Saturday of the Third Week of Easter 2024
Our readings this Paschal season from the Acts of the Apostles seem continuous, but there are many verses edited out for length. This week we have read about Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey into the area known as Asia Minor, and you may realize they have preached in the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia. Don’t let that confuse you with the previous Antioch, which is farther east on the Syrian coast, and is one of the big Christian congregations founded by the apostles. So here they are about to be run out of town. You only know why when you see the previous line from the prior Sabbath: “And when the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.” Today we hear about the next Sabbath. A lot has happened in the intervening week, hasn’t it? Opposition confronted Paul everywhere, but when they left, they left a Spirit-filled, Christ-filled congregation and went to Iconium, off to the southeast.
What did the Jews say that stirred up the whole town? We know from Acts that the Jewish leaders of the time were very hostile to what was called “the Way.” That’s the Church. It was making converts of both Jew and Gentile, especially among the poor and marginalized, the “wrong sort of people.” And the gifts of the Holy Spirit were active among them; that attracted many, particularly those needing better health. So the Jewish teachers had the story about the Resurrection of Christ–His disciples had stolen the body and lied about seeing Jesus. St. Matthew documents this falsehood, and refutes it simply enough: there was a Roman guard. The Jews had to cover that up with a series of bribes among the guards and the procurator. So the story persists. In time, the Christian story became accepted because the apostles yielded themselves up to torture and execution rather than give up the Resurrected Jesus as a lie. If Christ is not raised, Paul would write, then our faith is in vain. We sing it all through this season: Christ is risen from the dead, Alleluia. He is risen indeed, alleluia.
Now the Apostles preached appealing to the presence of Christ through the Holy Spirit. That follows their master, who showed them His Father by showing Himself and his wondrous works. The Apostles believed this, and believed Jesus’s words: “he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do.” Jesus returned to the Father, sent His Holy Spirit, the Spirit of them both, who empowered the Church to do wondrous works. We here are the twenty-first embodiment of those wondrous works. Our faith is a testament to the power of Christ for two thousand years.
