Third Sunday of Easter
Reading I
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
Peter said to the people:
"The God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus,
whom you handed over and denied in Pilate's presence
when he had decided to release him.
You denied the Holy and Righteous One
and asked that a murderer be released to you.
The author of life you put to death,
but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.
Now I know, brothers,
that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did;
but God has thus brought to fulfillment
what he had announced beforehand
through the mouth of all the prophets,
that his Christ would suffer.
Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away."
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9
R. (7a) Lord, let your face shine on us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
When I call, answer me, O my just God,
you who relieve me when I am in distress;
have pity on me, and hear my prayer!
R. Lord, let your face shine on us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Know that the LORD does wonders for his faithful one;
the LORD will hear me when I call upon him.
R. Lord, let your face shine on us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
O LORD, let the light of your countenance shine upon us!
You put gladness into my heart.
R. Lord, let your face shine on us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
As soon as I lie down, I fall peacefully asleep,
for you alone, O LORD,
bring security to my dwelling.
R. Lord, let your face shine on us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading II
1 Jn 2:1-5a
My children, I am writing this to you
so that you may not commit sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous one.
He is expiation for our sins,
and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.
The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments.
Those who say, "I know him," but do not keep his commandments
are liars, and the truth is not in them.
But whoever keeps his word,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
Gospel
Lk 24:35-48
The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way,
and how Jesus was made known to them
in the breaking of bread.
While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
"Peace be with you."
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have."
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
he asked them, "Have you anything here to eat?"
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.
He said to them,
"These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses
and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled."
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said to them,
"Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things."
Commentary
In today’s first reading we find Peter’s Temple Sermon. The Pentecost and Temple sermons are continuous and complementary, despite their different ingredients. A clue to their relationship is the connection between the arguments from Scripture that frame their combined contents: the Joel prophecy beginning the first, and the deuteronomic promise of the prophet like Moses (Deut 18:15—16) concluding the second (vv 22—26). The combined statement of these two scriptures forms a christological framework around the two sermons, declaring that the kerygma of the apostles represents the eschatological renewal of prophecy, and in it the voice of the risen Christ is heard as the awaited voice of Moses’ successor. This framework of the eschatological prophecy also accommodates the accreditation of the Mosaic prophet by the healing miracle, which Peter emphatically attributes to his action in vv 12—16. This explanation includes the familiar kerygmatic schema contrasting God’s and his people’s actions toward his “servant” (vv 13—15); and once again the goal of the discourse is the call to repentance (vv 19—26), motivated by that contrast and confirmed by the argument from Deuteronomy, the only Scripture argument used in this sermon.
The second reading from the First Letter of John focuses on the affirmation of Christ as expiation for sins and heavenly intercessor (parakletos) with God. The theology of Christ’s death as perfect sin offering by one who was not a sinner coupled with the conviction that the Christian can turn to Christ as heavenly intercessor is elaborately developed in Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews 9-10. Christ is seated at God’s right hand, and his blood continues to purify (9:14). Christians are exhorted to have confidence in approaching the “heavenly high priest” (Heb 4:16; 10:19). This section of 1 John contains all the elements of this tradition. Representation of Christ’s death as expiating sacrifice may have been developed in the Jewish Christian phase of the Johannine tradition. Paraclete: “Advocate,” “intercessor,” “counselor” is unique to the Johannine tradition. In the Gospel (John, 61:185), the Spirit/Paraclete is modeled on Jesus, “another Paraclete” (14:16), suggesting that the earthly Jesus had been a “Paraclete” for the community.
The original setting of this material seems to have been for initiation into the community. A person who had not turned toward God could not be purified either by water or expiation. One who joined the group would become part of an eternal communion. The members are then warned to follow the Spirit of Truth, and walk in light — not to follow the Angel of Darkness, who seeks to deceive the children of light. The NT does not contain a description of such a ceremony, but parallels are found to some of the major elements: conversion as transfer from Satan to God, from darkness to light, along with forgiveness of sins (Acts 26:18; Col 1:13—14; Eph 5:6—11; 1 Pet 1:16—23). Keeping the Commandments emphasizes the biblical view that “to know God” means “to keep God’s commandments.” In the Gospel, “knowing God” separated those who believed in Jesus from the hostile world (1:10—13; 14:7). That tradition could be distorted to divorce knowledge of God from a person’s ethical conduct. The connection between love, keeping the commandments, and indwelling appear in John 14:23—24. God’s love is fulfilled in the community whose love is expressed in keeping Jesus’ word and thus has the Father/Son abiding with it.
