{N}1,{/}1 It is sufficient to compare this beginning to that of the Gospel according to Luke to see that they form two parts of the same work. The name, Theophilus, means: "He who loves God." This might be only a fictitious name, in which case Luke would be directing his book to anyone who loves God.

{N}1,{/}3 It should be translated: "He gave his instructions thanks to the Holy Spirit," and not, "that he had chosen through the Holy Spirit." Those instructions are the ones that the risen Christ gives during his encounters, which were in a certain aspect spiritual manifestations.

{N}1,{/}7 {C}Is it now when you will restore the Kingdom of Israel?{/} Here we find the hope reaffirmed that the disciples of Emmaus had already manifested. This typically Jewish question at the beginning of a book in which Paul's missions will be the main part, helps to understand what a great change in perspective would be necessary in order to bring the Gospel to the Greeks.

{N}1,{/}9 This is the only text that describes Jesus being taken up visibly to heaven. (Luke's text in 24,51 is very doubtful, and no other Gospel makes any mention of it.) Did Luke materialize the ascension into heaven, which until then had only a figurative meaning? On many occasions God had allowed others to experience tangible manifestations in keeping with their religious imagery. A visible ascension fits this pattern by which the exaltation of Christ would remain engraved in the apostles' spirit.
It should remain clear that all the actions and signs of the risen Jesus that the apostles witnessed were ways by which he manifested himself to them. By his resurrection, Jesus began another mode of existence unknown in our world. In fact, Scripture uses a number of different terms to express what the resurrection was. In this regard, one Greek word means: to get up, and another means: to wake oneself up. We usually translate both of these: to rise (from the dead). In addition, Scripture uses the terminology: to exalt or to glorify (John 12,23; Acts 3,13). This should prompt us to read Eph 1,20-21 and 4,9-10 again. The resurrection and the glorification of Jesus mean that he took history and the cosmos into his hands. He will straighten out all paths so that they lead to the New Man and the New Heaven and Earth at the end of history.
Although the image of Jesus taken up to heaven clashes with our understanding of the cosmos, we should strive in some way to preserve scripture's cosmic sense. Nor should we simply discard terms that describe the spiritual world as an above and a below, because in some way they express an apparent order of things.

{N}1,{/}14 In the note on Col 1,15 we spoke about the importance of those first days for the common reflection of the apostles and the community on faith. 

{N}1,{/}18 Verses 18 and 19 are parenthetical comments, not from Peter but from Luke, since the whole community was conscious about what had happened. In reality, this anecdotal detail contradicts Matthew's version in Mt 27,3-10.

{N}1,{/}25 The text says: {C}This ministry and this apostolate{/}. The ministry in question was as much that of being responsible for a service as an apostolate. The word "ministry" has the same root as "deacon," but here it refers to being an apostle sent by Christ as an official witness of the Resurrection. 

{N}2,{/}19 Peter insists on quoting this final part of the text of Joel. Yet this does not prove that he was interpreting it as the end of the world, but rather as an apocalyptic event. In fact, the Primitive Church saw the fulfillment of the text in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in the year 70. However, Peter was indeed expressing his conviction that Christ's glorious return would happen in the near future.

{N}2,{/}22 In this first proclamation, Peter's intention is not to explain Jesus' teachings, but rather to interpret the meaning of his recent death. In doing so, Peter follows Jesus' practice, for example at Nazareth (Lk 4,20), of beginning with his actions or miracles and then explaining their significance. Peter was aware that Jesus' death was a true scandal for the majority of the people, no matter how many others had demanded his death. The great majority could not understand how it was possible that a man who was so esteemed as a religious person and for his healing miracles, could have been crucified. "How could God allow this?"
Peter refers to this great scandal, explaining the significance, not of Jesus' death but of the resurrection that followed. It is Jesus who gives the Spirit to those who repent (38). The listeners should repent, first of all, because they remained deaf to Jesus' call to reunite the people of God. God's promise has finally been fulfilled, and it is in this sense only that in this place we see him talking about redemption and about a redeemer.
As we read these texts we marvel at how the Spirit moves Peter's listeners and those who joined them in the following days. They were offered the Holy Spirit, they were interested, and they believed.
Luke does not explain how those three thousand people (41) could be incorporated into the original group of believers. Many of the pilgrims undoubtedly returned to their homes as believers, but without having joined a community like the one in Jerusalem. Possibly in 41 Luke is describing the massiveness of the conversion movement, and then in 42 he speaks about a smaller number that joined the Church in Jerusalem. In this case, we should translate it: Those who came regularly.

