Thursday of Week 4 of Easter – First Reading

Commentary on Acts 13:13-25

Paul and Barnabas continue their first missionary journey.  From Paphos on the north coast of Cyprus, they set off for Perga, the capital of the province of Pamphylia.  Pamphylia was a coastal province in Asia Minor, between provinces of Lydia and Cilicia on the south coast of modern Turkey.  It was 8 km (5 miles) inland, and 20 km (12 miles) east of the important seaport of Attalia.

At this point, John Mark (the cousin of Barnabas), who had originally been one of the party, returned to Jerusalem, from where they had originally brought him.  Later, this will lead to a dispute between Saul and Barnabas.  Why did John Mark turn back? Various suggestions have been made, though none of them are certain:

• homesickness for Jerusalem;
• an illness of Paul which forced Paul to change his plans and go to Galatia;
• a change in leadership from Barnabas to Paul;
• or simply an inability to get on with Paul.

Later, Paul will express his dissatisfaction with John Mark’s behaviour.

Paul and Barnabas (and note that from now on Paul’s name is listed first) do not seem to have stopped long in Perga, but continued on to Antioch in the province of Pisidia (not to be confused with the Antioch in Syria where they had begun their missionary journey).

Pisidia was a district about 200 km (120 miles) long and 80 km (50 miles) wide, north of Pamphylia.  Bandits were known to frequent the region.  Antioch, its capital, had been named after Antiochus, king of Syria, following the death of Alexander the Great.  It was about 185 km (110 miles) from Perga, and was at the crossroads of busy trading routes. The city had a large Jewish population.  It was a Roman colony, which meant that a contingent of retired military men also settled there.  They were given free land and made citizens of the city of Rome, with all the accompanying privileges.

As usual, on arriving in Antioch, the two missionaries went to the local synagogue on the Sabbath.  We saw yesterday Paul’s reasons for doing this.  At the same time, he was not neglecting his mission to the Gentiles, because Gentiles who believed in the God of the Jews were often among his audience.  It was obvious, too, that the synagogue provided a ready-made starting point with a building, regular meetings and people who were familiar with the Scriptures.

After the reading of the Scriptures, as was the custom, they were invited by the synagogue officials to speak to the assembly (remember too how Jesus was invited to preach in the synagogue). It was the responsibility of these officials to call on readers and preachers, to arrange the service and maintain order. As a rabbi and leading Pharisee, it was natural for Paul to be invited to give a homily. This gave Paul the opportunity to give an outline of Jewish salvation history, and to show that Jesus was the expected and promised saviour of Israel.

As he goes through the great events of the Old Testament, Paul shows how it was all part of God’s plans for his people.  This discourse is typical of Paul’s preaching to a Jewish assembly.  It falls into two parts, of which we have the first part in today’s reading (ending with v25).  It gives a summary of the history of salvation with an appendix recalling John the Baptist’s testimony.

Today’s reading ends halfway through Paul’s speech quoting John the Baptist who said:

…one is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the strap of the sandals on his feet.

We will have the rest of the discourse in tomorrow’s reading.

It might be very profitable for each one us to look back over our own lives and see how God’s providence has been at work at various key points.  Some of these experiences will bring back happy memories—others may be more painful. Nevertheless, God was present at those times and leading us on to something higher. How did we respond? And now that we are where we are in the present time, where is God leading us at this stage of our life?

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Thursday of Week 4 of Easter – Gospel

Commentary on John 13:16-20

Today we begin the second part of John’s Gospel, sometimes known as the “Book of Glory” (chaps 13-20), covering Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection.  Today’s passage immediately follows on Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet.

It is in that context that he says,

Very truly, I tell you, slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.

With these words Jesus clearly urges his followers to serve each other in the same way that he, their Lord and Master, served them by the symbolic act of washing their feet.  This was an act only done by slaves in a household.

Jesus has given service to others a dignity which is totally independent of the status that society confers on people, dividing them into served and server.  Jesus’ whole raison d’être for being among us was to serve. He tells his disciples:

If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

It is a truth which many of us—clergy, religious and laity—do not always find it easy to practise consistently.

It would not be quite right to see Jesus washing his disciples’ feet as a humbling of himself.  Service in the Gospel is primarily love in action.  Love (Greek, agape) is the desire for the well-being of the other.  That love is actualised by service—acts of brothers and sisters to and for each other. Status or position does not enter into it.

At the same time, Jesus gives the first warning that there is one among them to whom these words will not apply.  It is to prepare them for the prediction about his betrayal by one of the group:

The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.

To share bread together was a mark of close fellowship, and that is a primary meaning of the Eucharist, which is a “breaking of bread” among the members of a close community. To ‘lift up the heel’ may refer to a horse kicking, or to the shaking off of dust from one’s feet as a sign of rejection.

Far from being shocked and disturbed by what is going to happen, they should be aware that everything that Jesus willingly undergoes in coming days is clear proof of his divine origin:

I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur you may believe that I am he.

Here is another ‘I AM’ statement acknowledging that he is one with his Father.

What is going to happen to Jesus is the ultimate act of service to his brothers and sisters.  It is the greatest love that can be shown.  Now his disciples are being asked to hold on to Jesus’ identity as one with the Father even when they see him die in shame and disgrace on the cross. But in fact, their faith will be deeply shaken and will not be confirmed until after Pentecost.

Finally, anyone who accepts a disciple or messenger of Jesus, accepts both Jesus himself and the Father who sent him.  There is a clear line of unity emanating from the Father going through the Son and passing through the disciples to others.  There is just one mission—to bring about the Kingdom, the Reign of God in the world. This acceptance is done by our sharing fully in Jesus’ own attitude of selfless service, which for him extended even to the giving of his life.

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