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From: Acts 10:34-38

Peter’s Address

[34] And Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I perceive that God shows no
partiality, [35] but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right
is acceptable to him. [36] You know the word which he sent to Israel, preaching
good news of peace by Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), [37] the word which was
proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which
John preached: [38] how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit
and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all that were op-
pressed by the devil, for God was with him.

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Commentary:

34-43. Peter’s short address is his first to non-Jews. It begins with the central
idea that God is impartial: he wants all men to be saved through the proclama-
tion of the Gospel (vv. 34-36). This is followed by a summary of Jesus’ public
life (vv. 37-41) and, finally, the statement (the first time it appears in Acts) that
Jesus Christ has been made Judge of the living and the dead (v. 42). As in all
Christian preaching to Gentiles, proofs from Scripture take a secondary place
(v. 43).

34. This verse refers to 1 Samuel 16:7, where the Lord, in connection with the
anointing of David as king of Israel, tells the prophet, “Do not look on his appea-
rance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord
sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord
looks on the heart.” When God calls and offers salvation to his elect, he does
not judge as men do. With him distinctions regarding social class, race, sex
or education do not count.

Here St Peter proclaims that the Old Testament prophecies about the Jews
and the Gentiles forming one single nation (Is 2:2-4; Joel 2:28; Amos 9:12;
Mich 4:1 ) and Jesus’ words calling everyone to enter his Kingdom (cf. Mt 8:11;
Mk 16:15-16; Jn 10:16) should be interpreted literally.

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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: Matthew 3:13-17

Jesus is Baptized

[13] Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him.
[14] John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and
do you come to me?” [15] But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for thus
it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. [16] And when
Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the
heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and
alighting on him; [17] and lo, a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved
Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

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Commentary:

13. Jesus spent about thirty years (Lk 3:23) in what is normally called his “hid-
den life”. We should marvel at the silence of the Incarnate Word of God during
this period. There may be many reasons why he waited so long before beginning
his public ministry, but one factor may have been the Jewish custom whereby
rabbis did not carry out their function as teachers until they were thirty years
old. Whatever the reason, by his long years of work beside St Joseph, our Lord
teaches all Christians the sanctifying value of ordinary life and work. The Baptist
prepares the people to receive the Messiah, according to God’s plan; and it is
only then that Jesus commences his public life.

14. St John’s reluctance to baptize Jesus is not surprising since he had given
such forthright witness to Him. Jesus did not need to be baptized by John since
he had no sin, but he chose to receive this baptism (see the note on v. 15) be-
fore beginning to preach, so to teach us to obey all God’s commands (he had
already subjected himself to circumcision, presentation in the temple and being
redeemed as the first-born). God wished Jesus to humble himself even to the ex-
tent of submitting to the authority of others.

15. “Righteousness” (or “justice”) has a very deep meaning in the Bible; it refers
to the plan which God, in his infinite goodness and wisdom, has marked out for
man’s salvation. Consequently, “to fulfill all righteousness” should be, understood
as fulfilling God’s will and designs. Thus, we could translate “fulfill all righteous-
ness” as: “fulfill everything laid down by God.” Jesus comes to receive John’s
baptism and hence recognizes it as a stage in salvation history — a stage fore-
seen by God as a final and immediate preparation for the messianic era. The ful-
fillment of anyone of these stages can be called an act of righteousness. Jesus,
who has come to fulfill his Father’s Will (Jn4:34), is careful to fulfill that saving
plan in all its aspects. See the note on Mt 5:6.

16. Jesus possessed the fullness of the Holy Spirit from the moment of his con-
ception. This is due to the union of human nature and divine nature in the person
of the Word (the dogma of the hypostatic union). Catholic teaching says that in
Christ there is only one person (who is divine) but two natures (divine and human).

The descent of the Spirit of God spoken of in the text indicates that just as Je-
sus was solemnly commencing his messianic task, so the Holy Spirit was be-
ginning his action through him. There are very many texts in the Old Testament
which speak of the showing forth of the Holy Spirit in the future Messiah. This
sign of the Spirit gave St John the Baptist unmistakable proof of the genuineness
of his testimony concerning Christ (cf. Jn 1:29-34). The mystery of the Holy Trinity
is revealed in the baptism of Jesus: the Son is baptized; the Holy Spirit descends
on him in the form of a dove; and the voice of the Father gives testimony about his
Son. Christians must be baptized in the name of the three divine persons. “If you
have sincere piety, the Holy Spirit will descend on you also and you will hear the
voice of the Father saying to you from above: ‘This was not my son, but now afte
Baptism he has been made my son”’ (St Cyril of Jerusalem, “De Baptismo”, 14).

17. Literally, as the RSV points out, “This is my Son, my (or the) beloved”.
When the expression “the beloved” goes with “the son”, normally it refers to an
only son (cf. Gen 16; Jer 6:26; Amos 8:10; Zech 12:10). Repetition of the article
and the solemnity of the passage show that, in the language of the Bible, Jesus
is not just one more among the adopted sons of God, nor even the greatest of
them. Rather, it declares strongly and correctly that Jesus is “the Son of God”,
the Only-begotten who is totally different from other men because of his divine
nature (cf. Mt 7:21; 11:27; 17:5; Jn 3:35; 5:20; 20:17; etc.).

Here we can see the fulfillment of the messianic prophecies, especially Isaiah 42:
1, which is applied now to Jesus through the voice of the Father speaking from
heaven.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.