Weekly Scripture Reflections
May 2, 2007-Easter 4
Fourth Sunday of Easter
Cycle C
Readings: Acts 13:14, 43-52; Psalm 100; Revelation 7:9, 14b-17; John 10:27-30
God’s gracious promise of eternal life to all links our Scripture readings this weekend.
According to John’s Gospel, Jesus, the Risen Shepherd-Leader of the Christian faith community, gives eternal life to all those who hear his voice. He knows those who follow him and safeguards them, never allowing them to perish. “No one can take them out of my hand.”
John, in the Revelation reading, enjoys a glorious vision of those who are already experiencing this promised eternal life: “a great multitude . . . from every nation, race, people and tongue.” Here the Risen One is the “Lamb who is in the center of the throne” . . . the one who “will shepherd them,” leading the faithful to “springs of life-giving water” . . . and wonderfully, like a parent, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
And then we have Paul and Barnabas in Acts, faithful to the mission of Jesus Christ, offering this promise of eternal life when they visit a synagogue in Antioch. Some Jews and converts to Judaism welcomed their words of salvation right away, but Paul and Barnabas also experienced resistance and rejection from some others from the Jewish tradition in the forms of jealousy and violent abuse. Intimidating as this must have been, as followers of the Risen Shepherd, Paul and Barnabas willingly accepted persecution for the sake of the gospel. Undaunted and bolstered by the Spirit, they continued preaching and in the process, the Spirit of God reminded them of the Lord’s command: “I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth.” In the face of the refusal of some, Paul and Barnabas boldly announce: “we now turn to the Gentiles.” This “turn” to preach eternal life in Jesus to the whole world . . . and not only to the Jews . . . was a critical moment of conversion in the early church. Welcoming newcomers who not only didn’t embrace the same religious traditions and customs of the first Jewish Christian converts but who also had sometimes persecuted the Jews socially and politically was, no doubt, a most difficult challenge. This inclusion of the Gentiles, offering them eternal life in Jesus the Christ, resulted in conflicts and divisions among the early Christians. But still the point of conversion was clear: the Christian gospel has a universal, inclusive outreach: both Jews and Gentiles are invited into its embrace.
Similar challenges continue in our faith communities today. Who are the current “outsiders” that our God invites to eternal life? Are we willing collaborators with our Risen Shepherd, radically welcoming all people into our love and respect? Do we really believe that this offer of salvation is also for people who are the minorities among us, or the divorced, or those who are gay or lesbian? Who are the “others” that we conveniently overlook or would prefer not to invite to eternal life? What is the quality of our cooperation with God’s Spirit in this matter? Is it reluctant, judgmental and guarded? Or generous, joyful and free?