The Fourth Sunday of Easter - 21 April 2013
Acts
9:36-43
Psalm
23
Revelation
7:9-17
St.
John 10:22-30
Background:
Sources in Acts
A great deal of energy
and scholarship has been expended in attempting to determine the sources of and
development of the Gospels. If we are to
honor the tradition that Luke was responsible not only for the Gospel but the
Acts of the Apostles as well, this kind of inquiry can give us some idea of how
the Acts of the Apostles comes to us.
One source that undergirds most Biblical literature is that of oral
tradition along with possible written sources as well. We get some clues from the introductory
verses in Luke, where the author states: “Since many have undertaken to compile
a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who
were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them
down to us,” Thus we have several “compilers” who remain unidentified, as well
as “eyewitnesses”, presumably some of the apostles or their followers. It seems
clear that one source is the individual who accompanied Paul on his several
journeys, perhaps the individual who is responsible for the “we” passages in
Acts. One source that is not evident is
the collection of letters that Paul wrote to several of the churches. There are no quotations from this source. Some who hold that Acts was written very
late, after 94 CE, also see a source in Josephus, the Jewish historian. His works, The Wars of the Jews (ca. 80 CE) or Antiquities of the Jews (ca. 94 CE) are possible sources for some
of the content in Acts.
Acts 9:36-43
Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is
Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time she
became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room
upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was
there, sent two men to him with the request, "Please come to us without
delay." So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took
him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing
tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter
put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the
body and said, "Tabitha, get up." Then she opened her eyes, and
seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling
the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout
Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some
time with a certain Simon, a tanner.
In this section, which is devoted to how the
Gospel is received and acted upon in Judea and Samaria, we have a collection of
stories about Peter’s ministry in Palestine.
There is a rationale for this collection presented in 9:31: “The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria
was at peace. It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord, and
with the consolation of the holy Spirit it grew in numbers.” There is also another purpose for Luke, and
that is to show Peter as active in the same manner that Jesus was active. This same device will be used with Paul as
well, in later chapters. Here Peter is
seen as the actor in two stories, the first of which is the healing of Aeneas,
followed by this pericope, the raising of Tabitha. The very name of the person gives us a clue not
only of the world in which Peter (and Paul) were working, but also of the
direction of the church in these days.
Tabitha (in Aramaic) or Dorcas (in Greek) means “Gazelle”, and indicates
the complex community in which these traditions emerge. She is characterized as a true follow of
Jesus, notable in her actions –“she was devoted to good works and to
charity.” All the actions bear an
uncanny resemblance to the story of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:21-43). That, however, is Luke’s purpose in showing a
faithful Peter doing the acts that Jesus would have done. The final comment about Peter staying with a
tanner also heightens the Jewish/Gentile mission. It would have been forbidden to associate
with a tanner, and in this way Peter points to the ministry to the gentiles.
Breaking
open Acts:
- What might have been Tabitha’s “good works and charity”?
- What are yours?
- How is Peter like Jesus in this reading?
Psalm 23 Dominus regit me
The LORD is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.
He revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.
Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
This psalm is so embedded in our consciousness
that we might want to look at it from the eyes of Ezekiel (34:11-16), who
writes in a similar vein:
“For
thus says the Lord GOD: Look! I myself will search for my sheep and examine
them. As a shepherd examines his flock while he himself is
among his scattered sheep, so will I examine my sheep. I will deliver them from
every place where they were scattered on the day of dark clouds. I will lead
them out from among the peoples and gather them from the lands; I will bring
them back to their own country and pasture them upon the mountains of Israel,
in the ravines and every inhabited place in the land. In good
pastures I will pasture them; on the mountain heights of Israel will be their
grazing land. There they will lie down on good grazing ground; in rich pastures
they will be pastured on the mountains of Israel. I myself
will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest—oracle of the Lord GOD. The lost I
will search out, the strays I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, and
the sick I will heal; but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will
shepherd them in judgment.
