3 Easter, April 14
Acts 3:12-19 • Ps. 4 • 1 John 3:1-7 • Luke 24:36b-48
There is a way of hearing Scripture that may suggest that some people are targeted as sinners or evildoers, whereas others are righteous and innocent. There is, to be sure, a distinction between good and evil, but that division runs right through the heart of every person. St. Paul says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Recall that Jesus prayed for his persecutors and that St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, prayed for those who martyred him. St. Peter tells his fellow citizens that they have “killed the author of life” and then immediately acknowledges that they “acted out of ignorance” (Acts 3:15-17). The overall impression, giving rise to a true theological insight, is that “all have sinned,” and that God shows mercy upon all. “[All] are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).
In union with the risen Lord, who offers forgiveness and new life to all, we receive a new status as the sons and daughters of God. Listen carefully. “See what the Father has given us, that we are children of God; and that is what we are” (1 John 3:1). Moreover, our status as the children of God is but a foretaste of something even greater. “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Our likeness with Christ will be a staggering and overwhelming sense that Christ abides in us and we in him, as if there is no distinction. St. Paul, writing to the church in Colossae, puts it this way: “When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory” (Col. 3:4). The revealing of Jesus Christ at the end of time will be the revelation of our own deepest identity. We are sinners, and we are frail, but we are bound for glory.
In our daily lives, as we live by hope, God has given us tangible signs by which we encounter the risen Lord. Paramount among these signs is the Eucharist, in which Christ is known in the breaking of the bread (Collect). This most Holy Sacrament opens our eyes to the presence of Christ in the consecrated elements, in the sanctified community of witnesses, in our hearts where he is received by faith, and throughout the universe “in all his redeeming work.”
Jesus wants us to know him, feel him, and touch him as a real presence in our lives. Jesus calls us to a visceral encounter with his living body. Hear St. Luke’s account of a post-resurrection appearance. “Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ … He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence” (Luke 24:36-43).
See in your mind’s eye the hands of Jesus, his feet, his brow, his pierced side. “You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat; So I did sit and eat” (“Love,” George Herbert).
Look It Up: Luke 24:45
Think About It: Jesus will open your mind.