Transformed lives
Commentary
Object:
For me, the deepest proof of Jesus’ resurrection comes from the transformed lives of his followers. From denying him, fleeing, and hiding in fear, in the Easter season we get to hear and celebrate accounts of how they boldly went out into the world proclaiming his teachings and serving the world in his Name. While the Bible offers accounts of Jesus’ first followers, similar stories continue to this very day.
Acts 5:27-32
In the congregations I have served, the stories in the Acts of the Apostles (apart from Saul’s conversion) have been less familiar than either the gospels or Paul’s letters, and I welcome the chance each Easter season to celebrate how ordinary people were transformed by their encounters with the risen Christ. At no other time in the church year do we hear these stories. They are worthy of our attention!
For today’s reading, it may be helpful to offer some background to Peter’s testimony. By chapter 5 in the book of Acts, Pentecost has come and gone, and the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, have been preaching in the Temple and performing miraculous healings. People are flocking to the Temple to hear them, and bringing the sick and infirm to be healed, as Acts 5:14-16 relates: “...more than ever, believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as they came by. A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.”
The Temple leaders, who had had Jesus crucified in an effort to control the people’s enthusiasm and prevent a violent crackdown by the Romans, were understandably disturbed by all of this. In chapter 4 they arrest Peter and John, keep them overnight in prison, and then ask them what they are about, warning them to speak no longer in Jesus’ name. Peter, John, and the rest of the apostles do not heed this warning, and again are arrested by the Temple leaders in chapter 5, but an angel comes during the night to release them from prison and they return to the Temple at daybreak to continue teaching in Jesus’ name (Acts 5:17-21). These events bring us to today’s reading. The Temple police, greatly surprised at finding the apostles preaching in the Temple rather than sequestered in prison, bring them to the Temple council, who question them a second time. Peter testifies again to the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and the power of God that the apostles must obey over any human authority. We are told in the verse immediately following Peter’s testimony: “When [the council] heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them” (Acts 5:33). But then Gamaliel speaks, recounting past messianic movements that failed, and he famously advises: “So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them -- in that case, you may even be found fighting against God!” (Acts 5:38-39). And so the apostles were given a warning and flogged, but joyfully returned to their teaching in the Temple.
Revelation 1:4-8
As each Easter season offers us the rare opportunity to hear some of the stories in the Acts of the Apostles, so Easter season in Year C offers the even rarer opportunity to read (selectively!) through the book of Revelation -- the only time in the three-year lectionary cycle where this occurs.
As our reading from Acts introduced the persecution of early followers of Christ, so our reading from Revelation expands this reality. Whether persecution was actually experienced or simply anticipated, the hearers of this book lived under threat from the authorities and possibly their own neighbors and families for following Christian teachings. The writer of Revelation proclaims his message a prophecy (Revelation 1:3) given to comfort and inspire the early church, and draws heavily on prophetic and apocalyptic imagery from the Hebrew scriptures. At some point in the Easter season it may prove fruitful to explore the genre of apocalyptic writing and how it helps us read and interpret the book of Revelation, but for this introductory Sunday I believe it worthwhile to simply consider the basic experience of the earliest Christians. The events of Jesus’ resurrection, ascension, and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost completely transformed the lives of the apostles, and of the people who joined them. They believed the end of the world was at hand, that Jesus would soon return to judge the world. They lived day by day in expectation. But days turned to weeks, months, and then years... and then to generations, as the first followers died, in persecution, of illness, or of old age. What were believers to make of their experience? Of Jesus? Of this unexpected wait? Two thousand years later we are accustomed to waiting for the last judgment, and many of us do not expect it any day or hour -- but the urgency of these first years after the resurrection offers much to reflect upon. Time and again, in the epistles and in Revelation, the followers of Christ were offered profound messages of hope that their waiting, faithfulness, and endurance were not in vain but would be rewarded. Can we, do we wish to, claim some of this urgency of the early Christians? How would our lives change if we did?
John 20:19-31
What a week it must have been for Thomas! While we have been going on our merry way after Easter revelries, freed from whatever Lenten disciplines we may have followed, returning to our usual routines, Thomas spent the week after Easter completely at sea. His friends and compatriots had seen Jesus the night of that first Easter Sunday, and not only that, they had received the Holy Spirit from Jesus -- a very different version of the gift of the Spirit than we hear at Pentecost from Acts. Thomas’ friends had experience a profound mystery, and Thomas may have been doubting their sanity, or at least their stories of what they had experienced, and he may have been doubting too whether he still belonged with them. A week can be a long time, especially when you are in fear for your life, as the disciples were (from the Jewish authorities, not simply “the Jews” as the gospel states -- the disciples were Jews themselves!), and the writer of John’s gospel says nothing about what happened in that intervening time.
But then Jesus appeared again a week later, and Thomas was there. It is through Thomas’ story that we have the only visual description we ever receive of Jesus. Jesus may have been tall or short, fat or thin, handsome or plain; we do not know. All that we do know is that after the resurrection he still bore the marks of crucifixion. However Jesus’ appearance was changed in his risen form, Thomas recognized him by the marks of the nails and the wound in his side. Scholars note that Thomas’ affirmation of belief “My Lord, and my God” (John 20:28) marks the climax of the entire gospel of John. It is worth considering not only Jesus’ affirmation of belief in John 20:29, but also the denouement in John 20:30-31 -- that the purpose of the gospel is to support belief in Jesus as Christ, and through believing, to give life in Jesus’ name. So many people, I have found, identify with Thomas in his doubt and find comfort there. But it is also worth recalling Jesus’ naming of belief as a blessing to be received, not a mandate to be followed. And Thomas, before he believed, was still welcome and valued among the disciples. So are those in our communities who struggle with belief. They help keep us honest, and maybe even inspire visits from the divine that bless all who are gathered in Jesus’ name.
