“The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.”
You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. — the titles (Hagios, Holy; Dikaios, Righteous) emphasize Jesus' sinlessness and moral perfection, contrasting with the murderer (phoneō, murderer, one who commits homicide) released in his stead. The crowd's choice to free Barabbas and crucify Jesus is explicitly named: injustice and inversion of value. The moral clarity (innocent vs. guilty) makes repentance urgent.
Church Fathers on Acts 3:13
Why do you look so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? Acts 3:13 Nay, not even this; for not by our own merit did we draw down the Divine influence. The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers. See how assiduously he thrusts himself (εἰσωθει) upon the fathers of old, lest he should appear to be introducing a new doctrine. In the former address he appealed to the patriarch David, here he appeals to…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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