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Commentary on Acts 22:30; 23:6-11

We are now coming to the end of Paul’s third missionary journey. Events are moving very fast as we have to finish Acts in the next three days! And a great deal is happening, much of which will have to be passed over. To fully understand, it might be a very good idea to take up a New Testament and read the full text of the last eight chapters of Acts.

As we begin today’s reading let us be filled in a little on what has happened between yesterday’s reading and today’s. After bidding a tearful farewell to his fellow-Christians in Ephesus, Paul and his companions began their journey back to Palestine, making a number of brief stops on the way—Cos, Rhodes, Patara. They by-passed Cyprus and landed at Tyre in Phoenicia. They stayed there for a week, during which time the brethren begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. They knew there would be trouble. But there was no turning back for Paul and again there was an emotional parting on the beach.

As Paul moved south, there was a stop at Ptolemais, where they greeted the community. Then it was on to Caesarea where Paul stayed in the house of Philip, the deacon, now called “the evangelist” (earlier we saw him do great evangelising work in Samaria and he was the one who converted the Ethiopian eunuch). Here too there was an experience in which Paul was warned by a prophet in the community of coming suffering. Again they all begged him not to go on, but he replied:

…I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

This was accepted as God’s will, and they let him go.

When they arrived in Jerusalem they received a warm welcome from the community there and went to pay a formal visit to James, the leader in the Jerusalem church. They were very happy to hear of all that Paul had done, but they were also concerned (and their concern would seem to indicate that there were some in the city who had not fully accepted the non-application of Jewish law for Gentiles).

The local Jews (including, it seems, the Christians) would have heard how Paul, also a Jew, had been telling Jews in gentile territory to “abandon Moses”, that is, not requiring them to circumcise their children or observe other Jewish practices. Some suggested a tactic for Paul to assuage the feelings of these people. On behalf of four members of the Jerusalem community, he was to make the customary payment for the sacrifices offered at the termination of the Nazirite vow (see Numbers 6:1-24) in order to impress favourably the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem with his high regard for the Mosaic Law. Since Paul himself had once made such a vow (when he was leaving Corinth, Acts 18:18), his respect for the law would be publicly known. Paul agreed with this suggestion and did as he was asked.

However, as the seven days stipulated were coming to an end, Paul was spotted by some Jews who had known him in Ephesus. A mob rushed into the Temple and seized him, and might have harmed him, if the Roman commander had not seen the riot. He rescued Paul, then arrested him and put him in chains and thus out of the reach of those wanting to harm him.

It was only after the arrest that the commander realised the Greek-speaking Paul was not an Egyptian rebel. Paul then asked to be allowed to address the crowd and, in a longish speech, told the assembled Jews the story of his conversion on the road to Damascus (the second time the story is told in Acts; it will be told again in chapter 26). At the end of the speech, the crowd bayed for his blood and Paul was about to be flogged in order to find out why the Jews wanted him executed. At this point, Paul revealed to the centurion that he was a Roman citizen and that, unlike the garrison commander who had bought his citizenship, he had been born one. This created great alarm among his captors and he was released.

The Roman commander then ordered a meeting of the Sanhedrin to be convened so that Paul could address them. While those of the high priestly line were mainly Sadducees, the Sanhedrin also now included quite a number of Pharisees. This council was the ruling body of the Jews. Its court and decisions were respected by the Roman authorities. Roman approval was needed, however, in cases of capital punishment (as happened in the case of Jesus). Paul’s being brought before the Sanhedrin was already foretold by Jesus to his disciples (see Matt 10:17-18). Paul, in time, will appear before “councils, governors and kings”.

He began by telling them that everything he had done was with a perfectly clear conscience. On hearing this, the high priest Ananias ordered that Paul be struck in the mouth. It was not unlike his Master being struck on the face during his trial. Paul hit back verbally:

…God will strike you, you whitewashed wall. (Acts 23:2)

He said this because, although Ananias was supposedly sitting in judgement according to Mosaic Law, he was breaking the law by striking the accused. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us that Ananias was actually assassinated in AD 66 at the beginning of the First Jewish Revolt. When Paul is accused of reviling the high priest, he said he did not realise Ananias was the high priest and apologised.

