Lectionary Reading in Acts for the Season of Easter 3C

The following three reading in the book of Acts include Peter and the apostles encounter with the religious authorities (Easter 2), Saul of Tarsus divine call (Easter 3), and Peter's healing of Tabitha (Easter 4).

ACTS 9:36-43

³⁶Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. ³⁷At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. ³⁸Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, "Please come to us without delay." ³⁹So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. ⁴⁰Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up." Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. ⁴²This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. ⁴³Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.

The reading for Easter 4 picks up with Peter's healing of Tabitha (Dorcas) who was a devout Christian devoted to works of charity.  This demonstrates the long held Christian tradition of connecting our faith with our works.  This has been a long controversy between Catholic Christians and Protestant Christians about the place of faith/works in our salvation.  What cannot be denied however, is that Christians are called to live out their faith as an essential part of our salvation.   Salvation comes as a gift of grace from God, but it is out of a heart of gratitude that we turn to love and serve in the power of the Holy Spirit.  This story illustrates this truth.  Tabitha had a ministry it appears possibly making clothes and tunics.  We hear little of either Peter or Tabitha, (except Peter's command "Get up") but what do we hear is that after the miracle "it became known throughout Joppa and many believed in the Lord."

ACTS 9:1-6 (7-20)

¹Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest ²and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ³Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" ⁵He asked, "Who are you, Lord?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ⁶But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."⁷The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. ⁸Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. ⁹For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He answered, "Here I am, Lord." ¹¹The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, ¹²and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." ¹³But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; ¹⁴and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name." ¹⁵But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; ¹⁶I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." ¹⁷So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." ¹⁸And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, ¹⁹and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, ²⁰and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."

There is no question that Saul of Tarsus is a significant leader in the early church.  Easter 3C brings his call as the focus of the reading.  Saul was committed to following God and God's law.  However, in his own haste to keep God's law, he failed to understand one of the most important aspects, to love God with all our heart and soul and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Raging against tie new start of group known as "The Way", Saul of Tarsus is determined to stamp out the fledging Jesus movement.  He was likely very aware of the implications of the teaching that was proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah and Christ.  However, Saul's persecution of the church is cut short by a heavenly vision in which Paul is not so much converted as converted and called to take the very message he detests to the world.

ACTS 5:27-32

²⁷When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, ²⁸saying, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man's blood on us." ²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than any human authority. ³⁰The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. ³¹God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. ³²And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him."

It is easy for Christians today as a modern or post-modern audience to forget that the Easter message does not come to us as individual Christians being asked to believe or accept Jesus into our hearts and lives.  Although this is certainly part of the message, as stated in the above reading repentance and forgiveness of sins, one word is often missed; Israel.  The message of the Good News is that the gates have been opened to God's covenant that has allowed all the world to enter into the family of God.  This is not to say that gentiles have in the past not been converted or demonstrated faith in the God of Israel.  The Acts of the Apostles is a continuation of the Gospel of Luke, and a theme in Luke has been the inclusion of the gentiles in the kingdom of God.  That salvation has come to the gentiles is a common theme in Luke's gospel, Acts continues the story.  This message is now being decimated at such a rate that the religious authorities complain that "you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching!"  This will have enormous implications, tensions will rise and questions regarding the relationship of the law for new gentile converts will tear the church into factions.  The questions that is raised will revolve around the requirements for being the people of God.  For Christians, one question is centered around faith in Jesus as the central question and the place of dietary laws and circumcision?  For now, the apostles having been commissioned by Jesus continue the proclamation of God's grace and mercy in Jesus Christ as the entrance into the covenant community of the people of God, baptism as the sign of the covenant which is universal in its application, the communion meal as instituted by Christ.