Acts 5:27-32
In the congregations I have served, the stories in the Acts of the Apostles (apart from Saul’s conversion) have been less familiar than either the gospels or Paul’s letters, and I welcome the chance each Easter season to celebrate how ordinary people were transformed by their encounters with the risen Christ. At no other time in the church year do we hear these stories. They are worthy of our attention!
For today’s reading, it may be helpful to offer some background to Peter’s testimony. By chapter 5 in the book of Acts, Pentecost has come and gone, and the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, have been preaching in the Temple and performing miraculous healings. People are flocking to the Temple to hear them, and bringing the sick and infirm to be healed, as Acts 5:14-16 relates: “...more than ever, believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as they came by. A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.”
The Temple leaders, who had had Jesus crucified in an effort to control the people’s enthusiasm and prevent a violent crackdown by the Romans, were understandably disturbed by all of this. In chapter 4 they arrest Peter and John, keep them overnight in prison, and then ask them what they are about, warning them to speak no longer in Jesus’ name. Peter, John, and the rest of the apostles do not heed this warning, and again are arrested by the Temple leaders in chapter 5, but an angel comes during the night to release them from prison and they return to the Temple at daybreak to continue teaching in Jesus’ name (Acts 5:17-21). These events bring us to today’s reading. The Temple police, greatly surprised at finding the apostles preaching in the Temple rather than sequestered in prison, bring them to the Temple council, who question them a second time. Peter testifies again to the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and the power of God that the apostles must obey over any human authority. We are told in the verse immediately following Peter’s testimony: “When [the council] heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them” (Acts 5:33). But then Gamaliel speaks, recounting past messianic movements that failed, and he famously advises: “So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them -- in that case, you may even be found fighting against God!” (Acts 5:38-39). And so the apostles were given a warning and flogged, but joyfully returned to their teaching in the Temple.
Revelation 1:4-8
As each Easter season offers us the rare opportunity to hear some of the stories in the Acts of the Apostles, so Easter season in Year C offers the even rarer opportunity to read (selectively!) through the book of Revelation -- the only time in the three-year lectionary cycle where this occurs.
As our reading from Acts introduced the persecution of early followers of Christ, so our reading from Revelation expands this reality. Whether persecution was actually experienced or simply anticipated, the hearers of this book lived under threat from the authorities and possibly their own neighbors and families for following Christian teachings. The writer of Revelation proclaims his message a prophecy (Revelation 1:3) given to comfort and inspire the early church, and draws heavily on prophetic and apocalyptic imagery from the Hebrew scriptures. At some point in the Easter season it may prove fruitful to explore the genre of apocalyptic writing and how it helps us read and interpret the book of Revelation, but for this introductory Sunday I believe it worthwhile to simply consider the basic experience of the earliest Christians. The events of Jesus’ resurrection, ascension, and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost completely transformed the lives of the apostles, and of the people who joined them. They believed the end of the world was at hand, that Jesus would soon return to judge the world. They lived day by day in expectation. But days turned to weeks, months, and then years... and then to generations, as the first followers died, in persecution, of illness, or of old age. What were believers to make of their experience? Of Jesus? Of this unexpected wait? Two thousand years later we are accustomed to waiting for the last judgment, and many of us do not expect it any day or hour -- but the urgency of these first years after the resurrection offers much to reflect upon. Time and again, in the epistles and in Revelation, the followers of Christ were offered profound messages of hope that their waiting, faithfulness, and endurance were not in vain but would be rewarded. Can we, do we wish to, claim some of this urgency of the early Christians? How would our lives change if we did?
John 20:19-31
What a week it must have been for Thomas! While we have been going on our merry way after Easter revelries, freed from whatever Lenten disciplines we may have followed, returning to our usual routines, Thomas spent the week after Easter completely at sea. His friends and compatriots had seen Jesus the night of that first Easter Sunday, and not only that, they had received the Holy Spirit from Jesus -- a very different version of the gift of the Spirit than we hear at Pentecost from Acts. Thomas’ friends had experience a profound mystery, and Thomas may have been doubting their sanity, or at least their stories of what they had experienced, and he may have been doubting too whether he still belonged with them. A week can be a long time, especially when you are in fear for your life, as the disciples were (from the Jewish authorities, not simply “the Jews” as the gospel states -- the disciples were Jews themselves!), and the writer of John’s gospel says nothing about what happened in that intervening time.
But then Jesus appeared again a week later, and Thomas was there. It is through Thomas’ story that we have the only visual description we ever receive of Jesus. Jesus may have been tall or short, fat or thin, handsome or plain; we do not know. All that we do know is that after the resurrection he still bore the marks of crucifixion. However Jesus’ appearance was changed in his risen form, Thomas recognized him by the marks of the nails and the wound in his side. Scholars note that Thomas’ affirmation of belief “My Lord, and my God” (John 20:28) marks the climax of the entire gospel of John. It is worth considering not only Jesus’ affirmation of belief in John 20:29, but also the denouement in John 20:30-31 -- that the purpose of the gospel is to support belief in Jesus as Christ, and through believing, to give life in Jesus’ name. So many people, I have found, identify with Thomas in his doubt and find comfort there. But it is also worth recalling Jesus’ naming of belief as a blessing to be received, not a mandate to be followed. And Thomas, before he believed, was still welcome and valued among the disciples. So are those in our communities who struggle with belief. They help keep us honest, and maybe even inspire visits from the divine that bless all who are gathered in Jesus’ name.
