THEME: He has paid our debt
The resurrection of Jesus is what animates our ministry. Healing and deliverance is at the heart of Jesus ministry (First Reading). We can only experience this healing when we acknowledge our sinfulness (Second Reading). It is to us that this ministry of healing and reconciliation has come. Jesus urges us to bear witness to his suffering and on ward resurrection because it is this that satisfies the greatest yearning of humankind (Gospel reading).
In the first reading, the healing of the lame beggar drew a crowd around the three men. Solomon’s Porch, on the east side of the temple, was a corridor where our Lord had ministered (John 10:23) and where the Church worshipped (Acts 5:12).
In his sermon at Pentecost, Peter had to refute the accusation that the believers were drunk. In this sermon, he had to refute the notion that he and John had healed the man by their own power. Peter immediately identified the source of the miracle- Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Wisely, Peter said that this was the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The Spirit certainly gave Peter boldness as he reminded the Jews of the way they had treated Jesus. They had denied Him and delivered Him up to be crucified. Even worse, they had asked for a guilty man, Barabass, to be set free so that an innocent prisoner might be crucified. In order to convince them of the enormity of their crime, Peter used several different names and titles for our Lord: God’s Son, Jesus, the Holy one, the just one, the Prince of Peace (Pioneer) of life. This was no ordinary man that they had handed over to the Romans to crucify.
There must be conviction before a sinner can experience conversion. Unless a patient is convinced that he is sick, he will never accept the diagnosis or take the treatment that has been prescribed by him. Peter turned the temple into a courtroom and laid all evidence out for everybody to see. How could two ordinary fishermen perform such a great miracle unless God was with them? Nobody would dare deny the miracle because the beggar stood there before them all in “perfect soundness” (Acts 3:16). To accept the miracle would have been to admit that Jesus Christ is indeed the living Son of God and that His name has power. While the crowd was fascinated about the miracle, Peter was drawing their attention to repentance and conversion.
The gospel story we have just heard is a counterpart of John 20:19-23, which we read last week. The location of Jesus’ encounter with the disciples last week is the same today- the upper room; the same greetings (Peace to you). The emphasis on Jesus’ physical appearance is similar. In John, this appearance takes the form of the invitation to Thomas to touch the body of the risen Lord while in Luke it takes the form of a demonstration by eating a piece of boiled fish. This detail is doubly interesting. The presence of fish suggests an original Galilean setting for this appearance story, while the meal context suggests the association of the original resurrection appearances with the Eucharist.
The real interest of St. Luke for his audience is his unique emphasis on scriptures “Everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures… that the Messiah must suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem…” (Luke 24:44-48).
Jesus interrupts the conversation of the disciples by appearing to them. He greets them with his customary words, "Peace be with you", telling them that they can be at peace with themselves, with one another and with God. They were in a state of "alarm and fright" but he spoke to them with patience and compassion. It is interesting to note that it took Jesus again to “open their minds to understand the Scriptures". Now he tells them how they are to go out and preach it.
The first reality they must announce is the fact that the Christ would suffer and then on the third day rise from the dead. This is the central act of Jesus our Saviour. Everything else about him is summed up in that one fact of history. His entire works beforehand now take their reality from this. They have their reason and their fulfilment in this alone. We can see the implications of this from his many miracles and teachings.
His message is clear. It is one of repentance for the forgiveness of all sins. We must learn that, like him, we too must first die to what we consider closest to us and then to rise again with a new life that we can share with all.
It is quite understandable that we would all prefer to be without sin and suffering. In fact, it is central to God´s plan that we should reach that very desirable goal. This is the focus of the second reading. Our problem is that we try to deal with them ourselves rather than going to the healer of our souls. Sin we try to exorcise by dint of sticking our collective heads in the sands of denial. We seem to think that, if we decide it does not exist, the problem is solved. But of course it is not. The word of God is very clear that it really does exist, and in everyone´s life; and that in fact that is why Jesus died, and rose from the dead (God´s solution to the problem –the one that works). "He is an offering for our sins, and… those of the whole world". The whole of Scripture, and in particular the death of Christ, makes no sense if there is no such thing as sin.
In sum, Jesus invites us to reflect seriously on why he came into this life. This is why “he opened their minds to understand the scripture and he said to them. Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem…” (Luke 24:45-48).
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