The Second Sunday of Easter - 7 April 2013
Acts
5:27-32
Psalm
118:14-29
Revelation
1:4-8
St.
John 20:19-31
Background:
The Easter Cycle
Divided into two major
segments, the Festival Half, and Ordinary Time, the Church Year has now reached
the mid-point of the Paschal Cycle in the Festival Half of the year. Eastertide extends from the Great Vigil of
Easter to Pentecost, some fifty days later.
Eastertide is constructed as a “Great Lord’s Day” with each of seven
Sundays named as a “Sunday of Easter”.
The initial feast and the concluding feast correspond to Jewish
counterparts: Easter and Passover, and Pentecost and the Feast of Weeks, which
commemorated the giving of the Law.
During this period of time there are other festivals, such as the
Rogation Days (either a major Rogation on 25 April, or minor Rogations on the
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday preceding the Ascension of Our Lord) and indeed
the Ascension of Our Lord, which is celebrated on the Thursday (Forty Days)
following the Sixth Sunday of Easter.
Acts 5:27-32
When the temple police had brought the apostles, they had them stand before
the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, "We gave you strict
orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your
teaching and you are determined to bring this man's blood on us." But
Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than any human
authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by
hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior
that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are
witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to
those who obey him."
This reading is from the so-called “Second
Persecution” in which the apostles face the questions and judgment of the
Council. The reading illustrates what
Luke saw as the divine imperative to spread the Good News, and in his rendering
of Peter’s discourse models for us the outline of the Apostolic Kerygma
(proclamation). The demand of the
Council is met with the determination of the apostles to continue to “fill Jerusalem”
(for Luke, the center of the apostolic mission) with the proclamation of the
Good News. Luke quotes from Deuteronomy 21:22, and
notes in Peter’s speech that they (the Council) “hung him on a tree.” Paul uses this same reference but goes one
verse further to heighten the humiliation that Jesus endured in hanging on the
cross. Luke has Peter focus on the guilt
of the Council as he forms his creed-like answer to their question and demand. Thus the sequence is: Jesus raised up by God,
you raised him up on a tree and killed him, and God exalted him. From this formula come the words of Good
News, Repentance and Forgiveness. Luke
also appropriates a political term and applies it to Jesus: Soter (Savior). With hints of the kingdom (Soter was a term
applied to emperors and kings) Jesus now rules over a realm of reconciliation
and the Spirit. Peter ends his speech
noting the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Breaking
open Acts:
- In what ways does our society discourage us from telling the Good
News?
- How do you overcome that obstacle?
- What is your proclamation about Jesus?
Psalm 118:14-29 Confitemini Domino
The LORD is my strength and my song, *
and he has become my salvation.
There is a sound of exultation and victory *
in the tents of the righteous:
"The right hand of the LORD has triumphed! *
the right hand of the LORD is exalted!
the right hand of the LORD has triumphed!"
I shall not die, but live, *
and declare the works of the LORD.
The LORD has punished me sorely, *
but he did not hand me over to death.
Open for me the gates of righteousness; *
I will enter them;
I will offer thanks to the LORD.
"This is the gate of the LORD; *
he who is righteous may enter."
I will give thanks to you, for you answered me *
and have become my salvation.
The same stone which the builders rejected *
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the LORD'S doing, *
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
On this day the LORD has acted; *
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Hosannah, LORD, hosannah! *
LORD, send us now success.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; *
we bless you from the house of the LORD.
God is the LORD; he has shined upon us; *
form a procession with branches up to the horns of the altar.
"You are my God, and I will thank you; *
you are my God, and I will exalt you."
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; *
his mercy endures for ever.
This is a thanksgiving psalm that has a keen
military context. In these verses chosen
for our responsorial psalm, the aspect might be a bit different. Thus the scene pivots between notes of
“justice” and “victory”, both appropriate for this Second Sunday of
Easter. The references in succeeding
verses regarding the city gates indicate that the theme of justice can be seen
there as well, for the city gates were the place of justice. The Psalter’s notion that only the living can
praise God is picked up in verse 17 “I shall not die but live and recount the
deeds.” and serves as another appropriate Easter theme. The remaining verses
have been sung on Palm
Sunday, and have been commented on there.
Breaking
open Psalm 118:
- How is Easter about justice?
- What is the victory in Easter?
- How have you personally been reconciled to God?
or
Psalm 150 Laudate Dominum
Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy temple; *
praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts; *
praise him for his excellent greatness.