It is at this point that today’s reading begins—and it is one of the most dramatic scenes in the Acts. Paul knew his audience and he decided at the very beginning to make a preemptive strike. He professed loudly and with pride that he was a Pharisee, knowing that his audience consisted of both Pharisees and Sadducees.

Addressing his words specially to the Pharisees, he said:

I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead.

That was not quite the whole story, of course, as he made no mention of Christ, but it immediately put him on the side of his fellow-Pharisees. As Paul had told the Corinthians in one of his letters, if Christ was not risen from the dead, neither could we rise and there would be no basis for our faith. The hope of a future life was at the very heart of his Christian preaching.

That, of course, is not what the Pharisees heard. They immediately latched on to the fact that Paul, as a fellow-Pharisee held a belief that was denied by the Sadducees. The Sadducees only accepted as divine revelation the first five books of the Bible, what we call the Pentateuch. The resurrection of the body (in 2 Maccabees) and the doctrine of angels (in the book of Tobit) did not become part of Jewish teaching until a comparatively late date. On both these issues, however, Paul (a Pharisee himself) and the Pharisees were full agreement.

In the first five books of the Old Testament, there is no mention of a future resurrection, nor spirits, nor angels. It was on the basis of this belief that the Sadducees had challenged Jesus about the fate of a woman who had married seven brothers (see Luke 20:27-38 and Matt 22:25-32). If there is a resurrection, which of the seven would be her husband? For those who did not believe in life after death, the question was nonsense.

Paul’s words on resurrection immediately diverted attention from him to this contentious dividing point between the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

All of a sudden the Pharisees made an about-turn saying:

We find nothing wrong with this man.

And, in a deliberate provocation to the Sadducees who also did not believe in angels, the Pharisees said:

What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?

This could be a reference to Paul’s account to them earlier of his experience on the road to Damascus.

All objectivity was forgotten and the Pharisees, despite their earlier protestations, sided with Paul, ‘their man’, and a brawl ensued. It got so serious—and, remember, these were all ‘religious’ men!—that the tribune, fearing Paul would be torn to pieces, came to his rescue and put him back in the fortress.

That night, Paul received a vision in which he was assured that he would be protected in Jerusalem because it was the Lord’s wish that he give witness to the Gospel in Rome.

Perhaps Paul’s behaviour in this situation is a good example of Jesus’ advice to his disciples to be simple as doves and as wise as serpents! Paul was more than ready to suffer for his Lord, but he was no pushover.

While we, too, are to be prepared to give witness to our faith even with the sacrifice of our lives, and never to indulge in any form of violence against those who attack us, we are not asked to go out of our way to invite persecution or physical attacks. That is not the meaning of the injunction to carry our cross. Jesus himself often took steps to avoid trouble.

Joan of Arc defended herself as did Thomas More and, indeed as Jesus himself did during his trial:

If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me? (John 18:23)

But, like them, we will try never to evade death or any other form of hostility by compromising the central teaching of our faith.

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Commentary on John 17:11-19

Today Jesus continues his prayer for his disciples. He prays for their continued loyalty to the Gospel message and for unity among them.  He has kept them true to his name. One was lost, although that was foreseen from all time.

They have accepted the message of Jesus and, because of that, they will be hated by the world as Jesus himself was hated.  Because, like Jesus, they do not identify with the values and priorities of the world.

At the same time, Jesus makes it very clear that he is not asking that they be removed from the world’s environment, only that they be protected from its evil influences.  It is only by being in the world that they will be able to communicate the Gospel message.  Armed with truth, with the integrity of Jesus himself, he is sending them into the midst of the world. That is where they are to do their work.  They were, as he said elsewhere, to be “the salt of the earth” and the “yeast in the dough”.

