Our All-In-All
Commentary
These lessons all testify to Jesus is our all-in-all. The Good Shepherd theme could also be stressed.
Acts 4:5-12
The First Lesson is drawn from the second half of a two-part early history of the church attributed to Paul’s Gentile associate, Luke (Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 24). The book is particularly concerned to affirm the universal mission of the church (1:8). The lesson tells the story of Peter and John appearing before the Sanhedrin (Jewish Council) after their arrest in Jerusalem. The author recounts Peter’s response to questions with a sermon.
First, the gathering before the Sanhedrin is described. The presence of the high priest Annas is noted. Others mentioned include his subsequent successors (vv.5-6). Actually, by the time of the incident (after 33 AD), Annas’ son-in-law Caiaphas probably had succeeded him.
The question is posed to the prisoners concerning by what authority or name they undertake their preaching (v.7). Peter is said to be filled with the Holy Spirit in responding. He asks if the arrest was on account of his healing a lame man before the Temple (vv.8-9; cf. 3:1-10). The apostle proceeds to claim that the healing was done in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom the Jewish powers crucified and who was raised from the dead (v.10). Jesus is identified with reference in Psalm 118:22 as the stone rejected (counted worthless) which is to become the head of the corner (v.11). And the claim is made that there is no salvation [soteria, also connoting safety] save in his name (v.12).
Modern life often feels scattered. It seems that the very nature of life on the internet and its multiple ways of stimulating the user leads to scattered thinking and loss of focus (Nicholas Carr, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains). Peter is not scattered. His testimony is only to Christ, making sure everything and everyone is focused on Christ, the cornerstone. This focus can help make life feel less scattered and a lot happier. Recent neurobiological research bears out this point. It seems that only when we are engaged in concentration is dopamine, the good brain chemical which makes us happy, secreted. How good it is to have Christ at the center of our lives, our all-in-all.
Another possible angle for the sermon is evidenced in the appreciation that only in Christ’s name do we have salvation (v.11). It could be interesting to help parishioners appreciate that the Greek word translated “salvation” literally connotes safety. The salvation given in Christ makes us safe.
1 John 3:16-24
The Second Lesson is a discourse on love, embedded in a treatise or sermon by an unknown teacher of the Johannine tradition, probably aiming to clarify the proper interpretation of the Gospel of John. The lesson proceeds to define love in terms of the Son of God laying down his life for us, and so we ought to lay down our lives for each other (v.16). This focus on Christ is in line with the book’s efforts to address doubts about whether Jesus was truly a human being and whether his death on the cross was a sacrifice for sin (1:1-3,7; 2:2; 3:16; 3:2,10;5:6).
The author challenges the possibility that one could claim to have God’s agape love abide if unwilling to share with [lay down our souls for] brothers (v.17). As noted, love is known through Christ’s love in laying down his life for us (v.16). The Johannine author proceeds to exhort such love in action, not just in words (v.18). But this time we can be reassured that we are in the truth, he adds (v.19). When we feel condemned, he notes, the comforting word is that God is greater than our hearts and knows everything (v.20). And if our hearts do not condemn, we may have boldness before God (v.21).
Elaborating on such boldness, the author notes that we receive from God whatever we ask because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him (v.22). The commandment is that we should believe in the name of God’s Son Jesus Christ and love [agapao] one another as commanded (v.23). The son is said to abide/remain in all who obey his commandments and abide in him. We know that the son abides in us by the sign of the Spirit [pneuma] that he gave (v.24).
Note how love is a great thing, and so it is no wonder that the lesson addresses this matter. But the commandment to love easily leads to feelings of discomfort, insecurity, and unhappiness, as we realize how often we fall short. The author of our text wisely offers some other good observations which get us off our concern about performance and the feelings of inadequacy. Instead of focusing on ourselves and the command to love, he focuses on Christ and what he has done for us on the cross. He defines love in terms of God’s love, adding that this love is greater than our hearts (our feelings about ourselves). This entails that even in the midst of our doubts about ourselves, God’s love is with us. We can be at peace, be bold, even when we do not feel that way!
Neurobiological data also seems to bear out this insight. When we are engaged in an activity which leads us to forget ourselves (and not letting our uneasiness with ourselves cloud our confidence in God is such an example), then the executive port of the brain in immersed in pleasurable neurochemicals (Stefan Klein, The Science of Happiness, pp.35-37,56-57,107). The author of this Johannine Epistle also adds that the Spirit comes to embolden us in these instances, and Christ himself comes to live in us. No wonder we would want to love with Christ in our guts, and his presence in this way testifies to his status as our all-in-all. With this sort of intimacy and love in our lives, loving others is sure to come easier.
