·
21 Anselm,
Archbishop of Canterbury, 1109 after his monastery, was an Italian[4]Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of the Catholic Church, who held the
office of archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to
1109. After his death, he was canonized as a saint; his feast day is 21 April.
·
22 John Muir, Naturalist and Writer, 1914,
and Hudson Stuck,
Priest and Environmentalist, 1920
·
23 George, Soldier and Martyr, was a soldier of Cappadocian Greek origins, member of the Praetorian Guardfor Roman emperor Diocletian who was
sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith. He became one of
the most venerated saints and megalo-martyrs in Christianity, and was
especially venerated as a military saint since the Crusaders. c.
304.
Toyohiko Kagawa,
Prophetic Witness in Japan, 1960
·
24 Genocide
Remembrance
·
26 Robert Hunt,
Priest and First Chaplain at Jamestown, 1607 He was vicar of Reculver
from 18 January 1594 until he resigned and was replaced on 5 October
1602.[3] He was forced
to leave his wife Elizabeth Edwards and two children Thomas & Elizabeth
there in disgrace then, because of his wife's adulterous "seeing too much
of one John Taylor".[4][5][6] In 1606, he
was forced to leave his second parish, at Heathfield, in Sussex, when he was
accused of having his own adulterous affair with his servant, Thomasina
Plumber, as well as "absenteeism, and neglecting of his congregation".[4][7][8][9]
·
27 Christina Rossetti,
Poet, 1894
FIRST READING: Acts 10:
34 - 43 (all)
Acts 10:34 (NRSV)
Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no
partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right
is acceptable to him. 36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel,
preaching peace by Jesus Christ--he is Lord of all. 37 That message spread
throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced:
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how
he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for
God was with him. 39 We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in
Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40 but God raised
him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to
us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he
rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify
that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All
the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness
of sins through his name."
Note: the Roman
Catholic lectionary omits vs. 34b-36.
Isaiah 65: 17 - 25 (alt. for RCL)
Isai 65:17 (NRSV)
For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things
shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
18 But be glad and
rejoice forever
in what I am
creating;
for I am about to
create Jerusalem as a joy,
and its people as
a delight.
19 I will rejoice
in Jerusalem,
and delight in my
people;
no more shall the
sound of weeping be heard in it,
or the cry of
distress.
20 No more shall
there be in it
an infant that
lives but a few days,
or an old person
who does not live out a lifetime;
for one who dies
at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls
short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
21 They shall
build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant
vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not
build and another inhabit;
they shall not
plant and another eat;
for like the days
of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen
shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not
labor in vain,
or bear children
for calamity; Or [sudden terror]}
for they shall be
offspring blessed by the LORD--
and their descendants
as well.
24 Before they
call I will answer,
while they are yet
speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and
the lamb shall feed together,
the lion shall eat
straw like the ox;
but the
serpent--its food shall be dust!
They shall not
hurt or destroy
on all my holy
mountain,
says the LORD.
PSALM 118: 1 - 2, 14 -
24 (RCL)
118: 1 - 2, 16 - 17, 22 -
23 (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."
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.
118 Confitemini
Domino (ECUSA BCP)
1 Give
thanks to the Lord, for he is
good; *
his
mercy endures for ever.
2 Let
Israel now proclaim, *
his mercy endures for ever.
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.
SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 15: 19 - 26 (RCL)
1Cor 15:19 (NRSV)
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be
pitied.
20 But in fact
Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.
