Word to the Wise
Sunday, April 27, 2025 - 2nd Sunday of Easter - C
[Acts 5:12-16; Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; John 20:19-31]"Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."..... Jesus said to [Thomas], "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and through this belief you may have life in his name. [John]
The whole purpose of the Gospel According to John is summarized in the two scenes presented in today's gospel scripture. Jesus is the one whom God has sent. and he, through the preaching of the apostles/disciples and the words of the Gospel, calls us to faith and sends us forth.
The first scene could be called the "Johannine Pentecost." The gift of the Holy Spirit is the driving force of faith and witness. The immediate aftermath of Jesus' death and resurrection was one of fear and confusion. The gift of the Holy Spirit brought about a transformation in the apostles and other disciples. With the gift comes the power to forgive sins in the name of Jesus.
The second scene addresses the common situation of all who are called to belief. We do not have the same experience as the apostles and others in the Upper Room. Our encounter with Jesus comes through Word and Sacrament. It is an encounter with a love greater than any we could imagine. In the Word proclaimed and in the breaking of bread we encounter a Jesus whom we have never seen in the flesh but in whom we put our faith that he is eternal life.
The Easter season will focus much on the initial preaching of the apostles as recounted in the Acts of the Apostles and also on Jesus' words in the Last Supper discourse. The whole New Testament represents that preaching and the call to belief that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief we may have life in his name." AMEN