E107 Archives

Tuesday of Week 7 of Easter – Gospel

Commentary on John 17:1-11

Today we move on to the great chapter 17 of John. Jesus is still with his disciples at the Last Supper and this is the final part of his discourse. It consists of a long prayer, sometimes called the High Priestly prayer of Jesus.

The prayer can be said to be in three parts:

Jesus prays for his own mission;
he prays for his immediate disciples, who are with him as he prays;
he prays for all those who in later times will become his disciples.

Jesus begins by praying for the success of his mission. He prays that, through his passion, death and resurrection, he may find glory. In John’s Gospel, Jesus’ glory begins with his passion and the high moment is the moment of his dying on the cross, which is also the moment of resurrection and union with the Father. This glory is not for himself, but to lead people to glorify God, of whom Jesus is the Revealer and Mediator.

In turn, he prays that all he does may lead to people everywhere sharing in the life of God. And what is that life? It is stated here in one of the key sayings of Jesus reported in John’s Gospel:

And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

To know God and to know Jesus is to acknowledge their unique place as the source and end of all we have and are. To know the Father and Jesus is to have as full as possible an understanding of Jesus’ message and to have assimilated it into one’s whole life. It is not just a knowledge of recognition, but a mutual identification of vision and values. As the Jerusalem Bible comments:

“In biblical language, ‘knowledge’ is not merely the conclusion of an intellectual process, but the fruit of an ‘experience’, a personal contact. When it matures, it is love.”

It is to be aware of that, to accept that fully as the secret of life, not just in the world to come, but here and now. Everything else—and it really means everything—is secondary to this. To put anything else, however lofty, in first place is to go astray.

Jesus has given glory to the Father by all that he has said and done. He now prays again that glory will be given to him, because by giving glory to him we give glory to his Father also. In fact, it is through Jesus, through our total identification with him, that we give glory to God.

Jesus now prays for his disciples: “those whom you gave me”. Although it was Jesus who chose them, ultimately they are the gift of the Father to help Jesus continue his work on earth. Jesus thanks God that they have recognised that he comes from the Father and that they have accepted his teaching. And because they belong to Jesus, they also belong to the Father and through them Jesus will receive glory.

Finally, they have been chosen from the world and yet will remain in the world, though not sharing in its values. In fact, they will give glory to Jesus precisely by challenging the values of that world and leading it to the ‘eternal life’ which they have discovered through Jesus and which they have already begun to enjoy.

We thank Jesus for his disciples. We thank them for handing on to us the secret of life. We thank them for the giving of themselves, many through a martyr’s death, to share that secret with us. We recognise that they, like us, had many weaknesses, but Jesus still worked through them, and through them the world came to know Jesus.

Tuesday of Week 7 of Easter – First Reading

Commentary on Acts 20:17-27

In today’s reading, we are still with Paul on his Third Missionary Journey. A great number of exciting events happen during the latter part of the journey, most of which, unfortunately, are omitted in our liturgy readings.

Paul spent two or three years in Ephesus altogether. Yesterday, we saw him vigorously preaching to the Jews in the synagogue over a period of three months. Eventually, however, the usual opposition arose from a number of Jews who refused to accept his message. So Paul withdrew from the synagogue and went instead to continue his preaching in a public hall. This continued for two years so that the Word was heard not only in Ephesus, but through all the surrounding Roman province of Asia. Paul also revealed extraordinary healing powers so that even a piece of cloth which had been in contact with his skin would heal diseases and drive out evil spirits.

Following this, there is an incident involving wandering Jewish exorcists who tried to use the name of Jesus to drive out evil spirits, but were themselves attacked by an evil spirit who shouted:

Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?
(Acts 19:15)

This is followed by the even more exciting riot by the silversmiths of Ephesus (see Acts 19:21-41). They made their money by selling silver images of Artemis, the goddess of the great temple. They saw Paul and his disparaging remarks about man-made idols as a serious threat to their business. Paul wanted to confront them, but his companions would not let him; he would almost certainly have been harmed. The whole affray was eventually brought to a peaceful conclusion by the city clerk, who said the complainers on the one hand were exaggerating the effects of Paul’s preaching and, in any case, they could go to the courts if they had legitimate complaints.

