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Institute for Homiletics

A Collaboration of The Catholic Foundation and the University of Dallas

Year B

Scripture Study for

Peter stands as a witness to the Resurrection. His attitude toward his Jewish  compatriots is hardly a case of anti-Judaism. He is opposed to those who refuse  to accept Jesus as Messiah, not to the Jewish nation as a whole. His Christology  is rooted in the prophetic tradition of ancient Israel, employing language that is  reminiscent of the Suffering Servant tradition of Isaiah. He weaves various thematic threads together, reinterpreting earlier traditions, thus developing his own  Christian theology. The power of God to bring life out of death is the point of the  passage, not the assignment of blame for Jesus’ death. 

The major portion of the second reading goes beyond promotion of righteous  living. It offers encouragement for those times when believers stray from righteousness and do in fact sin. In these times, Jesus will be an advocate for them  before God. Jesus does not assume the role of comforter, a role traditionally  assigned to the Spirit. Rather, he is an intercessor, one who atones for the sins  of the world. The knowledge of God discussed here is experiential knowledge,  knowledge that results in a relationship with God. To know God is to love God.  Both knowledge and love of God manifest themselves in obedience to God’s  commandments. 

The risen Lord Jesus addresses a group of women and men with the customary  Jewish greeting: Peace be with you! They are terrified, for they think that they are  seeing a ghost. Jesus rebukes them for having doubts and then calls attention to  the marks of the nails in his hands and feet, demonstrating that it is really he. In a  final demonstration of his bodily reality, he eats a piece of cooked fish. Although  this is not the official ritual meal of the community, it may have eucharistic overtones. Having assured the disciples of his bodily resurrection, Jesus proceeds to  explain his suffering and death by turning to the scriptures. 

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A Time to Fathom

Can one “fathom” a mystery? “Fathom” derives from an Old English word  meaning “outstretched arms;” eventually it referred to the length from fingertip  to fingertip of arms opened wide. As a verb, it means to probe or penetrate in  order to understand. Granting the impossibility of ever coming to fathom the  Resurrection fully, I like the image of trying to reach out and put my arms around  this great mystery—or, better yet, to have the risen Christ put his outstretched  arms around me, drawing me into it more fully. 

Which brings us to Thomas. He is the original person who tried to fathom the  risen Christ, insisting that if his friends in the upper room wanted him to believe  what he could only think of as nonsense, he needed to touch the wounds of the  risen Lord. Jesus didn’t seem to have much of a problem letting him. 

We never learn whether Thomas did touch Jesus or not, but every second  Sunday of Easter we are told this story about Thomas and the risen Lord. It  encourages us to fathom the mystery that is our faith, to learn to penetrate it by  confessing Jesus as Lord and God, then allow this belief to flow out into our daily  activities, reaching out to embrace others. 

Don’t you think when Thomas left the upper room that day he knew that the  Resurrection was not something to keep to himself? That his whole being was  filled with the warmth and light absorbed from being in the presence of the risen  Lord? Is it possible that this can happen to us? 

Consider/Discuss

  • Have you begun to fathom the mystery of the Resurrection?
  • What does it mean to say, “My Lord and my God” and make that your  daily prayer over the coming weeks? 

Responding to the Word

Father of the only-begotten Son, send your Spirit upon us that we might know  more deeply the truth of your Son’s resurrection and allow it to penetrate our  lives. Deepen our faith, hope, and love so the world will know us even now as  children of the Resurrection.

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Scripture Study for

One of the best-known descriptions of the early Christian community states  some of its most highly prized values. The picture sketched is probably more  spiritually idealized than it is historically accurate. The principal values are unity  in mind and heart, the sharing of possessions, and apostolic witness. Unity of mind  and heart characterizes the Greek concept of friendship; sharing possessions is a  Jewish value. Thus communal harmony espouses values from both cultures. The  ideals of this community are noble. They hold out a way of life that might appear  to be an ideal, yet through the grace of the Resurrection is attainable. 

The reading from the Letter of John is a testimony to Trinitarian faith. It  describes God as the One who begets (the Father); it identifies Jesus as the Son  of God; and it credits the Spirit as the one who testifies to the triumph of Jesus’  death and resurrection. It also sketches the way believers participate in this  Trinitarian reality. The reading moves from faith and love to obedience. Jesus  alone shares in God’s own nature, and thereby can refashion women and men  into children of God. It is through faith in him that believers can conquer the evils  that threaten them. 