John 10:11-18
The Gospel Lesson the parable of the Good Shepherd, appearing only in this last of the gospels to be written, probably not composed until the last decades of the first century. Though traditionally identified with John the son of Zebedee, the disciple whom Jesus loved, it is likely that the book was written by a disciple of John. More recently, though, some scholars have discovered the assessment of an early writer of the church, Papias (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.1, pp.154-155), who claimed that John was an eyewitness, in which case perhaps the gospel is based on eyewitness testimony after all (Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, pp.423ff.). In any case, the gospel’s main agenda seems to have been to encourage Jewish Christians in conflict with the synagogue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God (20:31).
Jesus claims in the lesson that he is not like the hired hand, for he is willing to lay down his life for the sheep (vv.11-12; for Old Testament precedents, see Isaiah 40:11 and Jeremiah 23:1-6). He claims that he knows his own and they know him, just as the Father knows him and he the Father. He then stresses again how he lays down his life for the sheep (vv.13-15). He notes that there are other sheep not belonging to this fold (perhaps a reference to Gentiles). Jesus says that he must bring them too, so there will be just one flock/fold and one shepherd (v.16). The Father loves [agapao] loves him, Jesus adds, because he lays down his life for the sheep (v.17). He further observes that no one takes life from him, for he lays it down of his own power/authority [exousia]. But he can take it up again (v.18).
Remind the flock what sheep are like, how vulnerable they are, but also have a fine-tuned sense of hearing. They thrive best in a flock, and even seem to display stress when isolated from the flock. A 2021 Harvard University study found that 36% of Americans (including 61% of young adults) feel lonely. We sheep need a shepherd who will herd us together. This shepherd that we have loves us so much that he died for us; he is no mere hired hand. He will never forsake us. This is a shepherd committed to gathering other sheep into the fold, and so to be his follower must entail an openness to welcoming other sheep into the flock who are not like us. The good news of the lesson is that no longer must we fear loneliness (also see Second Lesson). Christ the Shepherd cares for vulnerable homo sapiens like us, gathering us into his love.
The hessons for this Sunday all testify to how Christ is dwelling at the core of our lives, truly permeating all we have and are.
Acts 4:5-12
The First Lesson is drawn from the second half of a two-part early history of the church attributed to Paul’s Gentile associate, Luke (Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 24). The book is particularly concerned to affirm the universal mission of the church (1:8). The lesson tells the story of Peter and John appearing before the Sanhedrin (Jewish Council) after their arrest in Jerusalem. The author recounts Peter’s response to questions with a sermon.
First, the gathering before the Sanhedrin is described. The presence of the high priest Annas is noted. Others mentioned include his subsequent successors (vv.5-6). Actually, by the time of the incident (after 33 AD), Annas’ son-in-law Caiaphas probably had succeeded him.
The question is posed to the prisoners concerning by what authority or name they undertake their preaching (v.7). Peter is said to be filled with the Holy Spirit in responding. He asks if the arrest was on account of his healing a lame man before the Temple (vv.8-9; cf. 3:1-10). The apostle proceeds to claim that the healing was done in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom the Jewish powers crucified and who was raised from the dead (v.10). Jesus is identified with reference in Psalm 118:22 as the stone rejected (counted worthless) which is to become the head of the corner (v.11). And the claim is made that there is no salvation [soteria, also connoting safety] save in his name (v.12).
Modern life often feels scattered. It seems that the very nature of life on the internet and its multiple ways of stimulating the user leads to scattered thinking and loss of focus (Nicholas Carr, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains). Peter is not scattered. His testimony is only to Christ, making sure everything and everyone is focused on Christ, the cornerstone. This focus can help make life feel less scattered and a lot happier. Recent neurobiological research bears out this point. It seems that only when we are engaged in concentration is dopamine, the good brain chemical which makes us happy, secreted. How good it is to have Christ at the center of our lives, our all-in-all.
Another possible angle for the sermon is evidenced in the appreciation that only in Christ’s name do we have salvation (v.11). It could be interesting to help parishioners appreciate that the Greek word translated “salvation” literally connotes safety. The salvation given in Christ makes us safe.
