Luke 24:13-35

Luke 24:13-35 (NRSV)

¹³ Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴ and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, ¹⁶ but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷ And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸ Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” ¹⁹ He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰ and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. ²¹ But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. ²² Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, ²³ and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” ²⁵ Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! ²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” ²⁷ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

²⁸ As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. ³² They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” ³³ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. ³⁴ They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

           

24:13-35 Appearance to two individuals on the Road to Emmaus

Luke 24:13-35 (Year A Third Sunday of Easter) is the story of the risen Lord coming to two disciples on the road to Emmaus on Easter Sunday. I provide an introduction that discusses the historical and literary context, a verse-by-verse study, and an application to the modern setting. I focus upon:

·      The motif of divine revelation and recognition.

·      The fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.

·      The Eucharistic theme in the breaking of bread.

·      The narrative’s metaphorical significance for personal spiritual journeys.

·      Connections to other biblical “road” stories (e.g., Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Paul).

·      The uncertainty of Emmaus’s location.

·      The gradual revelation of Jesus’s identity and the disciples’ transformation.

Introduction

The appearance does not fit into the list by Paul in I Cor 15.[1] It has the motif of proving the resurrection by the appearance of the risen Lord. This motif fits an appearance to individuals.[2] Mark 16:12, part of the long ending of that gospel, says that after the Resurrection, Jesus "appeared in another form" to two of the disciples "as they were walking in the country," but only Luke gives us the whole story. Jesus joins Cleopas and one other person as they walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus. This story of the risen Lord coming to two followers at a dinner table is a remarkable gift of this gospel. Luke has filled the story with his theological motifs. Thus, as his Gospel heads us toward Jerusalem in the travel narrative, so this story occurs in and around Jerusalem. The risen Lord gradually reveals who he is to the disciples. It emphasizes the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. It has a Eucharistic theme that begins here and continues in his story in Acts. His story-telling gifts are at their height. Christ appears unknown, as a wanderer, the role in which human beings loved to portray deity, in simple human form. The deity becomes a wanderer, clad as a traveler to wander among human beings. Deity reveals the divine mystery through encounters or moments that become revelatory. However, as soon human beings recognized him, he disappears.^[3] We see this basic outline in several stories in Genesis. The divine appeared to Abraham and he responded with building an altar (12:7-8). An appearance of the Lord establishes a covenant with Abraham (17:1). The Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre (18:1). The Lord appeared to Isaac at Beersheba (26:24). Jacob wrestles with “someone” who slowly reveals his divinity (32:22-32). We need to think of it more like a metaphorical narrative designed to draw us into our own conversation with the risen Lord and recognition of what he means to us. Often unknown to us, the risen Lord is our companion in our journey toward our Emmaus. Yet, we also have moments of recognition of this companion in our life journey. The intent of Luke is to tell a story about how the risen Lord comes to his followers repeatedly, though not exclusively, in the Eucharist. The truth of this story will become real as we share its experience of the risen Lord.

This is one of the many “road” stories in the Bible. Jesus was on the road from Galilee to Jerusalem, and in Luke offered insights concerning discipleship. Paul was on the road to Damascus when he had his vision of the risen Lord. 

Verse-by-verse study

As this story goes, on Easter Sunday, two disciples were walking to a village, Emmaus, a town that remains undiscovered to us, about seven miles from Jerusalem. It opens with the initial meeting of the two on the road with the stranger, whom we as readers know is the risen Lord (verses 13-16). Uncertainty surrounds the location of Emmaus, but on the road from Jerusalem to that village, Cleopas and another disciple were discussing what had happened, including the crucifixion and the discovery of the empty tomb. Not recognizing the risen Lord as the one who accompanies them along the road, reminiscent of the appearances of the Lord to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they become part of a tradition of the Lord appearing to key individuals. A common literary device in the ancient Near East is for the audience to be privy to information of which the characters in the story are unaware. In verse 17, What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk? Thus, the stranger's ignorance of current events is ironically contrasted with Jesus' followers' actual ignorance of his identity. Luke then provides us with the context of their conversation (verses 17-27). Cleopas may well be the cousin of Jesus, whose son Symeon became a follower of James (Eusebius). One of the women at the cross was the wife of Clopas (John 19:25). Cleopas is baffled that the stranger is not aware of what has taken place, and the risen Lord plays along by asking in verse 19 What things. They respond in verse 19b-24 by pointing to Jesus of Nazareth, who is the theme of their conversation, which also identifies the theme of their conversation while Jesus conducted his public ministry,[4] identifying Jesus as a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and the people, whom the chief priests and other leaders handed over for crucifixion. They had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel, which in the Old Testament context would mean an intervention that would set one free from slavery and bring one into a new freedom. They are sad because these hopes seem dead. Their assumption of the ignorance of the stranger contrasts sharply with the ignorance they have of their situation. They also reveal how much Jesus of Nazareth had meant to them. Yet, referring to the prophecy of Hosea 6:2, it is the third day since the crucifixion, and some among their group astounded them by going to the tomb this morning and not finding his body but instead had a vision from an angel declaring Jesus to be alive. Other disciples went to the tomb but did not see the risen Lord. Their unknown traveling companion scolds them in verses 25-6: O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory, and thereby his assumption to God?[5]This text suggests the divine necessity of the innocent suffering and death of Jesus in fulfillment of prophetic testimonies, primarily the Suffering Servant of II Isaiah. Thus, the stranger explains Moses and the prophets as uttering prophecies that find their fulfillment in the suffering and death of Jesus. This view of the Messianic expectation had not been expressed before. This is the primitive Christian understanding of the Messiah, the life of Jesus opening the possibility of understanding scripture in a new way. Luke views this aspect of the story of Jesus is prophetic. The history of Jesus reconstructed the concept of the Messiah.[6] What happened to Jesus receives its meaning as we understand in the context of scripture. This passage does so in consistency with I Corinthians 15:3-4, that Christ died for our sins in accord with the scriptures and that God raised him on the third day in accord with the scripture. Luke then relates the meal the two have with the risen Lord in Emmaus (verses 28-32). The meal has Eucharistic overtones. The stranger was going to continue his journey, but the two urge him to stay. The risen Lord was the guest of the two, but he quickly transitions to host as he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. we are to think how the coming of the Lord was expected and experienced at the Lord’s Supper in the early communities.[7]  As soon as they recognize the stranger as the risen Lord, he disappears. Such a recognition, the eyes opening at the breaking of the bread, preserves a recollection of the overpowering, puzzling, and mysterious nature of the events.[8] Luke has skillfully shown the physicality of the risen Lord, but also his eschatological life as not bounded by time and space. The resurrection of Jesus is the basis of the certainty that Jesus really has the power to be present to his disciples in the form of the bread they break and eat.[9] They recognize the burning in their hearts they felt while he was opening the scripture to them. In Psalm 39:3, his heart grew hot, and the fire burned within him. The two disciples return to Jerusalem (verses 33-35), where they find the other disciples gathered. These disciples report that the risen Lord has appeared to Simon, the use of this name signifying antiquities characterizing the earliest stratum of the Peter tradition, which suggests it occurred in Jerusalem,[10] and the two relate how the risen Lord came disclosed himself to them in the breaking of bread. 

