Acts 13:28Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Then there is another fault. This was no longer a matter of ignorance. Suppose they did not regard Him as the Christ. But why, in addition, did they kill Him? He speaks of the manner of His death and mentions Pilate. He does this so that His suffering may be made more evident from the judgment conducted over Him. He also does it to convict more strongly those who handed Him over to a foreigner. He did not say, "they accused Him," but, "finding no guilt in Him worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have Him killed." This was to show that Pilate did it to please them, and against his own will. Peter expresses this more clearly: "you denied Him in the presence of Pilate" (Acts 3:13). Paul loved them greatly.

He says that capital punishment was desired by them. They bring Pilate onto the scene, on the one hand to make the Passion publicly known, and on the other to subject themselves to greater accusation, since they handed Christ over to a foreigner. He did not say, "they demanded," but "they asked." They asked, he says, for permission to kill Him, although Pilate seemed unwilling. Peter speaks more clearly about this: "when he had decided to release Him" (Acts 3:13).

Paul's sermon in this synagogue gives us the first example of the Apostle's wisdom and skill in acting upon the hearts of his hearers. Wishing to gain their attention and trust, he first points to how God chose them as a people set apart for Himself. Then he briefly reviews all that God did for His people until David, from whose seed the Messiah was to come in fulfillment of the promises. After this preparation, the Apostle turns to the chief purpose of his speech. He speaks of the appearance of the Messiah and of what He accomplished for the salvation of the human race. Paul now said, addressing the Jews and proselytes present, that this preaching of salvation was appointed for them.

From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to the peninsula of Asia Minor and came to Perga in Pamphylia. From there John Mark returned to Jerusalem. Paul, with his other companions, continued the journey and advanced into the inland regions of Asia Minor. He came to Antioch of Pisidia. There the Apostle Paul's preaching about Christ made a powerful impression on the city's inhabitants. It converted many Jews and Gentiles to Christ. Yet the majority of the Jews remained deaf to the apostles' preaching. They even stirred up a disturbance against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of the city. Therefore the apostles went on farther, shaking off the dust from their feet against them, according to Christ's commandment (Mt 10:14).

"Though they found no fault": although they strained to find one. From the Gospels it is clear that none of the accusations brought against Christ by the rulers of the people made Him worthy of death. Even the pagan Pilate clearly saw and said this (Jn 18:38 and parallels). Yet "this was no longer a matter of ignorance. For suppose they did not regard Him as the Christ. Why, then, did they kill Him?" (Chrysostom). "They fulfilled all that was written."

The Apostle here softens the words about the death of Jesus Christ by attributing His killing, as it were, to Pilate. Yet Pilate did this at the request of the Jews, who in turn acted in fulfillment of the prophecies concerning Him. Crucifixion on a cross was considered an especially disgraceful execution. Therefore the Apostle speaks generally of the killing of the Innocent One, of taking Him down from the tree, and of laying Him in a tomb. Men did all this, but God raised Him.