Acts 3.12-19: Still Easter?

Easter! Resurrection! New Life! Jesus appears to disciples! Thomas affirms Jesus as Lord and God! We've gone from one exciting, meaningful moment to another since Good Friday. The Jesus Movement is moving forward every day, focused on the future. Peter has preached several times. Thousands have been converted and joined the Movement.

If this were an audio blog, I would insert a sound clip of a record player needle being scratched across the surface of a record. That sort of screeching that indicates a full, sudden stop. I would insert it at Acts 3:15 (Easter 3B, Acts 3:12-19). Because look who shows up...Barabbas!

Oh, he isn't mentioned by name, but Peter remembers Barabbas' role in Holy Week and reminds the people hearing him preach that they chose Barabbas. It's an interesting addition to the sermon.

Honore Daumier. Ecce Homo. c. 1850. Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany. 

It might be a wet blanket thrown on the Easter party. After all, the crowd around Peter and John have been dazzled by the healing of the lame man that happened in the first part of Acts 3. They want to know who has done this remarkable thing and whether there might be more miraculous things happening. These are the people still in search of someone or something that will free them from the oppressive world in which they are living. Maybe these two men, who obviously can perform miracles, will be the ones who will save us.

Peter does, indeed throw a wet blanket on their hopes. To paraphrase Peter's sermon:  It isn't us who made this man walk, it's God. And you had your chance. You could have chosen the Lord of Life, but instead you chose a taker of life. His name was Barabbas.

So maybe this is about new life and resurrection after all. Notice that Peter doesn't say to them that they have missed their only chance at redemption and salvation. He does make clear that the people (and it may have been some of these same people who were shouting "Crucify him!") missed their first chance to acknowledge who Jesus is. But now the prophets' words have been fulfilled, Peter says. You can choose again. New life. Still Easter.

For additional thoughts on the Luke 24:36b-48, click here.
For a look at the location of the Acts story, click on the Facebook link. 

Luke 24.36-49: Rock, Paper, Scissors, Fabric, Lock

The locked door is one of the details to watch for in pictures of the gospel reading for Easter 3B (Luke 24:36-49). It was important enough for the writer to mention it, but it is hit or miss in the depictions of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances. Often these appearances are focused on the wounds in Jesus' hands and side rather than other details. Only very occasionally does an artist include a platter of fish that need to be present in Luke's account of this locked-room mystery. Why include such a detail in the text if it isn't important?

The Risen Jesus Appears to His Disciples. 1476. Codex of Predis, Royal Library, Turin. 

http://www.bibliotecareale.beniculturali.it/index.php/en/

The 15th-century illustration from the Codex of Predis gives the barest details. The disciples are tightly gathered around Jesus, who is partially clad in a toga-like garment. The room, with a ceiling of corbeled wooden beams, is barely big enough to contain all the disciples as they stand. The possibility of sharing a meal is unthinkable. 

The only other object that breaks up the unadorned blue walls is the door, crafted with what appear to be strap hinges and a lock made of iron. Those elements are the darkest things on the page, at the opposite end of the value scale from Jesus' white winding-clothes. The cloth does nothing to lessen the impression of Jesus as ghost, but the wounds that prove it is indeed Jesus are easily visible. The contrast between flimsy fabric garment and solid metal object would seem to underscore the impossibility of entering a locked room. But this Jesus has the ability to do what seems impossible, and he has the will to go anywhere as he redeems humanity. Even into a locked room.

Yes, in this case, flesh and fabric are indeed stronger than iron.

For thoughts on Acts 3:12-19, click here.

This week on Facebook...how the story looks in one children's story Bible. Click on the link. And check out Food&Faith Matters for ideas of two sauces to serve the next time your menu, like the disciples', includes fish.