2 May 2010Easter 5

REVISED COMMON

LECTIONARY (RCL)

LECTIONARY FOR

MASS (LM) VARIATIONS (BCP)

Acts 11:1–18Psalm 148

Revelation 21:1–6John 13:31–35

Acts 14:21–27Psalm 145:8–9,

10–11, 12–13Revelation 21:1–5aJohn 13:31–33a,

34–35

Acts 13:44–52 orLeviticus 19:1–2,

9–18Psalm 145 or 145:1–9Revelation 19:1, 4–9

orActs 13:44–52

Studying the LectionaryLeviticus 19:1–2, 9–18 This selection from the Holiness Code recordsethical demands on the whole community grounded in honoring the holi-ness of YAHWEH. It reiterates several points found in the Decalogue (Ex20:2–6, 8, 12; Dt 5:6–10, 12–16): revere your parents, keep the Sabbath,do not lie or take God’s name in vain. Here as in the Decalogue, theadmonition against stealing uses a verb that applies specifically to persons(kidnapping). The injunction not to covet in the Decalogue implicitlyprohibits taking the belongings of another (Ex 20:17). In this passagethe injunction against taking another’s property is clear in the admonitionnot to defraud or rob a neighbor (19:13). Other prohibitions are notmentioned in the Decalogue, including an admonition to leave somegrains and grapes on the land for the poor and aliens to glean, to not holdthe wages of a day laborer overnight, to neither curse those who are deafnor cause the blind to stumble, to never render a dishonest judgment orbe influenced by social position in decisions for justice. It is significantthat another admonition, ‘‘You shall not stand by idly when your neigh-bor’s life is at stake,’’ is one of the foundations of Western ethics. Theselection concludes with the admonition to eschew fraternal enmity,revenge, grudges, and the silver rule—to love one’s neighbor as oneself,an admonition noted by Jesus as the second greatest commandment.

Acts 13:44–52: (See 4 Easter C); Acts 14:21–27 This reading is from theaccount of the end of Paul’s first missionary journey in which he andBarnabas revisit Lystra and Iconium, where Acts reports that attemptswere made to stone Paul to death (14:4–6, 19–20). Now, they strengthenthe community, appoint presbyters to lead them, and describe their

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travails as necessary hardships to enter God’s reign. The reading alsoreports that the missionaries traveled through Pisidia, Pamphylia, Perga,and Attalia before they sailed to Antioch, where they gave a report ofhow the gentiles had come to faith. While some sense that the accountof appointing leaders reflects the situation of the church at the time ofLuke, others sense that it is perfectly plausible that the earliest mission-aries would determine who was best suited to guide communities theywere leaving behind. However, none of Paul’s undisputed letters mentionpresbyters. Clearly, the office of presbyter and the appointment of pres-byters accompanied by prayer and fasting are practices that were wellestablished at the time of Luke.

Acts 11:1–17 concerns Peter’s report to the Jewish Christians in Jerusa-lem of his encounter with Cornelius’ household in Caesarea Maritima. Inthe first century, table fellowship was restricted. Faithful Jews did not eatwith gentiles: Jewish restrictions regarding with whom one could eatwould mean that gentile proselytes to Judaism would not be able to eatwith friends or family who did not also convert. This may be the majorreason why most godfearers did not fully convert.

Peter reports his visions and understanding that the Spirit instructedhim to go when he was summoned to Caesarea. He informs them thatwhen he and the six brothers who went with him entered Cornelius’home, Cornelius claimed that an angel instructed him to send forSimon, called Peter, whose words would save him and his household.Peter testifies that when he began to speak, the Spirit fell upon thehousehold. He then recalled that the Lord had told them that whileJohn baptized with water they would baptize with the Holy Spirit. Peterrecognized that if God had given these people the gifts of the Spirit,which they had all received, who was he to question God? The com-munity then gave glory to God for extending repentance to gentiles.

This passage paves the way to the gentile mission that will preoccupy thesecond half of Acts. It speaks of the beginning of the fulfillment of theLord’s command to preach in his name to all the nations (Lk 24:47).

Psalm 145:8–13b: ‘‘I will extol you, my God and King, and bless yourname forever and ever’’ (Ps 145:1). Psalm 148: ‘‘Praise the LORD fromthe heavens; praise him in the heights!’’

