From: Acts 11:19-26
The Beginning of the Church in Antioch
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Commentary:
19-30. This account links up with Acts 8:1-4, which describes the flight of Chris-
tians from Jerusalem due to the first persecution following on the martyrdom of
St. Stephen. We are now told about the spread of the Gospel to Antioch on the
Orontes, the capital of the Roman province of Syria. Antioch was the first major
city of the ancient world where the word of Jesus Christ was preached. It was
the third city of the empire, after Rome and Alexandria, with a population of a-
bout half a million and a sizeable Jewish colony, and was a very important cul-
tural, economic and religious center.
In Antioch the Gospel is proclaimed not only to Jews and proselytes. These Hel-
lenist Jews from Jerusalem preached the Gospel to all and sundry as part of their
ordinary everyday activity. St. Luke does not give us any names: the preachers
are ordinary Christians. “Notice”, says Chrysostom, “that it is grace which does
everything. And also reflect on the fact that this work is begun by unknown wor-
kers and only when it begins to prosper do the Apostles send Barnabas” (”Hom.
on Acts”, 25).
The Christian mission at Antioch played a key part in the spread of Christianity.
Evangelization of non-Jews becomes the norm; it is not just something which
happens in a few isolated cases. Nor is it limited to “God-fearers”; it extends to
all the Gentiles. The center of gravity of the Christian Church begins to move
from Jerusalem to Antioch, which will become the springboard for the evangeli-
zation of the pagan world.
20. The title “Lord”, often applied to Jesus in the New Testament and in the ear-
ly Church, is a confession of faith in His divinity. To say “Jesus is Lord” (1 Co-
rinthians 12:3; Romans 10:9) is the same as saying that Jesus Christ is God. It
means that He is worshipped as the only Son of the Father and as sovereign of
the Church, and receives the cult of “latria” which is rendered to God alone.
This acclamation of Jesus as Lord shows that from the very beginning the young
Christian communities knew that He had dominion over all mankind and was not
just the Messiah of one nation.
22-26. The community at Jerusalem, where the Apostles were based, felt res-
ponsible for everything that happened in the Christian mission field. This was
why they sent Barnabas to oversee developments in Antioch. Barnabas was a
man whom the Apostles trusted, noted for his virtue (he was mentioned in Acts
4:36).
No doubt it was because of all the work opening before the preacher of the Gos-
pel that Barnabas sought out Paul, who had returned to Tarsus after his conver-
sion and his visit to Jerusalem (9:30). Barnabas probably knew that the future
Apostle was the very man he needed to join him in the work of evangelization
about to be undertaken by the Antiochene Church. Barnabas’ sense of responsi-
bility and his zeal to find laborers for the Lord’s harvest (cf. Matthew 9:38) lead
to the first of the great missionary journeys, in which Paul’s vocation find full
scope.
26. We do not exactly know who first began to describe the disciples as “Chris-
tians”. In any event the fact that they were given a name shows that everyone re-
cognized them as an identifiable group. The name also suggests that the term
“Christos” — Messiah, Anointed — is no longer regarded simply as a messianic
title but also as a proper name.
Some Fathers of the Church see this name as further indication that people do
not become disciples of the Lord through human causes. “Although the holy
Apostles were our teachers and have given us the Gospel of the Savior, it is not
from them that we have taken our name: we are “Christians” through Christ and
it is for Him that we are called in this way” (St. Athanasius, “Oratio I Contra
Arianos”, 2).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: John 10:1-10
The Good Shepherd
[7] So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the
sheep. [8] All who came before Me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did
not heed them. [9] I am the door; if any one enters by Me, he will be saved, and
will go in and out and find pasture. [10] The thief comes only to steal and kill and
destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
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Commentary:
1-18. The image of the Good Shepherd recalls a favorite theme of Old Testament
prophetic literature: the chosen people is the flock, and Yahweh is their shepherd
(cf. Psalm 23). Kings and priests are also described as shepherds or pastors.
