Acts 3:19–26

Pardon is ready and easy: only repent of evil deeds, not only what they just did, but all of them, and turn to the new life. Confess Jesus, whom they formerly denied, as king and ruler of the universe.

"Repent ye therefore," he says, "and be converted." He does not add, "from your sins;" but, "that your sins, may be blotted out," means the same thing. And then he adds the gain: "So shall the times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." This betokens them in a sad state, brought low by many wars. For it is to the case of one on fire, and craving comfort, that the expression applies.

"Repent ye therefore." "Why? For either it was through ignorance, or by the dispensation of God." "That your sins may be blotted out." I do not mean the crimes committed at the Crucifixion; perhaps they were through ignorance; but so that your other sins may be blotted out: this only. "So shall the times of refreshing come unto you." Here he speaks of the Resurrection, obscurely. For those are indeed times of refreshing, which Paul also looked for, when he said, "We that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burthened."

Therefore he says: "Repent," not concerning those things done on the cross (for he had said concerning those, that they were in ignorance), but concerning other sins.

And by saying, "times of refreshing," he indicates that many hardships are about to happen to them, and that wars will be brought about. For this word would be fitting to one who weeps and longs for relief. "That times of refreshing may come," he says. That is, during the times of refreshment which, from the presence of the Lord, he says will be presided over by the divine and fatherly essence. For it is not fitting that those who insulted the Son through the passion should not find the recompense which those in the Roman camps under Vespasian and Titus, who raged against Christ on behalf of the Jews, also found. And not only are they deprived of their civic life, but after the desolation of their metropolis and the temple they wander about, living scattered everywhere, and until the end of this corruptible life they will not in any way obtain refreshment. For at that same time the coming of Christ from heaven will award to each according to the measure for the rewards of their labors. The knowledge that these things will then occur he now places before the Jews, so that by fear of these things they may be more readily drawn to repentance.

meaning the resurrection from the dead in its proper time. Even as he says to the Galatians: "Let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap." Similarly, concerning Onesiphorus, does he also write to Timothy: "The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy in that day; " unto which day and time he charges Timothy himself "to keep what had been committed to his care, without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ: which in His times He shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords," speaking of (Him as) God It is to these same times that Peter in the Acts refers, when he says: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets."

He speaks not of that transgression of the Jews which they dared to commit at the time of the crucifixion, since he said above: "However, I know that you, as well as your rulers, did this in ignorance" (v. 17). What then was the meaning of what he said there, "I know! I know," he says, that is, I consider it beneficial to speak thus, so as to arrange your salvation. And that "you did this in ignorance," I know because many of you are converting and being saved. Evidently, he says this to those of them who had already converted and believed. But how did they do this "in ignorance"? What ignorance is there in requesting the release of a robber and not receiving into their company the One whom Pilate had decided to release, but on the contrary, killing Him? But he spoke thus, opening for them the doors of conversion; therefore he does not say: "Repent of what you dared to do in the days of the crucifixion," but rather — "repent and turn back, so that your sins may be blotted out," and so forth. So, "repent," he says, "that the times" of renewal may come. But at the same time he shows those present that they will have to undergo many sorrows, because such a speech can only be addressed to one who faces tears and who awaits some consolation. See how he gradually approaches his goal. In the first discourse he pointed to the resurrection of Jesus and His sitting in heaven; but here he already points to His glorious coming, which he calls the times of "refreshing from the presence of the Lord," or of renewal, because what other times of renewal or resurrection could there be? And the apostle Paul raises the question about these times when he says: and we "groan under the burden" (2 Cor. 5:4). But if someone should decide to call the times of renewal the times that followed after the conquest of Jerusalem, he will meet no obstacle, because God shortened even the times of affliction and captivity of the Jews for the sake of the elect, that is, so that those who believed might find renewal and be freed from this severe oppression.

