Jesus Opened Their Minds to Understand the Scriptures
Introduction: May you
continue to experience the Good News of the Risen Lord Jesus and be willing to share
that Good News with others.
The word
Gospel (εὐαγγέλιον – euangelion in Greek)
means “Good News” or “Glad Tidings/Message.” We are called to be people of the Gospel.
That means more than just reading the four Gospels and being able to tell the story
of Jesus. We are called to live the Gospel – the Good News. People should be able
to experience the Good News when they meet us and want to “know” more about it.
We should be good News-casters – proclaimers of the Good News.
Our readings
deal with a good message – Good News. In Greek, eu is “good” or “well” and
angelion is “message” or “news.” Euangelion (εὐαγγέλιον) is the “Good News” or
“Be Well Message.” We are reminded in our readings what is “good” about this
message and who are the ones who will be the messengers (angels) of this Good
News.
First Reading: Acts
3:13-15,17-19
You killed the prince of life: God, however, raised him from the dead
Commentary: This reading is the final section of
Peter’s speech to the people of Jerusalem after Pentecost when he explains to
the crowds the significance of the first miracle worked by the apostles in the
power of the Spirit. Like all the speeches in Acts, it is not a word-for-word,
tape-recorded report, but is a sample of Peter’s preaching to the Jews. He lays
the blame for Jesus’ rejection squarely on them but shows that it was just as
scripture had foretold. All of the speeches end with an invitation to repent.
This does not mean simply to get all weepy about past sins, ‘how dreadful and
wicked I have been’. It means that the listeners, and we, must change our ways,
and adopt God’s and the Risen Christ’s system of values. To convert means I was
going in one direction; now I turn round and go in another. Then the way I look
at the world becomes different. I see things from a different angle, God’s and
Christ’s angle. This sort of conversion does not so much look at the past with
regret as look at the future with confidence. It is the new determination that
allows God to wipe out our sins.
Responsorial Psalm 4:2,4,7,9
Lift up the light of your face on us, O Lord.
The psalmist is
not only aware of the Good News that comes from GOD but also feels compelled to
share the Good News with others so that they can experience the Good News that
GOD loves and cares for those who call upon the name of GOD. The psalmist
identifies with all of humanity by saying that he has experienced bad news –
rough times. Yet the news did not stop with bad news. The psalmist cried out to
GOD and GOD heard his prayer and brought about Good News. The key focus of the
psalmist’s newscast is not the bad news, but it is the Good News of GOD’s
answering of prayer. The psalmist/news-caster wants others to “know” this Good
News, not just to fill their minds with information, but also that they, too,
can call upon the name of the GOD and experience the peaceful sleep and
security (salus) that comes from GOD alone.
Second Reading: 1 John 2:1-5
Jesus Christ is the sacrifice that takes our sins away, and the world's
Commentary: This reading is about blotting out
former failures. Jesus Christ is our Advocate with the Father, ‘standing at the
right hand of the Father’ because he takes our sins away. How does he do this?
By his act of obedience on the Cross Jesus wipes out the disobedience of Adam,
that is, of all humanity. Adam (which means ‘man’) is the figure of all
humanity, and Adam’s sin is the symbol of all human sin, a sort of ‘prequel’ of
all sin, an act of turning away from God, of independence and disobedience. On
the Cross, Jesus was perfectly united to the Father, in an act of utter
obedience in love, to which the Father in love responded, with a renewal of
love for all humanity. For us, too, it is true that if we know God, if we have
any appreciation of God and any personal bond to God, we cannot but obey him.
God’s commands are not arbitrary but are the way of keeping close to God. By
the command of love, God reveals himself and invites us to be like him.
Gospel: Luke 24:35-48
It is written that Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead
Commentary: In the previous gospel reading the two
disciples had met Jesus on their way to Emmaus. There Jesus had used the
Eucharistic meal to reveal himself to them, for the Eucharist is always an
occasion for us to get to know the Risen Christ better. Now he meets the whole
group of disciples in their refuge, the Upper Room. The stress is on their
meeting with a real person, not a disembodied ghost or phantom appearance. That
is why he eats a piece of fish.
The important
lesson of this is that, in our resurrection to true life, it is the whole
person that is raised, not just the soul. Our bodies will be so real that we
will be able to eat. Christian teaching is that a person is an animated body.
We work out our salvation with fingers and toes and other bodily members, and
all will be raised to life. It is not just a matter of thoughts and intentions!
