2 James Lloyd Breck,
Priest, 1876
4 Martin Luther King Jr.,
Pastor, Civil Rights Leader, 1968
5 Pandita Mary Ramabai,
Prophetic Witness and Evangelist in India, 1922
6 Daniel G. C. Wu, Priest
and Missionary among Chinese Americans, 1956
7 Tikhon, Patriarch of Russia and Confessor, 1925, born Vasily Ivanovich
Bellavin (Russian: Василий Иванович Беллавин), was the 11th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia of the Russian Orthodox Church during the early
years of the Soviet Union, 1917 through 1925.
8 William Augustus
Muhlenberg, Priest, 1877. Anne Ayres, Religious, 1896
9 Dietrich Bonhoeffer,
Theologian and Martyr, 1945
FIRST READING: Acts 5: 27 - 32 (RCL)
Acts 5:27
(NRSV) When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The
high priest questioned them, 28 saying, "We gave you strict orders not to
teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem
with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man's blood on
us." 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather
than any human authority. 30 The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you
had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as
Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel
and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the
Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him."
Acts 5: 12 - 16 (Roman
Catholic)
Acts 5:12
(NRSV) Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the
apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. 13 None of the rest
dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 Yet more than
ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, 15
so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots
and mats, in order that Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he came
by. 16 A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem,
bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all
cured.
PSALM 118: 14 - 29 (RCL)
118: 2 - 4, 13 - 15, 22 - 24,
Resp. v. 1 (Roman Catholic)
Psal 118:1 (NRSV) O give thanks to the LORD, for he is
good;
his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let Israel
say,
"His steadfast love endures forever."
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
"His steadfast love endures forever."
4 Let those who fear the LORD say,
"His steadfast love endures forever."
13 I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.
15 There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the
righteous:
"The right hand of the LORD does valiantly;
16 the right hand of the LORD is exalted;
the right hand of the LORD does valiantly."
17 I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the LORD.
18 The LORD has punished me severely,
but he did not give me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is the LORD's doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save us, we beseech you, O LORD!
O LORD, we beseech you, give us success!
26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD.
We bless you from the house of the LORD.
27 The LORD is God,
and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God, I will extol you.
29 O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
118 Confitemini
Domino (ECUSA BCP)
14 The Lord
is my strength and my song, *
and he has become my salvation.
15 There is a sound of exultation and
victory *
in the tents of the righteous:
16 “The right hand of the Lord has triumphed! *
the right hand of the Lord is exalted!
the right hand of the Lord has triumphed!”
17 I shall not die, but live, *
and declare the works of the Lord.
18 The Lord
has punished me sorely, *
but he did not hand me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; *
I will enter them;
I will offer thanks to the Lord.
20 “This is the gate of the Lord; *
he who is righteous may enter.”
21 I will give thanks to you, for you
answered me *
and have become my salvation.
22 The same stone which the builders
rejected *
has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord’s doing, *
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 On this day the Lord has acted; *
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Hosanna, Lord,
hosanna! *
Lord,
send us now success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of
the Lord; *
we bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 God is the Lord; he has shined upon us; *
form a procession with branches up to the
horns of the altar.
28 “You are my God, and I will thank you; *
you are my God, and I will exalt you.”
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
*
his mercy endures for ever.
Psalm 150 (alt. for RCL)
Psal 150:1 (NRSV) Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty firmament!
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his surpassing greatness!
3 Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
5 Praise him with clanging cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that breathes praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!
150 Laudate
Dominum (ECUSA BCP)
1 Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy temple; *
praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts; *
praise him for his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the blast of the
ram's-horn; *
Praise him with lyre and harp.
4 Praise him with timbrel and dance; *
praise him with strings and pipe.
5 Praise him with resounding cymbals; *
praise him with loud-clanging cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath *
praise the Lord.
Hallelujah!
SECOND READING: Revelation
1: 4 - 8 (RCL)
Reve 1:1 (NRSV) The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God
gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; he made it known by
sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testified to the word of God and
to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the
prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it;
for the time is near.
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who
is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from
Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of
the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his
blood, 6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to
him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7 Look! He is coming with the clouds;
every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.
So it is to be. Amen.
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord
God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
h/t
Montreal Anglican
· “the faithful witness”: he revealed the
Father perfectly in his earthly life, and crowned this by the sacrifice of his
life;
· “firstborn of the dead”: in his resurrection,
he inaugurated a new era; and
· “ruler ...”: being now exalted, he has power
over all creation.
Vv. 5b-6
praise God:
· Christ loves us continually and, by his
death, he has freed us from sins; and
· he has marked us as God’s, and has made us
all “priests”, mediators between God and the rest of humanity.