{N}2,{/}46 Verse 47 says: "the Lord made those who were saved part of the Church". See the note about 4,12.

{N}3,{/}12 The text says: "as if we made him walk by our own power or holiness." 

{N}3,{/}17 In this later sermon, Peter adds new elements to what he had already taught about salvation (2,17-36). Now the name of Jesus is the bearer of life and healing. Most important, it is one's faith in him (Cf, the note about 4,12) that shortens the coming of better times. Peter touches on the mystery of the redemption in this way; he firmly believes in it, but it is hard for him to express it.
Peter maintains that Jesus, by forgiving his people, gives those who believe in him a blessing that brings them to repentance and the forgiveness of their sins. This is precisely what the prophecy in Zech 12,10 and 13,1 had announced. But Peter does not yet talk about redemption of sins through the blood of Jesus.

{N}4,{/}12 {N}THERE IS NO OTHER NAME{/}
{C}There is no salvation in anyone else{/}. We could ask ourselves what Peter understands by salvation. God had manifested himself as the only Savior of his people and as the only Name through which humankind could be saved. Yet now, as Peter explains it, all God's work in Israel will be accomplished through that Messiah already {C}seated at his right hand{/} (Ps 110). Salvation which {C}is not found in anyone e{/}lse is first of all the "liberation of Israel" (Lk 2,25) that many of Peter's listeners awaited. And Peter does not hesitate to promise them better times (3,20).
Yet the prophets never separated the salvation of Israel from an internal renewal of the believers. And the Apostles are immediately going to emphasize that salvation granted to those who believe. These are not called "Christians," but  "the saved" (2,47). There is no doubt that they were aware of being saved and they manifested it in their daily life. Yet, could that last? In the enthusiasm of the first moment, the believer feels renewed and has the impression that his problems are resolved. Or, as some express it: "Yesterday that paralyzed me; today it doesn't bother me." The presence of a loved one that becomes the center of our existence is enough to give us wings. Jesus is the loved one. And still more, they already received the gift of the Spirit!
They would have never thought of denying Israel's past, the revelation made to the prophets, the riches and the faith of the Jewish community, that produced apostles and martyrs, not to mention the multitude of humble and anonymous just people. Yet it is not the same to believe in God because of the interventions of his Providence, or even to believe in God's covenant with Israel, written about both in history and in Scripture, as to accept Jesus as the Only Son, as God incarnate who came to us to share our condition. This unique event is more capable than any other revelation to persuade the human heart to have confidence in God the Father, and following Jesus' example, to be humble and to love truly. 
Believing acquired a new dimension through Jesus. For this reason Paul's letters do not speak only of faith in Christ (He 21,12; Gal 2,16...), but of the faith of Christ, meaning, characteristic of Christians, that is supported in Christ and according to Christ (He 3,16; Rom 3,22; Phil 3,9...). The proof that the faith of Christ has transformed the psychological and spiritual panorama of the believer is found in the gift of the Spirit given at baptism. This is not merely the giving of a charisma as a tangible favor intended to reward the believer, rather it is a new world that opens up to and in the believer.
This personal salvation, which will soon become the primary concern of the Church, is a profound renewal of the believer. First, there is the forgiveness of sins. The reason is that Jesus exposed sin in its reality as had never been done before. It is sufficient to read the Sermon on the Mount. For some of Peter's listeners sin consists also of having approved of Jesus' condemnation, and for all the rest, of not having listened to his calls. But now God offers a more profound reconciliation than any other offered in the past, essentially because he manifested his immense love and his power of forgiveness through the cross of Christ. Even when the believers did not yet know how to express their faith in the Son of God, they were conscious of having gained everything. To express it in the language of the prophets, they saw themselves as "the remnant of Israel" and "the saved ones of Zion" (Is 4,3).
In this regard, when Peter says that he who believes is saved, he is not talking about escaping from condemnation or from an impending apocalypse (Acts 2,21). Salvation is fullness. The saved are both beneficiaries and cooperators in the mystery of salvation that God is bringing about in the heart of human history. And when they look around themselves, they do not doubt that they have entered body and soul into a state, or better yet, into a truth characteristic of those who believed and entered in the Church.
When Peter says, with reference not only to Israel but also to all peoples, that there is no other Name under heaven that has been given to humankind, he is not placing limits on the work of salvation. He does not deny God's work among the great part of humanity that does not know Christ. Rather he speaks for those who are listening to him and for those whom God has already chosen to be the bearers of his mysteries. Nor does he say that those who do not believe will be condemned, but simply that they lose that salvation that was the great gift from God.

