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Commentary on Acts 3:11-26

Immediately after the dramatic cure of the beggar who was “lame from birth” in the Temple, Peter takes the opportunity to address the crowds which had gathered, to explain the meaning of what they have just witnessed.

The scene takes place at “Solomon’s Portico”. This was a porch along the inner side of the wall enclosing the outer court, with rows of 27-foot high stone columns and a roof of cedar. So it was a roofed structure—somewhat similar to a Greek stoa. There was a common, but mistaken, belief that it dated back to Solomon’s time.

The message that Peter now gives the amazed crowd gathering around is similar to other addresses in the early Church and contains: 1) an explanation of what is happening; 2) the gospel of Jesus Christ—his death, resurrection and glorification; and 3) a call to repentance and change of life, symbolised by baptism.

First, Peter makes clear that the healing that has just taken place before their eyes is not by his own power or that of his companion, John. They are not to be gaped at as having supernatural powers. What has been done has been through the power of Jesus, who has been empowered by the God they all believe in, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Jesus is the one his hearers “handed over” to Pilate. Here again we have this ‘handing over’, a phrase which runs like a refrain through the Gospel. And he whom they handed over was the “Holy and Righteous One”, indicating Jesus’ special relationship to the Father and his sinlessness—in stark contrast to the guilt of the murderous Barabbas.

Pilate was only too anxious to let Jesus go, being aware of his innocence, but he gave in to the demands of the crowd and yielded to their choice of a convicted murderer, Barabbas. To the crowd, Peter says:

…you killed the author of life…

While Barabbas had taken away life and was freed, Jesus—the source of life—was condemned to death. The sequence of the Easter Sunday Mass says:

Dux vitae mortuus regnat vivus.

Literally translated this means: “The Leader of life, having died, reigns alive.”

Peter and his companions are witnesses that Jesus was raised again. And it was in the name of this same Jesus that the poor beggar has been restored to health and mobility.

God has “glorified his servant” by Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. The word “servant” is reminiscent of the Songs of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah (and which we read early in Holy Week), especially Isaiah 52:13—53:12. Jesus himself spoke of being a servant when he washed his disciples’ feet and when he said that he had come to serve and not to be served. All of this did not quite fit the image of the kind of Messiah the Jews were expecting.

And it is by faith in this very Jesus that the poor beggar, “lame from birth” and well known to the crowds who came regularly to the Temple, has been “made strong”:

…faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

Peter excuses his hearers (as Jesus himself did), saying they did not fully realise at the time what they were doing. Yet, the suffering of the Christ had long been foretold by the prophets. The early Christians saw the suffering and death of Jesus clearly indicated in Old Testament prophecies. The Jews, however, did not expect a suffering and dying Messiah—quite the opposite. They saw in Isaiah’s Servant Songs their own suffering as a people.

Now it is not too late for them to ‘repent’ (there is metanoia again), that is, radically to change their ways and thus have their sin taken away. To ‘repent’ is not just to express sorrow; it involves re-establishing one’s close relationship with God and submitting totally to his Way. The nearest English equivalent is ‘con-version’, a ‘turning round’, which means, of course, a ‘turning towards’.

Jesus, after all, is the prophet who was foretold by Moses, who, Peter tells the crowd, had said:

The Lord your God will raise up for you from your own people a prophet like me. You must listen to whatever he tells you.

This is a loose quotation from Deuteronomy (18:15). In fact, at the time of Jesus, some Jews expected a unique prophet to come in fulfilment of this text. So early Christianity applied this tradition and text to Jesus, especially where Christian teaching seemed to diverge from traditional Judaism.

And indeed, says Peter, every prophet from Samuel down predicted what is now taking place before their eyes. Samuel was one of the earliest of the prophets and the one who anointed David, Jesus’ ancestor, as king. So the Jews in his audience are the heirs of the prophets’ messages; they are the heirs to the covenant first made way back with Abraham:

…and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice. (Gen 22:18)

It is time now for the people to acknowledge this sacred covenant, made new through Jesus Christ, and they will do that by their accepting Jesus as their Saviour and abandoning their sinful ways to walk the Way of Jesus. Exactly the same applies to us.