After this, Paul crossed over to Macedonia (Thessalonica and Philippi) meeting the Christians there and then moved south to Greece, where he stayed for about three months. He surely would have spent much of that time in Corinth. He then returned to Macedonia and took ship from Philippi for Troas (Troy). It was here that, while Paul was preaching in the upper room of a house, there were many lamps lit, which would have made the place very warm, and:

A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors below and was picked up dead. But Paul went down and bending over him took him in his arms and said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” (Acts 20:9-12)

Eutychus was restored to life—a consoling story for all preachers!

From Troas, Paul moved southwards to Assos, which was quite near, and then by ship to Miletus, which lay south of Ephesus on present-day Turkey’s west coast. It is here that today’s reading begins. Paul called for the elders (presbyteroi), or leaders of the church in Ephesus, to come to him. When they arrived, he gave them final instructions and said farewell to them.

The importance of the leadership of elders is evident throughout Paul’s ministry. He appointed elders in each church on his First Missionary Journey and addressed the holders of this office later in Philippi, where they are called episkopoi, literally ‘overseers’ (Phil 1:1)—a word which would give us the term ‘bishop’. An ‘overseer’ seems to have been a presbyter with some executive authority in the community. In the letters to Timothy and Titus are listed the qualifications to become a presbyter (see 1 Tim 3; Tit 1).

Now, Paul is calling the Ephesian elders to meet with him on what is, for him, a very solemn and sad occasion. It is the third great discourse given by Paul in Acts. Today and tomorrow we will read his words. In summary, it is the last testament of a pastor leaving his flock for what he believes is the last time.

Many of the details of this third discourse are found in his letters and its tone is that of the Pastoral Letters (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus). After referring to his mission in Asia, he speaks of this occasion as a final parting and seems to hint at his death. His last advice to the elders of Ephesus (and through them to all the pastors in every church) is vigilance, selflessness and charity. In all of this Paul appeals to his own example: the discourse therefore draws a faithful portrait of the Apostle himself.

His words form one of the most touching passages in the New Testament. Paul was a tough man in many respects, but he was also a very emotional one and this comes out very clearly in this moving discourse.

In summary he tells the elders:

Since the time he came to the region, his life has been an open book for all to read. He has nothing to hide.
He has served the Lord faithfully with tears and trials arising from the opposition from some of his fellow Jews.
He has given testimony to both Jews and Gentiles about repentance (metanoia) before God and faith in the Lord Jesus. Being a follower of Jesus involves both total commitment in trust and a re-ordering of one’s life in accordance with the gospel vision.
He describes himself as already “a captive to the Spirit”. This can mean that he already anticipates his arrest or that he is being driven to Jerusalem by the Spirit of God, in spite of people’s pleas that he not go.
He is not sure what is going to happen to him, but the Spirit has warned him of imprisonment and coming hardships.
But these warnings do not depress him. His life is not important to him. What is important is that he complete the mission entrusted to him:

…if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.

That is all that matters to him. As he tells the Philippians, compared to the sharing of the gospel with others, life and death are secondary. All he ever wanted was to love and serve his Lord, Jesus Christ and to spread the Good News about him (see Phil 1:18-24 and also 1 Cor 9:23-27 and Gal 2:19-20 for similar statements).

Paul concludes today’s passage by saying that he does not think that they will ever meet again in this world, but his conscience is clear as far as the efforts he made to share the gospel with them. At this time, Paul was intending to return to Jerusalem and then to visit Spain. Although it was his conviction that he would never see Ephesus again, there is evidence that he did return after his imprisonment in Rome. Tomorrow we will continue the second part of this moving farewell.

In the meantime, we could perhaps look back on our own lives and ask what has been our commitment to Jesus and his gospel, and what have we done to share it with others. Do we have any regrets about things we have done or not done? Is my life an open book? Do I regret now pain or sufferings, physical or emotional, which I experienced in doing what I believed was right and just? If I had my life to live again, what changes would I make? In the light of that, what changes can I make now?

