Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, since we are questioned today about a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you 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 healed.
ACTS 4:8-12
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them:
“Rulers of the people and elders, since we are questioned today about a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you 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 healed.
This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 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.”
This is a continuation of last Sunday’s text. A miraculous healing of a lame man has taken place. Peter explained it to the people and now repeats the explanation to the rulers of the people, with the same basic ideas:
– the healing is in the name of Jesus, the Nazarene.
– whom you crucified.
– whom God raised.
– He, whom you rejected, is the cornerstone, the Messiah foretold by the Scriptures.
It is clear that we are facing the first preaching, and directed to Jews, who await the fulfillment of The Promise. Peter’s message is “In Jesus the promise is fulfilled.” It is important to realize the intention of the authors, the intention for example of each evangelist.
A gospel like that of Matthew, directed to Jews, insists more on the fulfillment of The Promise. A gospel like that of John is a more complex theological elaboration, which selects facts to reveal the great lines of revelation. In the Book of Acts, Luke begins with a proclamation to the Jews: the stone you rejected has become the cornerstone.
Later, due to the rejection of the Jews and with the appearance of Paul, the thesis of the book will be that the Good News must be announced to the Gentiles, without the need to subject them to the Law.
1 JOHN 3:1-2
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
We are familiar with John’s themes. He loved us first and calls us to be children. What we are will be fully manifested, we shall see him as he is. There is an opposition between God and the world. We are rejected by the world because the world “does not know God.” These are the same themes of the fourth gospel, an ultimate and complete reflection on the message and meaning of Jesus.
But the final sentence is the fullness of our hope: “What we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Nothing more exciting, so hopeful for life after death, can be said.
José Enrique Galarreta, S.J.