Third Sunday of Easter
Alleluia! Christ is truly risen! While most of the world has left Easter behind, we Catholics continue to celebrate the excitement and joy of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. This is our Third Sunday of Easter, and the Easter season is longer even than Lent – a good reminder to us of the importance of the resurrection for our Christian faith. The Christian life is not all about suffering or crucifixion. Ultimately, it is about resurrection, God’s victory over sin and death.
One of the themes of the Easter season is reflection on what happened AFTER the resurrection. Today’s readings, all taken from the New Testament (excepting the psalm), give us a few images of after the resurrection. In the gospel passage from John, we have the story of Jesus appearing to some of his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. When we think about why John would have included this story in his gospel, one immediate answer is that John wanted the readers of his gospel to understand that the risen Lord was real, not a ghost or a hallucination. This risen Jesus demonstrates his knack for the miraculous by guiding the disciples to catch an abundance of fish after an unsuccessful fishing night. But, perhaps more interesting, Jesus makes breakfast for them, and serves it to them. Yes, he is risen from the dead! But this Jesus is still their friend, who is concerned for them, and who expects much of them. At the end of this gospel passage we hear Jesus instructing Peter to care for “the flock,” of believers, even though it will ultimately entail great sacrifice for Peter.
In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we see that Peter has taken Jesus’ instructions to heart. Once cowardly enough to deny his friend and savior, Peter, along with other apostles, is now valiant in preaching the gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected, and he rejoices at the chance to suffer dishonor for Jesus. What a change! What a transformation! This is the beauty of Easter – from crucifixion to resurrection, from fear to courage! After the resurrection, we know that Jesus appeared to his friends and that they still strove to follow him.
The second reading is taken from the book of Revelation, most likely written by John, who wrote today’s gospel. Here we see depicted the worship of Jesus, the Lamb that was slain. Though this passage has mystical elements, including the vision of worshiping angels, elders, and every creature on earth, the passage provides an important clue as to how the early Church understood Christ. This slain lamb was their friend, who made them breakfast on the beach after his resurrection. But this slain lamb was (and is) also God, who is worthy of worship!
So we see that after the resurrection, the Church not only preached the gospel message, but they also worshiped Christ as God, alongside the angels, elders, and all creatures. So, after the resurrection... we remember that Jesus was a real, human person who continued to care for his disciples and to expect much of his apostles. We recognize that the disciples were transformed by their experience of the risen Lord and given the courage to spread faith in Jesus. And we see that they recognized Jesus as divine, worthy of worship, and this worship was an important part of who they were as believers.
As we go forth on this Third Sunday of Easter, we ought to keep all of this in mind, asking ourselves how we might be in need of an Easter transformation. Like the early Church, we should be so excited by Jesus’ resurrection that it affects all that we do, giving us courage to live the Christian life despite the sacrifices it entails. And today, and every day, we join with the early Church in worshiping Christ, the slain lamb who is our Lord, our God, our Redeemer, and Savior!
- Maria Morrow