Jesus prays that they be consecrated in truth, the truth of God himself.  This truth does not consist of a set of dogmas.  Rather it consists in the living out lives of perfect integrity and wholeness, in perfect harmony with the will of the Father and the Way of Jesus, and dedicated to bringing that truthfulness and integrity to the world.  The disciples do this by living lives of love, a love expressed in service to the well-being of all. They have the full backing of Jesus, who says:

…I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Let us then pray today:

• for the unity among us which Jesus prayed for in his disciples;
• that we may be ready for the hostility and the indifference of the world;
• that we may realise, if we want to give witness to the Gospel, we must be fully inserted into the world by which we are surrounded.  To be ‘holy’ is not to escape and distance ourselves physically from that world, which is what many are tempted to do or even think is the right thing to do*;
• that we may be people of complete integrity, that we may be filled with truth and sincerity so that what people see in us is what we truly are and wish to be: disciples of Jesus.

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*Notwithstanding this, there are cloistered and contemplative communities who, while physically separated from the ‘world’, devote their time and energy to pray for that world.

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Commentary on Acts 20:28-38

Just to remind ourselves, we are still with Paul on his Third Missionary Journey.  And today we have the second part of his farewell discourse to the elders of the church at Ephesus.  In the first part Paul had spoken mainly about himself.

In today’s reading, he begins by reminding them that they are to carry out the responsibility implied in their title.  As ‘elders’ (presbyteroi) they are called to watch over the flock entrusted to them.  They have been appointed ‘overseers’.  The elders are called “overseers” (episkopoi, from which come words like ‘bishop’ and ‘episcopal’) and told to pastor (“shepherd”) the flock—demonstrating that the same men could be called “elders”, “overseers” or “pastors” depending on how their role in the church was seen. This community is the “church of God”, acquired with his own blood.  As God in himself does not spill blood, we can take it to mean that the work of the Father and of the Son are seen as one; what Jesus does, including the shedding of his blood, is an expression of everything his Father wills.

Paul envisages fierce attacks on the community after he has gone:

…savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Even from among themselves, people will arise who in “distorting the truth” will try to cause divisions among some of the Christians.  So he begs them to take to heart all the teachings he gave them over a period of three years.

On the other hand, he is not in debt to them.  He never asked for money or clothing from anyone.  His needs and those of his companions were served by his own hands. This is something he has mentioned more than once with some pride and satisfaction.  On the contrary, his concerns have always been those who are weak and in need.  And he quotes words of Jesus:

It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Incidentally, this saying is not quoted in any of the Gospels, but of course, there must be many of Jesus’ sayings which did not get recorded in writing.

The passage concludes with the highly emotional departure scene with prayers and tears and much kissing and embracing.  They believed they were never more to see the father of their church. In fact, they were to meet briefly once more.

There certainly is a good deal here for our own reflection.  We have to be ready for our Christian communities today to come under attack, even when—or specifically because—we are living out the Gospel values. We have to admit, too, that there are often divisions among, us and that we can twist the words of the Gospel to suit ourselves and our own interests.

We need to ask to what extent we really do take care of the weaker ones among us.  We cannot separate the needs of the body from that of the spirit.

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Commentary on John 16:29-33

The disciples now claim to understand exactly what Jesus is talking about, although it is doubtful that they really do.  It will not be until later on that the full meaning of Jesus’ words will be grasped by them.

They are impressed that Jesus can answer their questions even before they are formulated:

Now we know that you know all things and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.

Yet, perhaps they are speaking too quickly.

Jesus questions the depth of their belief.  Very soon, in spite of their protestations now, they will be scattered in all directions and leave Jesus alone and abandoned.  Of course, Jesus will not be alone; the Father is always with him even at the lowest depths of his humiliation.  Even when he himself will cry out:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matt 27:46)

He tells them all this, not to discourage them, but so that they can find peace.  There will be many troubles facing them in the coming days and indeed in the years ahead.  They are not to worry—Jesus has conquered the world, not in any political or economic sense, but in overcoming the evil of the world that is death.  His disciples can share in that victory as long as they stay close to him and walk his Way.