Practical application

Interpretation of scripture does require sensitivity and insight. Throughout the 1800s, many preachers, especially in the south, used scriptures like Ephesians 6:5, Colossians 3:22 and Titus 2:9 to tell slaves that they were to obey their masters and submit their lives to them. Their perspective was that of those who wanted to preserve the institution of slavery. Their eyes closed to the surrounding verses that urged masters to treat slaves in a way that acknowledged that both master and slave as having the same heavenly Father. The same preachers could have urged masters to treat slaves respectfully, reminding them that God shows no partiality and therefore both master and slave are responsible for acting in a way consistent with developing Christian virtue. They could have shown the desire of Paul to have Philemon release his slave to Paul so that he could serve the gospel by being with Paul. They closed their eyes to scripture that said since they were one in Christ Jesus, there is no longer slave or free (Galatians 3:28). Created human distinctions are insignificant in comparison to mutually serving the one God who shows no partiality. I am suggesting that the risen Lord was the companion of these preachers as well, but they did not listen to the sinful expression that master-slave relation had in America and its defilement of the values of the New Testament. They would have benefitted from engaging the Bible with people they would have considered strangers, such as abolitionists, instead of just gathering with friends who also had a personal stake in continuing the institution of slavery. 

I want to say something gently but firmly. If we go down the path of saying that a modern time-traveler could go back and capture all this on videotape, we will have missed the point. The story is not that type of story. We are not to think of Luke as a reporter who is describing an event that occurred on a specific day. We need to think of it more like a metaphorical narrative designed to draw us into our own conversation with the risen Lord and recognition of what he means to us. Often unknown to us, the risen Lord is our companion in our journey toward our Emmaus. Yet, we also have moments of recognition of this companion in our life journey. The intent of Luke is to tell a story about how the risen Lord comes to his followers repeatedly, though not exclusively, in the Eucharist. The truth of this story will become real as we share its experience of the risen Lord. We could extend the same method to all the stories of the risen Lord we find in the canonical gospels. Matthew, Luke, and John have unique theological perspectives that we find them communicating directly in the stories of the appearances. They could adopt this approach because they had no tradition upon which they relied for the says, parables, healings, and exorcisms of Jesus. They had in mind giving to the followers of Jesus ways of understanding the continuing presence of the risen Lord with them. The miracle of the resurrection of Jesus is incredible, even for the ancients. They wanted to show it was true that God acted in this way and that if accepted it would transform the way they experienced life. The followers of Jesus throughout the centuries continue to experience their risen Lord as a living reality after his death.

I keep trying to believe in the resurrection of Jesus. You see, I am not prone to believe in such things. I do not think aliens from another planet ever visited here. I do not think there is any such things as ghosts. Parapsychology is not worthy of my attention. Yet I keep coming back to the first witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus and find myself trusting them. I have no other reason for accepting as truth that God raised Jesus from the dead, and therefore to view my life as companionship with the risen Lord, other than their witness. Yes, “he lives within my heart,” as the song says, but that is not a reason to believe, but rather, is the result of a belief. I cannot read off the resurrection of Jesus from my experience, from nature, from psychology, from philosophy, or from history. I can read it only as revelation from God. 

