The first thing Jesus brings is peace. Saint Augustine wrote that our heart is restless “until it rests in You.” Deep peace in the heart is a sign of a genuine visitation from God. Perfect peace is a very exalted state; it is precisely this peace that the peacemakers of the Gospel “make” and bring with them. This state of peace in one's thoughts, heart, and even body is so precious and so akin to God that...
The first thing Jesus brings is peace. Saint Augustine wrote that our heart is restless “until it rests in You.” Deep peace in the heart is a sign of a genuine visitation from God. Perfect peace is a very exalted state; it is precisely this peace that the peacemakers of the Gospel “make” and bring with them. This state of peace in one's thoughts, heart, and even body is so precious and so akin to God that those who bring this peace from Him will be called sons of God. In biblical language, a “son” means one who partakes of something: someone who bears a particular quality or attribute (for example, the nickname of the sons of Zebedee, “sons of thunder”), or someone whose appearance is associated with a particular event in a person's life—with birth or death, victory or defeat (“son of consolation,” “son of my sorrow”). The sons of God are people who have participated in divine peace to such an extent that they can bring it to others, conveying to those around them the peaceful state of their heart in which God reigns. Such peacemaking is a sign of righteousness. It is already an action in itself. It was not by chance that Saint Seraphim of Sarov regarded peace in the heart as the clearest sign that the Holy Spirit had come to dwell there, and said: “Acquire peace, and thousands around you will be saved.” The peace that comes from God is essential to our world, which is torn apart by conflicts and wars, the chief and first of them being the war in our thoughts and feelings.
The Good News of Jesus is, above all, peace. That is why the Lord's first words to His disciples after the Resurrection were the greeting: “Peace be with you.” The apostles are fearful and trembling, as they always are when present at a miracle (for example, when the storm was calmed, they likewise thought they were seeing a ghost). But the Lord gives us “a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim. 1:7). The power of the Holy Spirit grows out of deep inner peace. It is the result of the reconciliation between humanity and God accomplished on the Cross, of which the Spirit informs every believer. The Lord has reconciled us to Himself (2 Cor. 5:18) and, having gained victory over hell and death, proclaims this victory to His disciples. All subsequent apostolic preaching can be reduced to the appeal: “Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20), that is, accept the peace and forgiveness of sins bestowed by the Lord.
“It is I Myself.” How each of us would like to hear this word of Christ in our own life—to hear it as a word addressed directly to me. “Lord, let me find You, truly find You, so that my life may really change and become a witness to You.” Yet we seem to seek and knock, while no full answer comes. We do not feel that we are truly breathing the air of eternity, that we have known Him (John 17:3), that we “walk with Him” as His disciples and friends did. There have been glimpses, moments of grace, perhaps even a vivid conversion, yet our life has still not been transformed…
Yes, an encounter with God that renews and transforms the soul is as “impossible” a miracle as the Resurrection of Jesus was for the apostles. And this miracle became reality. More than that, the Lord promises that for those who believe “through their word” (John 17:20), an encounter with Christ will likewise become reality through the Holy Spirit, whom He will send to all who seek Him. “Your heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Luke 11:13); this request simply cannot remain unheard. The prayer that seeks Him is the one and deepest supplication arising from the depths of our soul. From its very beginning, such prayer is inspired by the Holy Spirit, mysteriously guided by Him, and fulfilled by Him as well. But, alas, our own depths are often inaccessible to us, buried under rubbish and debris, all kinds of needless thoughts, resentments, bustle, and old wounds. We must clear away the wreckage, find this prayer within ourselves, and see what the soul secretly asks for day and night. This is the labor of repentance. For this reason ascetics went into forests and deserts, so as to devote themselves entirely to seeking the “treasure hidden in a field”; this is also the meaning and significance of the Church's fasts, especially Great Lent. But it is also the labor of a whole lifetime. May each of us behold the light of the Resurrection.
…The disciples had to experience separation from Christ twice. The first time was when He died on the Cross; the second, when He ascended into heaven. The first separation was the greatest tragedy, but the second was the greatest joy (Luke 24:52), because the disciples knew that they had not been left alone. They felt Christ's presence in their lives and His constant participation; they knew that the Lord and Teacher had not abandoned them. They awaited the fulfillment of “the promise of the Father”—the coming of “another Counselor” (John 14:16) and their being clothed with power from on high to bear witness. The Holy Spirit is the One who brings Christ's presence into our lives, reveals to us the reality of His redeeming work, and bears witness in our hearts that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16). He discloses to us the true meaning of Holy Scripture (cf. Luke 24:45) and enables us to understand that the same Christ whom we meet on the pages of the Gospel is also at work in our lives. In the Holy Spirit we will find Christ and gain the strength to follow Him. Let us pray, and pray for one another, that the light of the Resurrection may enlighten and cleanse us, penetrating with love into the most distant and wounded corners of the soul; that we too, like the first apostles, may meet the Risen One; that at last, after the long night, the day may begin to dawn and the morning star rise in our hearts (2 Pet. 1:19).
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1:1 The former treatise - In that important season which reached from the resurrection of Christ to his ascension, the former treatise ends, and this begins: this describing the Acts of the Holy Ghost, (by the apostles,) as that does the acts of Jesus Christ. Of all things - In a summary manner: which Jesus began to do - until the day - That is, of all things which Jesus did from the beginning till that day.
1:2 After having given commandment - In the Act 1:3 St. Luke expresses in general terms what Christsaid to his apostles during those forty days. But in the Act 1:4 and following verses he declares what he said on the day of his ascension. He had brought his former account down tothat day; and from that day begins the Acts of the Apostles.
1:3 Being seen by them forty days - That is, many times during that space. And speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God - Which was the sum of all his discourses with them before his passion also.
1:4 Wait for the promise of the Father, which ye have heard from me - When he was with them a little before, as it is recorded, Luk 24:49.
1:5 Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost - And so are all true believers to the end of the world. But the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost also are here promised.
1:6 Dost thou at this time - At the time thou now speakest of?not many days hence? restore the kingdom to Israel? - They still seemed to dream of an outward, temporal kingdom, in which the Jews should have dominion over all nations. It seems they came in a body, having before concerted the design, to ask when this kingdom would come.
1:7 The times or the seasons - Times, in the language of the Scriptures, denote a longer; seasons, a shorter space. Which the Father hath put in his own power - To be revealed when and to whom it pleaseth him.
1:8 But ye shall receive power - and shall be witnesses to me - That is, ye shall be empowered to witness my Gospel, both by your preaching and suffering.
1:12 A Sabbath - day's journey - The Jews generally fix this to two thousand cubits, which is not a mile.