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Commentary on Revelation 5:1-10

The vision we were introduced to yesterday of God on his throne in glory continues with the introduction of a scroll which represents God’s secret plans for the world. Its contents are unfolded in chapters 6-9 of Revelation, which, however, we will not be reading in the liturgy. Today’s passage is beautiful—once the symbolism of the images is made clear.

First, a word about scrolls. The normal way for writings to be kept was in the form of scrolls. Books, as we know them, did not come into existence until the 2nd century AD. The scroll was made either of leather (e.g. parchment) or from papyrus, a reed whose fibres were made into a kind of rough paper. They were written normally on only one side (but sometimes two) and in columns with pen and ink. After completion, they were rolled up and sealed so that only those authorised could read them (remember, very few people could read—widespread literacy would not come until after the printing press was invented). Some examples of scrolls found in Egypt were up to 100 feet in length, but biblical scrolls would seldom be more than 30 feet—for instance the text of Isaiah. Reading them was a somewhat inconvenient process as they had to be unrolled and re-rolled at the same time. The arrival of the book changed all that by making any part of the script quickly accessible.

In his vision, John sees “the One” on the throne—God, holding a scroll in his hands. Unusually, this scroll was written on both sides and it had seven seals. This indicated its degree of total inaccessibility to the unauthorised.

The voice of an angel then is heard asking who, if anyone:

…is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?

But it seemed that there was absolutely no one in the whole universe (“in heaven, on the earth, or under the earth”) who could do so:

And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it.

The known universes consisted of these three components. Under the earth was Hades, the place of the dead and the word corresponding to the Hebrew sheol. Only Christ will have the power to release those trapped there.

John weeps when he realises that no one is found worthy to open and reveal the contents of the scroll, until one of the 24 elders tells him that there is someone who can open the scroll and read it:

See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.

The “Lion of Judah” is a messianic title found in Genesis, where Judah is referred to as a “lion’s cub” and promised the right to rule “until he comes to whom it belongs”. The “Root of David”, from Isaiah, points to a future saviour-king descended from King David. Our Lord Jesus, of course, is indicated here. “He has conquered” refers to conquering Satan and the world.

The “Lion” then appears in the form of a Lamb, standing between the throne of God with the four creatures and the outer circles of the elders on their 24 thrones. The Lamb bears the marks of having been sacrificed, for this is the Passover Lamb sacrificed to save God’s people. Although the wounds are visible, the Lamb has risen from death and is upright in triumph and victory. The wounds are the badges of his victory over sin and death.

As a conqueror of death, this Lamb is also a Lion. (Incidentally, Revelation uses a word for “lamb” (arnion) 29 times. Arnion is found only once elsewhere in the New Testament—in the scene after the resurrection where Jesus tells Peter to “feed my lambs”—see John 21:15). There is also a tradition in apocryphal writing for the ‘lamb’ as a victorious military leader. The Lamb has seven horns and seven eyes. The number ‘seven’ indicates fullness and completeness. The horns represent power and the eyes knowledge and wisdom.

The Lamb now comes forward to take the scroll from the hands of God sitting on his throne. As soon as he does so, the four creatures and the 24 elders all prostrate themselves. They give the same worship to the Lamb as they do to the One on the throne.

They each have a harp, used to accompany the songs of praise they sing, and bowls of incense representing the prayers of the whole Christian community. Incense was a normal feature of Hebrew ritual. In later Jewish thought, angels often present the prayers of saints to God (e.g. Tob 12:11-15). Our image of heaven as people kneeling on clouds playing harps comes from images like this in Revelation. But of course, our future life with God should in no way be seen as being like this!

The passage concludes with the “new song” of the creatures and the elders, a hymn in praise of the Lamb, who alone is found worthy to open the scroll. In the Old Testament, a new song celebrates a new intervention of deliverance or blessing by God. Here, it is the Lamb who has earned the right to open the scroll by the sacrificing and pouring out of his blood, which bought back people of every race and nation and:

…made them a kingdom and priests serving our God,
and they will reign on earth.

