FIRST READING: Acts 2: 14a, 36 - 41 (RCL)

Acts 2:14 (NRSV) But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them,
36 Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified."
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?" 38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him." 40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." 41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
43 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.


Peter now comes to the conclusion of his speech to the Jerusalem crowd, in which he interprets the event they have just witnessed: the coming of the Holy Spirit. In vv. 16-21, he has shown (from the book of Joel) that the end times, and therefore salvation, are at hand. He shows how we have access to salvation: it is through Jesus, whom God has made “both Lord and Messiah” (v. 36). It is imperative that those who hear may receive new life in Christ.
Peter’s words about the crowd’s responsibility for Jesus’ death stuns his hearers: “they were cut to the heart” (v. 37), but rather than being turned off, they ask “what should we do?”. In spite of the dark deed of their past, he urges them to undergo a radical change of heart (“Repent”, v. 38) to serving the living God, to be “baptised ... in the name of Jesus”. Then their sins will be forgiven and they will receive the Holy Spirit (as promised by God through Joel), a promise open to “everyone” (v. 39) whom God calls and who call upon God (v. 21). “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation” (v. 40) is like Joel’s call. Many (“about three thousand”, v. 41, a round number) respond and are baptised; they are “added” to the 120 believers (1:15) for whom salvation has already begun; they are saved from the sin of rejecting the Messiah. They devote themselves to learning from the apostles, to “fellowship” (v. 42), participating in the Eucharist, and prayer.

At this point in Acts, the evangelical effort is limited to Israel. Later it will be broadened to include other lands. [NJBC]
Verse 36: “both Lord and Messiah”: Luke tends to attribute Lord and Messiah to the earthly Jesus (see Luke 2:11; 4:41; 5:8, 12; 7:13, 19; 10:1-2; 11:1; 13:23; 19:8; Acts 10:33, 36), so the substance of this verse cannot be his words, which says that God made Jesus Lord and Messiah (Christ) by raising him and exalting him. [JBC] As mentioned in last week’s Clippings:
Most scholars believe that Peter’s sermon has been placed on Peter’s lips, largely because the construction and grammar are more erudite than could be expected of a Galilean fisherman. This was a standard practice in ancient historiography. Not having access to the actual text - or even to the event – of a speech, the author would compose a speech for the speaker as a way of explaining the meaning of the narrative. Though we might consider such a practice fraudulent today, in ancient times it was considered just a tool for describing the truth in the historical narrative.
Verse 38: “baptised ... in the name of Jesus Christ”: As a formula with the Greek word baptisthenai, with varying prepositions (see 8:16; 10:48; 19:5), it is found only in Acts. Here it is used in a confessional sense. [NJBC]
Verse 38: “the gift of the Holy Spirit”: Christian baptism and this gift (see 10:45 and 11:17) are inseparable (see 1:5; 10:44-48; 11:15-16; 15:8). See also 8:15-16 and 19:2, 6. [NJBC]
Verse 39: “everyone whom the Lord ... calls ...”: God controls the young church’s growth - a point illustrated repeatedly in the following chapters. This clause is based on Joel 2:32c; the quotation in vv. 17-21 stops short of this clause. [NOAB] For “everyone”, NJBC offers as many as.
Verse 40: “this corrupt generation”: See also Deuteronomy 32:5 (“crooked generation”) and Psalm 78:8 (“a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God”). [NJBC]
Verse 41: Here, as also in Paul’s preaching to pagans in Athens (see 17:29-31), the kerygma awakens the consciousness of sin (see also 3:17) and therewith the state of mind necessary for forgiveness (see also 3:19 and 5:31).
Verse 42: “breaking of bread”: Apparently a common meal which included the Eucharist, as is described in 1 Corinthians 11:17-24. [NOAB]



SECOND READING: 1 Peter 1: 17 - 23 (RCL)
1 Peter 1: 17 - 21 (Roman Catholic)

1Pet 1:17 (NRSV) If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. 18 You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 20 He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. 21 Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.
22 Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. 23 You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.