These words obviously have meaning for us especially if we are experiencing difficulties of any kind in our lives.  The peace we seek is available if we put ourselves into Jesus’ hands.  He knows—he has been through more than anything we are ever likely to have to experience.

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Commentary on Acts 19:1-8

We are still following the Third Missionary Journey of Paul. Apollos (to whom we were introduced last Saturday) has now left Ephesus for Corinth at the invitation of the Christians there. Later, he will return to Ephesus while Paul is still in the city. Meanwhile, Paul himself now reaches Ephesus. We are told that he “passed through the interior regions”. This means that he did not follow the lower and more direct route down the Lycus and Meander valleys, but followed the upper route through Phrygia (where he had evangelised before), thus approaching Ephesus from the north.

Today Ephesus is only a heap of ruins, but in its day it was one of the great cities of the region. The ruins of its great temple dedicated to the goddess Diana are still standing. The city was regarded, with Alexandria, as one of the finest cities in the empire, a religious, political and commercial centre of mixed population.

One of the finest letters in the Pauline canon is addressed to the Christians here. Although it certainly reflects his thinking, its personal authorship by Paul is in some doubt, and it is also thought to have been a kind of encyclical letter sent to a number of church centres, of which Ephesus was one. It is also thought that, during his stay in the city, Paul wrote his letters to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians), the Galatians and probably, the letter to the Philippians as well.

On arriving in Ephesus, Paul came across a number of disciples. As they are called ‘disciples’, they seem to have been followers of Jesus, but only indirectly through John the Baptist or some of his followers. Or perhaps they had received their teaching from Apollos himself in his earlier state of partial understanding and so, like Apollos, had only a limited understanding of the Gospel.

On asking them if they had received the Holy Spirit, they replied that they had never even heard of a Holy Spirit and that they had been baptised with the baptism of John the Baptist. They were unaware, not that the Spirit existed (which would be evident from the Old Testament to even the most casual reader), but that the messianic promises had already been fulfilled and the Spirit was being poured out in abundance (see Acts 2:17-18,33).

Paul pointed out to them that John’s baptism was only a ritual of sorrow for sin. It was preparatory and provisional, stressing man’s sinfulness and thus creating a sense of need for the Gospel. John’s baptism looked forward to Jesus, who by his death would make possible the full forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. Baptism in the Holy Spirit involved faith in and total commitment to Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

After they were baptised in the name of Jesus and Paul had laid hands on them, they immediately began to speak in tongues and to prophesy—a sure sign that the Spirit had come down on them. This was exactly the same experience the disciples had at Pentecost (Acts 2:4,11) and Cornelius and his household had in Caesarea (Acts 10:45-46).

We now pick up again the narrative of Paul’s mission, which had been interrupted by the words about Apollos and the disciples who had only had the baptism of John. For three months, Paul preached the Gospel in the local synagogue. We are told that he:

…spoke out boldly and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God.

The establishment of the Kingdom on earth is the focal point of the Gospel message. As well, it was the beginning of the establishment of a vigorous Christian community church in Ephesus. Paul was again following his usual approach—addressing the Jews first and then gentile Greeks.

In our own times, some Christians speak of being “born again”. They had gone through the ritual of baptism, perhaps as infants, and may have grown up with very little faith in their lives. Then they ‘discover’ Christ through personal contact or participation in an active Christian group, and they feel as though they have been ‘reborn’. Their baptism, which had lain dormant for such a long time, begins to exercise its effects. It is an indication how the sacraments can never be separated from close contact with, and involvement in, a living community.

All of us, at whatever stage of commitment we find ourselves, can deepen our unity with Jesus and the way of life he invites us to follow. We can renew the pledges that we made (or that were made for us) when we were baptised. We might even make those pledges consciously for the first time!