If the blessed Peter speak of the Divine Word also, as sent to the children of Israel by Jesus Christ, it is not necessary to understand that the Word is one and Christ another, but that they were one and the same by reason of the uniting which took place in His divine and loving condescension and becoming man. And even if He be considered in two ways, still it is without any division of the Word, as when the inspired John says, 'And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.' ...And how can Christ be called a mere man? on the contrary, being made one with the Word, He is with reason called Christ and Son of God, the prophet having long since loudly and clearly ascribed the Father's subsistence to Him, and said, 'And I will send My Son Christ,' and in the Jordan, 'This is My Well-beloved Son.' For when He had fulfilled His promise, He shewed, as was suitable, that He was He whom He said He had sent.

And see now how he advances. In his first sermon, he but slightly hinted at the resurrection, and Christ's sitting in heaven; but here he also speaks of His visible advent. "And He shall send Jesus the Christ ordained (for you), Whom the heaven must (i.e. must of necessity) receive, until the times of the restitution of all things." The reason why He does not now come is clear. "Which God hath spoken," he continues, "by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began."

Then to prove that Christ is the cause of the days of refreshing, he says, "And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was for you ordained." He said not, "That your sin may be blotted out," but, "your sins;" for he hints at that sin also. "He shall send." And whence? "Whom the heaven must receive." Still "receive?" And why not simply, Whom the heaven hath received? This, as if discoursing of old times: so, he says, it is divinely ordered, so it is settled: not a word yet of His eternal subsistence.

"That He may send the Jesus Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things." Peter says this instead of saying: "It is necessary for heaven to receive Him, since He is God and must always sit together with the Father." He shows the reason why He does not come now, saying that everything must come to an end, and then He too will come.

Whom heaven must indeed receive until the times of the restitution of all things, which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began. This is what the Psalmist testifies as said to the same Lord Jesus Christ by God the Father: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet (Psalm 109). For He was taken up into heaven and sits at the right hand of God. In that seat of paternal majesty, He always remains divinely, nor has He ever departed from it, but in the assumed humanity, He is to come from heaven to judge the living and the dead when all His enemies will be put under His feet, and all things which God spoke through all the prophets from the beginning of the world will be restored; because, when all the saints enter eternal life with the Lord, the reprobates with the devil will endure eternal punishments, there will be absolutely nothing left which the prophets can promise us further to hope for, since both parts, namely the good and the bad, will have received an irrevocable sentence in the final judgment from the just judge. And Origen is greatly mistaken and deceives, who thinks that after this judgment, though after a long interval of time, the other sinners, who were sent to hell with the devil on the left side of the judge, will be freed and brought to the heavenly kingdom, as if the prophet who said: And they will be gathered in the dungeon, and after many days they will be visited (Isaiah 24), promised this to them, since the clear meaning of the prophet's words according to sound sense is that he predicted that the enemies and persecutors of the holy Church would be carried off to hell individually on the day of their departure, but he foresaw that all of them would be briefly released from there on the day of judgment, when, having received an immortal body, they would again be plunged into double punishment of eternal death. For the next words of the prophet declare that he intended this in his statement, who after saying: And after many days they will be visited, immediately added: And the moon will be confounded, and the sun ashamed (ibid.), which will come to pass on the day of judgment as both prophecy and the words of the gospel declare.

"Whom the heaven must receive." Still "must receive"? And why not simply, Whom the heaven hath received? This, as if discoursing of old times: so, he says, it is divinely ordered, so it is settled: not a word yet of His eternal subsistence.

"Who was purposely designed," says he: in Whom there is nothing novel. Here he also alarms them, by the thought that much remains to be fulfilled. But if so, how says he, "Hath fulfilled?" The things which it was necessary "that Christ should suffer," are fulfilled: the things which must come to pass, not yet.

