Hey All,
Here is my reflection for today - the second Sunday of Easter.
It is based on the Bible verses John 20: 18-31.
If anyone would like to visit, the page on my website is this: Daily Bible Verses Easter Season To Pentecost | Sunday Week 2 | Divine Mercy | Jesus To The Disciples | Doubting Thomas | King James Audio Bible KJV – Listen To the Bible! | King James Audio Bible | KJV | King James Version
It goes like this:
Jesus visits the disciples, where they meet in a locked house, to bring them faith and reassurance, and to entrust them with their evangelical mission to spread the good news about Christ throughout the world.
Christ’s is now a glorified body. A locked door is no obstacle to him. He is no longer bound by the limitations of space and time. In Luke’s Gospel, we are told how the disciples are, understandably, frightened by the appearance of Jesus. They think he must be a spirit. Now, to reassure the disciples and help them to know the truth of his resurrection, Jesus offers his body to them. This, he lets them see, is Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified and, as he promised, has risen from the dead. He repeats the traditional Jewish greeting: ‘Peace be unto you.’ Any fear, and any shame that the disciples must have felt at being disloyal to Jesus, are now dispelled and a friendly, intimate atmosphere established.
Jesus sends his disciples into the world by the same power with which he was sent from the Father. There is a handing on of apostolic mission. In the synoptic Gospels, the injunction is to teach. In Luke, for example, the disciples are told: ‘He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.’ John speaks of the conferring of the Holy Spirit and the power to forgive sins which Jesus bestows upon the disciples. Jesus breathes on the disciples, recalling the life-giving breath of God, in Genesis. We are invited, through all time, to turn to Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, knowing that when we are penitent we may be reconciled; Christ will draw us to him again with open arms.
Thomas’ doubting leads Christ to offer a special proof that his resurrection has truly happened, his risen body is quite real. Jesus visits the disciples again especially for Thomas’ sake. Now Thomas is invited to explore Christ’s very wounds. These are the injuries our sins have inflicted upon Christ, and Christ retains these marks of his great sacrifice. We know that, while Christ’s crucifixion took place two thousand years ago, this, with the resurrection, was the single saving event for all time. Thomas’ doubting leads to a resurgence of faith. In our time, as we hear of Thomas touching his Master’s body, our wounds of incredulity, when we doubt and faith falters, may be healed.
In what seems to have been meant as an original conclusion to the Gospel, chapter 21 having been added later, John explains his purpose in writing, which really expands on what Jesus has said to Thomas: ‘Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.’ We have been told about Christ’s life so that we may believe and be saved. We ask to receive God’s grace as we accept belief – that Jesus was and is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God. The signs have been handed down to us, so that we may live through Christ’s name.
‘Now you walk by faith, as long as you journey in this mortal body far from the Lord. But Jesus Christ towards whom you are moving is a sure way. He is this in his humanity which he took on for us. He has in reserve an abundance of sweetness for those fear him, which he will manifest and perfect in those who hope in him, when we shall receive in reality what we have now received in hope.’ St Augustine
Just as an extra, here is a YouTube video of Psalm 39. I've been putting some slide-show videos together working through my readings of the psalms. See if this works.....
Here is my reflection for today - the second Sunday of Easter.
It is based on the Bible verses John 20: 18-31.
If anyone would like to visit, the page on my website is this: Daily Bible Verses Easter Season To Pentecost | Sunday Week 2 | Divine Mercy | Jesus To The Disciples | Doubting Thomas | King James Audio Bible KJV – Listen To the Bible! | King James Audio Bible | KJV | King James Version
It goes like this:
Jesus visits the disciples, where they meet in a locked house, to bring them faith and reassurance, and to entrust them with their evangelical mission to spread the good news about Christ throughout the world.
Christ’s is now a glorified body. A locked door is no obstacle to him. He is no longer bound by the limitations of space and time. In Luke’s Gospel, we are told how the disciples are, understandably, frightened by the appearance of Jesus. They think he must be a spirit. Now, to reassure the disciples and help them to know the truth of his resurrection, Jesus offers his body to them. This, he lets them see, is Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified and, as he promised, has risen from the dead. He repeats the traditional Jewish greeting: ‘Peace be unto you.’ Any fear, and any shame that the disciples must have felt at being disloyal to Jesus, are now dispelled and a friendly, intimate atmosphere established.
Jesus sends his disciples into the world by the same power with which he was sent from the Father. There is a handing on of apostolic mission. In the synoptic Gospels, the injunction is to teach. In Luke, for example, the disciples are told: ‘He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.’ John speaks of the conferring of the Holy Spirit and the power to forgive sins which Jesus bestows upon the disciples. Jesus breathes on the disciples, recalling the life-giving breath of God, in Genesis. We are invited, through all time, to turn to Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, knowing that when we are penitent we may be reconciled; Christ will draw us to him again with open arms.
Thomas’ doubting leads Christ to offer a special proof that his resurrection has truly happened, his risen body is quite real. Jesus visits the disciples again especially for Thomas’ sake. Now Thomas is invited to explore Christ’s very wounds. These are the injuries our sins have inflicted upon Christ, and Christ retains these marks of his great sacrifice. We know that, while Christ’s crucifixion took place two thousand years ago, this, with the resurrection, was the single saving event for all time. Thomas’ doubting leads to a resurgence of faith. In our time, as we hear of Thomas touching his Master’s body, our wounds of incredulity, when we doubt and faith falters, may be healed.
In what seems to have been meant as an original conclusion to the Gospel, chapter 21 having been added later, John explains his purpose in writing, which really expands on what Jesus has said to Thomas: ‘Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.’ We have been told about Christ’s life so that we may believe and be saved. We ask to receive God’s grace as we accept belief – that Jesus was and is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God. The signs have been handed down to us, so that we may live through Christ’s name.
‘Now you walk by faith, as long as you journey in this mortal body far from the Lord. But Jesus Christ towards whom you are moving is a sure way. He is this in his humanity which he took on for us. He has in reserve an abundance of sweetness for those fear him, which he will manifest and perfect in those who hope in him, when we shall receive in reality what we have now received in hope.’ St Augustine
Just as an extra, here is a YouTube video of Psalm 39. I've been putting some slide-show videos together working through my readings of the psalms. See if this works.....