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Note: The Feast of the Ascension of the Lord is celebrated in connection with World Communications Day. We are invited to reflect upon the diversity of media of social communication and how they influence our lives.

Commentary on Acts 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:17-23; Matthew 28:16-20 Read The Ascension of the Lord (Year A) »

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Commentary on John 16:23-28

We are coming now to the end of John chapter 16 in Jesus’ discourse at the Last Supper. Today Jesus makes a solemn promise that whatever his disciples ask the Father in Jesus’ name will be given to them. Up to this, of course, they have not been praying to God through Jesus. That will only happen after the resurrection and ascension. But then it will become the normal way for the Church to pray to the Father, as we do in all the prayers in the liturgy of the sacraments.

Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

As we have pointed out before, this is not a carte blanche for us to make any request that comes into our heads. It is understood that we will be praying, first of all, for what we genuinely need and not just for what we want.

And what we need most of all is to be close to our God, and to be equipped with all those things and do all those things which will bring us closer to his will—things which will enable us to work with him for the building of the Kingdom. Those prayers will be answered, although not always exactly in the way we might envisage. It may not be until much later that we will realise just how our prayers have been answered—often in very unexpected ways.

Jesus says a strange thing at this point, when his disciples ask for something in his name:

I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf…

And the reason he gives is:

…for the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

Our Father already knows all our needs and he wants to satisfy them for us in his love. He will not need the intercession of his Son.

And, when we are already closely related in love and faith with the Father and Jesus, mediation is hardly necessary: our relationship is the mediating factor. Our prayer through Jesus is not to tell God something he does not know already. Rather it is to help make us aware of what our real needs are and to go to where those needs will be answered.

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Commentary on John 16:20-23

Today’s Gospel repeats much of yesterday’s about the sorrow the disciples will experience when Jesus goes away (in his suffering and death) and the joy they will experience when he soon returns (in his resurrection). Jesus compares their experience to a woman about to give birth to a child:

When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world.

The joy of seeing her newborn child face to face is worth any pain. The disciples will have to go through a similar experience as the new Jesus, the Risen Christ, enters his new life and the new People of God, his post-resurrection Body, comes to birth.

Today’s passage adds the promise that, when Jesus sees them again:

…your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

And they will no longer have need to ask the questions they are asking now. It does not mean that there will not be more sufferings in the future. There will be, and some of the disciples will give their lives for their commitment to Jesus and the Kingdom. But for those who are close to Jesus, pain and joy are not incompatible.

Let us pray that we, too, who have the enduring presence of the Risen Jesus with us at all times, wherever we happen to be, experience—in spite of inevitable trials and disappointments—the same kind of joy. In fact, we have reason to be concerned if there is not an underlying joy in our lives. It should make us wonder just how close we really are to Jesus.

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Commentary on Acts 18:9-18

We pick up on yesterday’s reading and Paul is still in Corinth. His missionary work is going well. He now receives encouragement in a vision in which the Lord tells him to keep speaking out. The Lord is with him, he has many friends in the city and no harm will come to him. This is just one of three visions of the Lord which Paul is said to have had. So Paul stays in the city for a year and a half preaching the Good News. It is possible that, during this time, he may have extended his evangelising work to other parts of the province of Achaia, where Corinth was situated.

However, as often was the case, during this time some Jews in the city who were opposed to him brought him to the civil court accusing him of telling people to worship in ways which were against the law. They brought their case to Gallio, the pro-consul of Achaia. Achaia was the Roman province in southern Greece in which Corinth was situated.

We know a certain amount about this Gallio, who was a brother of Seneca, the famous Roman philosopher and tutor of the emperor Nero. The New International Version Bible notes:

“Gallio was admired as a man of exceptional fairness and calmness. From an inscription found at Delphi, it is known that Gallio was proconsul of Achaia in AD 51-52. This information enables us to date Paul’s visit to Corinth on his second journey as well as his writing of the Thessalonian letters.”