I want to say something else just gently and firmly. This story, as well as other stories of the appearances of the risen Lord in Matthew and John, would have no validity were it not based upon the report of real events. The witness of the first followers of Jesus and of Paul is that the risen Lord appeared to them. They did not seek him. The risen Lord sought them. He appeared to Peter and to the Twelve. We can rightly understand these appearances as focusing upon the grace of forgiveness from God through the risen Lord to those who denied and deserted Jesus at the end of his life. He appeared to the 500, to James, and to all the apostles. We can rightly understand these appearances as the risen Lord imparting the outpouring of the Spirit upon the community that would be the first witnesses to what God had done in Jesus. The risen Lord, the Son of God, revealed (ἀποκαλύψαι, Galatians 1:16) himself to Paul in a way that that helped him to see the depth of his sin, the grace extended to him through Christ, the awakening he needed to see the Jewish scripture in a new way, and the power the Spirit would give him to witness to the nations (I Corinthians 15:5-8). We can conclude that the grace Paul received in the revelation of the risen Lord to him was something like the grace received in the revelation given to the disciples and the first witnesses. The risen Lord also appeared to John toward the end of the century in a unique way (Book of Revelation), calling upon followers to remain faithful amid persecution from the beast-like powers of this world. These appearances revealed or disclosed to the first witnesses the identity of Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Jewish Messiah. Its presupposition is the emptiness of the tomb. The tomb is not evidence of the veracity of the witnesses, but their witness does presuppose it. Without its emptiness, early opponents of their witness could have gone to the tomb and shown others the body. Its emptiness does not prove that God did something miraculous to the corpse of Jesus of Nazareth. We need to be clear at this point. No one was present to witness to the resurrection itself. We today accept the witness of burial of Jesus, the emptiness of the tomb, and the appearances of the risen Lord. However, we also need to accept that a gap exists between the emptiness of the tomb and the appearances. The first witnesses understood what happened in that gap as the Father, the God of the Jewish people, raising Jesus of Nazareth from the dead through the life-giving power of the Spirit. We accept the trustworthiness of their witness. We also accept the trustworthiness of their interpretation of these events as the fulfillment of the promises found in the Old Testament, especially the psalms and the prophets, and the anticipated end of the ages in the general resurrection of the dead as promised in Jewish apocalyptic. We need to take seriously the Jewishness of Jesus. If we do, then we must take seriously that he called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Lord revealed to Moses, who guided a people through the tribal federation, the formation of sacral kingship, exile, and return to their home, as his Father. Jesus of Nazareth taught us as followers of Jesus to call upon the God of the Jewish people as our Father. The resurrection of Jesus by the Father, through the life-giving power of the Spirit, means that every culture and generation must take seriously the calling of the Jewish people as the people of God. The paradoxical beauty of taking this revelation seriously is that this God known through Jesus Christ shows no partiality. Through this revelation, in other words, we discover that the God of the Jewish people treat all nations, peoples, and cultures potential members of the people of God. Thus, the emptiness of the tomb as the presupposition of the report of the appearances and therefore the resurrection of Jesus suggests that the course of human history and therefore nature itself will find its fulfillment in the redeeming act of God at the promised and hoped for end of history. Such a promise and hope fill our present with meaning and purpose as we join Jesus and the first witnesses in our witness to the world of what God has done in Jesus. On this basis, Christians legitimately reflect upon what God is like through what they see in Jesus. The promised future event of redemption of our finite and temporal life has occurred first in Jesus of Nazareth. The resurrection of Jesus clarifies for us the ambiguity one finds during the life of Jesus. While human judgment led to the conclusion that he was a blasphemer of the Law and of the Jewish view of God, and even a political revolutionary who deserved the worst form of execution, the judgment of God is that he was the faithful servant of the Lord who suffered for others. We may call these appearances visions or apparitions, but they were convincing enough to the first witnesses that what they saw meant the promised resurrection of the dead in the consummation of time occurred within our history to Jesus of Nazareth. Since it occurred, the power of the Spirit the first followers of Jesus experienced with Jesus of Nazareth in his teaching, healings, and exorcisms continued in their community after his death. The risen Lord is now present through the outpouring of the Spirit in the community and in our lives. The continuing work of the Spirit is to set us in the direction of the fulfillment of the work of our lives in union with Christ. The fulfillment of our finite and temporal lives occurs through our participation in the life and eternity of God.[11]

I invite you to shift gears for a moment and reflect with me upon one dimension of the Emmaus road story. 

I think we can agree that Jesus devoted much of us life to walking. Every devout male in Galilee would travel to Jerusalem three times a year for the festivals, a 240-mile round trip from Nazareth. If Jesus followed that pattern every year between the ages of 5 and 30, he would have walked 18,000 miles (3 x 240 x 25). Some people have calculated that Jesus walked about 3,125 miles in his three-year public ministry. His disciples would have walked many of those miles with him. That adds up to about 21,525 miles. He did all this walking in sandals, which would have been a difficult task for me. I like sandals, but if I walk too long in them, they hurt. 

If there is anything the Emmaus Road story teaches us, it is that the disciples of Jesus are at their best when they keep walking with him. We tend to like stories of the road, of people travelling, discovering, and gaining insights. Do not look for instant results in this walk with Jesus. It took some time in this journey for the disciples to recognize Jesus among them. In the journey with Jesus, the process of learning is lifelong. 

Disciples also know that they cannot walk the journey alone. Jesus sent his disciples out two by two (Luke 10:1-12), and it was two who traveled together on the road that day. Discipleship is a long-haul process, and we need each other along the way. 

Hail Guest, we ask not what thou art.

If friend we greet thee hand and heart;

If stranger such no longer be;

If foe, our love shall conquer thee.[12]

 

Most centrally, the Emmaus story makes the claim that the risen Christ journeys with us, whether we know that or not, realize that or not, even as it also affirms that there are moments of recognition in which we do realize that. Thus, I see the Emmaus Road is a story about how the risen Christ comes to his followers again, and again, and again. 