1 John 3:16-24
The Second Lesson is a discourse on love, embedded in a treatise or sermon by an unknown teacher of the Johannine tradition, probably aiming to clarify the proper interpretation of the Gospel of John. The lesson proceeds to define love in terms of the Son of God laying down his life for us, and so we ought to lay down our lives for each other (v.16). This focus on Christ is in line with the book’s efforts to address doubts about whether Jesus was truly a human being and whether his death on the cross was a sacrifice for sin (1:1-3,7; 2:2; 3:16; 3:2,10;5:6).
The author challenges the possibility that one could claim to have God’s agape love abide if unwilling to share with [lay down our souls for] brothers (v.17). As noted, love is known through Christ’s love in laying down his life for us (v.16). The Johannine author proceeds to exhort such love in action, not just in words (v.18). But this time we can be reassured that we are in the truth, he adds (v.19). When we feel condemned, he notes, the comforting word is that God is greater than our hearts and knows everything (v.20). And if our hearts do not condemn, we may have boldness before God (v.21).
Elaborating on such boldness, the author notes that we receive from God whatever we ask because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him (v.22). The commandment is that we should believe in the name of God’s Son Jesus Christ and love [agapao] one another as commanded (v.23). The son is said to abide/remain in all who obey his commandments and abide in him. We know that the son abides in us by the sign of the Spirit [pneuma] that he gave (v.24).
Note how love is a great thing, and so it is no wonder that the lesson addresses this matter. But the commandment to love easily leads to feelings of discomfort, insecurity, and unhappiness, as we realize how often we fall short. The author of our text wisely offers some other good observations which get us off our concern about performance and the feelings of inadequacy. Instead of focusing on ourselves and the command to love, he focuses on Christ and what he has done for us on the cross. He defines love in terms of God’s love, adding that this love is greater than our hearts (our feelings about ourselves). This entails that even in the midst of our doubts about ourselves, God’s love is with us. We can be at peace, be bold, even when we do not feel that way!
Neurobiological data also seems to bear out this insight. When we are engaged in an activity which leads us to forget ourselves (and not letting our uneasiness with ourselves cloud our confidence in God is such an example), then the executive port of the brain in immersed in pleasurable neurochemicals (Stefan Klein, The Science of Happiness, pp.35-37,56-57,107). The author of this Johannine Epistle also adds that the Spirit comes to embolden us in these instances, and Christ himself comes to live in us. No wonder we would want to love with Christ in our guts, and his presence in this way testifies to his status as our all-in-all. With this sort of intimacy and love in our lives, loving others is sure to come easier.
John 10:11-18
The Gospel Lesson the parable of the Good Shepherd, appearing only in this last of the gospels to be written, probably not composed until the last decades of the first century. Though traditionally identified with John the son of Zebedee, the disciple whom Jesus loved, it is likely that the book was written by a disciple of John. More recently, though, some scholars have discovered the assessment of an early writer of the church, Papias (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.1, pp.154-155), who claimed that John was an eyewitness, in which case perhaps the gospel is based on eyewitness testimony after all (Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, pp.423ff.). In any case, the gospel’s main agenda seems to have been to encourage Jewish Christians in conflict with the synagogue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God (20:31).
Jesus claims in the lesson that he is not like the hired hand, for he is willing to lay down his life for the sheep (vv.11-12; for Old Testament precedents, see Isaiah 40:11 and Jeremiah 23:1-6). He claims that he knows his own and they know him, just as the Father knows him and he the Father. He then stresses again how he lays down his life for the sheep (vv.13-15). He notes that there are other sheep not belonging to this fold (perhaps a reference to Gentiles). Jesus says that he must bring them too, so there will be just one flock/fold and one shepherd (v.16). The Father loves [agapao] loves him, Jesus adds, because he lays down his life for the sheep (v.17). He further observes that no one takes life from him, for he lays it down of his own power/authority [exousia]. But he can take it up again (v.18).
Remind the flock what sheep are like, how vulnerable they are, but also have a fine-tuned sense of hearing. They thrive best in a flock, and even seem to display stress when isolated from the flock. A 2021 Harvard University study found that 36% of Americans (including 61% of young adults) feel lonely. We sheep need a shepherd who will herd us together. This shepherd that we have loves us so much that he died for us; he is no mere hired hand. He will never forsake us. This is a shepherd committed to gathering other sheep into the fold, and so to be his follower must entail an openness to welcoming other sheep into the flock who are not like us. The good news of the lesson is that no longer must we fear loneliness (also see Second Lesson). Christ the Shepherd cares for vulnerable homo sapiens like us, gathering us into his love.
The hessons for this Sunday all testify to how Christ is dwelling at the core of our lives, truly permeating all we have and are.
