Divine Mercy Sunday March 30, 2008

John 20:19-31 In this, the original conclusion, we are told why the author wrote the gospel: “ that you may believe… and through this belief have life”. Backing up to the exchange between Jesus and Thomas, Jesus pronounces a blessing on all who believe without the need of actually seeing Jesus…everyone who reads the gospel and accepts its message. Personally, I think Thomas, rather than going down in history as “the doubter” could be considered a wonderful role model for young people in particular. Thomas was strong. This is the fellow who, when Jesus returned to the Jerusalem area to attend to Lazarus, said to the others, “Let us go to die with him.” It would have been easier for him to go along with the crowd. Instead he stood firm in the face of a lot of pressure from his friends. When he did come to believe, he was just as strong. While the other disciples remained in the more familiar cultures of the Mediterranean region, Thomas went to bring the word to India. Thomas is Didymus, the “twin”. The author of the gospel wasn’t just pointing this out as an instruction in word derivation. Thomas had a twin…anyone who needs that extra bit of evidence to say “yes” to Jesus but, once professed, lives that faith with conviction.

Reading 1, Acts 2:42-47 Access to the actual temple building itself was limited to the priests. The major portion of the temple mount was a huge open plaza with room for tens of thousands of people where rabbis would teach and groups would gather for common prayer. This was the area from which Jesus had driven the animals to return it to the place of prayer for which it was intended. The followers of Jesus met there daily to pray together. Note that there was no division yet between Christianity and Judaism. Followers of Jesus were considered just one more of the many diverse groups within the Jewish family with their own particular beliefs (consider the significant dogmatic differences between Pharisees and Sadducees, Herodians and Zealots). Selling everything and putting the proceeds in a common pot does not seem so drastic when those doing so believed Jesus would be returning in a matter of weeks or months. Why be encumbered with things of the world, the care of properties, the management of a business? Paul, believing strongly in the witness value of that Jerusalem community, would later take up collections during his missionary journeys to help refill that common pot.

Reading II, 1 Peter 1:3-9 The attainment of the goal of faith comes, not by earning it, but as an “inheritance”. In Jewish society, the eldest son received a double portion. Thus, the younger brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son received a third of the estate. Other ancient cultures employed different formulas for dividing the inheritance. The key point, of course, is that what is received does not come as a payment for one’s own work. It is not earned. The inheritance is the result of being related to the one whose wealth is dispersed among the heirs. We are heirs to the blessings of God’s kingdom through Jesus Christ, but there exists some differences of interpretation among Christians as to what specifically guarantees our receiving that inheritance. Some believe that the guarantee comes by the act of being adopted by God through baptism (Mark 16:16) or by a profession of faith in accepting Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9). Others point to the need for a greater lived out response (James 2:14-16) or keeping oneself on track after initial conversion (1 Corinthians 9:27).