“Kindom [or ‘kings’ in some translations] and priests”, previously an Old Testament designation of Israel, is now applied in the New Testament to the whole Christian community.

Through our baptism and our identifying with the Lamb, we share in a special way in both the kingship and priesthood of Christ, and also in his role as prophet. This is true of every single Christian and not just the hierarchy, clergy or religious.

Today we give special thanks and praise to the Lamb, who sacrificed his life in love for us and who, through his life, death and resurrection and through the Gospel (the Scroll) he bequeathed to us, has left us a priceless guide to a life of happiness and fulfilment.

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Commentary on Luke 4:31-37

Immediately after his mixed reception in Nazareth, Jesus moves on to Capernaum, a town on the north shore of Galilee, which was to be the base from which Jesus did much of his missionary work. As in Nazareth, he taught the people in the synagogue on the sabbath. Unlike in Nazareth:

They were astounded at his teaching because he spoke with authority.

He did not quote other authorities like the teachers of the law, because his authority was directly from God; it was his own.

At the same time, it was not the authority of domination. It was the authority of someone who has access to special knowledge, the authority of someone who speaks in his own name and not just on behalf of others, the authority of one who empowers others and makes them grow.

The word ‘authority’ comes from the Latin auctoritas, which in turn comes from the verb augere, meaning to increase or augment. And Jesus’ authority is not only in word and teaching. Right there in the synagogue as he speaks is a man possessed by a “spirit of an unclean demon”. The spirit, through the man, speaks in fear of the power of Jesus:

Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.

This title seems to indicate that the spirit recognises Jesus’ divine origin, but not his Messiahship. There was a belief in those times that knowing the exact name of one’s opponent gave one power over him.

Jesus ordered the evil spirit to leave the man, who was thrown to the ground, but not hurt. The people are amazed. Exorcism was not new to them, but they had never seen it done with such speed and effectiveness. They are astounded again at the power and authority of Jesus. They realise they are in the presence of someone very special, in fact, the “Holy One of God”.

Each one of us is given authority of some kind—as a parent, a teacher or perhaps our job responsibility. Let us make sure that we use it in such a way as to enhance the abilities of others rather than diminish them.

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Commentary on Acts 4:1-12

The next stage in the mission of the disciples now takes place—after the proclamation and healing comes the persecution and harassment, as promised by Jesus.

As in the Gospel, we see the contrasting reactions between the Jewish leaders and the people. The leaders, mostly Sadducees who did not believe in resurrection after death, are objecting to the Apostles’ teaching about the resurrection of Jesus, and put them under arrest together with the man they had healed.

Those arresting the Apostles include the priests, the captain of the temple guard and Sadducees. The priests were those responsible for the temple liturgies. The temple guard was composed of Levites, and their captain ranked next to the high priest. The Sadducees, among other things, were drawn from the priestly families and from the upper classes. The high priest was one of their members. They tended to be pro-Rome and hence found Jesus and his followers to be a dangerous element. The Sadducees were strongly opposed to and by the Pharisees.

As it is late in the day, Peter and John are thrown into jail for the night. The evening sacrifices ended about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and the temple gates would be closed after that. Judgements involving life and death had to be begun and ended during daylight hours.

In spite of the religious authorities’ actions, many of the people who had heard Peter’s preaching did believe in his message and their numbers had swollen to 5,000, up from 3,000 on the day of Pentecost—an amazing number in such a short time.

On the following day, Peter and John are made to stand before a meeting of the top leadership, including the high priest and members of his family. They are led by Annas. He was officially high priest from AD 6-15, but deposed by the Romans and succeeded by his son, Eleazar, and then by his son-in-law, Caiaphas (whom we meet during the account of Jesus’ passion). However, Annas was still recognised by the Jews as the real high priest. The John mentioned with him may be a son, while Alexander is otherwise unknown.

What strikes one in this scene is the boldness of Peter, when compared to his behaviour during the passion of Jesus. As Jesus had promised in his lifetime, Peter is filled with the Spirit which gives him both his courage and his eloquence to speak out boldly. What they have done, they tell their accusers, has been done in the name of Jesus:

…this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.

