| Reading 1 | Response | Reading 2 | Gospel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acts 8:5-8, 14-17 RCL: Acts 17:22-32 |
Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20 | 1 Pt 3:15-18 RCL: 1 Pt 3:13-22 |
Jn 14:15-21 |
The truth of continued presence in absence
During the Easter season the readings ask the believing community to examine the meaning of Jesus through his teachings and post-resurrection appearances. This week’s readings give us reason to look forward with hope.
The first reading is part of the Easter season’s continuous readings from the Acts of the Apostles. Immediately before this pericope, Saul (Paul) attacks the Greek-speaking Christians in Jerusalem. The Greek-speaking members, including Philip, leave Jerusalem and scatter across Palestine and Syria. Philip’s preaching and healing in Samaria repeat Jesus’ example and mission and fulfill Jesus’ prophecy that his disciples will take Jesus’ message from “Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth.” To approve Philip’s mission, the Jerusalem community sends Peter and John. Their “prayers” and “laying on hands” bring the Spirit to the newly baptized Samaritans. Modern hearers may misconstrue Peter’s and John’s action as “Confirmation,” but laying on hands was a Jewish practice for commissioning elders. Peter’s and John’s action communicate the Spirit’s power and connect the new Samaritan ekklesia to the Jerusalem ekklesia. The Lectionary editors chose this reading to show how God advances the kingdom through unexpected events.
The second reading is part of the Easter season’s continuous readings from the first letter of Peter, written in the late first century. This section discusses the cost of discipleship. Disciples follow in Christ’s footsteps, and so should expect to be persecuted. During suffering or persecution, a disciple must be prepared to give witness (“the reason for your hope”). A disciple should approach all of life with hope. “Hope” is equivalent to Paul’s “faith:” a radical trust in God that shapes a disciple’s entire consciousness. Hope is rooted in God’s act of salvation in Jesus. The author quotes from an early Christian hymn (1 Pt 3:15-22) about Christ’s death and resurrection. Jesus’ sufferings are not simply an example of virtuous suffering, but rather a transformative act, because they “lead you to God.” The Lectionary editors chose this reading as part of a continuous reading whose baptismal themes are appropriate for the Easter season and the newly baptized.
John’s gospel continues Jesus’ Last Supper “farewell discourse.” John uses a spiral narrative structure to circle around ideas about love/action and absence/presence. Facing departure, Jesus challenges and encourages his disciples to love actively and to continue to see him by remaining-in-relationship.
- Love is action. Jesus tells his disciples that they show their love for him by keeping his commandments (“love one another as I have loved you” [Jn 13:34]). Just as the Son loves the Father by acting according to the Father’s will, so also disciples love Jesus by acting as he has instructed them. Jesus’ love is active: he is laying down his own life for his disciples. Disciples must continue this active love, laying down their lives in service to others.
- Absence and presence. Jesus’ active love results in his departure (death) and his physical absence from his disciples. Jesus asks the Father to send another paraclete to remain forever as the Spirit who communicates the truth, the ongoing presence of the revelation of God in the world. Jesus’ law of love forms the basis of remaining-in-relationship. Because Jesus, the Spirit, and disciples remain-in-relationship, disciples will continue to see and know Jesus. Remaining-in-relation with the resurrected Jesus means that disciples will live eternally, sharing in Jesus’ resurrected life.
Jesus’ resurrection has many meanings and many implications. The Easter season lasts six weeks, allowing us time to reflect on this cosmos-changing event. This week’s readings look forward to the work of the Spirit. Luke’s Acts tells how God uses unintended human consequences to bring about the kingdom. The author of Peter’s letter urges hope in all things. The gospel promises a paraclete who will continue Jesus’ work and presence. The Easter season concludes with the coming of the Spirit of truth. Do we find hope in God’s power to transform human failings into acts of goodness? Do we see hope in those who choose to lay down their own lives for others? Do we see Jesus’ presence in those inspired to speak truth to a world that rejects it?
—Terence Sherlock
The Lectionary In Context 