To see thee, O Christ, is the Beginning and the End,
Thou goest before me and thou bearest me.
Thou art the Journey and the journey's End.[13]

 

The followers of Jesus, both then and now, continued to experience Jesus as a living reality after his death. In the early Christian community, these experiences included visions or apparitions of Jesus. Paul and others (including the author of the book of Revelation) had them. The community experienced the power of the Spirit they had known in Jesus continuing to be and to operate. Yes, the risen Lord is still with those who seek to follow him. 

Christians throughout the centuries have continued to experience Jesus as a living spiritual reality, a figure of the present, not simply a memory from the past. The form such presence may vary, but its reality is not something we need to doubt.

Christians can rely on the faithfulness and truthfulness of the first witnesses to the appearances of the risen Lord and to the emptiness of the tomb. The various forms of their spiritual experiences, such as visions, mystical experience, and the sense of the presence of Jesus as a living spiritual reality, which occur in prayer, worship, Eucharist, encounters with people, or during daily life, have validity because of the truthfulness of the first witnesses. The abiding truth of Easter has its basis in what happened in the opening months and years of the first Christian community.

Let us read once again, in this light, the story of Emmaus (cf. Lk 24:13-15). The two disciples have left Jerusalem. … They are scandalized by the failure of the Messiah in whom they had hoped and who now appeared utterly vanquished, humiliated, even after the third day (vv. 17-21). Here we must face the difficult mystery of those people who leave the Church, who, under the illusion of alternative ideas, now think that the Church — their Jerusalem — can no longer offer them anything meaningful and important. So, they set off on the road alone, with their disappointment. …

 

We need a Church unafraid of going forth into their night. We need a Church capable of meeting them on their way. We need a Church capable of entering their conversation. We need a Church able to dialogue with those disciples who, having left Jerusalem behind, are wandering aimlessly, alone, with their own disappointment, disillusioned by a Christianity now considered barren, fruitless soil, incapable of generating meaning. …

 

From this point of view, we need a Church capable of walking at people’s side, of doing more than simply listening to them; a Church which accompanies them on their journey; a Church able to make sense of the “night” contained in the flight of so many of our brothers and sisters from Jerusalem; a Church which realizes that the reasons why people leave also contain reasons why they can eventually return. But we need to know how to interpret, with courage, the larger picture. Jesus warmed the hearts of the disciples of Emmaus.

 

I would like all of us to ask ourselves today: are we still a Church capable of warming hearts? A Church capable of leading people back to Jerusalem? Of bringing them home?—Pope Francis, speaking to the bishops of Brazil while in Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day, 2013.

 

---

[1] (Jeremias, New Testament Theology: The Proclamation of Jesus, 1971), 301.

[2] (Bultmann, The History of the Synoptic Tradition, 1921, 1931, 1958), 286, describing this as true legend.

[3] Hermann Gunkel

[4] Rengstorf, TDNT, IV, 446.

[5] (Jeremias, New Testament Theology: The Proclamation of Jesus, 1971), 273.

[6] Grundmann, TDNT, IX, 534.

[7] (Bultmann, The History of the Synoptic Tradition, 1921, 1931, 1958), 291.

[8] (Jeremias, New Testament Theology: The Proclamation of Jesus, 1971), 303.

[9] (Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, 1998, 1991)Volume 3, 283, 304

[10] (Jeremias, New Testament Theology: The Proclamation of Jesus, 1971), 306.

[11] Marcus J. Borg and N. T. Wright (The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions [San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1999], pp. 134-135.) What I have done is to reflect both with and against Borg.

[12] --Sign on an old Welsh door.

[13] -King Alfred, as quoted by Alan Jones in Journey Into Christ.

I Peter 1:17-23

I Peter 1:17-23 (NRSV)

¹⁷ If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. ¹⁸ You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. ²⁰ He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. ²¹ Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

²² Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. ²³ You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

I Peter 1:13-25 is the larger context for 1:17-23, having the theme of admonitions to holy living. Much of this section contains hints of a baptismal catechesis, hymn, and creedal elements. 

¹⁷ If you invoke as Father, unabashedly using a term that suggests familiarity and implying tenderness and concern, the one who judges, reminding us that it is best not to trust only in divine grace, for the Father is also a judge and can be severe when people are disobedient. Yet, the judgment of the Father rests upon all people impartially, a notion we also find in the sermon by Peter in Acts 10:34.  Peter’s words would have shocked most Jews and Gentiles, in part because his words upset their distinctions. Many Gentiles in the Mediterranean world believed that Jews were unusually ascetic and sober in their moral behavior and odd in insisting on Sabbath rest and in believing in but one god. Many Jews believed that God had chosen Jews alone as his special people; they also assumed that most Gentiles had filthy morals, corresponding to their “adulterous” belief in multiple gods. In a manner like our time, tribalism often prevailed, with many in-group and out-group perceptions and consequent antipathy between various groups of people. Clearly Peter has in mind something other than obedience to the covenant. He does not require a specific knowledge of the Law and the God of Israel. The judgment of the Father upon all people will be according to their deeds, which means the people to whom Peter is writing ought to live in reverent fear. The phrase does not mean God is going to get you.  It suggests awe and wonder.   Reverent fear is a baseline for personal obedience and holiness. This "fear" is not a terrified quaking-boots fear that God will "get you" if you do not measure up. Peter's call to "reverent fear," however, reminds his audience that even God the "Father" is still magnificently holy and unfathomably wholly other. It is this carefully cultivated sense of awe and wonder at God's power that makes it possible for Peter to offer his most comforting words to this exiled band of believers living at great distances from other believers. Because of God's strength, we can experience a sense of calm and confidence, trust and reliance, in this powerful, uncontrollable mystery that is God (see verse 21). They are to live this way during the chronological span of time (χρόνον) of your exile.

