Br. John R. Barker, OFM

Jan 27 2025

Scripture Study for

The story of the early church takes another dramatic turn with the baptism of Cornelius and other Gentiles. Cornelius was a Roman centurion who is described as “devout and God-fearing,” or a “God-fearer,” a term that describes a non-Jew who accepted Jewish monotheism and even attended synagogue. Before the scene in today’s reading, Cornelius had received a vision in which he was told to send men for Peter. Before they arrive, Peter has had a vision in which he comes to understand that it is God’s will that the Christian proclamation extend to the Gentiles. The Lectionary reading omits Peter’s brief summary of the Christian kerygma, during which the Holy Spirit falls upon the Gentile listeners (see the first reading from Easter Sunday). The charismatic gifts of speaking in tongues and glorifying God give proof to Peter that God has indeed called Gentiles into the Christian fold.

The emphasis in the reading from First John is on the priority of God’s love for us, the foundation of everything. This love has been made most clearly manifest in the person of Jesus, whose very presence in the world, and whose salvific death, give incontrovertible proof of God’s love. Those who are “of the world” (4:5) do not recognize this gift of the Son and therefore do not know God’s love. And if they do not know God’s love, they do not know God, who is love. As John has said many times already, those who truly know and love God are “begotten by God,” and as such are (imperfect) images of God who, like God, love others.

This week’s Gospel is a continuation of last week’s, in which Jesus referred to himself as the true vine and exhorted his disciples to “remain in me.” Jesus develops this theme now by explaining that to remain in him is to love him, and to love him is to obey his commandment. Once again, the relationship between Jesus and his disciples reflects the relationship between the Father and the Son. To love Jesus is not just to obey him, but to imitate him, specifically his sacrificial love. Those who truly remain in Jesus cannot help but become like him, which means those who remain in Jesus will be his image in the world.

Jan 27 2025

Scripture Study for

The reading from Acts this week takes place after the baptism of Saul, who has begun to preach the gospel, to the astonishment of those who had known him as a persecutor of Christians and to the consternation of some of the Jews, who conspire to kill him (9:1–25). Given his past, it is understandable that when Saul arrives in Jerusalem the disciples are leery of him. Barnabas, whose reputation among them must have been good, vouches for him, and Saul gives further evidence of his sincerity by his “bold” proclamation of Jesus as the Son of God (9:20) and his debates with the Greek-speaking Jews. Now that Saul has stopped persecuting the church, it can enjoy a period of peace, consolidation, and growth.

John has continued to exhort his audience to love God and one another, even to the point of laying down their lives for each other in imitation of Jesus (1 John 3:16). Those in whom God’s love abides show that love through their actions; love expressed in words alone cannot be true love. When one acts in love, however, then one “belongs to the truth,” and may stand with confidence before God. This confidence in God’s good will toward those who belong to the truth is grounded in the knowledge that they are obedient to God, which itself is a sign that they “remain in him, and he in them,” a mutual indwelling that is attested by the Spirit.

Like that of the Good Shepherd, the image of Jesus as “the true vine” is drawn from the Old Testament. In Sirach 24:16–17, Wisdom says that “I spread out my branches . . . I bud forth delights like a vine.” And Isaiah 5:1–7 is just one of several passages that refer to Israel as the vineyard of the Lord. Jesus as the true vine is both tended by the Father (making him the embodiment of God’s people) and the source of life for Christians. Just as God tends the vineyard of Israel, so God “prunes” the church through the “word” of Christ, whose teachings and actions form God’s people. Just as Jesus remains in the Father and the Father remains in him, so it is for Jesus’ disciples, whose very lives are truly dependent on remaining in Jesus.

Jan 27 2025

Scripture Study for

This week’s first reading continues from last week. After Peter has declared that the lame man was healed through the power of Jesus, the religious leaders have Peter and John arrested for teaching and proclaiming resurrection of the dead in Jesus (4:1–3). Now they question Peter, who responds by ironically wondering aloud that he and John have been dragged before the authorities for doing a good deed, a point that highlights the parallel between the apostles and Jesus himself, who was also interrogated after doing good deeds. Peter then repeats that it was in the name of Jesus that the man was healed. All salvation (healing, forgiveness, well-being, deliverance) comes only through Jesus.