Quoting from Psalm 118, Peter tells them about Jesus:

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone. (Ps 118:22)

In general, the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies was important in early Christian preaching. This is especially the case with Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus, himself, was quoted as using this text about himself.

The passage ends with:

There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.

The message is very clear. In the Roman world in the time of Acts, salvation was often attributed to the emperor, often hailed as a ‘saviour’ and a ‘god’. Peter, however, affirms that real salvation can only come from Christ.

A passage like this gives us encouragement. First, we ought not be surprised that we will be mocked and attacked for our faith in Christ and his Gospel, and second, we can be assured that we will be provided with what we need when faced with hostility and even persecution.

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Commentary on Revelation 10:8-11

We skip a number of chapters in coming to today’s reading. The intervening chapters had discussed the gradual opening of the seven seals on the scroll and the sounding of six of seven trumpets.

Today’s reading is a digression from the main theme. John has been offered a small scroll by an angel of God. This scroll represents a revelation from God. He is told:

Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.

When he does so, he is told to “take it and eat”. He is warned that:

…it will be bitter to your stomach but sweet as honey in your mouth.

The scene is very reminiscent of an almost identical passage in the prophet Ezekiel where the prophet is told to eat a scroll and then share what he has received with others. It also reminds us, of course, of the instructions of Jesus to eat his flesh and drink his blood.

In all three cases the meaning is the same. They are instructions to absorb and assimilate completely the word of God or, in the case of the Gospel, the words and teaching of Jesus, who is, of course, the Word of God, and make them our own. They then become part of our very being.

The contents are both sweet and sour. The message in itself, at a first taste, is sweet in its promise of life, but it is sour in so far it will also entail a degree of pain and suffering for the Church and its members in living out the message. And that is the experience that John has as he “eats” the scroll.

Now, armed with the revelation that the scroll contains, John is told to “prophesy again”, that is, to proclaim the message of God’s plan which he has received from God. These prophecies are recorded in Revelation after the sounding of the seventh trumpet (which begins at verse 11:15, but will not be included in our readings).

In a very similar way, we are called on to “eat” the Gospel and the whole of the Scriptures. This is part of the real meaning of our “eating and drinking” in the Eucharist. It is not just a physical or devotional act. It is a community statement of our deepest desire to see and love Christ in every person and in every experience of our day.

Unfortunately, ‘eating the Scriptures’—the Word of God, is for many Catholics a very small part of their daily diet. Some are quite illiterate when it comes to the Word of God. It is a sad situation where, among Christians generally, Catholics are probably some of the greatest offenders.

And yet, we cannot really call ourselves disciples until we have entered on what is a lifelong task—deepening our understanding of God’s Word and assimilating its vision into our very being. A knowledge of our school catechism will not fill this void.

We need, as Paul tells us, to have the “mind of Christ”, that is, to see life just as he sees it. We need to be able to say, as he could:

…it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.
(Gal 2:20)

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Commentary on Luke 4:38-44

After the scene in the synagogue where Jesus healed a man possessed by an evil spirit, he goes straight to Peter’s house. It was a Sabbath day so Jesus could not move around or do any major activity. He seems to have used this house as his base when in Capernaum and that part of Galilee. Jesus had “nowhere to lay his head”, no dwelling of his own, but it seems clear that he was not homeless. There were always people ready to offer him hospitality—a custom of the Middle East and a model for Christians of every age and place.

Peter’s mother-in-law was in the grip of a fever and the disciples begged Jesus to do something for her. Jesus stood over her and, with a word, cured her. Immediately she got up and began to serve Jesus and his group.

There is a lesson here. Health and healing are not just for the individual. Her healing immediately restored her to the community and the duty of serving that community. And not just because she was a woman! If it had been the father-in-law, the same would have applied. As long as we are in health, our energies are meant to be directed to the building up of the community and not simply for our personal enjoyment.