Praise him with the blast of the ram's-horn; *
praise him with lyre and harp.
Praise him with timbrel and dance; *
praise him with strings and pipe.
Praise him with resounding cymbals; *
praise him with loud-clanging cymbals.
Let everything that has breath *
praise the LORD.
Hallelujah!
As Easter is a celebration of Seven Sundays of
Easter, so this psalm is the culmination of six psalms all centered on
“Hallelujah” – or praise of God. This
particular psalm is sung accompanied by musical instruments, which gives us an
idea of how temple worship must have sounded.
But it is the human breath, the ru’ah
of the Spirit that animates us, that is the ground of such praise. Fingers to pluck and bow, hands to grasp
mighty cymbals, feet to move in the dance – these all combine to become a hymn
of praise. I like the German phrase from
the Bach Motet and the Mendelsohn Symphony – Alles was Odem hat, lobe den Herrn.
Breaking
open Psalm 150
1.
What is your
favorite musical instrument?
2.
How does it
“lift you up?”
3.
What does
this saying mean, “Whoever sings, prays twice”?
Revelation 1:4-8
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from
him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are
before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn
of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to
be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen.
Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who
pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is
to be. Amen. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who
is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
A Canon of the Cathedral Church of Saint John
the Divine in New York City (whose name I have now forgotten) once told a
friend that these readings, from the Book of Revelation” need to be “screamed
from the ambo.” In doing so, the readings
themselves are separated from human speech and morphed into a divine
revelation. (We actually did this, one
Eastertide, accompanied with tympani and other drums – it was quite effective.)
Here the Divine greets us and provides an
introduction to the “letters” to the seven churches. The tone of awe and magnificence is set
immediately with the “seven spirits”, the throne, and Jesus the Christ,
himself. The words, “Grace to you and
peace…” are the usual indications of an epistle, but that is not so here. We will witness in subsequent sections
“letters to the “seven churches that are in Asia”, but not in the lectionary
for the Sundays of Easter. Here we are
introduced to the glory, and the completeness of God’s mighty act in Christ
Jesus. Scenes that take us back, deep
into salvation history, and then to a future seen in the guise of the Divine’s
present time, are indeed the alpha and omega, in a sense a composite of what
has been and yet will be. The hearer sitting
in a modern church will want to understand and hear it all. Here we realize that this is not possible, we
can only glimpse a part of the glory.
The completeness belongs to Christ.
Breaking
open Revelation:
- Does the Word of God ever appear “majestic” to you?
- When you hear the word “glory”, what comes to mind?
- What do you think is the purpose of the Book of Revelation?
St. John 20:19-31
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors
of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus
came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he
said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced
when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As
the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed
on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the
sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are
retained."
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them
when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the
Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in
his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side,
I will not believe."
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with
them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said,
"Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger
here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt
but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus
said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are
those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his
disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that
you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that
through believing you may have life in his name.
The Gospels for these Sundays of Easter begin with a
series of resurrection appearances from John, but deeper in the season, we see
Jesus as the teacher, who takes from resurrection back into the daily business
of life and living. This particular pericope
(which according to some commentators was intended by John to be the
culmination of his Gospel) always captures the hearers’ imaginations with the
story of Thomas, missing the beauty of the first paragraph. It is the sending passage, making them apostles. They are recreated for this task, “he
breathed on them – receive the Holy Spirit.”
What follows is an order of the new creation, the business of
discernment, judgment, and hopefully forgiveness. Any parish priest should spend some time in
meditation over these verses.
What is interesting about the Thomas verses is that
Thomas seems to be the reverse of St. Mary Magdalene. He isn’t convinced, and where Mary’s belief
and joy is met with nolo me tangere (do
not touch me), Thomas is invited to touch the risen Lord. It is also Thomas who completes a progression
of faith statements made by witnesses of the Resurrection – “My Lord and my
God!” This is quite a turn-around, and
represents I think the tension of any believer confronted by this outrageous
event. This brings us back to the task
outlined in the initial verses. This
stunning event needs to be at the center of what “the Twelve” proclaim, teach
and do, in their forgiveness of the sinner or in their confrontation of the
sin. The concluding verse is not so much
a command “have life” as a realization that we already have life in his name.
Breaking
open Revelation:
- How is Confession and Forgiveness practiced in your parish
church?
- Do you ever avail yourself of it?
- If not, why not?
After
breaking open the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal
mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have
been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives
what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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