April 24th, 2022

In this Sunday, the joy of Easter continues in a very real way. It is called the Second Sunday of Easter (and not the First Sunday after the Resurrection of Our Lord). And it is still very appropriate to say things like ‘Alleluia! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!’

We have been looking at Christianity from the perspective of the book of Acts. It is there that Christianity was described as being ‘spoken against everywhere’ (28:22b), and there have been some very good examples of how that very bad thing was done. Now with an opposite emphasis, we will be looking into how Christianity is very much supported in the book of Acts.

This support may be seen in the text from Acts for this Sunday. The First Reading is Acts 5:12-20 (although you may hear the text through verse 32). A supportive statement regarding Christianity is made by the angel of the Lord, and this is the first appearance of an angel of the Lord within this book. The apostles had just been put into jail, and an angel of the Lord comes to them and tells them this: ‘Go, and standing, speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life (verse 20).’

I would not be surprised if that statement struck you as being somewhat vague. The apostles were not to speak the words of JESUS, but that words of ‘this life’.

It should be hopefully clear that what is NOT to be discussed is the best life that the apostles have when they give their lives over to Jesus. The temple was an important place, and it was where God and man could come together. Jesus is where God and man CAME together, and then he went to the cross for our salvation.

It is interesting that, near the end of the longer text from Acts 5, in Acts 5:28, the statement is made by the high priest to the apostles that ‘…behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring upon us the blood of this man (verse 28).’ Here he does not say that they have filled the temple with their teaching. He also does not say the name of Jesus. But he DOES say that Jerusalem has been filled with this teaching. The teachings of Jesus seem to be overflowing from the temple.

It cannot be clearer than the fact that Jesus died and came back to life is central to Christianity. The angel of the Lord points at that. And the high priest does as well.

It is interesting that the importance of words does not appear in the text when you look at the previous verses. In Acts 5:12 it is said that many signs and wonders happened among the people through the HANDS of the apostles. In verse 13 it also says that the people MAGNIFIED them. In verse 15 it also says that sick people were being brought out onto the streets so that the SHADOW of Peter might fall on some of them. And, finally, in verse 16, it says that ALL were healed. In contrast to all of that, the angel points to ‘ALL the WORDS of this LIFE’. Words are important to God.

It may also be helpful to see where the previous use of ‘life’ is mentioned in the book of Acts. Last week, all the uses of a word in Acts were examined, but this time, only the previous use of ‘life’ will be mentioned. This happens to be another time where the name Jesus is not mentioned.

In Acts 3:15, Peter is giving his second sermon, right after a lame man was healed. And he says this: ‘And you killed the prince [or ‘author’] of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we ourselves are witnesses.’ Jesus is called a prince of life, and he gives words of life. It is HIS life that is important and not ours. And this life comes to us through HIS words.
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In this post-pandemic time, we can easily lose focus on Jesus and begin to focus on ourselves, on our words, and on our life and death. But Jesus was dead and came back to life, and that is an important order to remember. And we continue to use Jesus’ words. The joy of Easter certainly continues. And the book of Acts ends with these very positive words, with St. Paul ‘proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, with all boldness, unhindered (28:31).’