And he threatened the Jesus Christ who had been handed over to you; whom heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient times. See how Peter proceeds on the way. In his first public proclamation he announced the resurrection and his ascension into heaven, and there also the visible presence, which he calls a time of refreshing, in which he points out the times of the resurrection. Which times Paul also longs for, saying: And we who are in this tent groan being burdened. (2 Cor. 5:4) If anyone also calls the times of refreshing those after the destruction, that does not prevent it. For Christ also shortened their period of affliction and captivity because of the elect, (Matt. 23:22) so that those who believed might find refreshment and be saved from that severe suffering and necessity. And having said above, But God, what he foretold, does not set aside Scriptural testimony concerning the crucifixion, because each of them is spoken of with many sins and punishment concerning them, and he did not wish to grieve for a time. He has used an easier account concerning Christ, a privilege of the humility of the hearers for the discourse. For the Lord's being seen, that is, his humanity, his sending from heaven was brought in, and for the future his reception into heaven. [CHRYSOSTOM]

"Whom," Peter says, "heaven must receive," although indeed he had already been received at the time of the ascension. But in this passage the language is used more personally, according to his own letter, in which he says concerning Christ: "For he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was brought to him from heaven." (2 Peter 1:17) For even the phrase Λαβὼν instead of "ἔλαβεν" the construction of the sentence requires it, so that the meaning may be properly structured. Therefore likewise the phrase "Ὃν δεῖ ὑποδέξασθαι" has "Δεῖ" taken instead of "ἔδει." Since the ascension and visible presence of him to the heavens was not seen by all, they were for a time left to make use of their own conjecture. Yet by saying "he prepared the heaven to receive the one sent" he indicated in more vital terms, through the phrase "Ὃν δεῖ οὐρανὸν ὑποδέξασθαι," that the One to be received by heaven is the Son, coeternal with the Father and sent by the Father, from whom he was reckoned fellow to the Father as Son and Only-Begotten, and unquestionably ascending into heaven as one who had come down from heaven, and again necessarily received into the paternal dwelling, and from whom, according to the economy, he descended, there to be enthroned again, so that the assertion "Son and heavenly" may be established, and it may be shown that the same one is again expected to come from heaven. And to make these things plainly known, he refers to Moses and the prophets; to Moses, "The Lord our God will raise up for you a prophet like me," (Deut. 18:15; Acts 3:22) and to David, likening the rain that descends from his heaven as if upon the earth. (see Ps. 71:6) And having generally referred them to those prophets, he again comforts them, as if they had become sons made receptive of the prophets' teaching, whether not by nature but by grace through the generous bestower. For he has a Son by nature. The difference between sonship by nature and by appointment is great. For some were adopted as sons through the spiritual education of the prophets, while he by natural relation possesses sonship in the highest degree.

In another way: "whom heaven must receive" is put in place of "It is necessary that heaven receive it," since indeed it exists as God. How then did he not say, "Which heaven received"? He says this as speaking about the upper times. And by "until the times of the restoration" he indicates the cause, why now it no longer comes. "It must be restored," he says, "and all must come to an end," and then it will come.

Everything endowed with reason will come under one law.… If we must refer to this subject, it will be with great brevity. The Stoics, indeed, hold that, when the strongest of the elements prevails, all things shall be turned into fire. But our belief is that the Word will prevail over the entire rational creation and change every soul into his own perfection. In this state all, by the mere exercise of his power, will choose what he desires and obtain what he chooses. For although, in the diseases and wounds of the body, there are some which no medical skill can cure, yet we hold that in the mind there is no evil so strong that it may not be overcome by the supreme Word and God. For stronger than all the evils in the soul is the Word and the healing power that dwells in him. This healing he applies, according to the will of God, to everything. The consummation of all things is the destruction of evil, although as to the question whether it shall be so destroyed that it can never anywhere arise again, it is beyond our present purpose to say. Many things are said obscurely in the prophecies on the total destruction of evil and the restoration to righteousness of every soul; but it will be enough for our present purpose to quote the following passage from Zephaniah: "Prepare and rise early; all the gleanings of their vineyards are destroyed. Therefore wait upon me, says the Lord, on the day that I rise up for a testimony. For my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kings, to pour upon them my indignation, even all my fierce anger. For all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I bring about a transformation of pure language among the people, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring my offering. In that day you will not be ashamed for all your sinful deeds of transgression against me. For then I will take away out of your midst them that rejoice in your pride; and you will be haughty no more because of my holy mountain. I will also leave in your midst an afflicted and poor people, and they will trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel will not commit iniquity nor speak lies. Neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid."

