Catholic Replies

• 11 months ago

Editor’s Note: This series on the Bible is from the book Catholicism & Scripture. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. Contact information is listed at the bottom of this column.

Special Course On Catholicism And Scripture (Chapter 22)

After the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, and his powerful sermon that converted more than three thousand people, St. Peter began to exert his authority in the early Church. That authority came from Jesus Himself, who had changed Simon’s name to Peter, which means “rock,” because Peter was to be the solid foundation on which Jesus would build His Church. At the Sea of Tiberias after the Resurrection, Jesus had also asked Peter three times if he loved the Lord. And three times Peter replied, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you” (John 21:16). Each time, Jesus told Peter, “Feed my sheep” (21:17).

One of Peter’s first actions was to preside over the choice of a successor for Judas, who had betrayed the Lord and then hanged himself. The replacement had to be someone who had followed Jesus from the time of His Baptism by John until the Resurrection, and the group chose a man named Matthias. Peter also showed his authority by striking dead Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the Holy Spirit and accepting praise for selling some property when they didn’t deserve the praise (cf. Acts 5:1-10).

In the days following Pentecost, Peter spoke to the crowds about Jesus and began performing miracles. On his way to the Temple with John one day, a man crippled from birth begged the two Apostles for money. “I have neither silver nor gold,” said Peter, “but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus the Nazorean, rise and walk” (Acts 3:6). He helped the beggar to his feet and, when they crowd expressed amazement, Peter said that the man was not healed by his power, but by the power of Jesus Christ, whom their leaders, acting “out of ignorance,” had put to death (Acts 3:17).

When news of Peter’s actions reached the chief priests, they had Peter and John arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. Asked by what power they had performed the miracle, Peter replied that he had acted “in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.” He proclaimed that “there is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under Heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved” (4:10-12).

Stunned by this eloquent response from an uneducated fisherman, the chief priests sternly warned them not to speak again in the name of Jesus. “Whether it is right in the sight of God for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges,” Peter said.

“It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard” (4:19-20). Peter and the others continued to preach about Jesus and to persuade “great numbers of men and women” to join the new Church (5:14). The Apostles were arrested again and put in jail, but an angel of the Lord freed them from their cells. They were found preaching in the Temple, arrested again, and once more told to stop teaching in the name of Jesus.

When Peter said that “we must obey God rather than men” (5:29), the Sanhedrin wanted to put them to death. But one of their members, a respected teacher named Gamaliel, recommended leaving them alone. He said that if their endeavor is of human origin, it will destroy itself, but if it is of divine origin, “you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourself fighting against God” (5:38-39).

As the opposition to the new Church began to build, a deacon named Stephen was singled out for persecution. His eloquent defense of Christ led to accusations of blasphemy, and he was stoned to death while a young man named Saul held the cloaks of the executioners.

Before dying, Stephen imitated Christ on the cross, first by calling, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” and then by crying out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (7:56, 59-60). The persecution of the Church ceased temporarily, and Peter traveled throughout Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. He brought a woman named Tabitha back to life and converted a Roman centurion named Cornelius and his whole family to Christianity. Meanwhile, King Herod had the Apostle James, the brother of John, killed in Jerusalem and had Peter arrested and shackled with chains. But once again an angel freed Peter.

Another example of Peter’s authority occurred at the Council of Jerusalem in AD 49. After a lengthy dispute about whether Gentiles had to become Jews before becoming Christians, Peter arose and said that was not necessary, that all “are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus” (15:7-11). At his words, “the whole assembly fell silent” (15:12). Peter subsequently wrote two letters to the early Church and established the Church in Rome, where he was martyred around AD 65-67.

List of Answers:

ANGEL

GAMALIEL

GENTILES

GOD

JERUSALEM

JESUS

MATTHIAS

NAZOREAN

PENTECOST

SANHEDRIN

SAUL

SIMON’S

STEPHEN

Quiz

1. Jesus changed _____________ name to Peter, which means “Rock,” and gave him full authority over the Church.
2. ________ reminded Peter that he had denied the Lord three times by asking him three times, “Simon, son of John, do you love me”?
3. Peter showed his authority by presiding over the selection of _______ to replace Judas.
4. Peter’s homily on _________________ led to the conversion of 3,000 people.
5. Peter healed a crippled man “in the name of Jesus Christ, the __________.”
6. He told the Jewish Council known as the __________________ that it was “impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”
7. Peter was rescued by an __________ from his prison cell.
8. He told the high priest that “we must obey ______ rather than men.”
9. __________ advised the Sanhedrin to have nothing to do with the Apostles.
10. __________, the first martyr, was stoned to death while a man named __ held the cloaks of those throwing the stones.
11. Peter’s mission to the ______________ began with the conversion of the Gentile Cornelius.
12. Peter presided over the Council of ________ and, when he said the Gentile did not have to become Jews before becoming Christians, “the whole assembly fell silent.”