Word to the Wise
Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 3rd Sunday of Easter - B
[Acts 3:13-15, 17-19; 1 John 2:1-5a; Luke 24:35-48]"These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things." [Luke]
Have you ever been a "witness?" Think about the many ways you can become a witness! You can be a "best man" or "maid of honor" at a wedding and be asked to sign the license. You can be asked to sign any legal document as a "witness." You could be present when some event takes place and later on be called on to "testify" as to what you saw and heard. You could be called on to serve as a "witness" to the integrity and character of a person. You could also be challenged to profess your belief in something - to "bear witness" to a belief you have in something beyond you. Ah....that's the kind of witness that faith often requires. Today's scriptures from Acts and Luke are about "witnessing."
It is important to note that the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of Luke form a two-volume single work by the same author (with some editing). So, we should expect some continuity between them. In the gospel, which in terms of story-telling is prior to Acts, Jesus appears to the disciples after his resurrection, opens their minds to the scriptures as to what has happened and then tells them that they are witnesses to these things. In the Acts of the Apostles, after the event of Pentecost, there are many samples of the early preaching, and the phrase, "we are witnesses of these things," shows up regularly! Eventually that "witness" would be written down and the New Testament would take shape and join the scriptures in forming the Bible!
For us Christians, it is the witness of the entire scriptures that forms our own witness, which also includes now the 2,000 years of reflection and living and witnessing of Jesus' message! If we are baptized, we become witnesses. We may be asked what we have "seen and heard." We may be asked to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about Jesus! This kind of witness can be dangerous. Are we ready? AMEN