{N}6,{/}5 {C}Full of faith and the Holy Spirit{/}. We already wrote in verse 3: "full of the Spirit and of wisdom," in order to respect the customary expressions of our language. But the text says in two places: full "of faith and of spirit"; full "of spirit and of wisdom." Our religious language leads us a bit astray. Knowing that the Spirit is a divine person, we want not to confuse Him with any spiritual gift. For lack of a better expression, we say that the Spirit is a divine "person," but it is just as true to say that the Spirit is divine energy, and even: fullness of energy.
We don't know anything about these {C}seven{/}, except for Stephen and Philip. Since Revelation talks about the Nicholatians (Rev 2,6), some jumped to the conclusion that it meant imitators of this unknown Nicholas. In the Latin Church they even attributed the marriage of priests to him.

{N}7,{/}30 Stephen quotes Ex 3,2 here. Like all those of his time, Stephen was unaware of the meaning "the angel of Yahweh" had in ancient times (cf, the commentary on this text of Exodus). He thinks it is an angel, which he identifies with the angel in Ex 23,20.

{N}7,{/}42 Stephen quotes Amos 5, 25-26. The Hebrew text was inaccurate, and the Greek Bible used by the Apostles along with all Jews in the Greek speaking world, followed that text. The prophet was not reproaching the Israelites for the idolatry of their forefathers in the desert, but rather for their own idolatry. However, Stephen was not entirely mistaken, because the Bible mentions this idolatry in several places (Num 25).

{N}8,{/}9 This Simon is known in history. He had disciples in Samaria, and the Gnostic sects of the following century counted him among their inspirers.

{N}8,{/}14 {N}BAPTISM AND THE IMPOSITION OF HANDS{/}
This paragraph distinguishes baptism from the laying on of hands that confers the Spirit (Acts 19,6). Both are clearly distinguished in Heb 6,2. On the other hand the Gospels talk about baptism in the Holy Spirit which was no more than the Christian baptism distinguished from John the Baptist's baptism by water.
Here we must recall Peter's words in Acts 10,47: "those who have received the Holy Spirit, just as we have." If we stick equally to the details of Peter's explanations in 11,16, we must conclude that from the beginning it was by the laying on of hands that the Apostles wanted to transmit the gift that they had received (see Num 27,18). It may be that Jesus had said something to them in the days following his resurrection during which time he instructed them through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1,2). On the other hand, they do not speak of baptism "in the Spirit" which Jesus had referred to. It seems more likely that from the beginning Christian initiation included both rites and anointing followed by the imposition. One can only wonder if they were united or if they had an interval of time between them. On another side, it is true that the imposition of the hands did become without any rupture in meaning or practice, our Confirmation.

{N}10,{/}9 Peter saw {C}heaven opened{/}. This was a common way of saying that someone had a vision, such as in Mk 1,10 and Acts 7,56. He was hungry, and the vision presented him with a hunting image.

