Episcopal Church of the
Incarnation
The Seventh Sunday of Easter Day (Year B)
Acts
1.15-17, 21-26 Psalm
1 1 John 5.9-13 John 17.6-19
Acts
1.15-17, 21-26
1) This lesson comes from the opening chapter in Acts, immediately after Jesus has ascended into heaven, and now relates to the selection of a successor to Judas.
a) When Peter refers to the Holy Spirit speaking “through David,” he is referring to the Psalms (cf. similar usage by Jesus at Luke 20.42, and by Paul at Rom. 4.6).
b) Peter’s reference to the fulfillment of Scripture is laced with imperatives. He is referring not to an event which will happen by the direct action of God, but by actions to be undertaken by the disciples because God has commanded it.
c) The lectionary now inexplicably omits vv. 18-20, in which the death of Judas is described, and in which the Scripture Peter is referring to is cited!
2) Matthias is never mentioned again in the New Testament. That he is selected by the casting of lots is significant of the direct action of God.
a) When the disciples act on the basis of God’s command, He acts directly.
b)
Church Tradition teaches that Matthias died a martyr by
stoning, at Colchis (the city of the “golden fleece,” of Jason and the
argonauts fame, on the
Psalm
1
1) Psalm 1 is a Wisdom psalm serving as a preface to the psalter.
a) “Happy” (the opening word) represents a central teaching of Wisdom, that happiness results from obeying God.
1) The psalm is structured in two parts, each part being (in Hebrew) a chiasm.
a) A chiasm is a literary form in which verse or idiomatic parallels mirror each other, separated by other verses, in an overall parallel structure, such as:
A
B
C
C
B
A
2) The two parts here involve vv. 1-2 (the righteous man is diligent in the study of the Law) and vv. 5-6 (the wicked and their fate).
a) v. 3 is a simile of a tree, with v. 4 using the simile of chaff.
b) Therefore, the structure is: The righteous (A)
Simile (B)
Simile (B)
The wicked (A)
1
John 5.9-13
1) The revised lectionary’s separation of vv. 9-13 from vv. 6-8 makes no sense. In truth, vv. 6-12 are a unit (with 13 starting a final coda) which speak to God’s testimony to the Son, and that this testimony (as believed) is the basis of eternal life.
2) The testimony of God is greater (v.9). The apostle here refers to the disputes that have arisen regarding the Gospel, harking back to the list of witnesses in the Gospel (John 5.31-40; 8.14-19).
3) God is responsible to believers’ response to Jesus (cf. John 6.44; 10.3-4). Therefore, believers “have the testimony in their hearts” (v. 10).
4) Throughout the Gospel (e.g., at John 3.36; 5.24, 26; 6.57; 20.31) we hear that the Son has been sent o give life to those who believe. This is reiterated by the apostle in his first letter, as a reminder to a community of believers that wavers.
John
17.6-19
1) This lesson is taken from Jesus’ prayer for the disciples. The so-called “high priestly prayer” (all of ch. 17), is broken up to serve as the lesson in the seventh week of Easter, in all three lectionary years (A, B & C). Parallels can be noted with the Lord’s Prayer:
a) The fact that God is addressed as “Father”;
b) God is glorified and the Holy Name is invoked;
c) Doing the work of God is emphasized;
d) Jesus petitions that the disciples may be delivered from the “evil one” (in v. 15).
2) Throughout the gospel Jesus has said that His hour “is not yet come”. Now He says that it has!
a) He is glorified because He has completed the work of the Father.
b) He is glorified on the cross, saying “It is finished (accomplished” [the work].
c) He invokes the Father, that the Father may glorify Him, referring to His (Jesus’) glory before the world was created. This harks back to the beginning of the Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word ...”
3) In this glory, Jesus sends His disciples into the world, invoking the Father’s protection of those who serve.
a) Vv. 6-8 reverse the condemnations of unbelief from Jesus’ public ministry (8.23, 28, 58).
i) Just as believers have access to the Father by virtue of their love of and belief in the Son, it is made clear that Jesus’ prayer to the Father does not include the “world” that rejects Jesus (and thus God).