“As the sun was setting…” – we need to remember it was a Sabbath. The Sabbath went from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday (so Jesus could not be properly buried on the Friday evening when he died). According to the traditions, Jews could not travel more than two-thirds of a mile or carry any load. Only after sunset could the sick be brought to Jesus.

As soon as the Sabbath was over, large numbers brought their sick to him:

…and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them.

As Jesus had announced in the synagogue at Nazareth, the Kingdom of God had arrived and was entering the lives of people, bringing them health and wholeness.

Many were also liberated from the power of evil spirits. These spirits shouted at Jesus “You are the Son of God”. As we mentioned earlier, by using Jesus’ title they hoped to exert control over him. That did not work, of course. Whether these were actual cases of possession or were psychological or mental disorders which made people behave in abnormal ways, and perhaps ways harmful to themselves and others, is not clear. What is clear is that the presence of the Kingdom is being felt.

At daybreak—Jesus had been working the whole night for the people—he went off to a quiet place. The desert is the place where God is to be found and very likely, as Mark tells us, Jesus went there to pray and to be alone.

The people, who had seen what he did for them, wanted him to stay with them (their attitude is in marked contrast to the people of Nazareth), but he could not and would not:

I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.

And so we are told that he was now preaching in the synagogues of Judea—in the south of the country, although the term may simply refer to the whole of Jewish territory. No place could have a monopoly on his attentions.

We need to attach ourselves to Jesus and keep close to him, but we cannot cling to him in a way that prevents others from experiencing his healing touch. On the contrary, it is our task as his disciples to see that as many as possible come to know and experience his love, his compassion and his healing.

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Commentary on Acts 4:13-21

Today’s passage from Acts continues from yesterday’s First Reading and describes the second half of the ‘trial’ of Peter and John before the members of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin are astonished at the self-confidence of the two Apostles, considering that they are uneducated fishermen. They had no training in rabbinic schools, nor did they have any standing in recognised religious circles. They were, in the eyes of their judges, ‘only’ lay people.

It is important to remember that faith and convictions do not depend on learning. It is also clearly implied that the source of their strength and confidence is Jesus. The rulers, elders and scribes:

…when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men…were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus.

Our Church consists of the highest intellectuals as well as people who are completely illiterate; all have equal access to knowing and loving God, and all have equal access to the highest levels of contemplation, mysticism and sanctity.

The Apostles’ judges in this case are obviously intellectual snobs, a kind not unknown in Christian circles. Because they could not deny the extraordinary cure that had taken place in the full view of a large number of people, the Jewish leaders could only tell the Apostles not to speak any more about Jesus. In matters of this kind it seems that the accused, unless they were rabbis, could not be jailed except for a second offence.

We can never be stopped from preaching the Gospel. Nor can we ever obey such an order. As Peter told his judges:

Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.

It reminds one of St Thomas More’s words to his accusers: “The King’s good servant, but God’s first.” The judges felt obliged to implement the law, but there are situations where the law cannot be followed.

Of course, we have to be careful that it is not our own interpretation of the truth that we proclaim. At the same time, we are bound to follow our conscience and follow the truth as we know it. If we are wrong, it will be exposed. Eventually, real Truth will always come to the surface.

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Commentary on Revelation 11:4-12

Today’s reading seems at first sight to be very obscure in meaning. After the eating of the scroll, it is a second digression by the author and describes two rather mysterious ‘witnesses’. They are referred to as “two olive trees and the two lampstands”, and they had been given authority to prophesy for 1,260 days or three and a half years, a conventional period for eschatological distress.

These titles originally were applied by the prophet Zechariah to Joshua and Zerubbabel, the religious and civil leaders respectively, who restored the Temple and the city of Jerusalem after the return from the Babylonian Exile. Here it is possible they represent the leaders of the New Temple and the New Jerusalem, namely Peter and Paul.

The descriptive images which follow link them to Moses and Elijah, representatives of the Law and the Prophets who appeared at the Transfiguration along with Jesus, endorsing his mission, suffering, death and resurrection. Anyone who attacks them will be consumed by fire. The fire that consumes enemies reminds us of how King Ahaziah’s emissaries to Elijah were twice destroyed by fire brought down on them by God through his prophet (see 2 Kings 1).