Saturday of Week 7 of Easter – Gospel

Commentary on John 21:20-25

Peter has been given his mandate to shepherd the Lord’s flock and been fully rehabilitated after his sad betrayal earlier on. But it is still the same old, impetuous Peter. Having heard about his own future, he now wants to know that of “the disciple Jesus loved”, i.e. the ‘beloved disciple’. Basically, Peter is told to mind his own business; it is no concern of his. Jesus says enigmatically,

If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!

As a result, Jesus’ words became distorted and were understood to mean that the ‘beloved disciple’ was not going to die. He would stay alive until the Lord came. But this is strongly denied by the author of the chapter (biblical scholars strongly believe that this final chapter is not by the author of the rest of this Gospel).

The New American Bible comments here:

“This whole scene takes on more significance if the disciple is already dead. The death of the apostolic generation caused problems in the church because of a belief that Jesus was to have returned first. Loss of faith sometimes resulted (see 2 Peter 3:4).”

Another very different explanation is possible if the ‘beloved disciple’ is not identified with John, but with the symbolic figure who represents the perfect follower of Jesus. This person appears four times in John’s Gospel—and perhaps five, if we identify him with one of the unnamed disciples of John the Baptist who spent a day with Jesus in the company of Andrew (see John 1:35). At this point, he is not called the ‘beloved disciple’, as he is just beginning to be a follower. Later in the Gospel, he is identified on four different occasions of special significance—leaning on the breast of Jesus at the Last Supper; standing at the foot of the Cross; going with Peter to the empty tomb on the day of the resurrection and understanding the meaning of the arrangement of the cloths (something which meant nothing to Peter). Finally, he is seen as the one who recognised as “the Lord” the stranger who told the disciples where the fish were to be found.

Hopefully, all through the history of the Church there will be ‘beloved disciples’, people who have lived out the gospel to a very high degree. And such people will continue to be found until Jesus finally comes to bring us all to himself.

For our own lives, in the light of this passage, we can ask ourselves once again what we see to be the mission that Jesus has for us at this time. As well, while we do of course need to be responsible for the well-being of our brothers and sisters, our main concern is to focus on where God is calling us and not be too worried about what he expects from others.

On a final note, the author claims to have witnessed everything that has been written, but that it still is only a fraction of all the things that Jesus said and did. We would indeed love to know what some of those unreported words and actions were, but we have more than enough with the existing texts to provide a challenge to us for the rest of our lives. And with the imminent approach of Pentecost, we remember that the Spirit is there to continue teaching and guiding us and leading us ever deeper into the meanings of God’s Word.

Saturday of Week 7 of Easter – First Reading

Commentary on Acts 28:16-20,30-31

Today we complete the readings for the Easter season. During these last seven weeks, we have been going through the Acts of the Apostles. As with most of the books which form the liturgical readings, much had to be omitted, but at least we do get a general picture of the extraordinary developments of the Church from a small group of uneducated fishermen to a chain of communities which, in such a short time, reached to the very centre of their known world—the empire’s seat of government in Rome. This would be the new centre from which it would over the centuries expand to every corner of the world.

Yesterday we saw Paul in the presence of King Agrippa and Bernice, while Festus explained the reason for Paul’s arrest to them. The following day, Paul was again brought before the king and, for the third time in Acts, gave them an account of how he had tried to destroy the followers of Christ only to experience his own conversion on the way to Damascus. At the end of the speech, Festus said he thought it was all crazy nonsense, but both he and the king agreed that Paul had done nothing to warrant punishment. If he had not appealed to the emperor, they agreed, he could have been released.

We are then told of the long and eventful sea journey to Rome, which included a storm and being shipwrecked on the island of Malta. When they eventually arrived in Rome, members of the community were there to welcome them on the Appian Way, the ancient highway that led to the city of Rome.

It is at this point that today’s reading begins. We are told that when Paul entered Rome, he was allowed to live by himself with a soldier who was guarding him. It was clearly a benign form of house arrest. Another reading says that “when he entered Rome, the centurion handed the prisoners over to the commander. But Paul was allowed to live outside the [Praetorian] camp.” As noted in the Jerusalem Bible:

“…this additional information agrees with what in fact must have happened. By the concession of custodia militaris (military guard) the prisoner had his own lodgings, but his right arm was chained to the left of the soldier in charge.”

