20210408 CHRIST THE FULFILLMENT OF THE SCRIPTURES
08 April, 2021, Easter Thursday
First reading | Acts 3:11-26 © |
You killed the prince of life: God, however, raised him from the dead
Everyone came running towards Peter and John in great excitement, to the Portico of Solomon, as it is called, where the man was still clinging to Peter and John. When Peter saw the people he addressed them, ‘Why are you so surprised at this? Why are you staring at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or holiness? You are Israelites, and it is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, who has glorified his servant Jesus, the same Jesus you handed over and then disowned in the presence of Pilate after Pilate had decided to release him. It was you who accused the Holy One, the Just One, you who demanded the reprieve of a murderer while you killed the prince of life. God, however, raised him from the dead, and to that fact we are the witnesses; and it is the name of Jesus which, through our faith in it, has brought back the strength of this man whom you see here and who is well known to you. It is faith in that name that has restored this man to health, as you can all see.
‘Now I know, brothers, that neither you nor your leaders had any idea what you were really doing; this was the way God carried out what he had foretold, when he said through all his prophets that his Christ would suffer. Now you must repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, and so that the Lord may send the time of comfort. Then he will send you the Christ he has predestined, that is Jesus, whom heaven must keep till the universal restoration comes which God proclaimed, speaking through his holy prophets. Moses, for example, said: The Lord God will raise up a prophet like myself for you, from among your own brothers; you must listen to whatever he tells you. The man who does not listen to that prophet is to be cut off from the people. In fact, all the prophets that have ever spoken, from Samuel onwards, have predicted these days.
‘You are the heirs of the prophets, the heirs of the covenant God made with our ancestors when he told Abraham: in your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed. It was for you in the first place that God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.’
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 8:2,5-9 © |
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
How great is your name, O Lord our God,
through all the earth!
What is man that you should keep him in mind,
mortal man that you care for him?
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Yet you have made him little less than a god;
with glory and honour you crowned him,
gave him power over the works of your hand,
put all things under his feet.
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
All of them, sheep and cattle,
yes, even the savage beasts,
birds of the air, and fish
that make their way through the waters.
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Ps117:24 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
This day was made by the Lord:
we rejoice and are glad.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 24:35-48 © |
It is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead
The disciples told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised Jesus at the breaking of bread.
They were still talking about all this when Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.’ And as he said this he showed them his hands and feet. Their joy was so great that they still could not believe it, and they stood there dumbfounded; so he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And they offered him a piece of grilled fish, which he took and ate before their eyes.
Then he told them, ‘This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms has to be fulfilled.’ He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘So you see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.’
CHRIST THE FULFILLMENT OF THE SCRIPTURES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 3:11-26; PS 8:2,5-9; LK 24:35-48]
Emmanuel Kant wrote, “Experience without perception is blind. Perception without experience is empty.” In the case of the Jews during the time of Jesus and the primitive Church, they had the experience but they lacked the perception. They had seen Jesus before He was crucified, healing the sick, casting out demons and performing miracles such as calming the storm and multiplying bread for the multitude. Yet, many seeing the signs could still not perceive His true identity. So too in today’s first reading when Peter healed the crippled man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. They were amazed that the man was healed. “Everyone came running towards Peter and John in great excitement, to the Portico of Solomon, as it is called, where the man was still clinging to them.”
St Peter took the occasion to explain to them that the healing happened all because of Christ. “When Peter saw the people he addressed them, ‘Why are you so surprised at this? Why are you staring at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or holiness?” Peter made it clear that it was not him who healed the crippled man. He denied any power or credit for the healing of the man. He could heal only in the name of Jesus whom the Father had raised from the dead. “It is the name of Jesus which, through our faith in it, has brought back the strength of this man whom you see here and who is well known to you. It is faith in that name that has restored this man to health, as you can all see.” In Hebrew thinking, the “name” of a person signifies the power of the person. Peter sought to help the Jews understand that Christ was the center of all that was happening. The focus should not be on him nor on the healed cripple but on Christ. God was using this event as a lesson to instruct them on the truth about Jesus, His person and identity.