The global picture that Ezekiel paints for us
helps pierce the sentimentality that has been attached to the 23rd
Psalm. There are theological points
evident in Ezekiel, and thus highlighted in the psalm. That God is the shepherd, is a common theme
in the Hebrew Scriptures, and serves as evidence of care giving and
leadership. Beyond the tender and loving
manner in which the sheep are treated there is an opinion about where God leads
us. It is not just to green pastures,
and waters (food and drink) but also along “right pathways”, in other words,
along the way of righteousness and of a good and proper relationship with
God. Other subthemes are the theme of
hospitality (the shepherd sets the table) and in the presence of enemies (the
guest is protected, or perhaps this is a shadow of the Passover Meal eaten in
the presence of enemies before the Flight from Egypt). Themes of healing and joy are mixed in the
oil – a joyful anointing at a banquet, or a healing salve at the time of
injury. Finally the closing verses are a
comment on the goodness of the covenant, not the gratitude that comes with
having good things.
Breaking
open Psalm 23
- Did the reading from Ezekiel help you to better understand the
psalm? If so, how?
- How do you use this psalm?
- How else might it be used in your devotional life?
Revelation 7:9-17
After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could
count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing
before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in
their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
"Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the
Lamb!"
And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the
four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped
God, singing,
"Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and might
be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in
white, and where have they come from?" I said to him, "Sir, you are
the one that knows." Then he said to me, "These are they who have
come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb.
For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat;
for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Some day you must go to Ravenna, Italy. There you will find the jeweled churches of
San Vitale, Galla Placida, St’Apollonare in Classe and St’Apollonare
Nuovo. In the latter you will see a
procession of Saints that wends its way around the clerestory of the nave of
the church, thus illustrating the reading from Revelation. Here the Divine wishes us to see the faithful
who have endured suffering and trouble, and are garbed with white and adorned
with a palm branch of victory. These
faithful are shown to us to encourage the reader to persevere in the
difficulties of the time. God will have
the victory – “"Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb!" This phrase is
repeated at two other incidents in Revelation: the victory over the dragon (Rev. 12:10) and over
Babylon (Rev. 19:1). The hymns bear a similarity to one another,
and the latter vision in this hymn bears some semblance to the visions of
Isaiah. The mention of the “water of
life” is surely a baptismal reference, underscoring that the “great multitude”
represents the true body of Christ – surviving the trials of the time.
Breaking
open Revelation:
- What trials do you think that the faithful endured?
- What are the trials of your time?
- How does your faith help you in dealing with your time?
St. John 10:22-30
At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was
winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the
Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense?
If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus answered, "I have
told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name
testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal
life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What
my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out
of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."
With this reading we leave the Resurrection
Appearances and turn to a text that was chosen to amplify the themes of this
“Good Shepherd” Sunday. The incident
takes place in the portico of Solomon, on the east side of the temple –
shielded from the cold prevailing winds.
The Festival of Dedication takes place in December, which we know as
Hanukkah, a remembrance of the relighting of the temple lights following the
defeat of the Seleucid kings and the rededication of the Temple. Such a setting would put the reader in mind
of an earlier messiah – namely the Maccabees, who saved the Jews from the
cruelties of the Hellenistic overlords.
Thus the question comes up, “If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus evades the implications of their
question (cf. John 8:25) and is concerned with their having a correct view of
who and what he was. In calling up the
images of Shepherd (an ancient view of God) and of the sheep, Jesus seeks to
have them know his true purpose. It is
all about relationship (my sheep hear my voice – I give them eternal
life.) The final comment, “The Father
and I are one” is the last straw. In the
verse following our pericope, the Jews pick up stones with which to stone
him. The symbols in this pericope are
telling: Light, Rededication, Protection, Revelation, The Shepherd and the
Sheep, and Unity. It poses questions and
associations that naturally follow the resurrection. What does all of this mean?
Breaking open the Gospel:
- What kind of answer were the Jews expecting?
- What is the gist of Jesus’ answer?
- What do you expect?
After
breaking open the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of
your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us
each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives
and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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