Word to the Wise
Sunday, April 6, 2008 - Third Sunday of Easter
[Acts 2:14, 22-33; 1 Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35]"Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?" And he replied to them, "What sort of things?"
Scripture scholars tell us that the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles is the same person. This author has a good sense of development because we can see the changes in the "message" as time passes from Jesus' death and resurrection to the post-Pentecostal preaching of the apostles. We go from a simple proclamation, "The Lord is risen!" to the interpretation of this event in terms of Old Testament prophecy! The disciples on the road to Emmaus get a "short course" in their encounter with Jesus. However, Peter's preaching right after the coming of the Holy Spirit shows a lot of thought and interpretation. In short, the events of Jesus' death and resurrection required that the disciples, left to tell the story and proclaim the event, had to get to work to understand the meaning of the events. They did so using the scriptures that they had at the time! Centuries and centuries later, here we are, telling the story ourselves with the resources that we have - and they are many. We have the Old Testament, the New Testament and all the church fathers, saints, popes, etc. etc. who have been telling the story of Jesus' life, ministry, death, resurrection and the experience of these events by generations of Christians who lived and died for the message. Each Sunday, when we are invited to say the Nicene Creed, we continue an interpretation by the Church Fathers that has remained the same since the 4th century! The first preachers faced some of the same problems we face today. There is a skeptical and sometimes hostile culture. It is difficult to live the Christian message in the face of the material temptations offered by the surrounding culture! The enthusiasm that we experience in reading the Acts of the Apostles can serve as an inspiration and goad to take up the task and continue the preaching. It's our turn now! AMEN
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