Once more our first lesson is from Acts a passage immediately following the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. His words in Act_2:22 and following amount to a creed in the same manner as Jewish tradition invokes Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses.
Since he was speaking to a Jewish Audience Peter invokes King David the passages he refers to coming from Psalms attributed to David.
E.g. Act_2:27 and Act_2:31 :
Psa 86:13 For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
And indeed our Psalm is number 16 another so quoted. A Michtam is a prayer.
The Epistle is addressed to believers who, though they may not have been witness to Jesus and his resurrection in the flesh believe and in so doing share in his salvation and the resurrection of their souls.
The Gospel finds the Disciples gathered in fear behind locked doors to comfort one another in their mourning. The Risen Lord appears to them and makes effort to prove that it is he. To men still in shock he declares:
Joh 20:21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you."
Joh 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
Joh 20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld."
Next we have the tale of Doubting Thomas which leads to the declaration:
Joh 20:29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
And these final verses:
Joh 20:30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
Joh 20:31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
And almost as an after-thought Chapter 21 follows ending with much the same words.
Todays theme then is quite clear. In the sharing of Word and Sacrament we are partakers of Jesus Death and Resurrection and in so believing share in the Salvation it represents. We may not have been physically present to see these events but we share in them in Spirit. That same Spirit indwells in us as well and the commission Jesus gave his Disciples in John is ours as well.
Verse 23 is the basis of Luther's Keys of the Kingdom.
Since he was speaking to a Jewish Audience Peter invokes King David the passages he refers to coming from Psalms attributed to David.
E.g. Act_2:27 and Act_2:31 :
Psa 86:13 For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
And indeed our Psalm is number 16 another so quoted. A Michtam is a prayer.
The Epistle is addressed to believers who, though they may not have been witness to Jesus and his resurrection in the flesh believe and in so doing share in his salvation and the resurrection of their souls.
The Gospel finds the Disciples gathered in fear behind locked doors to comfort one another in their mourning. The Risen Lord appears to them and makes effort to prove that it is he. To men still in shock he declares:
Joh 20:21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you."
Joh 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
Joh 20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld."
Next we have the tale of Doubting Thomas which leads to the declaration:
Joh 20:29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
And these final verses:
Joh 20:30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
Joh 20:31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
And almost as an after-thought Chapter 21 follows ending with much the same words.
Todays theme then is quite clear. In the sharing of Word and Sacrament we are partakers of Jesus Death and Resurrection and in so believing share in the Salvation it represents. We may not have been physically present to see these events but we share in them in Spirit. That same Spirit indwells in us as well and the commission Jesus gave his Disciples in John is ours as well.
Verse 23 is the basis of Luther's Keys of the Kingdom.
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