I Peter 1:18-21 have some hymn qualities. One’s actions are to conform to the call to holiness. ¹⁸ You know that you were ransomed (ἐλυτρώθητε, redeemed) Although most of those to whom Peter writes were probably Gentile Christians, the author still takes great delight in alluding to Old Testament theology. For example, just as verse 16 had echoed Levitical commands to "holiness" (making these Christians as responsible for their actions as the Jewish people are for theirs), this author now draws a connective line of continuity from the Old Testament Exodus tradition to God's latest redemptive work through Jesus the Christ. The importance of this "ransom" imagery for the early church's sense of self is without doubt. Mentioned again explicitly in Mark 10:45 and I Timothy 2:6, Christians found this whole concept validated by their reading of Isaiah's reference to the "Suffering Servant." In Isaiah 53:10-12 this Suffering Servant "redeems" (ransoms) Israel from her sins. In this letter, the ransom or redemption is from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, the redemption is not with perishable things like silver or gold, a philanthropist could purchase freedom for the slave. The contrast with silver and gold shows how trifling the things of this world are in comparison to that of what God has done in Jesus Christ. Finite and temporal things do not bring ransom; ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, the sacrifice of divine life, which was like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. The image of the lamb is recalls Exodus 12:5, just as Isaiah 53:7 had spoken of the suffering servant as a "lamb." Thus, the apostle carefully welds this new Christian community of faith to the history of God's redemptive work carried out in the first rescue mission in Exodus and as foretold in Isaiah's prophetic witness of future deliverance. He reminds them they have been "ransomed" by the miracle of God's redemptive work, connecting them with the Old Testament exodus event and sacrificial terminology.   The blood of the lamb redeems the Christian. The point of the plan of salvation that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ and his atoning death is the bringing of all people into participation in salvation by faith.[1]

An important part of the belief that Peter shares with his readers is the significance of the death of Christ. He goes on to refer to other beliefs they share. The declaration in I Peter 1: 20-21 suggests a creedal type formula that may have had a liturgical life of its own. ²⁰ He was destined (προεγνωσμένου, foreknown)before the foundation of the world, such a verse expressing the origin of salvation in the eternity of God prior to all the chances of history. However, a literal application to the concept of God leads to an unfittingly anthropomorphic view of God, as though from some standpoint before the beginning of the world God were looking ahead to a different future. Such a thought is hardly compatible with the eternity and infinity of God.[2]As important as is the foundation of redemption in the eternity of God, what is significant in the relation between God and the world is the event that reveals its reality to humanity: but was revealed (φανερωθέντος)at the end (ἐσχάτου) of the ages (χρόνων, the larger span of the times). He adopts a phrase from Jewish apocalyptic literature. The Lord revealed to Abraham the end of the times (IV Esdras 3:14). The end is manifest, as are the times of the Most High (IV Esdras 9:5-6). The Lord deemed the prophet worthy of showing to him the end of the times and the last events of the times (IV Esdras 12:9). The Lord showed Moses the secrets of the times and declared to him the end of the times (IV Esdras 14:5). It refers to the end of the cosmic times that God has ordained, but not to the end of time or timelessness as such. This means that in human history, and beyond all history, there is no other or higher law than that of the divine mercy, now revealed, established and applied in the oblation of the Lamb of God. This is no law developed by human beings, to be repealed by another of the same kind. One cannot relativize it. For the Lamb of God foreordained before the foundation of the world is the person and work in which this law had been revealed.[3]I Peter deeply personalizes the formulaic sound of these verses, however, by adding for your sake. Christ's resurrection and glorification stand as an example for our faith and hope of what God intends for all those who are in Christ. ²¹ Through him, Christ being the one who will show grace to believers in the last time, acting as an advocate when the Father comes in judgment.[4] Thus,  you have come to trust (πιστοὺς) in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory (δόξαν), in verses 11-21 God already implants the glory of God to Jesus Christ in the event of his resurrection. As 1:7 puts it, believers await their sharing in this coming revelation of the glory of Jesus.[5] This results in the practical effect so that your faith (πίστιν) and hope (ἐλπίδα) are set on God. God's past, present, and promised future are the basis for Christian trust in God. God's past, present and promised future redemptive activity is the cause for Christian "trust in God." Believing in Christ's resurrection both grows out of this trust and magnifies it. Christian "faith" and "hope" are dependent upon the trust they have in this redeeming God. The redemption by the blood of Christ and the resurrection was the outcome of the eternal plan of the Father, who in this way consecrated a new people. Christian hope is finally in God and in fellowship with divine life, rather than any analogy with human experience.[6] Here is the heart of the beliefs they share: the significance of the death and resurrection of Christ in the plan of God for the ransom or redemption of humanity.

