A new era
Commentary
We are likely to think of Easter as an annual festival and indeed it is. Time has allowed an accumulation of customs that are played out each year. It is the day above all others for attending a church service. Then there are new clothes, colored eggs, greeting cards and special breakfasts to make the day as memorable as it deserves to be in the calendar routine.
The Scripture lessons remind us that, for us Christians, Easter celebrates the event above all events in human history.
When the resurrection of Christ occurred, however, historians were marking off time much in the way we do, according to changes in rulers, wars won or lost, social crises, notable discoveries, inventions and philosophers. Few paid attention to a small religious group in a corner of the empire.
For those earliest believers, the gospel lesson records how the resurrection awakened renewed faith. Shaken by the crucifixion of their teacher, they regained belief that he was all he said --Messiah, Son of God.
For a Mary Magdalene, the resurrection gave reaffirmation of what she had become. A person who rejoiced at forgiveness, she walked with dignity, with dedication to her Savior, with purpose in a life of service. Yet, there was a change. Although Christ was alive, no longer would
his visible presence bring certainty and comfort. Now she would need to rely on the memory of his teaching and deeds. The gathering with other believers would be more important than ever. She would need the help of their memories and of their relating Christ's teaching to new situations. She would need to join with them in prayer, in celebrating the sacrament and in witnessing.
It was a new era for those who had associated most closely with Christ and for the world. The lesson from Acts tells how the apostles only gradually understood the change that a resurrected Christ intended. From the narrow confines of their homeland and its religious practices, they were being called to see the importance of the gospel for all people.
By the time the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the church in Corinth, he had carried the gospel of the risen Christ to many new places. But the letter showed the constant need to probe the depths of understanding among those who already adhered to the gospel. Paul had to remind them that the era of Adam and death was passing; the era of the resurrected Christ had begun and would ultimately triumph. The great division of human history reached into the lives of all believers.
OUTLINE I
Witness for everyone
Acts 10:34-43
A. vv. 34-35. The universal outreach of God's mission is the distinctive thrust in this last of Peter's five sermons in Acts (cf. cc. 2-5 for others). Having been led by a vision to Cornelius, a "God fearer," a Gentile faithful to the synagogue but not fully a convert to Judaism (vv. 1-33), Peter acknowledges that God accepts "anyone who fears him."
B. vv. 36-38. Christ's ministry had addressed the "people of Israel" in Galilee and Judea. It had two aspects, preaching and doing good. The one stressed peace with God through Christ. The other overcame the force of evil through healing. At baptism by John, Jesus had been anointed (important messianic term) by God's Spirit. Now Peter put his confession in universal terms. Taking a formula about God used among Hedonistic Jews, he changed it to "Jesus Christ --he is Lord of all."
C. vv. 39-42. The apostles' witness grew from their presence with Christ during his last days in Jerusalem. His crucifixion and resurrection were at the crux of the gospel. The confession stated that God raised Christ on the third day. Since eating and drinking with him gave validation, the apostles were an elect company of witnesses. Their commission included another universal element: Christ is God's judge of everyone, dead or alive.
D. v. 43. Peter noted that the witness to Christ reached back to the prophets in the Hebrew Bibles. They confirmed the universal call to faith and forgiveness in Christ.
OUTLINE II
A resurrection future
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
A. vv. 19-20. Christ for the present was not enough for the Apostle Paul. Although Christ was very important for his life day-by-day, he could not confine Christ to the limits of his earthly life, nor could he perceive himself crushed into such a small box. His human nature had a mysterious depth and transcendence which Christ had enlivened with a resurrection hope. One's frailty could impress a person occasionally to feel great kinship with the family and friends who were dead. Since Christ had been among them in death, however, his resurrection was the beginning of change.
B. vv. 21-22. Christ gave a counter force to Adam. Adam was the type of every flawed human person. If anyone was tempted to think of human transcendence as innate spiritual immortality, the weaknesses and evil in a person's thoughts, feelings and will ought to help with
acknowledging the death that belongs to Adam and that besets us at all times. Another type of human came in Christ to meet us in our dying and to give us new life. The resurrection has begun to take hold in us now, but will only become complete later.
C. vv. 23-26. Christ's fulfillment of God's purpose for us comes in two stages. First his resurrection, then his return. All evil must be brought to an end before the kingdom of God will be realized in its completeness. His resurrection was like an offering of first fruits, which carned promise of a harvest yet to be completed.
OUTLINE III
From weeping to witness
John 20:1-18
A. v. 1. It was dark, distinctive in John, probably to symbolize the state of the world and, especially, of the grieving followers of Jesus before the resurrection was known.
B. vv. 2-10. The empty tomb suggested treachery, at first, enough to perturb the women (indicated by "we" in v. 2), Peter and the other disciple. This last, identified as the author of the gospel in 21:24, was the first to believe the resurrection (v. 8). Since the scriptural evidence was not yet thought through enough to serve as the basis for the resurrection faith, it must be surmised that seeing the grave clothes was enough. Was it because they lay just as they had covered Jesus' body, so as to suggest that a miraculous transposition had taken place? Did the memory of his teaching about being the Word and Light and Life come to full meaning now?
C. vv. 11-18. Mary Magdalene, borne down with grief, had difficulty recognizing the resurrected Jesus. Twice the question was put to her, "Why are you weeping?" She could only think of locating the corpse. When Jesus called her by name, however, she recognized her living "Master." Learning of the resurrection, she reached out to Jesus, only to learn more about the new era that had dawned. She had to become accustomed to communion with an invisible Lord. Jesus belonged to the same God as Mary, but in a distinctive relationship. The first to encounter the resurrected Lord, Mary became the first to testify, "I have seen the Lord."