21 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has
also come through a human being; 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made
alive in Christ. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at
his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, Or [Then come the
rest]} when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed
every ruler and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has
put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Some at Corinth had
difficulty accepting Jesus’ resurrection, in which humanity becomes immortal,
for many considered only the soul to be immortal. Paul has written that if we
deny the resurrection, we reject the very basis of the faith. If our faith in
Christ is limited to this life, we have been had. But Jesus was
raised! The “first fruits” (v. 20)
are the first yield of the harvest, foreshadowing more to come, so Christ’s
resurrection is the forerunner of our resurrection. “Adam”
(v. 22)
was the prototype (model) for the old, earthly life (in which, Paul says, “all
die”); Christ is the prototype for the new: he brings all (who believe) to life
– through his resurrection. The sequence is this:
·
the raising of Christ (v. 23);
·
when Christ comes again (“coming”), of those who believe;
·
Christ’s destruction of all hostile, ungodly, powers (“every ruler ...”,
v. 24,
“enemies”, v. 25);
and
·
the handing over of rule (“kingdom”, v. 24)
to “the Father”.
This destruction will
fulfil Psalm 8:6 (v. 27).
The last enemy to be destroyed is (will be) death (v. 26).
In v. 27,
Paul clarifies: “all” does not include “the one” (God) who subjected all things
to “him” (Christ).
Verses 21-23: Jesus is the prototype of the new creation as Adam was of the
old: see also Romans 5:12-21.
[ JBC]
Verse 23: “first fruits”: Elsewhere Paul carries the metaphor of first
fruits further than he does here. The Old Testament origins are in:
Exodus 23:19;
Leviticus 23:10;
Deuteronomy 26:1-11;
Numbers 18:16-18;
Ezekiel 44:30.
[ CAB]
Verse 23: “at his coming”: At the glorious return of Christ (see 1
Thessalonians 2:19; 4:13-17),
at the time of the general
resurrection (see 1 Thessalonians 4:16).
[ NOAB]
Verse 24: “every ruler ...”: i.e. powers hostile to authentic humanity:
see also Romans 8:38-39;
Colossians 1:16; 2:10;
Ephesians 1:21.
[ NJBC]
Verse 25: Paul quotes Psalm 110:1b (“Sit
at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool”) implicitly. [ NJBC]
Verse 25: “his enemies”: i.e. demonic powers dominating the present age,
one of which is death.
Verse 26: “death”: For the personification of death in the Old Testament,
see Psalms 33:19; 49:14;
Jeremiah 9:20-22;
Habakkuk 2:5.
[ NOAB] [ NJBC]
GOSPEL: John 20: 1 - 18 (RCL)
John 20: 1 - 9 (Roman Catrholic)
John 20:1 (NRSV)
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Mag'dalene
came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So
she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus
loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we
do not know where they have laid him." 3 Then Peter and the other disciple
set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the
other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look
in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon
Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings
lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the
linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple,
who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet
they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then
the disciples returned to their homes.
11 But Mary stood
weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12
and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying,
one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, "Woman,
why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my
Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." 14 When she had said
this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that
it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are
you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him,
"Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I
will take him away." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned
and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbou'ni!" (which means Teacher). 17
Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended
to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, "I am ascending to
my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" 18 Mary Mag'dalene
went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she
told them that he had said these things to her.
Mary, still thinking that the body has been moved, has returned to
the cemetery. In her grief, she sees “two angels in white” (v. 12),
heavenly messengers. She recognizes Jesus when he calls her by name. But
something has changed: they are in a new relationship: “do not hold on to me”
(v. 17).
To John the evangelist, Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, exaltation and return
to heavenly glory, his ascension, are parts of a single event.
|
Verse 1: “while it was still dark”: That the
women visit the tomb at dawn is stated in the synoptic gospels. Perhaps the
writer has added darkness to incorporate his scene into the light symbolism
of the gospel. [ NJBC]
Verse 1: Mary must have looked into the tomb to
be able to tell “Peter and the other disciple” (v. 2)
that the body of Jesus is missing. Only in v. 11 are
we told that she “bent over to look in the tomb”. [ NJBC]
Verse 2: “the other disciple, the one whom Jesus
loved”: 21:20, 24 identify
this disciple as the author of the gospel.
Verse 2: “we” is plural in the Greek, so it is
likely that John worked from a source which included other women in these
verses. (Mark includes other women.) [ BlkJn]
[ NJBC]
Verse 4: “the other disciple outran Peter and
reached the tomb first”: In this gospel, Peter takes second place to “the
other disciple”:
Verse 6: That Peter goes into the tomb while
“the other disciple” stays outside is consistent with Peter’s temperament
shown elsewhere in the gospels. See also 6:68 and 18:10.