But how does Peter say: "Whom heaven had to receive?" Has it not yet received Jesus? It has received Him, without any doubt. But why then did he not say: "received"? He speaks thus as a man conversing about former times. So then, the meaning of this text is that much of what the prophets foretold has not yet been fulfilled, but is being fulfilled and will continue to be fulfilled until the end of the world, because Christ, who ascended into the heavens, will remain there until the end of the world and will come with power when, at last, everything that the prophets foretold is fulfilled, that is, when the end comes and everything sensible ceases, then Christ will be above the heavens.

Moses indeed said: Because the Lord your God has raised up for you a prophet from among your brethren, like me, you shall listen to him according to all that he will speak to you, etc. The beginning of this passage in Greek has more: Moses indeed said to your fathers: Because the Lord your God has raised up for you a prophet. The meaning of the sentence is clear, because our Lord took on the truth of flesh from the people of Israel, appearing in the likeness of Moses, so that just as he [Moses] introduced carnal Israel, instructed and purified by ceremonies and sacred rites, into the promised land, so also the Lord, through the grace of the Gospel, gathering spiritual Israel from the whole world, would lead them to the heavenly kingdoms. And just as those who disdained the law of Moses were expelled from the promised land by enemy nations, so also those who have scorned the teaching of evangelical grace will be cast out from the assembly of the saints by avenging spirits. For this is what follows:

Christ sent the Jews back to Moses so that, through Moses, he might draw them to himself. In the same way, Moses hands over his disciples to his teacher and commands them to believe him in all things.

"For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you." Before, he had spoken of David, here he speaks of Moses. "Of all things," he says, "which He hath spoken." But he does not say, "which Christ," but, "which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." Then he betakes him to the ground of credibility, saying, "A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things."

"A prophet shall the Lord God raise up for you from among your brethren, like unto me." This would most conciliate them. Do you observe the sprinkling of low matters and high, side by side,-that He Who was to go up into the heavens should be like unto Moses? And yet it was a great thing too. For in fact He was not simply like unto Moses, if so be that "every soul which will not hear shall be destroyed." And one might mention numberless other things which show that He was not like unto Moses; so that it is a mighty text that he has handled. "God shall raise Him up unto you," says Moses, "from among your brethren," etc.: consequently Moses himself threatens those that should not hear.

Having said, "All things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy Prophets," now indeed he brings in Christ Himself. For, if He predicted many things and it is necessary to hear Him, one would not be wrong in saying that the Prophets have spoken these things. But, besides, he wishes to show that the Prophets did predict the same things. And, if any one will look closely into the matter, he will find these things spoken in the Old Testament, obscurely indeed, but nevertheless spoken.

What is this, "like me"? Christ is born in Bethlehem, and Moses in Egypt. That Moses is an Israelite, as is this Jesus according to the flesh. That Moses is of a priestly lineage, as is this Jesus of David because of the Virgin. Pharaoh opposed that Moses, Herod opposed this Jesus. That Pharaoh killed infants, and this Herod slayed infants; that Moses and this Jesus are male. That Moses was saved through a mother, and this Jesus was saved through a Mother and also with His Mother. That Moses was in a coffin and beside a river; this Jesus was also in Lycon and by the same river in the Egyptian city. That Moses was raised by a foreigner, the daughter of Pharaoh; this Jesus was raised in a city and in a foreign city which had been subjected to Pharaoh. I do not say these things comparing the Master to the servant, but comparing time and manner, and outlining the truth in a shadow.

When meantime Moses, that faithful and wise steward, perceived that the vice of sacrificing to idols had been deeply ingrained into the people from their association with the Egyptians, and that the root of this evil could not be extracted from them, he allowed them indeed to sacrifice, but permitted it to be done only to God, that by any means he might cut off one half of the deeply ingrained evil, leaving the other half to be corrected by another, and at a future time; by Him, namely, concerning whom he said himself, 'A prophet shall the Lord your God raise unto you, whom you shall hear even as myself, according to all things which He shall say to you. Whosoever shall not hear that prophet, his soul shall be cut off from his people.