Two Resurrection appearances form a kind of diptych. Thomas is the hinge  that connects them. Absent for the first event, he is the central character of the  second. Thomas is less a doubter than the representative of Christians like us,  who are called to believe on the testimony of others. The faith required of him is,  in a way, more demanding than that required of those who actually encountered  the risen Lord. We may judge him harshly, but Jesus does not. Instead, he invites  Thomas to touch him, an invitation not extended earlier to the other disciples.  Thomas then declares that the risen Lord is God, a profession of faith that out strips that of the others.

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He Has Risen! Alleluia!

“This is the day the Lord has made! Alleluia!” the Church sings today. This  is the day that defines who we are as believers. If a belief in the resurrection of  Jesus from the dead is not at the top of your list of essential beliefs, then it is time  to go back to school for a little remedial Christianity. 

From the beginning this belief was what set the followers of Jesus apart from  their fellow Jews. Paul even provides a listing of those, including himself, who  had had an experience of the risen Lord (see 1 Corinthians 15:5–8). He goes on  to make the very clear statement, “If Christ has not been raised, our faith is vain;  you are still in your sins” (v. 17). 

Peter the denier became Peter the bold proclaimer of the risen Lord, first to  the crowds that gathered to hear him on Pentecost, then to the members of the  Sanhedrin, and then in the house of Cornelius the Roman centurion. Tradition  tells us the others also went about preaching and teaching that God had raised  Jesus from the dead. 

In the first three Gospels, angels or men dressed in white give the good news  of Jesus’ resurrection to the women who had come to the tomb. John’s Gospel  presents Mary Magdalene, who believes the body was stolen; Peter, who sees  only an empty tomb and the discarded wrappings; and the beloved disciple.  Only this last disciple “saw and believed.” He is the model of all who see with  the eyes of Easter faith—all who want to.

Consider/Discuss

  • With whom do you identify—Peter, Mary Magdalene, or the beloved  disciple? Why? 
  • Why does Paul say that if Christ has not risen, our faith is in vain? Do  you see the belief in the resurrection of Jesus as being at the heart  of our faith? 

Responding to the Word

All powerful, life-giving Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are not the first to  whom you have sent an angel, we are not the first to see the empty tomb or the  garments neatly folded, and still we say: Alleluia! We believe. Deepen our faith  in the resurrection of your Son, our Lord.

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Scripture Study for

Peter’s teaching regarding the Resurrection includes several important aspects.  Clearly a work of God, it is a genuine resurrection from the dead, not merely a  resuscitation. That it occurred three days after Jesus’ death is evidence of this.  That Jesus was seen by some, ate and drank with several of his followers, Peter  among them, demonstrates that the appearances of the risen Christ were genuine  physical experiences and not some kind of hallucinations. Finally, the fruits of the  Resurrection are both transformative and all-encompassing. Thus Peter explains  the mystery of Jesus in terms of prophetic expectation, reinterpreting earlier prophetic tradition and developing new religious insight. 

Set against the backdrop of ancient cosmology, the passage from Colossians  contains the fundamental teaching about the Resurrection and the way it transforms the lives of Christians. Christ rose from the dead and is now in heaven.  Enthroned there, Christ both enjoys God’s favor and, at God’s “right hand,”  bestows blessings on others and administers God’s righteousness. Having gone  through the death of human life, Christ has been raised to a new life. In a new  and total way, Christ’s being is rooted in God. Christians should now turn their  attention away from the things of this world and commit themselves to the things  of heaven. 

The Resurrection stories begin with a report of Mary Magdalene’s visit to the  tomb. No explanation for her visit is given. Details about the burial wrappings  are significant. They are still in the tomb, though the body is not. If the body  had been merely transported to another tomb, burial wrappings would still have  been needed and taken along. It is unusual that Resurrection faith would spring  forth from an experience of the empty tomb rather than from an appearance of  the risen Lord, but it is the case here. The reading ends on a curious note: they  did not understand the scriptures concerning the resurrection of Jesus.

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