And the power to shut up the sky refers to the great drought that came on Israel in the days of Elijah (1 Kings 17). Their ability to turn water into blood and bring other plagues recalls how Moses brought the plagues to Egypt to make the Pharaoh repent and release the Israelites (Exodus 7).

But after they have completed their task of giving witness to Christ and the Gospel, the “beast” comes from the Abyss, overcomes and kills them. Their killer is the Antichrist. His coming from the Abyss indicates his demonic origins. Some see the beast as Nero, the emperor traditionally thought to have martyred both Peter and Paul. In any case, he stands for a ruler opposed to God’s people. The death of these prophets parallels that of their Master and Lord.

Leaving their bodies to lie in the street of a “great city” was a serious violation of all decency for people in the Middle East (see the burial of Jesus himself).

The “great city” may be either Jerusalem or Rome. Jerusalem is sometimes called Sodom by the prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) for its moral wickedness, and Egypt for its idolatry and oppression. It is also, of course, the city where Jesus was crucified. However, Jesus could have been said to have been executed in Rome in so far as Jerusalem was under Roman rule and crucifixion was a Roman form of execution (the Jews preferred stoning). The two “witnesses” or prophets, if they are Peter and Paul, would have died in Rome.

The outrage against them is repeated as they are left lying unburied for three and a half days because the “nations” will not allow their burial (in the Middle East and generally in the Muslim world people are buried very soon after death).

Their death, however, is celebrated by the ”inhabitants of the earth” (the world), who found the teaching of these prophets a scourge. This, of course, was only to fulfil the teaching of Jesus about the fate that would await those who preached his Gospel (see Matt 10:16-23). Things have not changed in our own day.

However, this was not the end. After three and a half days, God gave them new life. They stood up (i.e. they ‘rose’, ‘resurrected’), and all who saw this were terrified. The killing of Christians, i.e. the making of martyrs, in the whole history of the Church has only brought new life, new energy and new courage. A striking example in modern times was the assassination of Bishop Oscar Romero while he was saying Mass in El Salvador. The Church thrives most of all in time of persecution.

At the end of today’s passage, the two prophets are called up to the very presence of their Lord and, like him, ascend in a cloud, the very symbol of God’s presence.

Let us hope that we, too, will be able to follow them. For that, we need to give witness to our faith, even in times of difficulty or when faced with opposition. Those are not times to hide our light under a bushel basket or to bury our talent in the ground. As a risen people, we are called on to stand up. How else can the Gospel message of truth and love be seen and heard?

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Commentary on Luke 5:1-11

Today we read Luke’s version of the first call of Jesus’ disciples. It differs significantly from the parallel versions in Mark and Matthew and is a combination of passages from Mark and John.

We are told that Jesus was standing by the shore of the “Lake of Gennesaret”. The other Gospel writers call it the Sea of Galilee and John twice refers to it as the Sea of Tiberias.

Because of the large crowds pressing in on him to hear the word of God, Jesus was forced to borrow one of two boats moored near the shore where their owners were washing their nets:

He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon*, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

As we saw in the synagogue at Nazareth (and also in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel), sitting was the usual teaching position. From a practical point of view, by preaching from the boat Jesus could avoid the pressure of the crowd and yet be close enough to speak to them.

It is a simple, straightforward statement and yet there is a symbolism here. Jesus gets into Simon’s boat and teaches from it. In the Gospel, the boat is frequently a symbol of the church community. It is very meaningful to say that Jesus stepped into that boat, that it was Simon’s boat, and that he taught from there. It is a symbol of what is to come in the near future.

Now comes the lesson and the revelation. At the end of the teaching, Simon is told to go out into the deep water and start fishing. Simon says in response:

Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.

Perhaps one can sense something of the condescension of the expert towards the amateur in Simon’s response, i.e. “we know there are no fish there but, just to make you happy, we’ll put out the nets.”

But their nets were hardly in the water when they were so full of fish that they were on the point of breaking. They (Simon and those others with him in the boat) had to call their companions in the other boat to come to their help (they do not seem to have caught any fish; only Simon’s boat does). The two boats together were now so full of fish that they were on the point of sinking.