1 Peter 1:17-23
The author has urged his readers: “discipline yourselves” (v. 13), be ready for Christ’s second coming. Do not fall back into the pagan immorality you practised before your conversion to the faith; rather, separate yourselves from such ways: live ethically.
Now he warns that being a child of God requires that you hold him in proper respect, in “reverent fear” (v. 17) – while your ethics marginalise you from the pagan world around you (“exile”). God paid for your freedom from pagan ways (as one might ransom, v. 18, prisoners of war) not with “perishable” things but with the life of Christ. (In the Jewish idea of sacrifice, “blood”, v. 19, represented life).
Especially at Passover, the lamb sacrificed had to be perfect, as Jesus was. The crucifixion is very valuable (“precious”). God planned redemption through Christ from before his creative act (“destined”, v. 20); with Christ’s life, the final stage of history has begun (“end of the ages”). God raised Jesus to “glory” (v. 21, the sublime majesty and radiant splendour of God). Through him you have come to “trust”, “faith and hope” in God. “Purified your souls” (v. 22) probably refers to baptism, when one confesses the faith, “obedience to the truth”. Through baptism one attains true “mutual love”. The Christian is “born anew” (v. 23) in baptism through the creative “word of God”, the gospel, which “endures forever” (v. 25). Baptism brings us to a new way of living.

1 Peter 1:17-23
Verse 14: “obedient”: i.e. to the law of holiness of the new covenant. [NJBC]
Verse 14: “you formerly had in ignorance”: In front of the Areopagus in Athens, Paul says: “While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent” (see Acts 17:30). See also Ephesians 4:17-18. [NOAB]
Verse 15: “holy”: Meaning separated, dedicated. [NJBC]
Verse 16: “You shall be holy, for I am holy”: In Leviticus 11:44, God commands “... sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy”. See also Leviticus 19:2; 20:7, 26. [NJBC]
Verse 17: Our relationship with the “Father” is no excuse for careless conduct. In Philippians 2:5-7, Paul tells the Christians at Philippi: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness”. See also Galatians 4:4; Colossians 1:18; John 1:1-14; 17:24.
Verse 17: “live in reverent fear during the time of your exile”: This does not refer to exile from heaven, but to social dislocation that Christians experience in a pagan world. In 2:11, they are referred to as “aliens and exiles”; their situation was indeed precarious. [NJBC]
Verse 18: “ransomed”: Slaves and property were also ransomed, redeemed. See also Exodus 13:12-13; Leviticus 25:26, 48-49. The term is also used of the Israelites’ release from slavery in Egypt: see Exodus 6:6 and Isaiah 44:22-23. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 says “For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all – this was attested at the right time” [IntPet]
Verse 18: “not with perishable things like silver or gold”: Ezekiel 7:19 foretells: “They shall fling their silver into the streets, their gold shall be treated as unclean. Their silver and gold cannot save them on the day of the wrath of the LORD ...”. IntPet sees here an allusion to the Septuagint translation of Isaiah 52:3 (“... You have been sold for nought; and you shall not be ransomed with silver”).
Verse 19: 1 John 1:6-7 says “If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin”.
Verse 19: “precious blood”: Leviticus 17:14 says “... the life of every creature is its blood ...” [NJBC]
Verse 19: “like that of a lamb without defect or blemish”: For perfection being a requirement of every victim, see Leviticus 22:19-25. For this being a requirement particularly of the Passover lamb, see Exodus 12:5. [JBC]
Verse 20: This verse is probably a fragment from an ancient creed or hymn: 2 Timothy 1:9-10 says “This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”. [NJBC]
Verse 20: God’s eternal plan (see Romans 16:25-26; 1 Corinthians 2:7; Colossians 1:26; Ephesians 3:9-10; Titus 1:2-3) is made known by the Incarnation at the inauguration of the last times. [NJBC]
Verse 20: “before the foundation of the world”: See also See also 4:17; Hebrews 12:5-11; Acts 10:34; Romans 2:10-11; Matthew 5:44-48.
Verse 20: “revealed at the end of the ages”: See also Mark 14:62; 1 Corinthians 1:7; Jude 18.
Verse 22: “purified your souls”: See also Ephesians 5:26 and Hebrews 10:22.
Verse 22: “love one another”: This is a characteristic mark of the Christian community. It is found numerous times in the New Testament, including in Romans 12:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:9; Hebrews 13:1; 1 John 3:11, 14; 4:11-12, 20-21. [IntPet]
Verse 23: The author supports his claim with the quotation from Isaiah 40:6-9 (in the Septuagint translation) in vv. 24-25. [NJBC] [NOAB]
Verse 23: “born anew”: See also John 3:3 (Jesus answers Nicodemus), 5; Romans 6:3-11; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 4:19; Titus 3:5; 1 John 3:9.
Verse 23: “imperishable seed”: IntPet says that the Old Testament images of the enduring word of God (see Psalm 33:9) and its fruitfulness (see Isaiah 55:10-11) underlie this image.
Verses 24-25a: The quotation establishes the contrast between God’s word and what comes into being through merely natural processes. [IntPet]




GOSPEL: Luke 24: 13 - 35 (all)

Luke 24:13 (NRSV) Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emma'us, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad.18 Then one of them, whose name was Cle'opas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" 19 He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." 25 Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.