Clearly, the prisoner was not regarded as dangerous.

As he did so often in the past, Paul made contact with the local Jews. The decree of the emperor Claudius, which, we remember, had caused Apollos and Priscilla to leave Rome, had been allowed to lapse and Jews now had returned to Rome with their leaders. Paul wants to establish good relations with the Jews of Rome as soon as possible. He insists that he has nothing as such against his own people, although it was certain Jews who did cause him a great deal of trouble and who were ultimately responsible for his having to appeal to Caesar. Ironically, as we saw, Governor Festus and King Agrippa had agreed that Paul had done no wrong and could have been released if he had not made his appeal to Caesar. In fact, as Paul had emphasised all along:

…it is for the sake of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.

In the final sentences of Acts we are told that Paul spent two years in his place of arrest:

…proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

He was able to receive all who came looking for him and was able to preach without hindrance. The two years represents the legal period during which he could be kept in custody. Within that period his case would have to be tried, so it is likely that, at the end of the period, he was released. At the end of his short letter to Philemon, he seems to be looking forward to his release and asks that a room be made ready for him in Philemon’s house. During this time also he would have written his letter to the Christians at Colosse and the letter to the Ephesians (although the immediate authorship of this letter by Paul has been questioned), as well as his note to Philemon.

As the New International Version Bible points out, there are a number of indications that Paul was released from his imprisonment at the end of two years:

Acts stops abruptly at this time;
Paul wrote to churches expecting to visit them soon; so he must have anticipated a release (see Phil 2:24; Philem 22);
A number of the details in the Pastoral Letters do not fit into the historical setting given in the book of Acts. Following the close of Acts, these details indicate a return to Asia Minor, Crete and Greece;
Tradition indicates that Paul went to Spain. Even if he did not go, the very fact that a tradition arose suggests a time when he could have taken that journey.*

It is clear that the sudden ending of Acts indicates that it is not an ending at all but a beginning. Luke’s story had begun with Jesus’ ‘mission statement’ made in the synagogue at Nazareth. From there, Jesus progresses steadily south to Jerusalem, which is the climax of his life and work—through passion, death and resurrection. The story is then taken up with Acts, which begins with the Pentecost experience when the baton of Jesus’ mission is passed to his disciples. It begins where Jesus left off, in Jerusalem, and from there spreads progressively to the surrounding territories and then on to Macedonia and Greece and ultimately to the heart of the empire and the centre of their world—Rome. The gospel is being preached freely in the very heart of the Roman Empire.

Christianity, from being a tiny movement of a small number of Jews, is now a world phenomenon. From now on, its mission is to make the Kingdom a reality in every corner of our planet. There are many more triumphs and tragedies to come. But to have reached Rome in such a short time was little short of miraculous. So, these final sentences sound an understandable note of triumph for the fledgling Church.
_______________________________________

*Regarding Paul’s ministry after his discharge, his second imprisonment, and his death, see the section: “Introduction to the Letters of St Paul” in the Jerusalem Bible.

Friday of Week 7 of Easter – First Reading

Commentary on Acts 25:13-21

We are now moving rather quickly to the end of Acts. We have to finish between today and tomorrow, which is the end of the Easter season. Next week we will return to what is called ‘Ordinary Time’.

After Paul was rescued from the uproar in the Sanhedrin, a group of Jews were determined to assassinate him and were concocting a plot to bring it about. However, Paul’s nephew got wind of it and passed the information to the Romans. So Paul was taken away from Jerusalem and sent under heavy guard to Governor Felix in Caesarea to await formal charges from his Jewish accusers.

Both the Jews and Paul presented their case to Felix in the most flattering terms. Felix was rather sympathetic to Paul and was apparently aware of Christian beliefs. He kept Paul in custody for a further two years because he liked discussing religion—until Paul began to tell him about moral behaviour and the judgement to come. Feeling somewhat uneasy (about his own behavior!), Felix postponed further meetings indefinitely. He also hoped for a bribe from Paul to expedite his release (apparently not expecting Paul to practise what he preached!).

