March 23 , 2008
Commentary by Russell Pregeant |
See also: [2007] [2006] [2005] [2005] [2004] [2003] [2002] [2001]Sermons: [Nance 2006] [ Sauter 2003] John Cobb on atonement |
John 20:1-18 (or Mathew 28:1-10)
Colossians 3:1-4
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
Acts 10:34-43
The readings from Acts and Colossians provide powerful compliments to either of the gospel readings. No point in the Christian calendar lends itself more unambiguously to the theme of creative transformation than does Easter, and each of these passages in its own way offers the opportunity to stress the transformative power of the proclamation of the resurrection.
The passage in Acts begins with a declaration that God shows no partiality, but embraces persons from all nations—that is, that God’s mercy extends beyond the bounds of the chosen people to the entire Gentile world. The account of Peter’s brief speech completes the lengthy narrative of Peter’s encounter with Cornelius and serves as a bridge to the climactic reception of the Spirit in 10:44-48. The entire account, moreover, is a major turning-point in the larger narrative of Acts. For it sets the stage for the more programmatic mission to the Gentiles by Paul that dominates the latter chapters of the book. And this radical endorsement of God’s inclusiveness constitutes the “payoff” of the central aspect of the speech: the announcement in v. 40 that God has raised Jesus from the dead. We thus see that God’s decisive action has brought about a powerful transformation of the covenant with the people of Israel. Its blessings are now extended to all humanity everywhere.
Transformation is also at work in this passage in another way. The force of v. 40 is precisely to overturn the effects of what is recounted in v. 39: the forces of opposition to God’s will put Jesus to death, but God transformed their attempt to put Jesus’ mission to an end into a blessing. And this transformative act is also a vindication of the concrete aspects of Jesus’ ministry. That Jesus “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (v. 38) is a key element in the passage. He was able to do such things because “God was with him,” and the act of raising him from the dead is explicit testimony that he was in fact “the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.” God’s transforming power is thus at work both in Jesus’ deeds of compassion and in God’s validation of the one who performed them. And if God’s action is transformative, so also is the human witness to that action. It comes as no surprise that later in the story those who oppose Paul’s message of the resurrection accuse him and his entourage of turning the world upside down (17:6-7)—a potent form of transformation indeed!
The emphasis upon Jesus’ deeds in Acts 10:38 underscores the belief that one dimension of God’s transforming activity is the actual world of human events. And despite its cosmic references, the passage in Colossians entails a similar affirmation. In keeping with the author’s tendency to treat salvation as present, the injunction to “set your minds on things that are above” rests upon the premise that those in Christ have already been raised with him. This emphasis on realized eschatology contrasts with Paul’s view in the undisputed letters that although justification is a present reality, salvation lies in the future. Note, for example, that in Romans 6:1-6 Paul carefully avoids speaking of resurrection as present but is clear that “newness of life” is available in the now. By either account, however, the point is that to be “in Christ” is to have one’s life dramatically transformed. Thus a new way thinking, of regarding life and the world, is possible: one can set one’s mind on the “things that are above.” Although some might hear in this injunction a rejection of anything having to do with life in the world, such a reading is undermined by 3:12-17, where the author enjoins the readers to virtues that have everything to do with actual life in community: kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and love. These are in fact the fruits of lives that are transformed by existence in Christ.
In the reading from John, Mary Magdalene—in one of several accounts of faith-journeys in this gospel—is transformed by her encounter with Jesus in dramatic fashion. At first distressed by the absence of the body in the tomb, Jesus’ pronouncement of her name triggers her recognition of him and hence gives rise to faith. And she makes that faith complete by obeying Jesus’ instruction and witnessing to the disciples about what she has seen. The journeys of Peter and the Beloved Disciple, however, do not reach completion in this reading. V. 8 indicates that the latter “saw and believed,” but we hear nothing about Peter’s reaction. In v. 9, moreover, the narrator notes that neither disciple at this point understands “the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” And v. 10, which tells us only that they “returned to their homes,” is conspicuously lacking in a parallel to Mary’s witness to the others. The reader is thus left to imagine a more complete faith/understanding when Jesus appears to the twelve in vv. 19-23 and sends them out in mission in the power of the Spirit he breathes upon them. And, in fact, Chapter 21 suggests that it is only in a later appearance in Galilee that some of the disciples—most notably Peter himself—become fully engaged in the mission. We are thus treated to variations in the process of transformation: for Mary it is instantaneous, but for others—most notably Peter—it comes in stages. And if we throw in the story of Thomas’s initial doubt for good measure (20:24-29), in some cases it entails the overcoming of internal resistance.
In Matthew’s much simpler account, Mary Magdalene, accompanied by Mary the mother of James and Joseph (see 27:25), encounter an angel in the empty tomb who testifies to the resurrection and commissions the women to tell the others and to have them meet him in Galilee. When, on the way to fulfill their task, they meet the risen Jesus, he reiterates the message that they disciples should come to Galilee but now supplements it with a promise: “there they will see me.” The transformation in this story has to do largely with the transition from fear to boldness on the part of the women. The angel’s reassuring words in 28:5 presuppose that the women, like the guards, are initially afraid; but in v. 8 we find that their fear is now accompanied with “great joy” as they run to carry out their commission. And when Jesus himself tells them not to be afraid, we must assume that his words have the desired effect; for in the end, the disciples do in fact meet him in Galilee. And although our reading ends before that meeting, the very fact of Jesus’ command presupposes the transformative power that the message of the resurrection will have upon the companions who deserted him in the face of his arrest.
Russ Pregeant is professor of religion and philosophy, and chaplain emeritus, at Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts. He is the author of several books in New Testament studies, including Matthew, in the Chalice Commentaries for Today series. His newest book is Knowing Truth, Doing Good: Engaging New Testament Ethics (Fortress Press, 2008).
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