In his First Letter, John has been exhorting his audience to follow God’s commandments. He has also assured them that if they do sin, yet “abide in Christ,” they will be saved because in Christ believers have been made children of God. The world, that is, that aspect of human society that is opposed to God, does not recognize this great dignity in Christians, and Christians themselves may have difficulty recognizing their own status as God’s children. Just as a human child is like the parents and also the siblings, so children of God are growing into the likeness of God and of Christ. This reality is still obscure, but one day this perception will become clear, and then Christians will see more clearly who they themselves are, as children of God and siblings of Christ.

The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd has deep roots in the story of Israel. The metaphor of shepherd was standard for kings and religious leaders, who were expected to guide Israel in the ways of God, and thus protect them from spiritual and social harm. In Ezekiel, God accuses the shepherds not only of leaving the people at the mercy of the wolves, but of ravaging them themselves. In response, God promises to shepherd the people himself (34:1–31). Jesus, then, is taking up this divine role, to the point of even laying down his life for the sheep, rather than allow them to stray or suffer. Jesus also alludes to the fact that God’s flock is not confined to Israel, and that one of Jesus’ tasks is to unite all of God’s flock into one under his (Jesus’) care.

Jan 27 2025

Scripture Study for

The first reading, which features one of several kerygma-based speeches in Acts, follows the healing of a lame man by Peter and John, to the astonishment of onlookers. Peter responds by asking the crowd why they are so amazed, as if Peter and John themselves had performed the cure. No, he says, it was by faith in the name of Jesus that the man was healed. The healing, then, is proof of the truth of the proclamation Peter makes about Jesus. Peter also pointedly remarks that, although the people and their leaders acted out of ignorance in crucifying Jesus, they can no longer claim such ignorance. Just as Jesus announced the reign of God and called for repentance, so now Peter announces the Good News of Christ and calls for repentance.

The First Letter of John begins with an exhortation to accept the message that “God is light” and that only those who walk in the light have fellowship with God (1:5–6). To walk in the light means to turn away from sin and accept God’s forgiveness in Christ. Only those who fail to recognize their need for forgiveness can block this gracious action of God; all others can be assured not only of forgiveness, but that they have Jesus as their Advocate. There can be no greater assurance of being in fellowship with God. John emphasizes that living in fellowship with Christ is above all a practical matter. “Knowing” Christ means obeying his commandments, and obedience to Christ is the royal road to love of God.

Immediately before the present Gospel account, the disciples who encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus returned to Jerusalem to tell their story to the Eleven (24:33). Now Jesus suddenly appears in their midst, greeting them with peace. Their terror at seeing what they think is a ghost reflects doubt in the possibility that Jesus has indeed been raised from the dead, hence his invitation to “touch me and see,” and the pointed statement that he ate, something ghosts do not do. The Gospel accounts agree that Jesus’ resurrection was physical, although they are equally clear that his is a transformed physicality. Now that Jesus’ work on earth has been done, it is time for his followers to preach both repentance and forgiveness, not just to Israel, but to “all the nations.”

Jan 27 2025

Scripture Study for

The reading from Acts highlights two related aspects of the early Christian community. First, we are told that the community was “of one heart and mind,” living precisely as a community holding everything in common, rather than as a collection of individuals. The last sentence returns to this idea, emphasizing that everyone contributed to the common fund; no one among them went without. Between these two notices is the comment that the apostles “bore witness to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” Rather than disrupt the theme of the common life, this statement holds it together, suggesting that the impetus for this new social structure was the new life found in Christ. This itself called for a new way of living among those who would call themselves disciples.

In his First Letter, John explores the mutual relationships between Christ and God, between Christ and believers, and between believers and God, all of which inform each other in a complex “abiding,” one of John’s favorite words (4:13–21). Just before this reading, he has stated that “whoever loves God must also love his brother” (4:21). When we love God, we can love those whom God has begotten because, when we are begotten by God, we receive or are strengthened in our faith. Through faith in Christ, one is both begotten by God and enters a circle of love, in which we love God and through that love, love our neighbor and, in loving our neighbor, we thus fulfill God’s commandments, which is what it means to love God.

Eight days after his resurrection, Jesus returns to his disciples, who have hidden themselves away from the world out of fear. During his passion, death, and now even his resurrection, the most dominant trait of most of Jesus’ closest associates has been fear. Yet now, in his moment of victory, Jesus speaks not a word of reproach or condemnation. Instead, he twice speaks a word of peace and then shows that he still has faith in them. This faith is not grounded in their native abilities or in their spiritual strength, but in the power of the Holy Spirit. The essence of the mission is to proclaim forgiveness, which the apostles have now received. Both the experience of forgiveness and the power of the Spirit equip the apostles to go out into the world to proclaim Christ.