Today’s Gospel reveals that God’s promise is fulfilled in Jesus. The actual Emmaus story (24:13—35) with its journey from disbelief to belief is not referred to. We have a fresh story: this time from doubts to worship (v 52). opened their minds to comprehend: Luke continues his theme of revelation as opening eyes and minds. forgiveness of sins. . , to all nations: Acts 26:23 helps one answer the question raised by this verse: How is it possible for Jesus Messiah to preach to all nations in fulfillment of Scripture? He will do it through Paul and the church.
The physical reality of the resurrection is also emphasized here. From the earliest times in the church, there was a danger of docetism, the heretical belief that Jesus was God behind a thin veneer of humanity: thus his suffering was only playacting, and his resurrection was simply a return to a completely spiritual existence with no bodily effect. The Letters of John combated this error. Today’s reading stresses that Jesus’ resurrection body is real. The disciples touch him; the marks of the passion are visible in his hands and feet; he eats with the disciples.
Their panic is not surprising, even though they have already heard about the earlier appearance. They are still excited and tense with the unfamiliarity of it all, and Jesus suddenly appears in their midst. His question to them is rhetorical, a way of introduction the Scriptural instruction that will help them to assimilate the truth of this marvelous event. The Old Testament is referred to in the traditional way by naming its three collections: the Law, the prophets, and the psalms or writings. Prophets, and the Writings — find their fulfillment in the risen Jesus. you are witnesses: His words commissioning them as witnesses of his resurrection foreshadow the Acts of the Apostles, and is probably addressed to a larger group than the Eleven (see 24:9,33). The Lucan context would also indicate that women were included
Reflection
The problem that the disciples encountered is the same problem many of us face today; Jesus’ death on the cross is understood only if we understand his mission. The disciples in today’s Gospel reading are still unclear on just what Jesus’ mission was. Jesus dedicated his life to fulfilling the mission that the Father entrusted to him. In the end, this mission is accepting the sovereignty of God. However, Jesus’ mission of preaching the Kingdom raised opposition and doubt. Jesus remained faithful to his mission despite all the difficulties and eventually the apparent “failure” of this mission due to his death on the cross.
The first Christians had to respond to this apparent failure and their opposition was at times hostile. Adversaries claimed that Jesus was not the Messiah precisely because of his death on the cross and because he had been condemned and rejected by the religious leaders of the time. Undoubtedly, the disciples were seeing Jesus’ death in the same light. Not until they witnessed the risen Christ did they finally understand. Once this happened, their lives took on an entirely new meaning. They understood, then that Jesus’ death was a perfect sacrifice capable of reestablishing a new relationship (covenant if you will) with God. Because Jesus died on the cross in obedience to the will of the Father, his cross was now seen as the ultimate manifestation of God’s love for mankind.
To this end, the first disciples preached Jesus’ death and resurrection, and did so especially by their example. They identified to such an extent with this Jesus that martyrdom was common among these first Christians. They finally understood that to become a true disciple they must become like Jesus himself – obedient to the truth of God’s Word despite the difficulty, despite the opposition, despite the hostility. In the end they identified so much with Jesus that like him, they loved and forgave, while upholding truth and justice to the ultimate consequences. As followers of Jesus today we are called to do the same.
Biblical Sources
New American Bible; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Hengel, M., "Acts and the History of Earliest Christianity"; Maddox, R., "The Purpose of Luke-Acts: Studies of the New Testament and its World"; Marshall, I. H., "The Acts of the Apostles"; Cooper, E. J., "The Consciousness of Sin in 1 John"; Grayston, K., "The Johannine Epistles"; Fitzmyer, J. A.,, "The Gospel According to Luke"; LaVerdiere, E., "Luke"; “The Collegeville Bible Commentary”; Brown, Raymond E., S.S., “Introduction to the New Testament”; Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy (ed.) “The New Jerome Biblical Commentary”.
Reflection
Deacon Lazaro J. Ulloa