Bible Tuesday for Easter 5, Mothers’ Day, 2017

Acts 7:55-60

But filled with the Holy Spirit, [Stephen] gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’ But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died.

This passage is the very end of the story of Stephen. He is the first recorded martyr of “The Way” which was the name given to those who followed Jesus. Stephen was an early convert who was chosen as a deacon to serve the needy in the early Christian community so that the Apostles could focus on teaching and preaching. (Acts 6:1-6)

Acts describes Stephen as “full of grace and power, doing great wonders and signs among the people.” This makes him stand out in Jerusalem and he gets picked up by the Temple guard and brought to the High Priest for a trial rather like Jesus’. Stephen gives his testimony which reviews the history of the Jewish people pointing to the messiah. Stephen proclaims Jesus bar Joseph both Lord and Christ and then says, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are for ever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. 52Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. 53You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.” (Acts 7:51-53) The above pericope follows.

There are two things that I find noteworthy in this pericope text. First, It is only in the gospel of Luke that Jesus says, while he is being nailed to the cross, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” Here, in Acts which is also written by Luke, Stephen says similar words in this translation, and identical words in other translations, as Jesus. How amazingly selfless and completely dependent on God to be able to forgive your tormentors even as they are killing you!

Second, Luke introduces Saul/Paul in this text. While Saul doesn’t throw stones at Stephen, he is the coat check guy at the event, an event of which he approves.

Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16

To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
do not let me ever be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
2 Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me.

3 You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
4 take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

6 You hate those who pay regard to worthless idols,
but I trust in the Lord.
7 I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love,
because you have seen my affliction;
you have taken heed of my adversities,
8 and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
you have set my feet in a broad place.

9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
my eye wastes away from grief,
my soul and body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,
and my bones waste away.

11 I am the scorn of all my adversaries,
a horror to my neighbours,
an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;
I have become like a broken vessel.
13 For I hear the whispering of many—
terror all around!—
as they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.

14 But I trust in you, O Lord;
I say, ‘You are my God.’
15 My times are in your hand;
deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
16 Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your steadfast love.

The formula of this psalm is in keeping with the entire psalter. First the writer cries out to God and asks for aid, as in verses 1-2. Then the writer proclaims that God is the very things that are being asked for, as in verse 3. What makes this psalm different than most plaintive psalms are that it vacillates between pleas and statements of faith throughout, whereas most psalms (Psalm 22 for example) begin with pleas, move to statements of faith, then conclude with admonishments to all Israel to give thanks and praise to God.

Jesus quotes this psalm from the cross, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.”

1 Peter 2:2-10

Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture:
‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’
To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner’,
and
‘A stone that makes them stumble,
and a rock that makes them fall.’
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
Once you were not a people,
but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.

Peter writes to the faithful with a letter of apologetics, that is say that he explains and defends the faith over and against the accusations and fears of Roman society.

“The social tensions and the suffering reflected in this letter are best explained by the conversion of Gentiles in Greco-Roman culture to Christianity, which was a despised, foreign religion, and by negative response of the converts’ own families. Roman society was patriarchal, and suspicions about foreign religions included the fear that conversion would reverse established hierarchical relationships and cause women to misbehave (see 3.g., Cicero Laws 2:14-15). Romans expected foreign religions to cause immorality, insubordination within the household, and sedition against the state…The author [of 1 Peter] emphasizes that those converted are to imitate Christ by, among other things, doing good and not retaliating against those who slander their community.” (David L. Balch, The Harper Collins Study Bible)

The above pericope recalls all the references to corner stones and standing stones in the Hebrew Scriptures, and quotes three of them. Whereas Stephen recounts Israel’s history in his testimony, the author of 1 Peter deftly wields these scripture quotes about stones to bring to mind God making Israel a sure foundation and cornerstone, but Israel, at times failing, and at other times refusing to be what God intended. Instead, Jesus is the new foundational rock upon which “living stones” can build the church of God. Where Israel failed in its duty as priesthood to all creation, the author says that the faithful are the new priesthood in Jesus.

John 14:1-14

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’

Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied. ’Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

This text is a perfect example of how the doctrine of the Trinity developed. Jesus is describing God the Father as being both separate from and one with him. Immediately after this paragraph of John, the next two verses are “If you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever.” One God in three persons.

While more tolerant, accommodating Christians may say things like, “We are all worshiping the same God, just with different names,” Jesus refutes that thinking when he states, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” If you do not know Jesus, you do not know God.

“Believe me because of the works, themselves.” – In the gospel of John, the miracles that Jesus does are called “signs” and “works”. “Signs” because they point to Jesus’ true identity, “I and the Father are one.” “Works” because they are the work of the Father, the will of the Father. Jesus says that if one cannot believe what Jesus says about himself, then believe because of the signs, the works.

“If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.” This is such a difficult passage to trust. What Christian parent has not sat at the hospital bedside of a dying child and not pleaded for that child in Jesus’ name? And yet, sick Christian children die just as often as sick children of other faiths. One understanding of this passage is that if we are praying in Jesus’ name, then we are already praying Jesus’ will and therefore Jesus’ will comes to fruition. This implies that if what is prayed does not happen, then the pray-er was not aligned with Jesus’s will. But if that is truly Jesus’ teaching, then why did Jesus not make his will explicit so that it could be prayed for? Why even ask the faithful to pray in Jesus’ name, since God will bring about God’s will with and without us?