The next governor, Festus, was more favourable to the Jews. He again allowed them to come up to Caesarea to confront Paul in court. Knowing what the Jews wanted, Festus asked Paul if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem to be tried. Paul knew that was tantamount to a death sentence (indeed the Jews planned to murder him on the way), so he played his final trump card. As a Roman citizen, he appealed for a Roman trial. The governor now had no choice. He said:

I ordered him to be held until I could send him to the emperor.

We now enter today’s reading. We see King Agrippa and his sister Bernice come to pay a courtesy visit to Festus in Caesarea. It was customary for rulers to pay a complimentary visit to a new ruler at the time of his appointment. It was to the advantage of each that they get along. (We might compare the relationship of Herod Antipas with Pontius Pilate; see especially Luke 23:6-12.)

Agrippa and Bernice were an interesting couple to say the least. Agrippa, Bernice and Drusilla were children of King Herod Agrippa I. Herod Agrippa II was 17 years old at the death of his father in AD 44 (Acts 12:23). Being too young to succeed his father, he was replaced by Roman procurators. Eight years later, however, a gradual extension of territorial authority began. Ultimately he ruled over territory north and northeast of the Sea of Galilee, over several Galilean cities and over some cities in Perea. At the Jewish revolt, when Jerusalem fell, he was on the side of the Romans. He died about AD 100—the last of the Herods.

According to the New International Version Bible, Bernice:

“…when only 13, married her uncle, Herod of Chalcis, and had two sons. When Herod died, she lived with her brother, Agrippa II. To silence rumours that she was living in incest with her brother, she married Polemon, king of Cilicia, but left him soon to return to Agrippa. She became the mistress of the emperor Vespasian’s son Titus, but was later ignored by him.”

Titus, as emperor, was responsible for the siege and destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70. The memory of that event is recorded on the sculptural reliefs of the Arch of Titus still standing in the Roman Forum.

The governor now took the opportunity for Paul to present his case to the king, who was a Jew. The governor gives a slightly distorted account of the proceedings held in his presence with the Jews from Jerusalem. In reply to the Jews’ demand to have Paul surrendered to them, Festus said that it was not in accordance with Roman law to hand someone over before he had a chance to speak in his own defence.

However, when the trial began in Festus’ presence, none of the charges he expected were brought forward. Instead they were arguing about matters concerning their own religion and there was talk of a Jesus who had died, but whom Paul was claiming to be alive. Festus wanted the Jews to deal with this issue themselves, but because Paul had appealed to Rome, he had to remain in custody until he could be sent to Caesar. The emperor in question was Nero, who reigned (if that is the appropriate word) from AD 54-68.

While every stage in this story can be understood as taking place in response to the various actions of the participants, the incidents can also be seen as factors which were to bring Paul to the heart of the empire in Rome. Rome would in time become the centre of Christ’s Kingdom on earth. It is the fulfilment of the words of Jesus to the Apostles before his ascension:

…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

Once again, we see the finger of God behind every action of every person in the story. His finger is in our life stories too. Can we see that? And where will we find him in today’s experiences?

Thursday of Week 7 of Easter – Gospel

Commentary on John 17:20-26

In this final part of Jesus’ prayer during his discourse to his disciples at the Last Supper, Jesus now prays for all those who came to believe in Christ as Lord through the influence of these very disciples down through the ages. Each one of us is among those Jesus is praying for here.

In this prayer, Jesus prays above all for unity among his disciples as the most effective sign of witness. As he had told his disciples earlier on in the discourse:

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)

He now prays that we may display the same unity among ourselves and with Jesus as that which binds Jesus and the Father. It is through the love that Christians, coming as they do from so many ethnic groups and all classes of people, show for each other that they give the most effective witness to the message of Christ. He asks:

…that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

It is said that, in the early Church, people marvelled, “See those Christians, how they love each other.” In a world divided along so many lines, people were amazed to see Jews and Greeks, men and women, slaves and freemen, rich and poor sharing a common community life in love and forgiveness and mutual support. It clearly would lead people to ask what was the secret of this group.

Is that the witness that we are giving today? What do people see when they look at our parishes? What do they see when they look at our families? What are they to think of the painful divisions of so many groups who claim Jesus as their Lord? How can we maintain such divisions in the face of these words of Jesus?

