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Bible Tuesday for Easter 3, 2016

Bible Tuesday for Easter 3, 2016

Acts 9:1-20

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.6But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”7The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

10Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 11The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, 12and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; 14and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” 15But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”17So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, 20and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”+

The book of Acts has an action/adventure quality to it, due in part to Luke’s parallel storytelling, as evident in the beginning of this passage: “Meanwhile…” The parallel story is Phillip evangelizing in Samaria and baptizing the Ethiopian Eunuch, told in the chapter immediately preceding the one above.

Historically, scholars have found evidence that Jerusalem was a volatile place during the life of Jesus all the way up to 70AD. The Roman occupation caused great turmoil and trauma to Jewish society. Just as in the time of the Nazis, there were Christians who became puppets to the Nazis, Christians who tried to assassinate Hitler, Christians who hid Jews, and Christians who tried to keep their heads down and shut up, so it was with Jews under Roman occupation. Jesus called unwanted attention to the Jews by the Romans when he said things like “I and the Father are one.” Jesus was stated that he is God, a stance Romans would not brook and Jews found heretical. This socio-political, religious tension resulted in Jesus’ crucifixion. However, Jesus’ movement of living and spreading the good news of freedom in and through God by God’s love and forgiveness catapulted forward by the power of the Holy Spirit starting at Pentecost.

The gospel writer, Luke, tells this struggle of Roman rule, Jewish Temple authority, and the working of the Holy Spirit in this parallel stories of Phillip and Paul. First Luke relates the story of the stoning of Stephen, a leader in the Jesus movement in Jerusalem. The Jewish authorities pick him up for teaching about Jesus and drag him in front of the “Temple Senate” which is called the Sanhedrin. They found Stephen guilty of heresy and drag him outside the city to stone him. A young Pharisee named Saul approved of the stoning and watched everyone’s coats while they did the deed.

“That day [the day of Stephen’s
stoning] a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except some of the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria…Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.” Acts 8:1-4

After the above passage of fear and danger, Luke tells of Phillip’s faithful service to Samaritans and the Ethiopian man. Then the narrative returns to Saul continuing his rampage. But there is a major disruption on the road to Damascus.

“Why do you persecute me?”-Jesus does not ask “Why are you persecuting my followers?” but “Why do you persecute me?” Luke continues in the gospel of Matthew’s vein, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me.” In these days of Ferguson, imprisoning refugees, racial and religious bias from political candidates and ourselves, it is a profound thought that whatever we say or do to others, we say about and do to Jesus.

“For three days he was without sight…” – Saul was blind to the gospel of Jesus. Jesus made him blind to everything else that Saul might gain his sight of Jesus. Note how long Saul was blind: three days. Three days Jonah was in the belly of the whale. Three days Jesus was in the dank darkness of the tomb. Three days Saul was in the death of his old self, waiting for his new self to become.

“Lord, I have heard from many about this man…” – Ananias is a faithful man who does what we all do. He mentally sorts good from bad, safe from dangerous, faithful from sinful. In a vision, Jesus calls him to set aside his groupings and see people as God sees them. Ananias is humbly faithful to Jesus. We usually aren’t.

Psalm 30

1I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.

2O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.

3O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

4Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.

5For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

6As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”

7By your favor, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.

8To you, O Lord, I cried, and to the Lord I made supplication:

9“What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?

10Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!”

11You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

12so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

While this psalm appears to have originally been written to celebrate recovery from serious illness, it was later reinterpreted and used as a psalm for rededication of the Temple and for rededication of the Israelites to God.

While some portions of psalms are vindictive and spiteful, (coming across as and quite ungodly), others voice surprising liberty in relating to God. The psalmist is very honest in speaking of his haughty pride, “I shall never be moved,” and of his frustration with God, “Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?!”

May we feel so trusting of God and so free in our relationship with God that we may be so honest with ourselves and God.

Revelation 5:11-14

11Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12singing with full voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, “To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”14And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

This pericope of Revelation is taking from the first throne room scene, where John of Patmos, through a vision, is looking upon the courts of God. It is only in the gospel of John and in the book of Revelation that Jesus is referred to as “The lamb of God.”

So these words sound familiar? For those Lutherans who sing hymns of praise during their liturgies, these words should ring quite familiar. “Worthy is Christ, the lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God. Power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, blessing, and glory are his.” While liturgical writers draw these words from Revelation, John of Patmos drew them from the hymns sung in Roman court. These are the attributes and praises sung of the Caesars, who were considered to be living gods. John lifts these words from Roman royalty protocol and grants them to whom they really belong, God.

John 21:1-19

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

The passage immediate preceding this one is last week’s gospel, the story of resurrected Jesus appearing to the disciples in the locked room without Thomas and then again a week later in the locked room with Thomas.

The gospel writer does not tell us what the disciples do between those first appearances of the resurrected Jesus who breathes into them the Holy Spirit, and this breakfast on the beach. It is a curious thing to ponder: In the gospel of John, the disciples are given the Holy Spirit to forgive and retain sins, but are not told what or how to do this work until this breakfast on the beach. Even then, the instructions are very vague at best, and only given to Peter. How did the church get from there to where we are now? Has it been a faithful journey, in keeping with Jesus’ original words and teachings?

“Do you love me more than these?” – This question can make me squirm. Is Jesus really asking the question no parent dare ask, “Who do you love best?” The Greek sentence structure is equally as vague as the English sentence structure. This could ask, “Do you love me more than you love these?” It could also ask, “Do you love me more than these love me?” which poses an equally horrible question, “Do you love me more than Daddy loves me?”

“Do you love me?” x 3 – Remember that three always indicates God’s involvement. In Hebrew tradition, it is the perfect number and thereby represents the perfection of God. How many times does Peter deny God? 3 times. How many times does Jesus ask Peter, “Do you love me?” 3 times. How many times does Jesus give the command to feed and tend the flock? 3 times. The gospel writer makes it clear that it is God who speaks these divine demands for love and commands for tending and nurturing the flock.

How do we obey these commands and meet these demands to serve and love? “Follow me.” Thank you, Jesus, that the Holy Spirit has already been breathed into us. May the Holy Spirit work in and through us perfect obedience to your commands.