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Revelation 21:1–5a (1–6) Here John reports his vision of a new heaven,a new earth (see Is 65:17–25), a new creation, and a new Jerusalem com-ing down from heaven. This is a radical transformation; he reports theformer heaven and earth as well as the sea (Rv 13:1—a symbol of chaos)have passed away. He is told that God now will dwell with his people,assured that God will always be with them, will wipe away every tear(Is 25:8), and there will be no more death, mourning, or pain. God thenspeaks directly to John and declares that he will make all things new. Thelonger selection adds that God instructs John to write his words that aretrustworthy and true, then claims that all is accomplished, that ‘‘I am theAlpha and Omega’’ (v 6), and promises to give the thirsty life-giving waters(Is 55:1). (See Adela Yarbro Collins, ‘‘The Apocalypse (Revelation)’’, NewJerome Biblical Commentary [Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall,1991] 1000.)

John 13:31–33a, 34–35=13:31–35 comes from John’s account of whatJesus said to his disciples during the supper on the night before he died fol-lowing Judas’ departure. It begins with Jesus’ declaration that now is the Sonof Man glorified and God has been glorified in him. This represents a sensethat the hour that the Johannine Jesus indicated had not arrived when hisministry began (Jn 2:4) but after he arrived in Jerusalem before Passover(Jn 11:23). He then claims that if he (i.e., the Son of Man) has glorifiedGod (by his fidelity to his mission), God will indeed glorify him in response.Jesus then calls them ‘‘Little children’’ (v 33)—the self-designation of theJohannine community (I Jn 2:1, 12, 28, 3:7, 18, 4:4, 5:21), and declaresthat his time with them is short, and that while they will seek him, they can-not come where he is. He next provides them with a new commandment:love one another. They are to love each other as he has loved them; his dis-ciples will be known by this love. This command is linked with Jesus’ deathas the ultimate expression of love and extends beyond the Torah’s commandto love one’s neighbor (Lv 19:18); it is a call to lay one’s life down in serviceto the community of believers.

Regina A. Boisclair

Healing Word‘‘Where I am going, you cannot come’’ (Jn 13:33c). That statement waslike a wall separating Jesus from his disciples, a line of demarcation

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between him and the rest of us, pregnant with meaning, the cost of whichwas unimaginable to his friends and even to us reading it two millennialater. The totality of his life, death, and resurrection lay ahead of theevents that would unfold; the implications of his passion and resurrectionwould implement the saving intention of the triune God; the salvation ofthe world hinged on what was to come.

On one side of that statement was the road to Jerusalem and certain judg-ment and death; on the other side of the statement were the confused,fearful disciples left with a final word from their Teacher and Lord: loveone another. That statement ‘‘Love one another’’ puts in perspective whatthe first statement is all about. What the disciples did not realize at thatmoment was this: the place where Jesus was going was all about love, buta love at great cost to himself. What propels Jesus to the cross is love:God’s love for the world, Jesus’ own love for the Father in the Spirit.The enduring charism of the community of Jesus’ followers is love.

As I write this word, I have recently returned from a meeting of theWorld Council of Churches Faith and Order Plenary Commission inCrete. The Plenary Commission is the most representative theologicalforum in Christianity. In one gathering, there were representatives fromalmost every ecclesiastical grouping in the Christian faith: Orthodox,Roman Catholic, and Protestant. Yet, the ecumenical movement, partof which is the conciliar process of the WCC, has had as its sole purposethe visible unity of the body of Christ for the sake of God’s justice in theworld. While great strides towards visible unity have been made overthe past 100 years since the historic Edinburgh Missionary Conference,the church is still very much divided. But the fact that we are still at it,seeking and praying for the gift of God’s unity in Christ to be realized fullyand visibly among us, to better understand one another, to work togetherin areas and around issues that alleviate poverty, combat racism andviolence, and so forth—these are acts of love even in the divided church.

Preacher, you also know what love can do in the life and witness of yourcongregation. Love has a way of overcoming fears and doubts, covering amultitude of sins with grace and forgiveness, bridging and reconcilingrelationships . . . love as the enduring charism of Christ’s disciples showsthat, indeed, while we could not venture to where Jesus went, what hedid for us and because of us has taken root in our lives. We must admit

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and confess, we don’t love one another perfectly or even consistently. Itdoesn’t make us less of Christ’s disciples nor does it diminish God’sown love for us. Instead it reminds us that it is hard to truly and genuinelylove one another; it really is, and to do so especially in times when youdon’t want to.

It’s in that grinding action, the knot in our stomachs and throats, whenwe find it hard to love another, that we get a foretaste of what Christ said:‘‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’’ Because even on the worst of ourdays when loving a fellow child of God is far off of our radar screen, wecan sense how difficult it must have been for Christ to have given his lifefor a world that rejected him, but to him and to the Father, it was pre-cisely this imperfect and inconsistent world that was well worth loving.