Obviously, we all have much to think and pray about regarding our ‘spiritual’ life and the impact we make in drawing people to Christ (and that includes bringing back many who have left in confusion and disillusionment).

So let us make our own the last words of Jesus’ prayer today:

I made your name known to them [his disciples], and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.

Thursday of Week 7 of Easter – First Reading

Commentary on Acts 22:30; 23:6-11

We are now coming to the end of Paul’s Third Missionary Journey. Events are moving very fast as we have to finish Acts in the next three days! And a great deal is happening, much of which will have to be passed over. To fully understand, it might be a very good idea to take up a New Testament and read the full text of the last eight chapters of Acts.

As we begin today’s reading let us be filled in a little on what has happened between yesterday’s reading and today’s. After bidding a tearful farewell to his fellow-Christians in Ephesus, Paul and his companions began their journey back to Palestine, making a number of brief stops on the way—Cos, Rhodes, Patara. They by-passed Cyprus and landed at Tyre in Phoenicia. They stayed there for a week, during which time the brethren begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. They knew there would be trouble. But there was no turning back for Paul and again there was an emotional parting on the beach.

As Paul moved south, there was a stop at Ptolemais, where they greeted the community. Then it was on to Caesarea where Paul stayed in the house of Philip, the deacon, now called “the evangelist” (earlier we saw him do great evangelising work in Samaria and he was the one who converted the Ethiopian eunuch). Here too there was an experience in which Paul was warned by a prophet in the community of coming suffering. Again they all begged him not to go on, but he replied:

…I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

This was accepted as God’s will, and they let him go.

When they arrived in Jerusalem they received a warm welcome from the community there and went to pay a formal visit to James, the leader in the Jerusalem church. They were very happy to hear of all that Paul had done, but they were also concerned (and their concern would seem to indicate that there were some in the city who had not fully accepted the non-application of Jewish law for Gentiles).

The local Jews (including, it seems, the Christians) would have heard how Paul, also a Jew, had been telling Jews in gentile territory to “abandon Moses”, that is, he was not requiring them to circumcise their children or observe other Jewish practices. Some suggested a tactic for Paul to assuage the feelings of these people. On behalf of four members of the Jerusalem community, he was to make the customary payment for the sacrifices offered at the termination of the Nazirite vow (see Numbers 6:1-24) in order to impress favourably the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem with his high regard for the Mosaic Law. Since Paul himself had once made such a vow (when he was leaving Corinth, Acts 18:18), his respect for the law would be publicly known. Paul agreed with this suggestion and did as he was asked.

However, as the seven days stipulated were coming to an end, Paul was spotted by some Jews who had known him in Ephesus. A mob rushed into the Temple and seized him, and might have harmed him, if the Roman commander had not seen the riot. He rescued Paul, then arrested him and put him in chains and thus out of the reach of those wanting to harm him.

It was only after the arrest that the commander realised the Greek-speaking Paul was not an Egyptian rebel. Paul then asked to be allowed to address the crowd and, in a longish speech, told the assembled Jews the story of his conversion on the road to Damascus (the second time the story is told in Acts; it will be told again in chapter 26). At the end of the speech, the crowd bayed for his blood and Paul was about to be flogged in order to find out why the Jews wanted him executed. At this point, Paul revealed to the centurion that he was a Roman citizen and that, unlike the garrison commander who had bought his citizenship, he had been born one. This created great alarm among his captors and he was released.

The Roman commander then ordered a meeting of the Sanhedrin to be convened so that Paul could address them. While those of the high priestly line were mainly Sadducees, the Sanhedrin also now included quite a number of Pharisees. This council was the ruling body of the Jews. Its court and decisions were respected by the Roman authorities. Roman approval was needed, however, in cases of capital punishment (as happened in the case of Jesus). Paul’s being brought before the Sanhedrin was already foretold by Jesus to his disciples (see Matt 10:17-18). Paul, in time, will appear before “councils, governors and kings”.

He began by telling them that everything he had done was with a perfectly clear conscience. On hearing this, the high priest Ananias ordered that Paul be struck in the mouth. It was not unlike his Master being struck on the face during his trial. Paul hit back verbally:

…God will strike you, you whitewashed wall. (Acts 23:2)

He said this because, although Ananias was supposedly sitting in judgement according to Mosaic Law, he was breaking the law by striking the accused. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us that Ananias was actually assassinated in AD 66 at the beginning of the First Jewish Revolt. When Paul is accused of reviling the high priest, he said he did not realise Ananias was the high priest and apologised.

