"Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms."
ACTS 3:1-5
I am always amazed at the change we see in Peter as we read about him in the events after Easter and Pentecost. In the Acts of the Apostles, we see Peter healing the crippled man at the temple entrance called the Beautiful Gate. Is this not the same Peter that denied Jesus three times after His arrest? Is this the same Peter that warned Jesus that He must not submit to the elders, chief priests and scribes to undergo great suffering and be killed? No, the Peter we read about in Acts appears like a whole new person. He almost appears like a new Christ, or at least a person transformed by Christ. What has happened to create this change?
Could it be that his eyes have finally been opened to what Jesus was trying to teach him during the preceding three years? Could it be that he finally became aware, came to a new understanding of the Gospel message that Jesus was teaching?
In the Gospel story about the two disciples returning home to Emmaus after Jesus' death speaks about a similar transformation. We must remember that these are two of Jesus' very own disciples. They would have experienced many proofs of Jesus' wisdom and power during the previous three years of public life. On many occasions, Jesus had tried to prepare them for the shock of His arrest, trial and execution. He even told them about His resurrection. Despite all this, these two disciples failed to understand the core of the message. They failed to see Christ as He truly was during His time with them. They were so shaken up by the events that unfolded, the dashing of their hopes and plans, that their eyes were closed and their understanding impeded from seeing and experiencing the risen Christ walking with them. So again, with some patience and divine understanding, the message of salvation was again explained to them, and finally, during the breaking of the bread, their eyes were opened to see the Lord.
Life can be very confusing for all of us at times. We all have our own desires, opinions, expectations, fears, likes, dislikes; and often times these things make it difficult for us to see things clearly and make wise decisions. Moreover, the attitudes, opinions, and emotional needs of ourselves and others can often affect us in ways which prohibit us from seeing clearly. This is particularly true during our turbulent times of crisis in the church and religious life. It seems that we cannot pick up the daily newspaper without adding to the confusion. Yet, we can never forget that our true purpose is to bring Christ's light to the world, to open the minds and hearts of others. The world needs to be transformed, like Peter and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The eyes of the world need to be opened to the living presence of the Spirit among us.
And of course, we cannot do that if our own vision is impaired by the confusion of our present day crisis and the publicity it attracts.
As it says in Hebrews: "Christ (and His message) is the same yesterday, today, and in the future". It's a message that brings liberty to the captives, a new hope and salvation to those whose awareness and vision has been touched by the Spirit of truth. For those of us who have been awakened to Jesus' presence among us are truly blessed. With this comes the desire and obligation to share our discovery with others.
No comments:
Post a Comment