Neal D. Presa

Ideas and IllustrationsAs we know from Scripture, Peter was a fisherman by trade. He was oneof the first to be called by Jesus to be a disciple, along with his brother,Andrew, and the ‘‘Sons of Thunder,’’ James and John. In a dialoguebetween Jesus and the disciples (Mt 16:12–20), Jesus asks, ‘‘Who dopeople say that the Son of Man is?’’ The disciples give various answers.When he asks, ‘‘Who do you say that I am?’’ Simon Peter answers,‘‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’’ In turn Jesus declaresPeter to be ‘‘blessed’’ for having recognized Jesus’ true identity and attri-butes this recognition to a divine revelation. Then Jesus addresses Simonby what seems to have been the nickname ‘‘Peter’’ (Cephas in Aramaicand Petros in Greek, meaning ‘‘Rocky’’) and says, ‘‘On this rock [alsocephas in Aramaic and petra in Greek] I will build my church,’’ which willovercome all the evil forces arrayed against it.

While he was one of the first disciples called and later served as thespokesman for the group, Peter is also the exemplar of ‘‘little faith’’ inMatthew 14:31, will soon be called ‘‘Satan’’ by Jesus, and will eventuallydeny Jesus three times. What apparently would transform ‘‘Rocky’’ into‘‘the Rock’’ was his encounter with the risen Jesus. That encounter madePeter into a fearless preacher of the Gospel and a martyr willing to die forhis faith in Jesus.

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This is the transformed Peter described in the song ‘‘So Long Self’’ byMercyMe. The opening lines from the song describe Peter: ‘‘Well, if Icome across a little bit distant, it’s just because I am = Things just seemto feel a little bit different, you understand.’’ Things were a little differ-ent with Peter, you see. Peter was a Palestinian Jew, who had probablynever left the hills of his own country. He wasn’t educated or cosmo-politan. All Peter had was Jesus, which is why Peter was able to chal-lenge the religious party with which he had grown up. This religiousparty was an ultra-conservative group who believed that Christianitywas a movement within Judaism; these believers must first conformto the life and practices of Judaism before becoming Christian (Acts11:2–3).

Jesus was the reason why Peter was able to counter the authorities withthe question, ‘‘If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us whenwe believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?’’It is with this question that Peter fits into the second chorus of the song:‘‘Believe it or not but life is not apparently about me always = But I havemet the One who really is worthy.’’

Peter tells the authorities that the meal that he had with Cornelius and hisfamily really was about God and not about what men believe. Peter wasable to stand up and speak with confidence, ‘‘What God has made clean,you must not call profane.’’ For it was the Holy Spirit who told Peterto go with Cornelius’ men and ‘‘not to make a distinction between themand us.’’

It is with the confidence that only comes from God that Peter is able totell the religious authorities what is said in the song’s third verse: ‘‘Don’ttake this wrong but you are wrong for me; farewell = Oh, well, goodbye,don’t cry; so long, self.’’

Although he came to Christianity by believing in the Jewish faith first,Peter realized that there was something more to life than what thesereligious authorities were offering. The gentiles (and Peter!) realizedthat ‘‘God has given even to the gentiles the repentance that leadsto life,’’ as did the authorities who had at first criticized Peter (Acts11:18). This new life was much more than what anyone on earthcould offer, something only God could offer through his Son.

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The song ends with the singer taking the blame for the old self and thenew self not being friends anymore. The singer states that he is the oneto blame because he is the one who is ‘‘wanting something more in lifethan all of this.’’ Peter could have used these same words at the time ofhis speech; he was in search of something more than what the religiousauthorities were discussing. Instead of a victory rally at the conversionof Cornelius, there was at first protest. Instead of happiness, there wasinitial disgust.

And, yet, it is because of Jesus that Peter is able to stand firm and standtall against the authorities. He realized that the one Person who was morethan anything else in the world was the one Person that he had encoun-tered. Do we realize the same?

Monica S. Christian

Serving the WordThis week’s celebration of Easter glory looks forward to the Ascension.Jesus will be with his little ones, his disciples, only a little longer. He givesthem his teaching on the question of how to live so that they will be ableto live in his absence as if he were still with them. They will be able tobear witness to his continued lively presence in their lives even thoughhe goes to the Father. Make that, because he goes to the Father. Jesus’own earthly ministry to the lost sheep of Israel, with a few detours amongthe Samaritans and the gentiles across the Sea of Galilee, can now expandamong all nations. Whether we hear Peter reporting his vision in Joppa orPaul and Barnabas in Syrian Antioch or Antioch of Pisidia, this week’sActs reading tells us that the door of faith that leads to life has beenopened for the gentiles, that is, for us.