It is at this point that today’s reading begins—and it is one of the most dramatic scenes in Acts. Paul knew his audience and he decided at the very beginning to make a preemptive strike. He professed loudly and with pride that he was a Pharisee, knowing that his audience consisted of both Pharisees and Sadducees.

Addressing his words specially to the Pharisees, he said:

I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead.

That was not quite the whole story, of course, as he made no mention of Christ, but it immediately put him on the side of his fellow-Pharisees. As Paul had told the Corinthians in one of his letters, if Christ was not risen from the dead, neither could we rise and there would be no basis for our faith. The hope of a future life was at the very heart of his Christian preaching.

That, of course, is not what the Pharisees heard. They immediately latched on to the fact that Paul, as a fellow-Pharisee held a belief that was denied by the Sadducees. The Sadducees only accepted as divine revelation the first five books of the Bible, what we call the Pentateuch. The resurrection of the body (in 2 Maccabees) and the doctrine of angels (in the book of Tobit) did not become part of Jewish teaching until a comparatively late date. On both these issues, however, Paul (a Pharisee himself) and the Pharisees were in full agreement.

In the first five books of the Old Testament, there is no mention of a future resurrection, nor spirits, nor angels. It was on the basis of this belief that the Sadducees had challenged Jesus about the fate of a woman who had married seven brothers (see Luke 20:27-38 and Matt 22:25-32). If there is a resurrection, which of the seven would be her husband? For those who did not believe in life after death, the question was nonsense.

Paul’s words on resurrection immediately diverted attention from him to this contentious dividing point between the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

All of a sudden the Pharisees made an about-turn saying:

We find nothing wrong with this man.

And, in a deliberate provocation to the Sadducees who also did not believe in angels, the Pharisees said:

What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?

This could be a reference to Paul’s account to them earlier of his experience on the road to Damascus.

All objectivity was forgotten and the Pharisees, despite their earlier protestations, sided with Paul, ‘their man’, and a brawl ensued. It got so serious—and, remember, these were all ‘religious’ men!—that the tribune, fearing Paul would be torn to pieces, came to his rescue and put him back in the fortress.

That night, Paul received a vision in which he was assured that he would be protected in Jerusalem because it was the Lord’s wish that he give witness to the gospel in Rome.

Perhaps Paul’s behaviour in this situation is a good example of Jesus’ advice to his disciples to be simple as doves and as wise as serpents! Paul was more than ready to suffer for his Lord, but he was no pushover.

While we, too, are to be prepared to give witness to our faith even with the sacrifice of our lives, and never to indulge in any form of violence against those who attack us, we are not asked to go out of our way to invite persecution or physical attacks. That is not the meaning of the injunction to carry our cross. Jesus himself often took steps to avoid trouble.

Joan of Arc defended herself as did Thomas More and, indeed as Jesus himself did during his trial:

If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me? (John 18:23)

But, like them, we will try never to evade death or any other form of hostility by compromising the central teaching of our faith.

Wednesday of Week 7 of Easter – Gospel

Commentary on John 17:11-19

Today Jesus continues his prayer for his disciples. He prays for their continued loyalty to the gospel message and for unity among them. He has kept them true to his name. One was lost, although that was foreseen from all time.

They have accepted the message of Jesus and, because of that, they will be hated by the world as Jesus himself was hated. Because, like Jesus, they do not identify with the values and priorities of the world.

At the same time, Jesus makes it very clear that he is not asking that they be removed from the world’s environment, only that they be protected from its evil influences. It is only by being in the world that they will be able to communicate the gospel message. Armed with truth and the integrity of Jesus himself, he is sending them into the midst of the world. That is where they are to do their work. They were, as he said elsewhere, to be “the salt of the earth” and the “yeast in the dough”.