He said "will raise up… a Prophet like me." The expression "like me" should be understood not in the sense of nature, but in the sense of activity. Moses likened himself to Christ not by nature, but by actions, because if he had used the expression "like me" in the sense of nature, then not one but many would have risen. Emmanuel is called a Prophet according to His humanity — a mediator, as Moses was in his time, between God and men. Likening Him figuratively to Moses, I allow myself to call Him even Moses — I allow myself to compare the truth with the shadow. Christ is born in Bethlehem, Moses was born in Egypt. Moses is an Israelite, Christ according to the flesh is also. Moses is of the priestly lineage, Christ is through the Virgin of the lineage of David. In the time of Moses — Pharaoh, in the time of Christ — Herod. Pharaoh kills children, Herod slaughters infants; the one slays children of the male sex, and the other likewise destroys the male sex. Moses is saved through the agency of his mother; and by His Mother and together with Her, Christ too was saved.

And it will come to pass that every soul who does not listen to that Prophet shall be destroyed. Briefly and clearly, with the testimony of the prophets and the law, he teaches that the Lord must be listened to by all nations, condemning indeed the unbelievers and granting the faithful eternal blessing.

But it shall be, every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be cut off from the people. Truly, it should be noted that blessed Peter here did not care to hold onto the words of the Mosaic sentence, but the sense. For it is written in Deuteronomy, with Moses speaking to the sons of Israel: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from among your nation and from your brethren like me, you shall listen to him, as you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb (Deut. XVIII). And a little later: And the Lord God said to me, Well have they spoken all that they have said: I will raise up for them a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command. And whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will be the avenger (Ibid.). For which Peter placed: He shall be cut off from the people, more manifestly insinuating that this is the mode of divine vengeance, that those who scorn heavenly mandates are rendered exiles from the ranks of the elect. And also here, and in many other places, where the apostles and evangelists have taken examples from the Old Testament, it is clear that they sought the sense of the Scriptures, not the words, nor did they particularly care for the order of the speeches, so that the matter might be clear to the understanding.

And then the greatness of the punishment: "And it shall come to pass, that every soul which will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those that follow, after, as many as have spoken have likewise foretold of these days." He has done well to set the distinction here. For whenever he says anything great, he appeals to them of old. And he found a text which contained both truths; just as in the other discourse he said, "Until He put His foes under His feet." The remarkable circumstance is, that the two things stand together; that is, subjection and disobedience, and the punishment.

"Hear ye Him," he says; and not this alone, but he adds, "And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people." When he has shown them that they had sinned, and has imparted forgiveness to them, and promised good things, then indeed, then he says, "Moses also says the same thing."

Peter teaches briefly but clearly by the testimony of the prophets and the law that the Lord is to be listened to by the nations, and that he will surely condemn the unbelieving, but he will grant an eternal blessing to the faithful.

"Shall be destroyed from among the people." Being immortal, the human soul is not completely destroyed, but falls from whatever good state it had previously been placed in. So too Judas was destroyed, that is, excluded from the ranks of the apostles. Therefore, since the soul is immortal, by its destruction we understand the deprivation of those blessings which it would have tasted if it had lived in a manner pleasing to God.

And all the prophets from Samuel and onwards. Although the patriarchs and saints of earlier times prophesied concerning Christ through their words and deeds, the proper time of the prophets, I say, is that which began with Samuel, under whom the times of the kings in Judea began, and continued until the end of the Babylonian captivity.

Now, after the death of Moses and Joshua, and after the judges, arose David, who was deemed worthy of bearing the name of father of the Saviour himself; and he first gave to the Hebrews a new style of psalmody, by which he abrogates the ordinances established by Moses with respect to sacrifices, and introduces the new hymn and a new style of jubilant praise in the worship of God; and throughout his whole ministry he teaches very many other things that went beyond the law of Moses.

