Acts 2:22

For Peter said, "Ye men of Israel, hear my words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God among you by powers, and wonders, and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, by the hands of wicked men ye have slain, affixing [to the cross]: whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death; because it was not possible that he should be holden of them. For David speaketh concerning Him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face; for He is on my right hand, lest I should be moved: therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also, my flesh shall rest in hope: because Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou give Thy Holy One to see corruption."

Therefore, since the Jews still contend that the Christ is not yet come, whom we have in so many ways approved to be come, let the Jews recognise their own fate, -a fate which they were constantly foretold as destined to incur after the advent of the Christ, on account of the impiety with which they despised and slew Him.

Also Peter, in the Acts of the Apostles, speaks of Him as verily human (when he says), "Jesus Christ was a man approved of God among you." These passages alone ought to suffice as a prescriptive testimony in proof that Christ had human flesh derived from man, and not spiritual, and that His flesh was not composed.

Then why not His names also? When, therefore, you read of Almighty God, and the Most High, and the God of hosts, and the King of Israel the "One that is," consider whether the Son also be not indicated by these designations, who in His own right is God Almighty, in that He is the Word of Almighty God, and has received power over all; is the Most High, in that He is "exalted at the right hand of God," as Peter declares in the Acts; is the Lord of hosts, because all things are by the Father made subject to Him; is the King of Israel because to Him has especially been committed the destiny of that nation; and is likewise "the One that is," because there are many who are called Sons, but are not.

In (Peter) himself the Church was reared; that is, through (Peter) himself; (Peter) himself essayed the key; you see what (key): "Men of Israel, let what I say sink into your ears: Jesus the Nazarene, a man destined by God for you," and so forth. (Peter) himself, therefore, was the first to unbar, in Christ's baptism, the entrance to the heavenly kingdom, in which (kingdom) are "loosed" the sins that were beforetime "bound; "and those which have not been "loosed" are "bound," in accordance with true salvation; and Ananias he "bound" with the bond of death, and the weak in his feet he "absolved" from his defect of health.

"Ye men of Israel": it is not for flattery that he uses this term; but, as he has borne hard upon them, he relaxes a little, and puts them in mind of their great ancestor Israel. Here again he begins with an introduction, that they may not become excited, now that he is going to make express mention to them of Jesus: for in what preceded, there was no reason why they should be excited, while the Prophet was the subject of discourse: but the name of Jesus would have given offence at the very outset. And he does not say, "Do as I bid you," but, Hear; as being not at all exacting. And observe how he forbears to speak of the high matters, and begins with the very low: "Jesus," he says: and then straightway mentions the place He belonged to, being one which was held in mean estimation: "Jesus of Nazareth": and does not say anything great about Him, nor even such as one would say about a Prophet, so far: "Jesus," he says, "of Nazareth, a man proved (to be) from God among you." Observe; what great matter was this, to say that He was sent from God? For this was the point which on all occasions both He and John and the Apostles were studious to show.

"Jesus of Nazareth, a man proved (to be sent) from God unto you": one, of whom, by reason of His works, there can be no doubt; but who, on the contrary, is demonstrated. Thus also Nicodemus said, "No man can do these miracles which Thou doest. By miracles, and wonders, and signs which God wrought by Him in the midst of you": not secretly. Setting out from facts notorious to those whom he was addressing, he then comes to things hidden.

Since Peter had urged them vehemently before, he now lets them go, not by flattering them, but by giving them rest and regarding them worthy of relief. Therefore he also makes a preface and recalls the forefather David, so that he might not alarm them, since he had introduced Jesus with his speech. For when they heard the prophet at his feet, they held back. And if merely the name of Jesus had been brought forward to people who kill, it would immediately have stood against them. For this reason he did not say "Be persuaded," but "listen." So that it might be more gently brought in. For this reason he also speaks more humbly concerning Jesus.

"Jesus," he said, "of Nazareth," that is, naming him from a low and despised homeland. Then, "attested," not one about whom any doubt could be held, but demonstrated by the works "which God did through him," because he was from God. For although God worked, he worked through him, and "to you," not secretly nor in a corner, but with you as witnesses.

Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God, and so on until you afflicted and killed Him. Like a learned teacher, he first admonishes the unbelievers, whom he pities, to give advice of salvation later when pierced by just fear. And because he speaks to those who know the law, he shows that Christ Himself is the One promised by the prophets. However, he does not first call Him the Son of God by his own authority, but a man approved, a just man, a man resurrected from the dead, not in the common resurrection along with the others, which is delayed until the end of the world, but celebrated on the third day, so that the assertion of a singular glorious resurrection might bear the testimony of eternal divinity. Since the bodies of others are proven to have undergone corruption after death, this one, of whom it is said: You will not let Your Holy One see corruption (Psalm XV), is shown to be free from human frailty, and proven to have surpassed the merits of human condition, and therefore more deserving to be ascribed to God than to humans. You will learn from the story of Cornelius the centurion and in the sermon given by the Apostle Paul in Athens what kind of introduction the apostles use in their preaching to the Gentiles.

This word is not flattery; but since Peter had strongly rebuked them, he now condescends to them and reminds them of the forefathers, persuading them to recall their faith, and begins again from the beginning so as not to upset them, since he intended to remind them about Jesus. Previously, listening to the prophet, they could not be upset. And see how he says nothing about lofty truths, but begins from aspects that speak of the great humility of Jesus. "The Nazarene," he says, calling Jesus by His homeland, which seemed very insignificant. Just as in those cases when Christ is called the Power of God and the Wisdom of God, we refer these names to His Divinity, so in those cases when He is called a man and one who died for our sins, we refer these names to His flesh. And He Himself once said: "You seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth" (John 8:40), and another time said: "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). From this, on the basis of the first text, arose the Samosatian heresy, which held that Jesus was a mere man.
"By powers and wonders and signs." This same thought is also expressed by the words of the Apostle Paul, that He "was declared to be the Son of God with power" (Rom. 1:4), that is, the Son whose deeds and miracles proved that He is truly the Son of the Father, because there is no difference between the statement "to declare the Son of God with power" and the statement "to attest to Him by powers and wonders and signs, which God performed through Him." Truly God acts as if through the Son, because through Him He also "made the ages" (Heb. 1:2). And by the expression "among you" he calls them as witnesses of what he says; "among you" means not secretly, not in a corner.