As It Is Written in the Prophets
Year B: Third Sunday of Easter
And he has always been present in a saving way because of God’s foreknowledge of his incarnation, death, and resurrection. Christ is “the light that enlightens everyone” [John 1:9]—the God who is secretly at work in the most unexpected and hidden ways1 —Thomas Keating
Year B, Third Sunday of Easter, April 14, 2024
First Reading: Acts 3:12-19
Psalm: Psalm 4
Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-7
Gospel: Luke 24:36b-48
Sermon - As It Is Written in the Prophets
After Jesus’s resurrection, he appeared to his disciples in various ways and in different forms. Sometimes they recognized him—other times they didn’t. In today’s reading, the disciples thought Jesus might be a ghost. In response to them being “startled” and “terrified,” Jesus gave them two signs: (1) he offered them the chance to touch his hands and feet, and (2) he ate a piece of fish in their presence.
After showing them these truths, Jesus explained, “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, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44).
“Everything written…in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms…”
I have to be honest, this line excites me! I love studying the scriptures and seeing the connections between different passages that I had previously missed. This line from Jesus is an invitation to a lifetime of study and meditation on every word of the Hebrew Bible.
As Richard Rohr and many others have taught, the scriptures have multiple layers of meaning. There’s the literal meaning, the deeper meaning, the comprehensive meaning, and then, beneath it all, there is mystery.
Mystery, of course, is not something that cannot be known but can be endlessly known.
After saying this to his disciples, who were probably more excited than myself, Jesus “opened their minds to understand the scriptures” (Luke 24:45).
He explained that the Messiah would have to suffer but that he would be raised on the third day.
When we read Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, we might not see any specific references to Jesus’s death on a cross and his resurrection, and that’s because I think that the New Testament writers see Jesus as the embodiment of all the prophets and all Israel itself.
Many of the passages which are cited in the New Testament are, on the surface, prophesies about Israel as a whole (Hosea 6:1-3; Hosea 11:1-2; Isaiah 53, cf. Lamentations 5:7). But when we go down into the level of mystery, we can see how Jesus, through identifying with Israel, lives out her story and redeems it, bringing her along with him of course.
And this theme, the restoration of Israel, is arguably the principal theme in Luke and Acts.
So it makes sense that Jesus tells his disciples to begin preaching repentance and remission of sins “from Jerusalem.” Like the disciples, many would be “startled” and “terrified” and would have “doubts arise in their hearts,” but the news would truly be good news.
Peter, despite (or because of), his original doubts and denial of Christ, takes center stage in the first-half of Acts.2 In Acts 3, Luke records the second sermon in his history of the church. Peter and John healed a man, and they take that opportunity to talk about who Jesus is.
With Jesus’s words from Luke 24 fresh on his mind, Peter says,
In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent, therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets. Acts 3:18–21
Like Jesus, Peter emphasizes the idea that the Messiah would suffer. Why?
Like all of the prophets in the Old Testament, anyone who preaches a message that challenges the norms of the world is going to face some resistance. But when you expose the corruption of the empire, the compromises of the self-righteous, and call for justice for the poor, you’re walking on dangerous ground.
Like Jeremiah, Isaiah, Amos, and John the Baptist, Jesus sought to disrupt the current system of things. But this was not to the exclusion of those who thrived under such a system. Paul, for instance, prayed for the king because God desires all to be saved. Peter here spoke of a “universal restoration” or a “restoration of all things” that wouldn’t be limited to one tribe or nation.
You and I then face a choice. We know that following Jesus and preaching this message of radical grace, peace, and love will cause some to be filled with doubt and others to be filled with terror; it’s hard to imagine a world that is different from our current arrangement. And this doubt and fear may lead to us being persecuted.
But we take this risk because we have glimpsed what could be. We know that those who reject a message of peace for one of war and violence do so because they are ignorant. They can’t envision a world where swords are turned into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. That isn’t how the world works.
They can’t imagine a world where God loves all, not just our little tribe here or there.
And they can’t imagine a world where people can thrive without taking from others or putting others beneath them, a world where everyone has enough.
This was the world envisioned in the Exodus story, but it was traded for one of wars and judges and kings who hoarded wealth. Has the church done the same thing? Have we traded faith in Christ for faith in money or security by exclusion and typical us versus them thinking, or is the gospel, the good news, really for all?
First Reading: God is Our Peace
“I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety” (Psalm 4:8).
This is the last line of Psalm written by David praying to God for deliverance. In the midst of his enemies, he was able to lie down safely because he knew that God was with him.
Do we have this kind of confidence?
Our culture emphasizes safety. Our doors stay locked, we have fancy camera doorbells, alarm systems, and plans for what to do in a scary situation. This is all fine, of course, but it is a very different world from when David penned this psalm.
He often found himself moving in the cover of darkness, sleeping in caves, and feigning madness to escape capture and even death.
Yet he could still lie down in peace at night because he knew God was with him.
Imagine if we had just a mustard seed of his confidence and faith. What risks might be willing to take? How might we put ourselves out there? How would we sleep at night?
It’s hard for me to imagine what it must have been like to face the kind of persecution David and Paul and Peter and, of course, Jesus faced. But to face it with the grace and love that they did is a whole other level of inner peace.
I believe that God is real. I believe that Jesus rose again. And I believe that the Holy Spirit dwells within each of us. But isn’t it hard to cast off our usual safety blankets, take a leap of faith, and completely give ourselves over to the will of God. Where could it lead? What risks would be involve? What if we fail.
Yet, what if we lie down at night and sleep in safety and peace?
Thanks so much for keeping up with this blog. If you have any suggestions, recommendations, or critiques, you can always comment here or reach out through my website: https://danielr.net.
Keating, Thomas. The Mystery of Christ: The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience. New York: Continuum, 2008. Print.
Perhaps the “first-half of Acts” mirrors the “first-half of life” whereas the “second-half of Acts” mirrors the “second-half of life.”