A Day to Believe In

Peter traces the scope and the spread of the gospel. He states that the power of Jesus’ ministry flowed from his having been anointed by God with the Holy Spirit. It was in and through this power that he performed good works. Peter himself was a witness to all of these wonders. Although Jesus’ ministry began with his baptism by John, it continues through people like Peter who are commissioned to preach the gospel and to bear witness to it. The power of the Resurrection is open to all who believe in Jesus. This is truly good news to the Gentiles. 

The short passage from Colossians contains the fundamental teaching about the Resurrection and the way the death and resurrection of Christ transform the lives of Christians. It contrasts the world above (heaven) and the world below (earth). Having risen from the dead, Christ is now in the realm of heaven. True Christian behavior flows from belief in this reality. Joined with Christ, believers are already with Christ in God. This is not merely a dimension of Christians’ future expectation, it is an already-accomplished fact. They have not left this world, but they are summoned to be attentive to the things of another world. 

The Gospel reading’s reference to darkness rather than the dawn of a new day may be the author’s way of incorporating the light/darkness symbolism. The stone had been moved from Jesus’ tomb and Mary of Magdala presumed that his body had been taken away. She seems to have entertained no thought of his resurrection. She ran off to tell Peter and “the other disciple,” an example of how Jesus’  disciples did not understand the scriptures concerning his resurrection. They would need both a Resurrection experience and the opening of their minds to the meaning of the scriptures. Neither Mary, probably Jesus’ closest female disciple,  nor Peter, the leader of the Christian community, nor “the other disciple” grasped the truth of the Resurrection.