          I Peter 1: 22-24 have baptism as a background focusing on purity and the power behind it – the world of God. ²² Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth (ἀληθείας), a truth that unites writer and reader and a truth that centers in the redeeming/ransoming event of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, so that you have genuine mutual love (φιλαδελφίαν), love (ἀγαπήσατε) one another deeply from the heart. One way to think of this is that the adherence to such basic truth was not enough for their community to thrive.  Though they lived in a culture which believed many things contrary to what he has just shared, it was not enough to hold fast to these truths. Despite the frustrations of living in a culture which often lived and governed in the opposite way as Christians might like, they needed to cultivate a growing love for each other within their communal life. The appeal to mutual love is one we see in 3:8-12, 4:8-11, and 5:5 as well. Love is the authenticating sign of a renewed life. Peter continues to specify some demands made upon Christians who hold this faith and hope. These demands involve not just their relation to the redeeming work of God in Jesus Christ, but extend into the community of faith, encompassing all Christian brothers and sisters. Their love flows from the depths of believers' own deliverance through their conversion and sanctification. The only legitimate response from those so redeemed and delivered is one of boundless love.  ²³ You have been born anew (ἀναγεγεννημένοι, born again), baptism symbolizing their unity and bringing individuals into the community as individuals receive new birth, being born anew or again, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word (λόγου) of God. The word is the principle of our divine birth and gives us power to act according to the will of God.  For James, the word is still the Law.  For Peter the word is the preaching of the gospel, for John it is Jesus himself. This verse may contain pieces of an early baptismal liturgy, though it is doubtful it reflects an actual service, for he is not sending a liturgy, he is sending a letter to new Christians about spiritual growth.  He seems to have some fascination with initiation into the community. The verse reflects a typical pattern in 1 Peter: a call to holiness that builds to a command for shared love among all believers. This demonstrates the apostle's concern for the future well-being of these Christian communities. In order to embody the "living and enduring" qualities of God's Word in this "new life," communities of Christ must grow and flourish. The only way this can happen is through a spirit of "genuine mutual love." 

Peter brings together truth and love.  It can be difficult to hold them together.  One person believes they have truth in politics, or in philosophy, or in religion.  Someone else always believes something different.  What then?  Do we fight?  Are we still able to love each other?

When I was in Atlanta in February 1996, one of the challenges offered to 42,000 pastors from many denominations was to break down the walls between us.  Max Lucado gave what I consider to be a courageous talk.  He said that this love of God is too good to be true, but too great to be missed.  We may look across the table and wonder, “How did he or she get here?”  That is just like God, is it not?  God includes people whom we do not think should be in the kingdom.  Of course, the kingdom God is not a democracy.  Membership is not determined by a majority vote.  God makes these decisions.  Every decision by God is based upon grace offered in Christ. Mr. Lucado went on to compare Christianity to a battleship.  He stressed that this is a battleship, not a luxury liner.  There are various crews working throughout the ship.  Some think they are the only ones there.  They fight and divide.  The captain only wants them to get along.  The tragedy is that there are other ships out there in the sea.  They might come on board, except that they see all the fighting. Mr. Lucado concluded his talk by asking whether we dare to dream of being known, not by our denominational label, but as Christians.  For him, Baptist, United Methodist, Church of God, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Charismatic, Pentecostal, Lutheran, none of them make any difference.  Are we Christians?

Have you ever wondered why Jesus did not write one book or give one formal lecture?  Perhaps his view of truth is different from our own.  Jesus uttered sayings which are provocative and go against the grain of our behaving.  He offered stories which invited us to become part of them and thereby be changed.  Jesus did not approach truth like a scientist or mathematician.  He took truth out of the classroom and placed it in the lives of people.

Love is wonderful.  It can break down the walls.  

Does truth exist?  There are people today who would say that Christians need to give up such beliefs as are mentioned in this text: that the death of a man 2000 years ago could make any difference today; that dead men do not come back to life.  As such, they either need to be removed from our belief system entirely, or they need to be reinterpreted for today.  They will say that what is important is not what happened on that first Easter, but what happens today to change our perspective on life.

Part of me wishes I could stand before you and remove such stumbling blocks to believing.  Sometimes, I am confident in the message of the church. Sometimes … well, let us say that I keep trying to believe the resurrection of Jesus. The point is, Easter is not simply a beautiful story.  It did not simply give life to wonderful music.  Easter is true.  If it is a scandal, it is one I cannot avoid.  Our response is important.  The fact that God is revealed in the risen Lord is even more important.

We like to think we are so much smarter than the people of the first century.  We probably are.  Yet, they could tell the difference between a nice story and an account of what happened.  It is clear to me that the New Testament is telling us what happened on that first Easter.  

I would like you to consider that maybe our intellectual problem with the truth of Easter says less about the people of that first century, and much more about us and our view of God.  Our experience of God is poverty stricken, distorted, and weak.  In the resurrection, God may be calling us to a level of experience we have never known before.  We are reminded of a level of experience which has been carefully excluded from modern life.  Our world is too flat, too rational, too predictable, too dull, for the reality of God.  That is why our puny, narrow experience of God cannot be used to judge what God has done.

I know of no way to avoid the scandal of Easter.  It is fair to say that we have doubts and questions.  Who does not?  It is fair to say that we do not understand.  However, for those who dare, there is nothing in our lives more true, and we say it in love - Christ is risen, he is risen indeed!

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[1] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology, Volume One, 211)

[2] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology, Volume Two, 143)

[3] Barth (Church Dogmatics, III.2 [47.1] 484)

[4] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology, Volume 3, 613.

[5] Pannenberg, (Systematic Theology, Volume 3., 626

[6] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology, Volume 3, 174)

Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Acts 2:14a, 36-41 (NRSV)

¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, 

³⁶ Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” ³⁸ Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” ⁴⁰ And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” ⁴¹ So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.

Acts 2:14a, 36-41 (Year A Third Sunday of Easter) present the conclusion to the sermon of Peter at Pentecost. This study focuses on:

·      Peter’s proclamation of Jesus as Lord and Messiah, crucified and raised by God.

·      The response of the crowd, Peter’s call to repentance, baptism, and the promise of the Holy Spirit.

·      The theological significance of forgiveness, the link between baptism and the Spirit, and the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy.