Luke 24:13-35
It is later on Easter Day, the day on which Mary Magdalene and the other women have discovered the empty tomb. As two of Jesus' followers walk to Emmaus, they talk about the day's news, the recent startling events. Eusebius, the first church historian, tells us that “Cleopas” (v. 18) was a relative of Jesus. The two do not recognize our Lord. Jesus asks “What things?” (v. 19). Their reply shows the limitations of their understanding of who Jesus is: they do realize that he is a prophet and, like Moses, “mighty in deed and word”, but they have no idea how much more he is. Jesus has disappointed them: they expected him to deliver Israel from Roman domination, and to begin an earthly kingdom of God (“redeem Israel”, v. 21). Three days have passed (long enough, in Jewish belief, for the soul to have left the body) and, despite Jesus' statement that he would be raised from death, nothing has happened! The women told us that he is alive, but when Peter and John went there, all they saw was the empty tomb! (v. 24).
Jesus tells them how slow they are to grasp how the Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in him. Was it not God's plan (“necessary”, v. 26) that Jesus should be crucified and ascend to be with the Father? He interprets his life as a fulfilment of all of Scripture, from “Moses” (v. 27, the first five books of the Bible) to “all the prophets”. The meal seems to be a Eucharist: “he took bread, blessed and broke it” (v. 30). Then, from Jesus’ interpretation and their hospitality to this “stranger” (v. 18) “their eyes were opened” (v. 31), i.e. they develop a deeper understanding of who Jesus is, that he is divine. At the Last Supper, Jesus said he would not again share food with his disciples until God’s kingdom came. He has now eaten with the two, so the Kingdom has indeed come. “The Lord has risen indeed ... !” (v. 34).

Luke 24:13-35
This passage uses many elements of Luke’s journey terminology. Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem is described in 9:51-19:28. See particularly 9:51 (“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”) and 19:28 (“After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem”). [NJBC]
The infidelity of the “two” contrasts with the fidelity of the women in 23:49-24:12. [NJBC]
Verse 16: They perceive Jesus, but don’t recognize him for who he is. Throughout the gospel, Luke has played on the theme of seeing. See also 9:45; 18:34; 23:8, 35, 47-49. Now he articulates this theme in vv. 23-24, 31, 32 and 35 as he tells how the risen Christ opens the eyes of disciples to see his true meaning in God’s plan; however their eyes are only opened when they show hospitality to a stranger. See also John 20:14 (“When she [Mary] had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus”) and 21:4 (“Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus”). [NJBC] [NOAB]
Comments: Eusebius: Eusebius was born in the 260s in Palestine. He studied and worked in Caesarea, became bishop of the town in 313-314, and died there in 339-340. He wrote several historical works of which History of the Church is the greatest. It is of immense value for it preserves many documents otherwise unknown to us. [CBCF]
Verses 19-20: This is the Christian creed (see also Acts 2:22-24 and 10:38) but mere recital of that creed does not create the sight of faith. [NJBC]
Verses 20-21: These facts fulfil Jesus’ prophecies in 9:22, 13:32-33 and 18:31-33 but to recite the facts of Jesus’ life, even knowing his prophecies, doesn’t open the eyes of faith. [NJBC]
Verse 27: Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount: “‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill’” (Matthew 5:17). See also v. 44 and Acts 28:23 (Paul on the island of Malta). Jews divide the Old Testament (the Hebrew Scriptures) into three parts: the Torah (or Law or Pentateuch, believed to have been written by Moses), the Prophets (including Joshua, Kings and Samuel) and the Writings. [NOAB]
Verse 28: In Mark 6:48, we read: “When he [Jesus] saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea. He intended to pass them by”. [CAB] [NOAB]
Verse 30: See also Mark 6:41 (the Feeding of the Five Thousand); 14:22 (the Institution of the Lord's Supper); Luke 9:16; 22:19. This meal should not immediately be interpreted as a Eucharist but should be linked with the theme of eating that Luke has been developing throughout his gospel. [NOAB]
Verse 30: Comments: At the Last Supper, Jesus said he would not share food with his disciples until God’s kingdom came: In 22:16-18, Jesus tells his disciples: “‘I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God ... I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes’”. [NJBC]