Salvation is through Christ alone because He is the One appointed by God as the Messiah. Peter described the role of Jesus using a cluster of significant titles from the Old Testament to show that Jesus was not someone that came from nowhere and then claimed to be the Savior of the world, like some cult leaders today. Neither was Jesus known through some kind of esoteric knowledge, as in the New Age Movement today. Jesus was the One predestined by God for the salvation of humanity since the beginning of time after the fall of Adam and Eve. Indeed, it was important for the early Church to establish that Jesus was in continuity with the Old Testament and the scriptures and therefore with the salvific plan of God.
The Old Testament is fulfilled in Christ and given full meaning in Christ. In the resurrection triptych, Luke the evangelist underscored how Jesus in His appearance would always instruct those who saw Him that His death and resurrection was part of God’s plan in fulfillment of the scriptures. When the women were at the Tomb, the two men in dazzling clothes told the women, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” (Lk 24:5-7) Then at Emmaus, the Lord reprimanded the two disciples, “‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.” (Lk 24:25-27)
And today’s appearance to the Twelve was again followed by His reiteration of this fact of continuity and fulfilment of the scriptures. “‘This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you, that everything written about me, in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, has to be fulfilled.’ He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘So you see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.'”
That was what Peter and John did after healing the crippled man. They took pains to enlighten the Jews about how Jesus was truly the fulfillment of the scriptures that they believed in. He began by saying to them, “You are Israelites, and it is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, who has glorified his servant Jesus.” Indeed, they all believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God had promised that through Abraham, “in your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.” This promise is now fulfilled in Christ. St Paul, writing to the Ephesians said, “In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.” (Eph 1:11f)
Jesus is also the fulfillment of the prophets as well. Moses did say, “The Lord God will raise up a prophet like myself for you, from among your own brothers; you must listen to whatever he tells you. The man who does not listen to that prophet is to be cut off from the people.” (cf Dt 18:15-19) The prophet Samuel prophesied the everlasting reign of the Davidic dynasty. “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” Jesus, precisely, as the Son of David established His everlasting Kingdom by His death and resurrection. Jesus is called the servant of God in reference to His role as the Suffering Servant of Isaiah where the servant was called to be the light of the nations and also the One who would carry the sins of His people in His body. (cf Isa 42:1-9, 53)
Jesus is also the fulfillment of the psalms when God raised Him from the dead, which Peter cited earlier on, “Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure. For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit.” (Acts 2:25-32) Then His sufferings were also recorded in Psalm 22. His eternal kingship and divine sonship were hinted in Psalm 110:1 “The Lord says to my lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” Indeed, as the Lord said, “everything written about me, in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, has to be fulfilled.”
It was their ignorance of the scriptures that led them to kill the author of life. “It was you who accused the Holy One, the Just One, you who demanded the reprieve of a murderer while you killed the prince of life. God, however, raised him from the dead, and to that fact we are the witnesses; and it is the name of Jesus which, through our faith in it, has brought back the strength of this man whom you see here and who is well known to you. It is faith in that name that has restored this man to health, as you can all see.” But Peter did not fault them as they did not know what they were doing, as judged by the Lord when He was being crucified. Rather, it was all foreseen in God’s plans. “Now I know, brothers, that neither you nor your leaders had any idea what you were really doing, this was the way God carried out what he had foretold, when he said through all his prophets that Christ would suffer.”
But now that they know the truth, how should they respond? “Now you must repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, and so that the Lord may send the time of comfort. Then he will send you the Christ he has predestined, that is Jesus, whom heaven must keep till the universal restoration comes which God proclaimed, speaking through his holy prophets.” What about us? Are we convinced that the One we believe to be Lord and Savior is the One destined by God as confirmed by the scriptures? Indeed, our faith in Christ is well founded not just in continuity with the Old Testament but strengthened by His death and resurrection. Truly, our faith is based not just in what the apostles testified about seeing the Risen Lord but also confirmed by the extension of Jesus’ healing works through them. Faith in Christ is all that is required to find salvation. We must strengthen our faith by reading the bible so that we can appreciate the beauty of God’s plan of salvation in Christ.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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