“Amen”, a Hebrew word, means It is sure and trustworthy! or so be
it!: it is both valid and binding. (In 3:14,
Christ is called “the Amen”.) V. 7
combines two Old Testament prophetic sayings to predict the return of Christ at
the end of the age. Those who put him to death and all unbelievers “will wail”
for showing hostility to Christ and his Church: they will be condemned when
Jesus comes to us as judge. V. 8
tells us that, from A to Z, God is sovereign over all events of human
history; his power is supreme (“Almighty”).Verse 4: “the seven churches”: JBC, who considers a late date for Revelation to be most likely, i.e. 90-96 AD, says that other churches also existed in the proconsular province of Asia at the time, among which were Colossae, Troas, Hierapolis, and Magnesia. Through “the seven churches”, John wished to reach all the churches of Asia, and perhaps the universal Church.
Verse 4: “Grace to you and peace ...”: A salutation used in all Pauline letters, and by the time this book was written, a traditional greeting among Christians, Both 1 Peter 1:2 and 2 Peter 1:2 wish readers “grace and peace”. [ NOAB]
Verse 4: “who is and who was and who is to come”: This phrase is also in v. 8. 4:8 contains a very similar phrase. In 11:17, the twenty-four elders sing: “you [Christ] have taken your great power and begun to reign”. 16:5 speaks of Christ as the one “who are and were”. The name of God, as is his person, is unchangeable. The description of God proceeds from a long tradition which goes back to Exodus 3:14 (“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’”). It tries to express the eternity of God by means of the human category of time. Such a title suits perfectly the beginning of a book revealing the meaning of the present in the light of the past and the future. [ JBC]
Verse 4: “seven spirits”: Both 3:1 and 4:5 speak of “the seven spirits of God”. [ CAB] There are six modes of operation of the Spirit in Isaiah 11:2, an oracle of an ideal king from David’s line, but the Septuagint translation has a seventh, piety in 11:3. Tobit 12:15 says: “I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ready and enter before the glory of God”; 1 Enoch 90:21 says “...the Lord [of the sheep] called those men the seven first white ones ...”. It is also possible that the seven spirits are the seven (then known) planets, which were considered to be heavenly beings.
Comments: the seven angels (Michael, Raphael, etc) closest to God : Michael is mentioned in Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9; Revelation 12:7. He is prominent in non-biblical works of the inter-testamental period. [ HBD] The seven archangels are named in the Greek version of 1 Enoch 20 as Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sariel, Gabriel and Remiel. [ OCB] In the Old Testament, Gabriel is mentioned in Daniel 8:15-26 and 9:21-27. In Luke 1:11-20, 26-38 it is Gabriel who announces the births of John the Baptiser and of Jesus. It is tradition that associates this angel with the archangel whose trumpet blast will announce the return of Christ: see 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and Matthew 24:31. [ HBD]
Verse 4: “before his throne”: This is a Hebraism for servants of God. [ JBC]
Verse 5: “faithful witness”: In John 18:37, Jesus testifies to the truth. See also 1 Timothy 6:13. [ CAB] For Jesus as perfectly revealing the Father, see John 3:11, 32. [ JBC]
Verse 5: “firstborn of the dead”: See also 1 Corinthians 15:20 (“the first fruits of those who have died”) and Colossians 1:18. [ JBC]
Verse 5: “ruler of the kings ...”: Christ’s resurrection is equivalent to his installation as universal king: see 1 Corinthians 15:20-28. See also 11:15; 19:16; Psalm 89:27. The glorification of Jesus, the consequence of his resurrection, confers on him all powers over those created: see Matthew 28:19; Romans 14:9; Philippians 2:11; Ephesians 1:20-23. [ JBC]
Verse 5: “To him who loves us”: See also John 13:1; 15:9; Romans 3:21-26; 8:37; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:2, 25. Note the present tense: Christ’s love is perpetual and goes beyond the historical event of the redemption. [ JBC]
Verse 5: “freed us ...”: See also 6:9; 7:14; 12:11; 17:14; 19:13; Romans 5:10, 16; 6:10; Hebrews 7:27; 1 John 1:7; Galatians 2:20. Affirmed as an essential fact by the Christian creed (see 1 Corinthians 15:3 and Galatians 1:4), this liberation is often expressed in terms of purchase (as in 1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23; Galatians 4:5) by the blood of Christ (see Romans 3:25; Ephesians 1:7; 2:13; Colossians 1:20; 1 Peter 1:18ff). [ JBC]
Verse 6: “kingdom, priests”: See also 5:10; 20:6; Isaiah 61:1-6, 1 Peter 2:9. Jesus’ work fulfills the promise of Exodus 19:6. Being a “kingdom” means being under God’s rule rather than Satan’s. All those who hear and obey God’s word are priests: mediators between God and the rest of humanity. [ NJBC]
Verse 7: This verse combines and adapts Daniel 7:13 and Zechariah 12:10, and interprets them as prophecies of the return of the risen Jesus as judge: see Matthew 24:30. See also Exodus 13:21; 16:10; Acts 1:9 (Jesus’ Ascension); Matthew 26:64. [ NJBC]