The whole body is baptized into Christ and is the instrument of our salvation.
The body will be changed, and St Paul tells us that it is stupid to ask what
sort of body we will have in the resurrection, but I shall be raised as a whole
person.
Reflection: Aren't
we like the apostles? We won't believe unless we can see with our own eyes. The
Gospel accounts attest to the reality of the resurrection of Jesus from the
grave. Jesus goes to great lengths to assure his disciples that he is no mere
ghost or illusion. He shows them the marks of his crucifixion and he explains
how the Scriptures foretold his death and rising.
Jerome (347-420 AD), an early church bible scholar, comments:
"As he showed them real hands and a real side, he really ate
with his disciples; really walked with Cleophas; conversed with men with a real
tongue; really reclined at supper; with real hands took bread, blessed and
broke it, and was offering it to them... Do not put the power of the Lord on
the level with the tricks of magicians, so that he may appear to have been what
he was not, and may be thought to have eaten without teeth, walked without
feet, broken bread without hands, spoken without a tongue, and showed a side
which had no ribs." (From a letter to Pammachius against John of Jerusalem
34).
The door to heaven and the key to paradise is through the
cross: The centrality of the Gospel message is the cross - but
fortunately, it does not stop there. Through the cross, Jesus defeated our
enemies - death and Satan and won pardon for our sins. His cross is the door to
heaven and the key to paradise. The way to glory is through the cross. When the
disciples saw the risen Lord, they disbelieved for joy! How can death lead to
life, the cross to victory? Jesus shows us the way and he gives us the power to
overcome sin and despair, and everything else that would stand in the way of
his love and truth. Just as the first disciples were commissioned to bring the
good news of salvation to all the nations, so, we, too, are called to be
witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to all who live on the face of the
earth. Do you witness the joy of the Gospel to those around you?
Lord Jesus,
open our minds to understand the Scriptures that we may fully comprehend the
truth of your word. Anoint us with your power and give us joy and boldness to
proclaim the Gospel in word and deed.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The Easter Alleluia, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430
A.D. "We are praising God now, assembled as we are here in church; but
when we go on our various ways again, it seems as if we cease to praise God.
But provided we do not cease to live a good life; we shall always be praising
God. You cease to praise God only when you swerve from justice and from what is
pleasing to God. If you never turn aside from the good life, your tongue may be
silent, but your actions will cry aloud, and God will perceive your intentions;
for as our ears hear each other's voices, so do God's ears hear our thoughts.
" (excerpt from commentary on Psalm 148)
I’LL PASS: “Everything written about Me in the law
of Moses and the prophets and psalms had to be fulfilled.” —Luke 24:44. Wouldn’t
it have been a wonderful thing to have walked with Jesus and the two disciples
on the road to Emmaus? We would have heard every Scripture in the Old Testament
that prophesied about Jesus’ Passion, death, and Resurrection.
Well, the
Church has just read to us in the daily liturgies of Lent many of those same
Old Testament Scriptures that Jesus opened up for the disciples (Lk 24:27). The
disciples passed those Scriptures on to many others; these Scriptures have
since been passed on by the Church, all the way down to us.
During Easter,
we focus on celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus. The Lord Himself, however,
testifies: “If [you will] not listen to Moses and the prophets, [you] will not
be convinced even if one should rise from the dead” (Lk 16:31). Faith in the
risen Jesus comes through hearing the Word of God (Rm 10:17). Therefore, during
this season of Easter, attend Mass as frequently as possible, even daily, to
hear the Word of God. Meditate on this Word Day and night (Ps 1:2; Jos 1:8).
Treasure it in your heart (Lk 2:19). Devour the prophetic Word during this
season of Easter (Jer 15:16).
What kind of
passing will you do with the Lenten and Easter Scriptures that prophesy about
Jesus? Will you pass them on to those you meet? Or will you merely pass them
up, and let new life in Christ pass you by?
Prayer: Father, give me a heart to seek You,
ears to hear You, and the will to worship, love, and serve You. “God raised
[Jesus] from the dead, and we are His witnesses.” —Acts 3:15. “O Lord, our
Lord, how glorious is Your name over all the earth!” (Ps 8:2) Alleluia to You,
risen Lord Jesus, our Savior!
The personal question for today: How focused am I on the “Good News”? Do I often dwell
only on the bad news all around me? How can I be a better Good News-caster and
show others how GOD is touching their lives with Good News?