[ BlkJn]
Verse 6: “He saw the linen wrappings lying
there”: Note the difference from Lazarus: he needed unbinding ( 11:44);
Jesus does not. In the synoptic gospels,
the grave clothes are not mentioned, so presumably they were absent: see
Mark 16:6;
Matthew 28:6;
Luke 24:3, 23.
[ BlkJn]
Verse 9: “the scripture”: There is no specific
scriptural reference, so John is probably saying that Jesus’ fulfills
salvation history. However, the term scripture may well
include the apocrypha to the New Testament and pseudepigrapha. When John
wrote, neither the Jewish canon of the Old Testament nor that of the New
Testament existed. The Greek word refers to a writing, not
necessarily Scripture as we understand it.
BlkJn points out that
“scripture” is in the singular, so a specific text is intended. He suggests
Psalm 16:10,
“For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit”.
Comments: they have not yet received the
Holy Spirit: When do the disciples receive the Holy Spirit in John?
In 14:16,
Jesus says to the disciples: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you
another Advocate, to be with you forever”. So, in a sense, the Spirit is
active in Jesus during his earthly ministry. However, in 16:7 Jesus
says: “it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the
Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you”. So the
Holy Spirit is with the disciples during Jesus’ earthly ministry, and is more
fully with them after his ascension. In 20:22,
Jesus breathes on them and says “‘Receive the Holy Spiri’t”.
Verses 11-18: To BlkJn, this is a separate incident
which is mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament only in the spurious longer
ending of Mark (Mark 16:9-20),
though there are superficial similarities to Matthew 28:8-10.
Here Mary is calm when she discovers the angels while in the synoptic gospels, the women
are afraid: see Mark 16:5-8;
Luke 24:5 and
Matthew 28:5, 8.
Further, here the angels do not deliver a message while they do in the synoptic gospels. [ BlkJn] To NJBC, the evangelist has reworked a
traditional story in which the risen Christ appeared to either Mary Magdalene
alone or in the company of other women near the tomb. He has recast the
resurrection message so that it is clear that Jesus’ return is not to the
disciples in the various appearance stories. His return is his exaltation to
his place with the Father: see 14:18-19; 16:22; 3:13; 6:62.
[ NJBC]
Verse 12: Mary sees “two angels in white” but
apparently Peter and the other disciple did not (see
vv. 6-7).
Verse 14: “she did not know that it was Jesus”:
Mary also fails to recognize Jesus in other resurrection stories: see 21:4, 7, 12;
Luke 24:16ff;
Matthew 28:17.
See also Luke 24:37-41.
[ BlkJn]
Verse 15: “Sir”: The Greek word is kurios also
translated as Lord with divine connotations. Kurios is
also used in vv. 2, 13, 15, 18, 20 and 25.
[ BlkJn]
Verse 15: “gardener”: a Jewish cemetery was much
like a garden. Mary would be physically unable to “take him away”: this is an
expression of her love for Jesus.
Verse 16: “Rabbouni” is a variant form of Rabbi,
meaning teacher. Mary wishes to resume the relationship she has
previously enjoyed with Jesus. [ BlkJn]
Verse 17: One should not think of Jesus’
resurrection as though he had returned to life and then later ascended into
heaven. Rather, Jesus has passed into an entirely different reality. 14:22-23 answers
the question of how Jesus will manifest himself to the disciples and not to
the world – in terms of love and the indwelling presence of Father and Son
with the disciples. [NJBC]
Verse 17: “Do not hold on to me ...”: In
Matthew 28:9-10,
the women grasp the risen Lord’s feet in a gesture of worship. [NJBC]
Verse 17: “my Father ... your God”: The Father
truly is Jesus’ Father; Christians acquire their relationship to him through
Christ. [ JBC]
Verses 19-22: Jesus appears to his disciples. As a
community, as the Church, they now receive the Holy Spirit.