"Yea, and all the prophets," etc.: all this is calculated to attract. "Yea, and all the prophets," says the Apostle. "from Samuel." He refrains from enumerating them singly, not to make his discourse too long; but having alleged that decisive testimony of Moses, he passes by the rest.

Although the patriarchs and saints of earlier times prophesied many things about Christ by their words and deeds, who wrote properly speaking the time of the prophets had its beginning from Samuel, under whom the period of the kings began in Israel, and i lasted up to the deliverance from the Babylonian captivity.

This also must be implied here: To our fathers, as the sense may be: All likewise, as many as have spoken to our fathers.

And He promised his seed, what? In your seed all nations will be blessed. His seed is Christ: because from Abraham Isaac, from Isaac Jacob, from Jacob the twelve, from the twelve the people of the Jews, from the people of the Jews the virgin Mary, from the virgin Mary our Lord Jesus Christ. And our Lord Jesus Christ became the seed of Abraham; and what was promised to Abraham we find fulfilled in us. In your seed, He says, all nations will be blessed. He believed this before he had seen anything; he believed, and he did not see what was promised. But we see what was promised to him; and whatever was promised to him was in the future.

And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. The seed of Abraham is indeed Christ, in whose faith the blessing was promised to all the families of the earth, that is, to Jews and Gentiles alike. The apostle soothes the minds of the Jews to make them more prompt to believe, saying that the Healer of the whole world chose to visit and bless them first.

Saying to Abraham: And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. From both this testimony, namely that which was given to Moses, and that which was proclaimed to Abraham by the Lord, both his severity and goodness are shown: goodness indeed in those who, having received faith in Christ, deserve to be blessed by him; severity, however, in those who, due to their own contempt and disobedience, are exterminated from the people of the blessed, that is, cast out beyond the boundaries of eternal happiness. But it was said: In your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed, just as it was said in the Gospel: He was the true light which enlightens every man coming into the world (John I). For not all the families of the earth are blessed in Christ, nor is every man coming into the world enlightened by Christ, since many are those who, living in the darkness and curse in which they were born due to the first transgression, or even adding worse deeds, are damned to eternity. But it must be understood that in the seed of Abraham, that is, in Christ, all the families of the earth who are to be blessed are blessed; and by his grace, every man who belongs to the lot of the saints, which is in light, is enlightened: nor is there another name under heaven given to men in which we must be saved (Acts IV). Although it can also rightly be understood in this way, that there is no clan or family of the earth in which some do not receive the blessing of the heavenly inheritance: I speak of those families, or clans of seventy-two, into which the human race was divided after the flood in the construction of the tower. Therefore, in the seed of Abraham, namely the Mediator of God and men, the man Jesus Christ, all the chosen are blessed, not only those who believed in him after his Incarnation, but also those who, being born in the flesh, preceded the times of his Incarnation. For to all the same man God, ascending to the heavens, opened the gates of the heavenly kingdom, to all he will say on the day of judgment: Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom (Matthew XXV).

"Ye are the children of the prophets": so that to you they spake, and for your sakes have all these things come to pass. For as they deemed that through their outrage they had become alienated (and indeed there is no parity of reason, that He Who now is crucified, should now cherish them as His own), he proves to them that both the one and the other are in accordance with prophecy. "Ye are the children," he says, "of the Prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, 'And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.'"

"Ye," he says, "are the children of the Prophets, and of the covenant which God made." "Children of the covenant;" that is, heirs. For lest they should think that they received this offer from the favor of Peter, he shows, that of old it was due to them, in order that they may the rather believe that such also is the will of God.

Then also, on the other hand, he says, as matter of encomium (so that for this reason also ye ought to obey): "Ye are the children of the prophets and of the covenant:" i.e. heirs. Then why do you stand affected towards that which is your own, as if it were another's? True, you have done deeds worthy of condemnation; still you may yet obtain pardon.

