Wednesday in the Octave of Easter
God Raised Him Up!
The reading from Acts today depicts Peter and John raising up a man crippled from birth. Peter is quick to say that it is “in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean” that this miracle is possible. That man’s lifelong physical disability represents our lifelong spiritual disability: we cannot progress toward God without a miracle, without God giving us the power to rise and walk. God raised Jesus up, not that Jesus might live, for he was eternally alive with the Father, but that we might live.
The first disciples of Jesus realized that his death and resurrection were intended by God for their sake. The resurrection is not merely the account of what happened to Jesus; it is the account of what God has done for us. This is beautifully portrayed in the gospel story of Jesus meeting the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Jesus does not reproach them for fleeing Jerusalem, nor does he try to convince them that he is the one they knew had died. Rather, he quietly and anonymously accompanies them in their sorrow and confusion, interprets the scriptures about the Messiah, and ultimately reveals himself in the breaking of bread. The encounter on the road is not a reunion of master and disciples but a union of believers with their Redeemer. They come to that union by faith in him—a faith that prompts them to rush back and tell the others.
Jesus reveals himself as God’s Son and our savior every time we read the scriptures and every time we celebrate the Eucharist. He gives himself completely to us and to the world, and asks no less from us, not reproachfully or harshly but warmly as he did on the road and at the table in Emmaus.
Reflection by Abbot Benedict Neenan, OSB
Posted in Article for Easter, Daily Reflections