Acts 13:31Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Lest someone should say, "How is it known that Christ rose?" he says, "They are now His witnesses."

Having brought John forward as a witness and said, "From this man's seed God, according to His promise, raised up a Savior for Israel. Before His coming, John preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel," he then cites John's words again.

"Whom do you suppose me to be? I am not He."

Then he brings the apostles forward as witnesses of the Resurrection and says, "They are now His witnesses before the people."

Therefore he rightly said, "His witnesses before the people," that is, before those who killed Him. Yet they would not have been witnesses unless they had been strengthened by divine power.

They would not have borne this witness before men ready to kill, before the very murderers themselves.

"Who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and who are now His witnesses to the people." They could in no way have been this, if the power of God had not strengthened them.

Paul's preaching in the synagogue there 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 out how God chose them as a people set apart for Himself. Then he briefly surveys all that God did for His people up to David.

From David's seed, in fulfillment of the promises, the Messiah was to come. After this preparation, the apostle turns to the chief aim of his speech.

He speaks of the manifestation of the Messiah and of what He accomplished for the salvation of the human race.

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 his journey and went deeper into the interior regions of Asia Minor. He came to Pisidian Antioch.

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 from the city.

Therefore the apostles went on, shaking off the dust from their feet against them, according to Christ's commandment (Mt 10:14).

The truth of His Resurrection is beyond doubt. After His Resurrection He appeared to His disciples for many days, namely forty days (Acts 1:3).

They were all Galileans (cf. note on Mt 10:4), and they are now His witnesses (cf. note on Acts 2:32). They are trustworthy witnesses, for they were eyewitnesses of Him and saw Him many times.

Paul clearly does not number himself among these eyewitnesses of the Lord, who appeared to the disciples after the Resurrection. He himself also saw the Lord (Acts 9:3ff.; cf. 1 Cor 15:8), but under circumstances wholly different from the other disciples.

The words about Jesus Christ appearing to the disciples after the Resurrection are general. The apostle does not even specify the forty days during which Jesus Christ appeared.

Yet he speaks definitely about those to whom He appeared. They were His disciples, Galileans. By this he clearly distinguishes himself from them as eyewitnesses of the Risen One.

Concerning himself and Barnabas, he says that they are witnesses of another kind. All that was foretold about the Messiah through the ancient prophets has now been fulfilled.

The proof of this is precisely the Resurrection of Jesus. He rose because He was the promised Messiah.