Simon, just before, so arrogant and all-knowing, is now totally overcome. He knew there were no fish there. So there was only one explanation. The man standing before him was someone very special:

Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!

It is the reaction of a person in the presence of God’s overwhelming power and goodness. We see similar reactions by Abraham (Gen 18:27), Job (42:6) and Isaiah (6:5).

Simon—the ‘expert’—realises he is nothing in the presence of this man. Instead, he becomes aware of his shortcomings. Paradoxically, it is the saints who are most ready to acknowledge their sinfulness. And his companions, James and John, were equally amazed. There is no mention of Andrew in this version of the story because he would have been in his brother Simon’s boat. The passage indicates that Simon was not alone in the boat (“we have worked hard all night…”).

Some commentators feel that Luke may have borrowed this story from John’s account of the disciples going fishing at the end of that Gospel. It has been noted that Simon calls Jesus ‘Lord’, a post-resurrection title, and refers to his sinfulness, which makes more sense after his triple denial during the Passion. The story also looks forward to Peter’s leadership (his name is changed by then), which is confirmed in the same chapter of John.

Jesus then reassures Simon and his companions:

Do not be afraid…

These are words they will hear again because he is calling them to be his partners in the work of building his Kingdom. The huge catch of fish made by the boat carrying Jesus and Simon is a sign of a much greater catch of people to be made by the new community led by the Spirit of Jesus and under the leadership of Peter.

Unlike the other Gospels, Luke has a period of teaching and miracles preceding the call of the disciples. This makes their unhesitating response less surprising and more plausible.

They heard the message, they accepted the call and:

When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

In Mark and Matthew, they left their nets and boats. In Luke’s Gospel especially, the following of Jesus is understood as absolute—one must leave everything and throw in one’s lot totally with Jesus wherever that will lead. Those boats and nets were the security on which the lives of Simon, his companions and their families depended. But they left them and everything else. This is faith; this is trust. Without it, the mission cannot succeed.
_______________________________________________
*He will not be called Peter until Luke’s next chapter.

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Commentary on Acts 4:23-31

After they had been released by the Jewish leaders following their arrest and interrogation, and had been given strict warnings not to continue what they were doing, Peter and John went back to their community and related all about their experience.  This was possibly the same ‘upper room’ where the Apostles had met before and where the community may have continued to assemble.

The whole community then prayed.  They recalled the words of the psalmist who asks why the Gentiles and the princes of the world conspire against the Lord and his anointed.  Here we see in the unbelieving Romans the ‘Gentiles’, and Herod and Pilate represented by the ‘kings’ and ‘princes’.  They have gathered against the Lord and his anointed.  The word ‘anointed’ in Greek translates as ‘Christ’ (christos).  The Herod in question is Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Perea from 4 BC to AD 39.  He was the one who executed John the Baptist and before whom Jesus appeared during his trial.  Acts will later describe his rather gruesome death.  Pontius Pilate, of course, was the same Roman procurator who had Jesus crucified.

Yet they recognise that all of this had been foreseen by God. About Jesus’ enemies, Scripture says:

…Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass… (Is 37:26)

It was not that God forced them to act as they did, but that their freely chosen decisions were foreseen by God and would become part of his plan of salvation.

They beg the Lord, as persecution is also extended to them, that God will be with them through:

…signs and wonders…performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

It is good for us too to be aware that, when as individuals or communities, we are true to the living out of our Christian faith, we can expect to face criticism, opposition, abuse and ridicule. Then we must also pray for the Lord’s assurance, protection and guidance. We do not necessarily expect those against us to change their minds, but we ask for the strength to continue being faithful to our convictions and the search for truth and goodness.

Then, suddenly, the place where the community is praying begins to shake and they are filled with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father and Jesus. Their prayer for strength and courage has been heard. Jesus had said:

Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. (John 16:23)

It is a mini-Pentecost and enables them to go out and proclaim the Good News with renewed confidence, unafraid of the threats and dangers that await them.