"You are the descendants of the prophets," instead of, Do not be discouraged nor think yourselves alienated from the promises. You are the descendants of the prophets, as I was telling you, and through you these things have come to pass. "You," he says, "are the descendants of the prophets," but this one is the Son of God, sharing the Father in essence, and giving himself to them as well. "You are the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant." Descendants, instead of heirs. For if a descendant, then also an heir; and heirs not recently enrolled, but as descendants; and that he may show how much from adoption, if indeed they themselves also will, they too are heirs as descendants; therefore he sent the Son as a Son, "He sent" indeed also to others, but to you first; and not only that, but first, as it were, before those who crucified and killed him. And when? Not only now, but also before the cross, and before so great an attempt, and after the resurrection. Therefore he says, "Having raised him for you first." What is the purpose? To bless and save you, if then you yourselves would choose to turn away from your wickedness.

"You are sons of the prophets." He says "sons of the prophets" instead of saying "you should neither despair nor think that you have been deprived of the promises." "You are sons of the prophets," so that they spoke "to you" and for your sake all this was accomplished. And what does "sons… of the covenant" mean? This is said instead of "heirs," but heirs not merely enrolled, but such as sons are. He said "sons," among other things, also in order to show that they are heirs by adoption. So then, if you yourselves desire it, you are heirs. This is why Peter says: "you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant…"

To you first (he says) God, raising up His Son. Here it should equally be noted that it is concerning the same Son of God, whom he calls the seed of Abraham, due to the twofold nature of Christ, lest they believe Christ to be merely a man, or one son human and the other divine. By this snare of heresy, the insane Manes and Nestorius were deceived.

God raised up his Son and sent him first to you: The Lord had come to his own and among his own, awaiting the first fruits of faith from those people he took his roots from. The others subsequently had to be saved by the preaching of the apostles.

"Unto you first," he continues, "God having raised up His Son sent Him." "To others indeed also, but to you first who crucified Him." "To bless you," he adds, "in turning away every one of you from his iniquities."

"Unto you first," he continues, "God having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him." He does not say simply, "Unto you He sent His Son," but also, after the resurrection, and when He had been crucified. For that they may not suppose that he himself granted them this favor, and not the Father, he says, "To bless you." For if He is your Brother, and blesses you, the affair is a promise. "Unto you first." That is, so far are you from having no share in these blessings, that He would have you become moreover promoters and authors of them to others. For you are not to feel like castaways.

"Having raised up": again, the Resurrection. "In turning away," he says, "every one of you from his iniquities." In this way He blesses you: not in a general way. And what kind of blessing is this? A great one. For of course not the turning a man away from his iniquities is itself sufficient to remit them also. And if it is not sufficient to remit, how should it be to confer a blessing? For it is not to be supposed that the transgressor becomes forthwith also blessed; he is simply released from his sins.

Having said this, with reason he is now able to say, "Unto you God sent his Son Jesus to bless you." He says not, To save you, but what is greater; that the crucified Jesus blessed His crucifiers. Let us then also imitate Him. Let us cast out that spirit of murder and enmity. It is not enough not to retaliate (for even in the Old Dispensation this was exemplified); but let us do all as we would for bosom-friends, as we would for ourselves so for those who have injured us. We are followers of Him, we are His disciples, who after being crucified, sets everything in action in behalf of his murderers, and sends out His Apostles to this end. And yet we have often suffered justly; but those acted not only unjustly, but impiously; for He was their Benefactor, He had done no evil, and they crucified Him. And for what reason? For the sake of their reputation. But He Himself made them objects of reverence. "The scribes and the pharisees sit in Moses' seat; all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that do ye, but after their works do ye not." And again in another place, "Go thy way, show thyself to the priest." Besides, when He might have destroyed them, He saves them. Let us then imitate Him, and let no one be an enemy, no one a foe, except to the devil.

God raised up his Son and sent him first to you: In this way also He was sent especially to the Jews, because He taught them by His bodily presence.

"Jesus," whom God, "having raised up… sent to you first… to bless you." God sent Him to other nations as well, but to you, who crucified and killed Him, He sent Him first. When? Only from the cross? No, even after that, and after the resurrection. To do what? "To bless you" and save you, if you yourselves truly desire to turn away "from your evil deeds."