 

Peter concludes his message in verse 36: Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah (κύριον καὶ χριστὸν), this Jesus whom you crucified. This witness relates to all the work of God in relation to the Christ, his resurrection and exaltation manifesting his ordination as Lord and Christ, this taking place by way of his rejection by Israel.[1] The resurrection of Jesus and his exaltation to the Father results in the fulfillment of the prophecy from Joel concerning the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The new age of the work and power of the Spirit has begun. The Crucified One is the one who God raised. Jesus of Nazareth, whose life resulted in crucifixion by Jewish and Romans leaders, is the same person the Father, through the life-giving power of the Spirit, raised from the dead. The Father has made this crucified one Lord and Messiah. He relies upon the witness of Scripture to interpret this event. Scripture reveals who Jesus was in the eyes of the Father.

Verses 37-40 is the response to the sermon. In verse 37, the response of those who heard the message was a troubled heart that led them to ask what they must do, the same question the crowd asked John the Baptist (Luke 3:10). Peter will answer briefly and in imperatives in verses 38-39. Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. As a rule, baptism in the name of Jesus confers the Spirit. Baptism is a natural part of conversion.[2] 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him. First, they must repent and thereby attain forgiveness. Second, they must receive baptism in the name of Jesus, baptism becoming the standard ritual of initiation in the Christian community. While the conviction in the heart or soul of a person and the decision to repent are within the sphere of what the person does, baptism is an act of submission to what others do for the person. Baptism in the name of Jesus may well have been the early practice of the church, but out of it grew the Trinitarian form of baptism we find at the conclusion of Matthew. Such repentance and submission to baptism will bring with them forgiveness of sins. If one has ever gotten into a situation in which the load of debt became unbearable, one knows what debt forgiveness could mean, one knows how thankful one would be if someone paid the debt. Sin represents a debt we owe to others, but we especially owe the debt to God, for God has given us the gift of life to fulfill a purpose. We all fall short of that purpose, especially in the love we owe to God and to others. We cannot go through life without forgiveness, both in receiving it and in extending it. Forgiveness has strong links with the ministries of John the Baptist (Luke 3:3) and of Jesus himself (Luke 5:20-24; 7:47-49; 11:4; 17:3-4; 23:34; 24:47) and is one of the hallmarks of the Christian community (Acts 5:31; 10:43; 13:38; 22:16; 26:18). The baptism of the believer links the believer to Jesus Christ. ^[3] The third imperative is that they will receive the gift, which is the Holy Spirit. The link between baptism and reception of the Spirit was part of primitive Christianity.^[4] The fruit of repentance and baptism will be the reception of the Holy Spirit, just as Peter and the others had just experienced (2:1-4).^[5] The promise of the outpouring of the Spirit is to them as Jewish people, but also to the nations (Joel 2:28-32). In another imperative, Peter will urge them in verse 40: Save yourselves from this corrupt (crooked, as in Mk 9:19, Mt 17:17, Lk 9:41, the judgment of this crookedness or corruption castigating the inner contradiction of Jewish conduct)[6] generation. It will take discernment to see where in the culture in which one lives the corruption manifests itself. People lose their way. A generation can lose its way. The church can lose its way.

In verse 41, Luke notes that the 3000 persons who repented, received baptism for the forgiveness of their sins, and received the Holy Spirit, now persisted in exhibiting certain qualities that we could suggest ought to mark the church of every culture and generation.

Practical application

I will focus upon:

·      how different Christian traditions answer, “What shall we do?”, the challenge of living faithfully in a “corrupt generation,” and the communal/individual dimensions of faith.

·      Illustrative metaphors (Ulee’s Gold, redwood trees) and reflections on the church’s struggles and the need for grace.

 

Belief in the resurrection has been challenged by some biblical scholars and theologians (what else is new?). This text is an opportunity to counter those challenges with a strong, informed affirmation of the resurrection. We have the stories of resurrection, but now we must step back and reflect upon the meaning of those narratives. We must take some time to do some theology. In so doing, our reflections will be both pedagogical and pastoral. Doubts about something as surprising as the resurrection of Jesus is quite normal. Responding to such a witness with faith is unnatural and even miraculous. 

Consider the question of what we shall do in the context of the Christian community today. Someone devoted to orthodoxy will quickly hear the answer: “Make sure the preaching of the church is pure.” To the segment of the church that especially values orthodoxy, by far the most important thing about being a Christian is to believe the right thing. The next category is moralism. Moralists want to see, more than anything else, that people in the church behave. Christianity, to them, is a matter of discovering the ethical precepts of the faith and following them. The third answer to the question is the social-activist answer. To the activist, the purpose of the church is to change the world: to root out and destroy injustice, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to make this planet a better place for everyone to live. Finally, there are the pietists. The pietists say that nothing else in this life matters if one has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Becoming a Christian is a matter of getting to know Christ — no more, no less. And living the Christian life is primarily a matter of trying to bring others into the fold. In truth, Christianity is all these things. Jesus is all these things, throughout the course of his earthly ministry. His deepest desire for us is that we might believe the right thing ... do the right thing ... advocate the right thing ... pray the right thing.^[7]

In this episode, the author of Acts attempts to demonstrate that the Old Testament promises of the restoration of the people of God are being realized in the messianic community that looks to the resurrected Jesus as its Lord. Joel 2 predicted the reception of the Holy Spirit by the believers and represents the blessing promised long before Abraham.

