Sunday Gospel Reflection, April 11, 2024: You are witnesses of these things...

You are witnesses of these things…

What story are we to tell? 

    While we know that our salvation is a direct consequence of Jesus’ life, death, and rising, we sometimes forget our responsibility to be witnesses to this core belief of our faith. In Luke’s Gospel, after Jesus has risen from the dead, he appears to his disciples and asks, Have you anything here to eat? Why would Jesus make such a banal request? Jesus wants the disciples to look at his hands and his feet. Touch me and see, he adds, to assure yourselves that I am not a ghost. Jesus wants them to be witnesses of these things, to recount all that they have seen and heard to all who will listen, that all might believe and be saved. 

    This is what Peter goes on to do, as we hear in the Acts of the Apostles: The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses. Peter notes that this is precisely what the prophet Isaiah had proclaimed in the Suffering Servant discourses: God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand, that his Christ would suffer. No one understood this at first; Peter acknowledges that they acted out of ignorance in putting the Messiah to death. But now, thanks to Peter’s witness, the people have the opportunity understand, and so he calls upon them to repent and be converted, that their sins may be wiped away. 

    The death of Jesus was thus necessary for salvation, according to God’s plan, as it demonstrated the depths of God’s love for humankind. God is merciful, and that mercy defines our relationship with God. Psalm 4 reminds us that the Lord does wonders for his faithful ones, letting the light of his countenance shine upon us. We can turn to God and have confidence that he will care for us, as will Jesus, our Advocate with the Father of whom the First Letter of John speaks. Jesus advocates for us because he knows intimately what it means to be human. Jesus knows our struggles; the way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments, because those commandments – to love God and neighbor and self – lead us to him. We are all moving toward a place where we hope the love of God will be perfected in us. This is the good news of salvation, to which we too must be witnesses, that one day the love of God might be truly perfected in all. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
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