The Jews accused Paul of breaking the law but did not specify whether it was Jewish or Roman law. But the Jews were claiming that Paul was advocating a religion not recognised by Roman law, as Judaism was. However, if he had been given the opportunity to speak, Paul could have argued that the message he was preaching arose from the faith of his fellow-Jews and thus was actually within the terms of Roman law.

After listening to their arguments, Gallio decided they were fighting over the interpretation of purely religious matters in which he personally had no competence or interest. If it had been a case of a crime or malicious fraud, he said he would have taken it more seriously. Instead, he summarily dismissed the charge.

The disappointed plaintiffs then set on a man called Sosthenes, a leader in the synagogue, and beat him up in the presence of the court. It is not clear whether it was the crowd in general who picked on Sosthenes as an excuse to attack the Jews or whether it was his own people beating their synagogue ruler for losing the case. Whatever the reason, Gallio showed no interest whatever in what was going on.

In the opening of the First Letter to the Corinthians Paul refers to “our brother Sosthenes” (1 Cor 1:1). If it is the same person, then he was the second ruler of a synagogue to become a Christian in Corinth as a result of Paul’s preaching.

When he felt the time was right, Paul, in the company of his friends and fellow-workers, Priscilla and Aquila, set off home for Antioch in Syria, the headquarters of the missionary church where they would report their experiences. Priscilla’s name is put first, which may indicate either her more prominent role in the church or her higher social standing.

Finally, before embarking at the port of Cenchreae, Paul shaved his head because of a vow he had taken. The original Greek is not clear and it seems that it was Paul, not Aquila, who took the vow. To take a vow was to be nazir for the period it covered, usually 30 days, and among other obligations it meant leaving the hair uncut during that time. (Samson was a Nazirite and we know what happened when Delilah gave him a haircut!) Different vows were frequently taken to express thanks for deliverance from grave dangers, and indeed Paul’s time in Corinth had been relatively free from trouble. It is not known whether the vow was taken by Paul at Cenchreae or whether it expired there. Later on in Acts, Paul will again perform the rite with four other Jews in fulfilment of a vow.

Perhaps contrary to Paul’s expectations, those 18 months had been extremely fruitful and many had found their way to Christ. We still have two wonderful letters, which are perhaps the condensation of four letters altogether, sent by Paul to his converts in the city—letters which still have a great deal to say to us about following Christ. In due course, we will be reading them during our Sunday and weekday Masses.

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Note: This Mass, also known as ‘Thursday Before Ascension Sunday’, is celebrated in those countries where the feast of our Lord’s Ascension is moved to the Sunday of Week 7 of Easter. For the Ascension Day reflection, see this coming Sunday’s Scripture commentary.

Commentary on John 16:16-20

As Jesus continues to speak to his disciples at the Last Supper and briefs them on what is coming they are puzzled when he says:

A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.

They start mumbling among themselves asking what on earth Jesus is talking about. Seeing and not seeing and seeing again and “a little while”. To us it is clear enough that Jesus is referring to his coming suffering and death and his resurrection.

Jesus still does not spell it out clearly, but he does warn them that they:

…will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy.

Jesus’ passion, which will cause them to flee in fear of their lives, will be a traumatic experience. All their beliefs in Jesus as Messiah and Saviour turn to ashes. But there will be others (“the world”) who will be overjoyed over Jesus’ arrest and execution.

The disciples, though, are not to worry because their “pain will turn into joy” with the dawn of the Resurrection and all that implies. In their own way, the disciples will share the Passion of Jesus, as all their hopes and expectations are emptied and turn to dust—only to be revived with the realisation that their Master still lives as Lord and King.

All our sufferings can similarly be turned to joy when we totally unite ourselves with Jesus our Lord and suffer with him and for him, for his Gospel and for the sake of all our brothers and sisters.