Chrystus Zmartwychwstał
Prawdziwie zmartwychwstał!
Christ is risen
Truly He is risen! Alleluia
—We gave you strict orders, did we not,
to stop teaching in that name?
Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching
and want to bring this man’s blood upon us.—
Everybody is worried about Jesus.
The Sanhedrin, which had persecuted Jesus and had sought His death were concerned. They were obviously not believers. They figured that Jesus was just another dead crazy man or con artist, another of a group of Messiahs that showed up at the gates of Jerusalem on a regular basis.
They thought they were rid of Him, but here are these crazy Galilean fishermen, with their crude ways, and funny accents, talking Him up. And people believe them!
It’s enough to make the most diehard politician crazy.
I was on a train, returning from New York City this past Tuesday. The people behind me were having one of those conversations.
Why do people talk about Jesus so much? You know, as long as you’re good and fair, and live as you see fit, everything is ok. Why do I have to hear about Jesus?
The Sanhedrin lives in all those who find their shared mission in telling people to shut up about Jesus already.
But Peter and the apostles said in reply,
—We must obey God rather than men.”
And that’s the point, but not like you might think.
The —Christians— of this country and many parts of the world, and I put the word —Christian— in quotation marks, have done more than enough to sully the name of Jesus.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. You know them. They are the folks who espouse the Republican, Democrat, or Green Party Jesus, the gun loving Jesus, the warmonger Jesus, the gay Jesus, the non-drinking Jesus, or the wine loving Jesus. They are the folks who tell the world about the Jesus made in their image, the Jesus who loves them because of their sinfulness.
—We must obey God rather than men.”
Yesterday we happened to commemorate St. Anselm of Canterbury, a great saint and the father of scholasticism.
For those unfamiliar, scholasticism literally means “that [which] belongs to the school.” It is a method of learning taught by academics in medieval universities between 1100 and 1500. It is not a philosophy or theology in itself, but a tool and method for learning that puts emphasis on dialectical reasoning, i.e., point, counter-point arguments used to reason out an answer to a question.
One of Anselm’s famous quotes was:
—I hold it to be a failure in duty if after we have become steadfast in our faith we do not strive to understand what we believe.—
The Apostles had that down. Their knowledge came from Jesus Christ who was their teacher. Their strength and courage came from the Holy Spirit. All their gifts came from God. They understood Who they believed in.
What the Apostles had, and what St. Anselm understood was that our argument for Christ is rooted in faith. Our faith is strengthened by our leaning about Christ. Our honesty comes from proclaiming Christ not as we see Him, but as He is.
Listen to Peter’s testimony before the Court:
—We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus,
though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree.
God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior
to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.
We are witnesses of these things,
as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.—
God raised Jesus from the dead though He had died by crucifixion. Jesus sits in the place reserved for the Son, the right hand of God. He is exalted. Salvation is through Him. He grants all of us repentance and forgiveness of sins. We saw it. The Holy Spirit saw it, and His gifts are given to all who obey God.
Pretty simple in content, deep in message, no fluff.
Today is about witnesses and a message. It is the clear, concise, boiled down message of Jesus Christ.
Brothers and Sisters,
Begin in faith, study what He teaches. Take the example of the Apostles, certainly not poets. These simple words are the food that is ever before us. Simple words that are an unending fountain of riches. We will never get enough.
Repent of your sins and you have forgiveness. Acknowledge Me as what I am. Obey Me and you obey the Father. You have the gift of the Holy Spirit to carry out your work.
There is no Jesus of mixed messages and muddled metaphors. He has one simple question:
Do you love me?
Please stand and join me in saying the words that fill our hearts right now:
—Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.—