The Scripture lessons remind us that, for us Christians, Easter celebrates the event above all events in human history.
When the resurrection of Christ occurred, however, historians were marking off time much in the way we do, according to changes in rulers, wars won or lost, social crises, notable discoveries, inventions and philosophers. Few paid attention to a small religious group in a corner of the empire.
For those earliest believers, the gospel lesson records how the resurrection awakened renewed faith. Shaken by the crucifixion of their teacher, they regained belief that he was all he said --Messiah, Son of God.
For a Mary Magdalene, the resurrection gave reaffirmation of what she had become. A person who rejoiced at forgiveness, she walked with dignity, with dedication to her Savior, with purpose in a life of service. Yet, there was a change. Although Christ was alive, no longer would
his visible presence bring certainty and comfort. Now she would need to rely on the memory of his teaching and deeds. The gathering with other believers would be more important than ever. She would need the help of their memories and of their relating Christ's teaching to new situations. She would need to join with them in prayer, in celebrating the sacrament and in witnessing.
It was a new era for those who had associated most closely with Christ and for the world. The lesson from Acts tells how the apostles only gradually understood the change that a resurrected Christ intended. From the narrow confines of their homeland and its religious practices, they were being called to see the importance of the gospel for all people.
By the time the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the church in Corinth, he had carried the gospel of the risen Christ to many new places. But the letter showed the constant need to probe the depths of understanding among those who already adhered to the gospel. Paul had to remind them that the era of Adam and death was passing; the era of the resurrected Christ had begun and would ultimately triumph. The great division of human history reached into the lives of all believers.
OUTLINE I
Witness for everyone
Acts 10:34-43
A. vv. 34-35. The universal outreach of God's mission is the distinctive thrust in this last of Peter's five sermons in Acts (cf. cc. 2-5 for others). Having been led by a vision to Cornelius, a "God fearer," a Gentile faithful to the synagogue but not fully a convert to Judaism (vv. 1-33), Peter acknowledges that God accepts "anyone who fears him."
B. vv. 36-38. Christ's ministry had addressed the "people of Israel" in Galilee and Judea. It had two aspects, preaching and doing good. The one stressed peace with God through Christ. The other overcame the force of evil through healing. At baptism by John, Jesus had been anointed (important messianic term) by God's Spirit. Now Peter put his confession in universal terms. Taking a formula about God used among Hedonistic Jews, he changed it to "Jesus Christ --he is Lord of all."
C. vv. 39-42. The apostles' witness grew from their presence with Christ during his last days in Jerusalem. His crucifixion and resurrection were at the crux of the gospel. The confession stated that God raised Christ on the third day. Since eating and drinking with him gave validation, the apostles were an elect company of witnesses. Their commission included another universal element: Christ is God's judge of everyone, dead or alive.
D. v. 43. Peter noted that the witness to Christ reached back to the prophets in the Hebrew Bibles. They confirmed the universal call to faith and forgiveness in Christ.
OUTLINE II
A resurrection future
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
A. vv. 19-20. Christ for the present was not enough for the Apostle Paul. Although Christ was very important for his life day-by-day, he could not confine Christ to the limits of his earthly life, nor could he perceive himself crushed into such a small box. His human nature had a mysterious depth and transcendence which Christ had enlivened with a resurrection hope. One's frailty could impress a person occasionally to feel great kinship with the family and friends who were dead. Since Christ had been among them in death, however, his resurrection was the beginning of change.
B. vv. 21-22. Christ gave a counter force to Adam. Adam was the type of every flawed human person. If anyone was tempted to think of human transcendence as innate spiritual immortality, the weaknesses and evil in a person's thoughts, feelings and will ought to help with
acknowledging the death that belongs to Adam and that besets us at all times. Another type of human came in Christ to meet us in our dying and to give us new life. The resurrection has begun to take hold in us now, but will only become complete later.
C. vv. 23-26. Christ's fulfillment of God's purpose for us comes in two stages. First his resurrection, then his return. All evil must be brought to an end before the kingdom of God will be realized in its completeness. His resurrection was like an offering of first fruits, which carned promise of a harvest yet to be completed.
OUTLINE III
From weeping to witness
John 20:1-18
A. v. 1. It was dark, distinctive in John, probably to symbolize the state of the world and, especially, of the grieving followers of Jesus before the resurrection was known.
B. vv. 2-10. The empty tomb suggested treachery, at first, enough to perturb the women (indicated by "we" in v. 2), Peter and the other disciple. This last, identified as the author of the gospel in 21:24, was the first to believe the resurrection (v. 8). Since the scriptural evidence was not yet thought through enough to serve as the basis for the resurrection faith, it must be surmised that seeing the grave clothes was enough. Was it because they lay just as they had covered Jesus' body, so as to suggest that a miraculous transposition had taken place? Did the memory of his teaching about being the Word and Light and Life come to full meaning now?
C. vv. 11-18. Mary Magdalene, borne down with grief, had difficulty recognizing the resurrected Jesus. Twice the question was put to her, "Why are you weeping?" She could only think of locating the corpse. When Jesus called her by name, however, she recognized her living "Master." Learning of the resurrection, she reached out to Jesus, only to learn more about the new era that had dawned. She had to become accustomed to communion with an invisible Lord. Jesus belonged to the same God as Mary, but in a distinctive relationship. The first to encounter the resurrected Lord, Mary became the first to testify, "I have seen the Lord."
