It’s not surprising that, after Jesus’ death, the disciples were afraid, remaining together behind doors that were locked for fear of the Jews, uncertain what to do next. Although they had faith, they did not really know what to expect. But when they see the Lord, the disciples rejoice. And while, at first, he doubts – Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, I will not believe, he says – Thomas, too, will come to have faith, even more rapidly than his friends did, recognizing Jesus immediately when Jesus returns a week later to the upper room.
By the time John is writing his Gospel, Christian witness is essential to the community, for the persecutions are underway and there is great pressure to not believe, to renounce their faith in Christ. Christians know that it is essential to live every day as though they have been conceived for the first time, for they live for a future event that is unfolding in them. In the Acts of the Apostles, the Christian community knows this, and all devote themselves to a life fulfilled in Christ Jesus. Even simple communal dinners are cause for rejoicing: They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God, perhaps with Psalm 18, My strength and my courage is the Lord. Acts provides us with an idealized picture of the Christian community, in which all live with and care for one another, having one another’s interests at heart – the essence of any community of faith.
Why gather in community? Why hold beliefs in common? When we come together as a community, there is a power in our spiritual presence to one another that is greater than we can measure, born of faith, a power out of time and space, epitomized by the joy that fills us at Eucharist. We have, as the First Letter of Peter tells us, a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, a hope born of faith, imperishable, undefiled, unfading, indescribable. We believe in the power of the resurrection to forgive sins, to create us anew; like the apostles, we must know, we must believe, that it is essential to live every day as though we have been conceived for the first time. We too live for a future event that is unfolding in us, and that shared faith defines our life together in community. Our faith may waver, it may ebb and flow, but ultimately, may the genuineness of our faith indeed prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ!
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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