I direct your attention to the notion of a corrupt generation. Would it be fair to say that our own generation, or perhaps “culture,” is a corrupt one? Not everyone would agree. Much that is emerging in our culture these days is positively amazing and beneficial. Who would want to throw away those marvelous devices we can slip into our hip pockets or purse — devices that take photos and movies, that calculate numbers and create spreadsheets, that provide answers on any topic and much more? Who does not appreciate medical science and the imaging machines now available, or advanced cancer treatments that we have now? Who would want to be without GPS technology that provides a voice (with a timbre and accent of our own choosing) that guides us directly to our destination in a strange locality?

But many of us feel that there is indeed a spirit of the age — something — from which we must protect ourselves.

I suspect every generation has its unique form of corruption. The question this raises for the people of God in every generation is how they recognize their need for saving from their generation and how they can still witness to it. 

Ulee’s Gold is a 1997 movie, one easily overlooked. Peter Fonda portrays Ulee. The movie is deceptively old-fashioned. The film is about family. In a time when many people forsake the family so easily, this film stands up and declares that salvation of the family lies in our ability to support and love each other, through the good times and the bad. The film does not pretend that the bad times do not wear you down. Nevertheless, it shows that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, and if there is even one spark of hope in the darkness, not all is lost. This is a realistic look at a family in need of a second chance on life. 

Since Ulee is a beekeeper, we find out something about bees and beekeepers. Ulee’s gold is, after all, the honey from the bees. The relationship between bee and beekeeper is simple: You take care of them, and they will take care of you. In one scene (1:06:48 to 1:07:52), Penny, his granddaughter, has drawn a picture of Ulee going to the swamp to get the bees. With Ulee listening in, she tells her mother, who has had problems with addiction to drugs, 

“See, sometimes the bees get confused, and run away — that’s them there on the tree. But they don’t really want to be gone, and they’re happy when someone helps them back into their home. But you got to keep calm and don’t panic when they sting, ’cause they don’t mean nothing by it.”

 

I have a question for you. Have some people in your family lost their way? Have some people in your neighborhood or at work lost their way? They might even lash out at you. The corruption of this generation has grabbed them. I confess I have not always responded well in that situation. I keep trying to respond as a disciple, by which I mean, with forgiveness and love. 

The church in America struggles. The American landscape has changed. Many people have lost their way. Some people have developed intellectual struggles. They find they can no longer believe what the church believes and often have no place to go within the church to raise their questions. Some people develop spiritual problems with the church, for it seems as if many churches have lost their way. They care more about buildings and the way they have always done things, rather than reaching people with the good news. Some have moral questions but are not sure they can raise them within the church. Some people notice that the church has too often supported injustice. Of course, still others see the imperfection of the church and its members. That ought to sadden us. If we have failed to reflect the love of Christ to others, it ought to call us within the church to repentance. Yet, in another sense, people within the church are imperfect, and in fact, the church is for imperfect people. If you are perfect, you have no need of what the church offers. If you need grace, we want you to find it within the community of faith. 

Here is the point: Being a follower of Jesus is both a group trip and an individual experience. The writer of Hebrews told the Christians of his day to not neglect to meet, but to assemble as believers to encourage one another (Hebrews 10:25). He was right. Church is not like school where you attend for a while until you receive your degree and then you graduate. The church has no alumni association. 

The huge redwood trees of California amaze people who see them. They are the largest living things on earth and the tallest trees in the world. Some of them are 300 feet high and over 2,500 years old. One would think that trees so large must have a tremendous root system that reaches down hundreds of feet into the earth. But not so! The redwoods have a very shallow root system. If one were to get down on one’s knees and examine the redwoods’ root system, one would find that all the roots intertwine. They join their roots to each other. When the storms come, the winds blow, and the lightning flashes, the redwoods still stand. They are not alone, for all the trees support and protect each other. Each tree is important to all the other trees in the grove.^[8] The same needs to be true of us. Our spiritual roots interlock with others who share the journey.

At the same time, however, we need to take individual responsibility for the health of our faith. We do that through such private activities as prayer and Bible reading and giving to the work of the church and the like, but we also do it by making sure we connect regularly with a body of believers. While the church has a prime responsibility to help us in our life of faith, we as individual Christians always have a prime responsibility to our church to help it be a place where the things Peter outlined — the preaching of repentance, baptism, seeking the Holy Spirit — happen. The church, with our help, should also ensure that the practices of the early converts — worship, fellowship, caring for one another, common goals in mission and ministry, an active prayer life among the membership, a thorough Christian education for children and newcomers to the faith and so on — are carried out.

In one of the memorable quotes from Ulee’s Gold, Ulee says, “There's all kinds of weakness in the world, not all of it is evil. I forget that from time to time.” The corruption of this generation can get inside of people. We may spot weakness of faith, hope and love in a fellow church member; we may spot such weakness in a family member, neighbor, coworker, or friend. Weakness is not time to play “gotcha.” Weakness is time for grace. Weakness is a time to listen for something like, “Friend, I have lost my way. What must I do?” Oh, they may not use those words, but with their lives and other words, they just might be saying it. We need to listen. Seeing weakness is a time to invite people to find their way out of the corruption and find their way home.

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[1] Grundmann, TDNT, IX, 535.

[2] Schweizer, TDNT, VI, 413.

^[3] (Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, 1998, 1991)Volume 3, 240.

^[4] (Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, 1998, 1991)Volume 3, 279.

^[5] (Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, 1998, 1991)Volume 3, 260.

[6] Bertram, TDNT, VII, 407.

^[7] Inspired by Shirley Guthrie.

^[8] —Source unknown.