{N}10,{/}37 Peter's next speech again takes up the theme of Pentecost. The point of departure is Jesus' suffering, and shows how God transformed evil into good.
Addressing a non-Jew, Peter underlines the fact that the Church had separated itself from the Jewish people. Now the Church is a chosen people in which the Roman Cornelius will have his place.
Another new element: the forgiveness of sins is received thanks to the Name of Jesus.

{N}14,{/}9 {C}Paul saw that he had faith to be saved{/}. He repeats Jesus' words: "Your faith has saved you". The word, "save," refers to all forms of salvation, from healing to the faith that justifies. In reality the basis of faith is the same in both cases, and is not limited to Christianity, rather, it may be found anywhere. It is questionable if the invalid even understood Paul's beautiful preaching in a Greek language that the common people did not even speak (11).

{N}15,{/}28 {N}THE DECREE OF JERUSALEM{/}
We said in the commentary of 15,22 that perhaps Luke combined here in only one narrative the meeting at Jerusalem and the decision taken later by James for his own diocese with a majority of Jewish converts. We should note that several manuscripts belonging to the so-called Western group have a different text for verses 20 and 29. There the prohibitions are totally or partially omitted and the Christians are requested instead to respect the great law of love already suggested in Leviticus 19,18 and 19,34: don't do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you.
When this chapter is examined side by side with that of Paul in Gal 2,1, there are several details that make one think that the meeting took place in the context of the feast of the Consecration of the Temple. From this liturgy originate the text of Amos with the mention of the tent of David, that is the Temple, and the comparison of the apostles to the pillars of the Temple Gal 2,9, and the allusion to the yoke that "our ancestors were not able to carry." Following the example of moderation given by the Jews themselves with regards to the proselytes that joined their numbers, the Church went farther yet and guaranteed their freedom with regards to the laws about what was pure and impure.
Therefore, it seems that our text was retouched later in order to make it consonant with the decree mentioned in Acts 21,25, which maintained those regulations for the regions close to Palestine.

{N}16,{/}3 According to Jewish law, the son of a Jewish mother and an "impure" father is Jewish. For this reason many of the Jewish-Christians would not have forgiven Timothy if he were not circumcised.

{N}16,{/}13 When there was no synagogue, Jews were invited to gather somewhere else, such as on the shores of a river.

{N}20,{/}28 Many ancient manuscripts have another reading: {C}the Church of God that He won with his own blood{/}. It is difficult to imagine that Paul was talking about God's own blood, because he always reserves "God" for the Father. On the other hand, Paul always uses the expression: "the Church of God." Paul's phrase follows his mind more that it resects the grammar: he probably wanted to say: "the Church that God won - and that was acquired by the blood of the Lord." It would be very improbable to use this text as an argument for the divinity of Christ.

{N}20,{/}30 This is the first place in the New Testament that we find a preoccupation about heresy. That mention could have developed only after the death of the Apostles. Warnings against heresy are a frequent theme in the Letters to Timothy and to Titus, and in the Catholic Epistles.

{N}20,{/}32 The same expression is found in Luke 4,22 and Acts 14,3: the message about grace. Cf, Acts 20,24: "The Good News of God's grace." Here God's Word is powerful for promoting growth in individuals, which is the whole meaning of the Word as a sacrament - as a sign and instrument of the Spirit.

{N}26,{/}14 {C}In vain you kick against the goad{/}, meaning: It is useless to resist anymore; you are only hurting yourself. The encounter with the risen Jesus happens at the end of a long struggle, including much violence by Paul against believers, for example, as in Stephen's death. Paul was a man in turmoil. It was impossible for him not to be won over by the person of Jesus. 

{N}26,{/}15 {C}The power of Satan{/}. The same terms appear in Col 1,12-13. In the Gospel, Jesus threatened Satan's power when he expelled demons. Here the redeeming work of Christ frees us from an alienated world to lead us into his Kingdom. If we eliminate this alienation or the power of Satan from our preaching, we weaken the Christian message.

{N}27,{/}9 The feast of the fast: The month of September: Num 29,7.

