Word to the Wise
Saturday, April 21, 2018 - 3rd Week of Easter - Sat
[Acts 9:31-42 and John 6:60-69]SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2018. SATURDAY IN THE THIRD WEEK OF EASTER [Acts 9:31-42 and John 6:60-69] As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” [John] The sixth chapter of the Gospel According to John comes to a close with the profession of faith and loyalty by Simon Peter. But there is a line which follows that the lectionary excludes: “Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you twelve? Yet is not one of you a devil?’ He was referring to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot; it was he who would betray him, one of the twelve.” That line seems to take away the emotional punch of Peter’s words, but we know that Peter would make another declaration at the Last Supper and would betray Jesus twice in the high priest’s courtyard. [John 18:17 and 18:26-27]. Although Peter’s declaration in today’s scripture segment comes at a dramatic moment in Jesus’ teaching, it is more than a matter of that teaching on what the Church would later call the “Eucharist.” It is a matter of faith in Jesus as the one whom God has sent. If we accept that, then we accept an ultimate truth that is worth our very lives. Even so, to the very day of Pentecost, the Twelve and other disciples would show themselves to be afraid and worried that they would share the same fate as Jesus. It is the advent of the Holy Spirit that transforms their hesitation into resolve. That is all ahead of us in the liturgical calendar. On Monday, we will begin Chapter 10 in the Gospel According to John - the image of the good shepherd. (Sunday’s gospel scripture will anticipate this a bit.). For the moment, we can consider our own situation. The old hymn puts it well: “I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back.” Are we hesitant or are we resolved to follow Jesus? Or somewhere in between? AMEN