Jesus gives a commandment of love for living this life. In itself, it is nonew commandment. Leviticus 19 calls us not to hate in our hearts, norseek vengeance nor bear a grudge, but rather to love our neighbor as our-selves. Jesus’ commandment is not new, but the model for the com-manded behavior is new. We are to love our neighbor not only as welove ourselves but as Jesus has loved us.

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Jesus’ love is the model. The footwashing that took place earlier inChapter 13 of John’s story, and some five weeks ago in our congregations,is the acted-out parable of how to love. It is the washing that points to hisdeath, to the hour when God is revealed as love lifted up on a cross.

In that lifting up we encounter the paradox of sacrifice and glorification.Jesus departs from his disciples when he is crucified and when he ascendsto the glory he had in the presence of his Father from before the foun-dation of the world. The heights and depths are joined in the cross, theburial, the rising. The glory of God’s reign draws near in this lifting upof steadfast love. In the light of the empty tomb and our washing intoChrist’s death and life, suffering and glory, this same love is lifted upin our lives. The glorification of the incarnate Word takes place in thecontext of human flesh, our flesh. Our discipleship is displayed as we,his little ones, live out Christ’s commandment of love.

Christ’s glorified humanity is taken into the Godhead as he departs fromhis disciples. Christ’s serving obedience is taken out to our neighbors aswe live the commandment of love in his risen presence. Easter glory thatlooks to the Ascension, to Jesus’ departure, necessarily looks also to hiscontinued presence in the matrix of our lives, lives lived under the cross.

Easter glory lived under the cross seems like the biggest paradox of all, butconsider: the resurrection is God’s vindication of Jesus’ serving and pas-sion, his life and sacrifice. To hear on an Easter Sunday, in the midst ofthe alleluias of the great fifty days, that we are to love as he loved us, is tobe brought back to footwashing and cross, service and sacrifice.

It would not be necessary for God to wipe away the tears from every eyein the new Jerusalem were there not tears to be shed in this old city. Theresurrection begins to make all things new, but even God’s Easter peopleare still in our pilgrimage to the new heaven and the new earth, themarriage supper of the Lamb. Yet we are on our way. The new command-ment—well, the old commandment with Jesus’ new example—marks ourlives with the sign of the cross we received at baptism, to which we returnwhenever this old life becomes too much for us. We walk through thedoor of repentance that leads to life. Easter joy will not permit the biteof the demons that gnaw on our consciences to remind us of our failuresto love.

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Though we do not yet see all things made new, we are Easter people.We see, by faith, the newness of the resurrection taking root in ourlives. We find opportunities to love one another, disciples filled withjoy and the Holy Spirit. We find opportunities to speak of the gloryof God’s reign to other little ones who need to hear that Jesus gavehis life for his friends. By this everyone will know that Jesus’ love liveson in the heights of heaven and, thanks be to God, in the deepest placesof our human lives.

Paul G. Bieber

Welcoming the Word1. In Acts 11:1–18, Peter answers those who were critical of his mission togentiles such as Cornelius’ family. How does Peter’s statement in verses15–16 correspond to the themes of the Easter season? How does it leadthe worshipping community into the approaching festival of Pentecost?

2. Both Psalm 148 and Revelation 21:1–6 describe the cosmic dimensionsof Christ’s resurrection. How does all creation, including animals andinanimate objects (Ps 148: 7–10), praise God? How does Christ’sresurrection affect our universe as well as individual people (see Rom.8:19–25)? In what way is Christ ‘‘making all things new’’ (Rv 21:5) apresent reality?

3. Some lectionaries now include John 13:34–35 in the appointed readingfor Maundy Thursday because of the etymology of the word Maundyfrom the Latin word for commandment (maundatum). How is Jesus’mandate to love one another related to the Eucharist? Why would Jesusgive this commandment after he mentioned that he would be with hisdisciples only a little while longer (Jn 13:33)? How does this anticipateChrist’s ascension?

4. In what concrete ways do Christ’s comments on love (Jn 13:34–35)apply to interpersonal relationships between individual Christians andto ecumenical relationships between Christian denominations?

John Paul Salay

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