of speaking in Christ's name and on His authority. Therefore, probably here "the Lord" refers not to God the Father but to Christ.
51. "They shook the dust from their feet": a traditional expression: the Jews regarded as unclean the dust of anywhere other than the holy land of Palestine. Our Lord extended the meaning of the phrase when He told the disciples He was sending them out to preach, "If any one will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet" (Matthew 10:14; cf. Luke 9:5). This gesture of Paul and Barnabas echoes what Jesus said and amounted to "closing the case" or putting on record the unbelief of the Jews.