Daniel 7:13 says, in part, “As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven”; Zechariah 12:10 says “And I will pour out a spirit of compassion and supplication on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that, when they look on the one whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”
Verse 7: “those who pierced him”: i.e. those Jews who put Jesus to death. [ JBC]
Verse 7: “all the tribes of the earth ...”: All unbelieving nations are equally guilty; for in persecuting the Church they show their hostility toward Christ. Suffering sorrow, all will wail. [ JBC]
Verse 7: “So it is to be. Amen”: The repetition, in Greek and Hebrew, underlines the solemnity of the prophecy, in which the Christian community believes. [ JBC]
Verse 8: This is one of only two passages in Revelation in which God is explicitly identified as the speaker, the other being 21:5-8. [ NJBC]
Verse 8: “the Alpha and the Omega”: This expression also appears (concerning God) in 21:6. Equivalent expressions concerning Christ are found in 1:17 (“the first and the last”); 2:8 (“the first and the last”) and 22:13 (“the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end”). Isaiah 44:6 says of God that he is “the first and ... the last”. Isaiah 41:4 and 48:12 also make this point: he is the initiator and the end of everything. [ JBC]
Verse 8: “Almighty”: The Septuagint translation speaks of the Lord God Almighty in Hosea 12:5, Amos 4:13; 9:5. God’s power is supreme. God began history, and he will terminate it, for all power resides permanently with him. [ JBC]
GOSPEL: John 20: 19 - 31 (all)
John 20:19 (NRSV) When it was evening on that day, the
first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met
were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said,
"Peace be with you." 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands
and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said
to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send
you." 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the
twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him,
"We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the
mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and
my hand in his side, I will not believe."
26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and
Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among
them and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas,
"Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in
my side. Do not doubt but believe." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord
and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you
have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to
believe."
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his
disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that
you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that
through believing you may have life in his name.
Later the same day, Jesus joins the disciples, gathered behind locked doors. He shows them that he is the one who was crucified (v. 20). Jesus confers on “the disciples” (not including Thomas, but perhaps a group larger than the ten) “peace” (vv. 19, 21) and “the Holy Spirit” (v. 22). As God “breathed” life into Adam, the proto-human, so Jesus now breathes the new, spiritual, life of recreated humanity into his followers. Aided by the Spirit, they continue Jesus’ judicial role in the world, forgiving the sins of the faithful and holding others blameworthy (“retain”, v. 23) for their actions. Thomas is expected to believe without having seen, but he demands: show me the evidence! (v. 25)
The next Sunday, the community gathers again (v. 26). Upon seeing, Thomas makes the most complete affirmation of faith of anyone in the gospel (v. 29). Henceforth the faith of all Christians in all ages will rest on the testimony of the first believers. Vv. 30-31 tell us John’s purpose in writing the book. His eyewitness account is intended to help us, who were not witnesses of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension to “come to believe” and thus “have life in his name”, eternal life.
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John
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Luke
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v. 19
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“stood among them”
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“stood among them”
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v. 20
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“then the disciples rejoiced”
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“while in their joy they were disbelieving”
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v. 20
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“he showed them his hands and his side”
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“Look at my hands and my feet” [ BlkJn]
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Verse 19: The “disciples” may have been a larger group than the remaining eleven (less Thomas). [ JBC]
Verse 19: “the doors ... were locked”: For “fear of the Jews”; this fear is also mentioned in 7:13 and 19:38. It is not clear why at this time Jesus’ followers should fear them; perhaps they thought that the authorities might arrest them, as they had Jesus.
Verse 19: “Jesus came and stood among them”: For the spiritual qualities of Jesus’ resurrected body, see 1 Corinthians 15:35-41.
