Of This We Are Witnesses ~ M. A. Allen

After the Resurrection, Jesus appeared several times to His Apostles and other friends. He wished to reassure them that He was really alive and not a ghost. He allowed them to touch Him so they would realize that He was flesh and blood. He proved it again in a different way by requesting food and eating it in front of them. They also recognized Him in the breaking of the bread.

We can guess that the Apostles had been frightened. Just like us, they needed Jesus in their lives. Just like us, they wanted to experience Him again as the Friend, the Healer, the Prophet, the Son of God they had believed in. But these Apostles had also seen Him cruelly crucified and dead and buried. What would happen now?

After Jesus appeared among them and they had touched His wounds and ate with Him, He then "opened their minds to understand the scriptures." They came to know in the depths of their being that He truly was no longer dead, but risen... and they were being called to witness to everyone that Jesus had been raised, not only in the spirit but in the flesh!

We see in the reading from The Acts of the Apostles how Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, declared that though Jesus had been put to death by the people and the elders, all was not lost. In this his first sermon, Peter offered hope to the people. God had raised Jesus Christ just as had been foretold by the prophets. That God would forgive the people as we ourselves can repent and be converted. Our sins washed away because our God loves us so much that He wants to live within us always.

What do we do now? We can't just keep this treasure only amongst ourselves. Anyone who has experienced the presence of God in their lives has to be a witness, just as Peter and the other Apostles were.

We've got to tell somebody!


~ The Third Sunday of Easter ~