Third Sunday of Easter

Third Sunday of Easter

1. Around 85 AD, in Southern Greece, a man named Luke undertook the task to write
a Gospel. Another Gospel had already been written 15 years earlier by Mark, in
Rome.
Marks Gospel was available as a resource to Luke, as were other sources. There are clear
literary differences between the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke. Marks grammar and
syntax leave something to be desired. Luke is a better writer than Mark, his Geek language
is more elegant an succinct.
But the main difference between the 2 Gospels is not just literary skills, but scope and
purpose. Mark focuses on Jesus ministry. There is nothing in Mark about the birth and
infancy of Jesus. Mark starts his story when Jesus is fully grown and is baptized by John the
Baptist, and his book ends with Jesus death and resurrection.
Luke on the other hand provides information about Jesus mother Mary, about the
annunciation, about the birth and infancy of Jesus. Furthermore Lukes book does not end
with Jesus resurrection and ascension into heaven. In fact, Luke adds another 28 chapters in
which he describes how Jesus mission was carried out by the early church and in particular
by the apostles Peter and Paul. This second part of Lukes gospel, in the 4 th century AD, was
separated from the first part and turned into a separate book called the Acts of the Apostles
The first reading we heard today is taken from Acts. It is important to remember that Lukes
intent was to describe the history of salvation, and show that Jesus mission had not ended
with his return to heaven but that the church was carrying out Jesus mission into the world.
So, todays readings are in reverse chronological order: the first thing that happened is what
we read in the Gospel: after his resurrection Jesus appeared to the Apostles. Later he would
ascend to heaven and 50 days after the resurrection, send them the Holy Spirit, and only
then Peter would take the leadership and start performing miracles and preaching in the
temple.

Third Sunday of Easter

2. So, with that as the background, let us take a look at the Gospel
Last week we read the account of Jesus appearing to his disciples from the Gospel of John: the
episode of doubting Thomas. This week we read the same episode as recounted by Luke. There is
no doubting Thomas in this version. As a matter of fact they were all doubting and thinking that
they were seeing a ghost. That is why Jesus made them examine the wounds in his hands and feet
and ate in front of them.
Then Jesus started explaining to them that what had just happened to him (his passion, death and
resurrection) was not just an accident or a mishap but it was something that had been pre-ordained
by God. In fact he went through the Bible step by step and helped them understand that the
Messiah was supposed to suffer and die, and then be raised from the dead on the third day. (the
Jews expected a political/military Messiah who would lead a rebellion against Rome, that is why they
rejected Jesus)
In the next sentence the Gospel of Luke explains the reason for Jesus mission: the purpose of his
life, death and resurrection was to reconcile humanity to God by bringing about forgiveness of all
sins of mankind. That is the bottom line: the sacrifice of Jesus has restored the proper relationship
between us and God. The New Testament calls this a state of righteousness: to be in the right
relationship with God.
Finally, the last passage of Gospel states that Jesus mission was not directed only to the Jews, Gods
chosen people, but to all nations, so that the mission of the Church from this point on will be to bring
to everyone in the world the good news that God and humanity are reconciled and once again in
good terms.

3. Lets now turn to Acts.

A few weeks after the episode described in the Gospel, we read in Acts that Jesus message had
been received by his disciples: they start delivering the good news to the world beginning in
Jerusalem, and Peter got right down to it
Peter, like Jesus had done before, performed a miracle: he cured in the name of Jesus a man who
had been crippled from birth. Everyone was astonished, a miracle could be done only by someone
who acted on behalf of God and was supported by God.

Third Sunday of Easter

The miracle got everyones attention, and that gave Peter the occasion to deliver the message:
he had not performed the miracle on his own. The miracle had come from God, the same God
that had been worshiped by the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac Jacob) and by the people of Israel
from antiquity. That same God had sent Jesus, who had recently been rejected by the Jews and
handed over to Pilate to be executed
Peter did not mince words and reminded them of their responsibility in the rejection and death
of Jesus, but he told them that they had acted out of ignorance and stated that the Jesus who
had just been executed had been raised from the dead by God and that all of these events had
been foretold by the prophets in the Holy Scriptures
Finally he delivered to them the good news that Jesus sacrifice had achieved the
reconciliation between God and humanity, and that to to be reconciled to God they had to
repent from their sins they would be forgiven.

4. If we step back and meditate on todays passages from the Gospel of Luke and from
the book of Acts, two things pop out:
The early Church, quickly learned to appropriate the Old Testament writings and to use them to
interpret what had just happened to Jesus. In the Old Testament, on the day of Atonement
(Yom Kippur) animals were sacrificed to God to wipe away to sins of the people of Israel. The
early church begins to see Jesus life and death as the ultimate sacrifice which achieved the
forgiveness of sins that was only symbolized in the Yom Kippur ceremonies
The second point is that the early church quickly understood that its mission was to proclaim to
the whole world the good news of the reconciliation between God and humanity.
Jesus mandate continues today: we are called to proclaim to all what Jesus had done to
reconcile all humans to God,
Each of us, living in peace with God, is called to: repent, renounce our sins, and follow Jesus
example by loving God and loving our neighbors.