Verse 19: “Peace be with you”: Exchanging the peace was a usual Jewish greeting (see Judges 6:23; 19:20; Tobit 12:17) but the repetition of the words in vv. 21 and 26 suggests a reference back to 14:27 (“ ... my peace I give to you”) and 16:33 (“... in me you may have peace”). [ BlkJn]
Verse 20: “hands ... side”: Identifying marks. See also Luke 24:25-26 (Emmaus). [ NOAB]
Verse 20: “rejoiced”: This fulfils the promises of renewed joy: see 14:19 and 16:16-24. [ NJBC] This contrasts with Luke 24:37: there the stress is on terror and amazement. [ JBC]
Verse 21: “Peace”: Also a promised gift, as Jesus says in 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives ...”. [ NJBC]
Verse 21: “‘so I send you’”: In 13:20, Jesus says: ‘Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me’”. See also 5:23 and 17:18. [ NJBC]
Verse 22: The commissioning of the disciples also appears in other post-resurrection appearances: see Luke 24:47-48; Matthew 28:19-20a. Jesus confers on the disciples the mission of which he has spoken: in 17:18, as he prays to the Father, Jesus says “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world”. See also 4:38 and 13:16. [ NJBC]
Verse 22: “he breathed on them”: The same image is used to describe the communication of natural life in Genesis 2:7 (the second creation story). Here it is used to express the communication of the new, spiritual, life of re-created humanity. [ NOAB] In Greek, pneuma means both breath and spirit. In Genesis 2:7, God breathes into the nostrils of Adam, giving him earthly life; [ JBC] the Septuagint translation uses pneuma here. See also Ezekiel 37:9 (the valley of dry bones) and Wisdom of Solomon 15:11.
Verse 22: “‘Receive the Holy Spirit’”: In 15:26 and 16:7, Jesus says that when he has returned to the Father, he will send the Holy Spirit. In v. 17 he has told Mary Magdalene that he has not yet ascended, so in that he now gives the disciples the Holy Spirit, the ascension has now happened. So in John, Jesus’ resurrection, his ascension, and the coming of the Holy Spirit all happen in the same day. But to John (and other New Testament authors) chronology is of secondary importance. In common with the authors of the synoptic gospels, John insists on the connection between the resurrection and the animation of the Church by the Holy Spirit. [ JBC] Note the connection between the granting of authority and receipt of the Holy Spirit. See 16:7 for the continuation of Jesus’ ministry by the Holy Spirit.
In 7:39 Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will only be given after Jesus’ glorification and in 16:7 he says that he will send the Holy Spirit after he has returned to the Father; however here Jesus appears to grant the Holy Spirit before he has been exalted. Scholars have puzzled over this for centuries. The most likely explanation is that early Christians were less concerned with chronological sequence than we are – they saw Jesus’ resurrection, his appearances, his exaltation, and the gift of the Holy Spirit as one event. Only later did they begin to be described as separate events. As support for this apparent lack of chronological sense, note that while Luke describes the Ascension as occurring at Pentecost in Acts 1:3-10, he describes Jesus’ decisive parting from the world on Easter Day in Luke 24:51.
Verse 23: Through the Holy Spirit, the Church continues the judicial role of Christ (see 3:19; 5:27; 9:39) in the matter of sin (see Matthew 16:19; 18:18; Luke 24:47). (In Matthew 16:19, “bind” and “loose” are technical rabbinic terms: “bind” means forbid; “loose” means permit.) [ JBC]
Verse 23: “forgive ... retain”: BlkJn notes that these expressions are not used elsewhere in John and not at all in the Matthean parallels (Matthew 18:18; 16:19). He notes that Matthew 16:19 (“whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven ...”) recalls Isaiah 22:22, so he suggests that both this verse in John and the parallels in Matthew may be variants of a common original. This original, which might well have been in Aramaic, may have followed Isaiah in speaking of the conferral of authority as opening and shutting. In this case, John and Matthew provide different interpretations of what Jesus said, with John’s version arising out of the ambiguity in the Aramaic words, for there the word to shut also means to seize or to hold. Given hold for shut, loose ( release, set free) for open follows naturally. In support of this hypothesis, BlkJn notes that the Greek verb translated retain is not used here in any of its normal senses, so it may be a Semitism.
Verse 24: In the synoptic gospels, incredulity is shared by the other disciples. [ JBC]
Verse 25: This verse reminds us of 4:48: “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” Criminals were usually tied to the cross, rather than being nailed through the palms of the hands.
Verse 25: “nails”: The usual custom was to tie the criminal to the cross, but Jesus was nailed to it.
Verse 27: Jesus’ invitation to Thomas contrasts with his prohibition to Mary Magdalene in v. 17. [ JBC]
Verse 28: We are not told whether Thomas actually touched Jesus. Before Jesus’ ascension, he forbade Mary Magdalene to touch him. [ JBC]
Verse 28: Thomas’ words became a common confession of faith in the early Church. [ JBC]
Verse 28: “Lord and ... God”: In the Septuagint translation, theos kyrios translates the name of the God of Israel (Hebrew: Yahweh Elohim). theos kyrios was also a name used as a designation of a god in the Hellenic world. It became a common Christian confession of faith. [ JBC]
Verse 29: 1 Peter 1:8-9 tells readers: “Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls”. [ CAB]
Verse 30: “signs”: John tells us of six signs in chapters 2-12. The seventh is Jesus’ resurrection. [ NJBC]
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