Scripture Study for
Easter Sunday of The Resurrection of The Lord
Acts 10:34a, 37–43 / Psalm 118:24 / Colossians 3:1–4 / John 20:1–9
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Understanding the Word
By Br. John R. Barker, OFM
Peter’s speech is a response to the request of the Gentile Cornelius to meet with him. Peter himself has had a vision in which it has now become clear to him that the work God has done in Christ is meant to extend beyond the ethnic boundaries of Israel (10:9–17). The emphasis in the speech is on what Jesus did (“doing good and healing”) and on to Jesus’ fate, which is in stark contrast to the good he did. Yet the good Jesus was doing did not end with his death. Now those who knew him have been sent to continue “doing good and healing,” specifically by calling people to believe in Jesus as God’s Messiah and to receive the gift of forgiveness, of deliverance and release from evil forces.
Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians about clearing out the old yeast has a simple point: Things have changed for you, since you are now new people in Christ, so act like it. The metaphor of yeast is connected with the image of Christ as the Paschal (or Passover) Lamb. In preparation for Passover, all yeast and leavened bread is cleared out of the house; after the feast new leavened bread is prepared. The Corinthians have failed to do the necessary “house cleaning,” both in their own hearts and within their community, and are therefore not properly celebrating the Paschal feast, begun with the sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb.
The report of the empty tomb proceeds in three stages that represent a progression of belief. First, Mary discovers that the stone has been rolled away from the tomb and assumes that Jesus’ body has been stolen. The second stage is the discovery by the Beloved Disciple, who enters the tomb and spies the burial cloths. The third stage is the entrance into the tomb by Peter, who not only sees the burial cloths but notes the detail that the head covering has been neatly rolled up and is separate from the others, an observation that suggests the body was not stolen, but rather that Jesus himself has removed them. We are told that the Beloved Disciple “saw and believed,” but that none of them yet understood that he had been raised from the dead. What the disciple believes at this point is that Jesus has conquered death. Only with the appearance of the risen Lord will he and the others come to believe in the Resurrection itself.