Luke 24:1-12
Verse 1: “at early dawn”: The powers of darkness
(see 22:53)
give way to the light of the dawn of Jesus’ victory over death, as Zechariah
foretold in the Benedictus:
“By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to
give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide
our feet into the way of peace” (see 1:78-79).
[ NJBC]
Verse 4: “two men in dazzling clothes”: In
Acts 1:10 (the
Ascension) and 10:30 (Cornelius),
Luke calls angels men. There are also two at the Transfiguration
(see 9:29-30).
Lightning frequently expresses some kind of heavenly or unearthly visitation
in Luke’s writings: see also 10:18; 11:36; 17:24;
Acts 9:3; 22:6 (at
Paul’s conversion). [ JBC]
Verse 6: In 9:22,
Jesus tells his disciples: “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and
be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on
the third day be raised” and in 13:32-33 he
tells some Pharisees: “Go and tell that fox [Herod Antipas]for me, ‘Listen, I
am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the
third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be
on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of
Jerusalem’”. [ NOAB]
Verses 6,8: “Remember ... remembered”: The meaning
of the Greek word, mimneskesthai, is more than mere recollection
of the content of a previous conversation. Mimneskesthai is
to bring to bear in the present, with power and new and deepened insight, the
meaning of past actions and words in salvation history. This Greek word is
also found in this sense in 1:54 (Mary,
in the Magnificat), 72 (Zechariah,
in the Benedictus); 23:42 (one
of those crucified, to Jesus); Acts 10:31 (Peter,
to Cornelius); 11:16 (Peter
“remembered the word of the Lord ...”). Luke uses related words in 22:19 (the
institution of the Eucharist); 22:61;
Acts 17:32; 20:31, 35.
[ NJBC]
Verse 6: “you”: This suggests that Jesus’
disciples as a group often included others than those of the inner circle. [ NOAB]
Verse 7: In 9:44,
Jesus has prophesied: “‘Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man
is going to be betrayed into human hands’”. [ NJBC]
Verse 7: “Son of Man”: Jesus saw himself as the
fulfilment of the Old Testament, especially the Son of Man and Servant Songs of Isaiah.
Verse 8: “remembered”: The revelation of Jesus’
vindication gives new meaning and power to the women’s recollection of Jesus’
words. [ NJBC]
Verse 9: The sequence in Matthew 28:8 differs.
The actual sequence cannot be worked out. Each account is a separate summary
of early Christian testimony to the facts of Jesus’ resurrection. [ NOAB]
Verse 9: “told”: NJBC says that the Greek
word, anengeilan, means more than told . Proclaimed is
a better translation. It is found frequently in the gospels and Acts. [ NJBC]
Verse 10: “Mary Magdalene, Joanna ...”: For women
who were followers of Jesus, see also Mark 16:1 (“Mary
Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome”); Luke 8:1-3 (“some
women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called
Magdalene, ... and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward ... and Susanna, and
many others”); John 19:26 (Jesus’
mother); 20:1.
[ NOAB]
Verse 11: “did not believe them”: See also
Mark 16:10-11 (Mary
Magdalene tells of seeing the resurrected Jesus), Mark 16:14;
Matthew 28:10, 17 (of
the eleven disciples “some doubted”); John 20:18, 24-25, 29 (Thomas). NJBC says that Luke uses the
same verb here as he does in Acts (e.g. 28:34)
to declare the negative response to the Christian proclamation.
Verse 12: This verse is in some early manuscripts
but not in all (e.g. the Western
Text). Some scholars consider that this verse is an addition based on
John 20:3-10;
others accept it as authentic, because:
Verse 12: “what had happened”: The Greek is a
general phrase also found in 23:47 (“When
the centurion saw what had taken place ...”), 23:48 (“...
when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had
taken place ...”) and 24:18(“‘...
Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have
taken place there in these days?’”).
© 1996-2019
Chris Haslam
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