Jesus prays that they be consecrated in truth, the truth of God himself. This truth does not consist of a set of dogmas. Rather it consists in the living out lives of perfect integrity and wholeness, in perfect harmony with the will of the Father and the Way of Jesus, and dedicated to bringing that truthfulness and integrity to the world. The disciples do this by living lives of love, a love expressed in service to the well-being of all. They have the full backing of Jesus, who says:

…I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Let us then pray today:

for the unity among us which Jesus prayed for in his disciples;
that we may be ready for the hostility and the indifference of the world;
that we may realise, if we want to give witness to the gospel, we must be fully inserted into the world by which we are surrounded. To be ‘holy’ is not to escape and distance ourselves physically from that world, which is what many are tempted to do or even think is the right thing to do*;
that we may be people of complete integrity, filled with truth and sincerity, so that what people see in us is what we truly are and wish to be: disciples of Jesus.

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*Notwithstanding this, there are cloistered and contemplative communities who, while physically separated from the ‘world’, devote their time and energy to pray for that world.

Wednesday of Week 7 of Easter – First Reading

Commentary on Acts 20:28-38

Just to remind ourselves, we are still with Paul on his Third Missionary Journey. And today we have the second part of his farewell discourse to the elders of the church at Ephesus. In the first part Paul had spoken mainly about himself.

In today’s reading, he begins by reminding them that they are to carry out the responsibility implied in their title. As “elders” (Greek, presbyteroi) they are called to watch over the flock entrusted to them. They have been appointed “overseers”. The elders are called “overseers” (Greek, episkopoi, from which come words like ‘bishop’ and ‘episcopal’) and told to pastor (“shepherd”) the flock—demonstrating that the same men could be called “elders”, “overseers” or “pastors” depending on how their role in the church was seen. This community is the “church of God”, acquired with his own blood. As God in himself does not spill blood, we can take it to mean that the work of the Father and of the Son are seen as one; what Jesus does, including the shedding of his blood, is an expression of everything his Father wills.

Paul envisages fierce attacks on the community after he has gone:

…savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Even from among themselves, people will arise who in “distorting the truth” will try to cause divisions among some of the Christians. So he begs them to take to heart all the teachings he gave them over a period of three years.

Paul next reminds them that he is not in debt to them. He never asked for money or clothing from anyone. His needs and those of his companions were served by his own hands. This is something he has mentioned more than once with some pride and satisfaction. On the contrary, his concerns have always been for those who are weak and in need. And he quotes the words of Jesus:

It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Incidentally, this saying is not quoted in any of the Gospels, but of course, there must be many of Jesus’ sayings which did not get recorded in writing.

The passage concludes with the highly emotional departure scene with prayers and tears and much kissing and embracing. They believed they were never more to see the father of their church. In fact, they were to meet briefly once more.

There certainly is a good deal here for our own reflection. We have to be ready for our Christian communities today to come under attack, even when—or specifically because—we are living out the gospel values. We have to admit, too, that there are often divisions among us and that we can twist the words of the gospel to suit ourselves and our own interests.

We need to ask to what extent we really do take care of the weaker ones among us. We cannot separate the needs of the body from that of the spirit.

Monday of Week 7 of Easter – Gospel

Commentary on John 16:29-33

The disciples now claim to understand exactly what Jesus is talking about, although it is doubtful that they really do. It will not be until later on that the full meaning of Jesus’ words will be grasped by them.

They are impressed that Jesus can answer their questions even before they are formulated:

Now we know that you know all things and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.

Yet, perhaps they are speaking too quickly.

Jesus questions the depth of their belief. Very soon, in spite of their protestations now, they will be scattered in all directions and leave Jesus alone and abandoned. Of course, Jesus will not be alone; the Father is always with him even at the lowest depths of his humiliation. Even when he himself will cry out:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matt 27:46)

He tells them all this, not to discourage them, but so that they can find peace. There will be many troubles facing them in the coming days and indeed in the years ahead. They are not to worry—Jesus has conquered the world, not in any political or economic sense, but in overcoming the evil of the world that is death. His disciples can share in that victory as long as they stay close to him and walk his Way.

These words obviously have meaning for us especially if we are experiencing difficulties of any kind in our lives. The peace we seek is available if we put ourselves into Jesus’ hands. He knows—he has been through more than anything we are ever likely to have to experience.

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