Oecumenius — Commentary on Scripture

Acts 1:3

He did not appear continuously but in intervals, so that they should long more for His presence, and that He might prepare them for His withdrawl in bodily presence from the world.

Acts 1:4

the Promise of the Father: that is, the Holy Spirit which was to be given to the Apostles for the work of the ministry to which they had been called.

Acts 1:7

He assures us that nothing which takes place is the effect of accident or chance or destiny, since all things the Father has put in His own power.

Acts 1:25

When he betrayed his Lord and sought no forgiveness for this his great sin, Judas chose to himself perdition. Here, then, his own place or lot means suicide. So when we read Balaam that 'he rose up and went and returned to his place,' (Num 24:25) this is said not only of a local removal, but of a moral one.

Acts 2:20

this clearly describes for us the miracles that took place at the cross- the earthquake and the turbulence of the earth (Matt. 27:52), the darkness of the sun (Lk. 23:44), and the changing of the full moon into blood.

Acts 3:22

Our Blessed Lord was indeed a prophet like unto Moses. The points of resemblance are many. As Moses was born in a strange land, in Egypt, so was Christ born in a world and country which knew Him not, in a city which rejected Him, in Bethlehem. To preserve his life Moses was laid in an ark of bulrushes, as Christ’s’ life was preserved by the lowliness of the manger in which He lay. Both were of the house of Israel, and children, the one of the priestly, the other of the Royal race. The jealousy of Pharaoh put the life of Moses in jeopardy as soon as he was born, as Herod sought the life of Christ because of the same jealous fear, while both kings ordered the male children to be slain, in order to preserve the stability of their respective thrones. Both were mediators between God and a sinful people, and as Moses pleaded for the children of Israel, so does Christ by His death and ascension plead for mankind. Both Moses and Christ were the legislators of God’s people, the former for those under the first covenant, the latter for those under the second. As Moses led the people from slave…

Our Blessed Lord was indeed a prophet like unto Moses. The points of resemblance are many. As Moses was born in a strange land, in Egypt, so was Christ born in a world and country which knew Him not, in a city which rejected Him, in Bethlehem. To preserve his life Moses was laid in an ark of bulrushes, as Christ’s’ life was preserved by the lowliness of the manger in which He lay. Both were of the house of Israel, and children, the one of the priestly, the other of the Royal race. The jealousy of Pharaoh put the life of Moses in jeopardy as soon as he was born, as Herod sought the life of Christ because of the same jealous fear, while both kings ordered the male children to be slain, in order to preserve the stability of their respective thrones. Both were mediators between God and a sinful people, and as Moses pleaded for the children of Israel, so does Christ by His death and ascension plead for mankind. Both Moses and Christ were the legislators of God’s people, the former for those under the first covenant, the latter for those under the second. As Moses led the people from slavery into the land of promised to their fathers, so did Christ deliver His people out of the power of Satan, and go before them in heaven. Both Moses and Christ signalized and proved the truth of their mission by miracles and signs.

Acts 4:27

The hand and the counsel mean the same thing: for where there is power, there is no need of counsel.

Acts 5:27

The angel's freeing them from prison for the apostles on the one hand appeared as an encouragement, for the Jews really as [a tactical] expediency. The Jews, however, were unaware that the power was a divine one, so at first they met in the confusion of what they should do, whether they wished them to be arrested and [whether] they themselves might besides gain an understanding. To such a extent truly were they confused [/blinded], that neither were they prepared forcibly to remove from the temple the apostles, whom they nevertheless detested.