Jeremiah inveighs against those pastors who had let their sheep go astray and
in God’s name promises new pastors who will graze their flocks properly so that
they will never again be harassed or anxious (cf. 23:1-6; also 2:8; 3:15; 10:21;
Isaiah 40:1-11). Ezekiel reproaches pastors for their misdeeds and sloth, their
greed and neglect of their responsibility: Yahweh will take the flock away from
them and He Himself will look after their sheep: indeed, a unique shepherd will
appear, descended from David, who will graze them and protect them (Ezekiel
34). Jesus presents Himself as this shepherd who looks after His sheep, seeks
out the strays, cures the crippled and carries the weak on His shoulders (cf.
Matthew 18:12-14; Luke 15:4-7), thereby fulfilling the ancient prophecies.
From earliest times, Christian art found its inspiration in this touching image of
the Good Shepherd, thereby leaving us a representation of Christ’s love for each
of us.
In addition to the title of Good Shepherd, Christ applies to Himself the image of
the door into the sheepfold of the Church. “The Church,” Vatican II teaches, “is
a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway to which is Christ (cf. John 10:1-10).
It is also a flock, of which God foretold that He Himself would be the shepherd
(cf. Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:11ff.), and whose sheep, although watched over by
human shepherds, are nevertheless at all times led and brought to pasture by
Christ Himself, the Good Shepherd and Prince of shepherds (cf. John 10:11; 1
Peter 5:4), who gave His life for His sheep (cf. John 10:11-15)” (”Lumen Gentium”,
6).
1-2. The flock can be harmed in a subtle, hidden way, or in a blatant way through
abuse of authority. The history of the Church shows that its enemies have used
both methods: sometimes they enter the flock in a secretive way to harm it from
within; sometimes they attack it from outside, openly and violently. “Who is the
good shepherd? ‘He who enters by the door’ of faithfulness to the Church’s doc-
trine and does not act like the hireling ‘who sees the wolf coming and leaves the
sheep and flees’; whereupon ‘the wolf snatches them and scatters them’” (St. J.
Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 34).
3-5. In those times it was usual at nightfall to bring a number of flocks together
into one sheepfold, where they would be kept for the night with someone acting
as look-out. Then at dawn the shepherds would come back and open the sheep-
fold and each would call his sheep which would gather round and follow him out
of the pen (they were used to his voice because he used to call them to prevent
them from going astray) and he would then lead them to pasture. Our Lord uses
this image—one very familiar to His listeners—to teach them a divine truth: since
there are strange voices around, we need to know the voice of Christ—which is
continually addressing us through the Magisterium of the Church—and to follow
it, if we are to get the nourishment our soul needs. “Christ has given His Church
sureness in doctrine and a fountain of grace in the Sacraments. He has arranged
things so that there will always be people to guide and lead us, to remind us con-
stantly of our way. There is an infinite treasure of knowledge available to us: the
word of God kept safe by the Church, the grace of Christ administered in the
Sacraments and also the witness and example of those who live by our side and
have known how to build with their good lives a road of faithfulness to God” (St. J.
Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 34).
6. Christ develops and interprets the image of the shepherd and the flock, to en-
sure that everyone who is well-disposed can understand His meaning. But the
Jews fail to understand—as happened also when He promised the Eucharist (John
6:41-43) and spoke of the “living water” (John 7:40-43), or when He raised Lazarus
from the dead (John 11:45-46).
7. After describing His future Church through the image of the flock, Christ extends
the simile and calls Himself the “door of the sheep”. The shepherds and the sheep
enter the sheepfold: both must enter through the door, which is Christ. “I”, St. Au-
gustine preached, “seeking to enter in among you, that is, into your heart, preach
Christ: if I were to preach other than that, I should be trying to enter by some other
way. Through Christ I enter in, not to your houses but to your hearts. Through
Him I enter and you have willingly heard me speak of Him. Why? Because you
are Christ’s sheep and you have been purchased with Christ’s blood” (”In Ioann.
Evang.” 47, 2-3).
8. The severe reproach Jesus levels against those who came before Him does not
apply to Moses or the prophets (cf. John 5:39, 45; 8:56; 12:41), nor to the Baptist
(cf. John 5:33), for they proclaimed the future Messiah and prepared the way for
Him. He is referring to the false prophets and deceivers of the people, among them
some teachers of the Law—blind men and blind guides (cf. Matthew 23:16-24) who
block the people’s way to Christ, as happened just a little before when the man
born blind was cured (cf. John 9).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.