The Second Sunday of Easter

When the temple police had brought the apostles, they had them stand before the council.” — The Acts of the Apostles 5:27

There is so much that could and should be said regarding the resurrection. First of all, one should be clear what one means when using the word resurrection. What is being referred to by this word? Simply life after death… or “going to heaven when one dies”… or…? Secondly, one should consider the sources used when discussing the resurrection—what kinds of texts are the Gospels? Or the other writings of the New Testament? One could or should also discuss how and in what ways the resurrection affects the lives of people today—why it matters and how it matters! This is all good ground to cover when one really wants to discuss the resurrection.

But I will be doing none of that this Sunday. 🙂 Rather, what I want to do is step back and, through the account given by Luke in The Acts of the Apostles, see how and in what ways the earliest followers understood and responded to the resurrection of Jesus. More specifically, I want to consider Peter’s defense before the Jewish High Priest and Council. I have no other motive this Sunday than to look back to the beginning and observe with fresh eyes what the resurrection of Jesus required of those earliest followers and how they responded. It is good from time to time to return to start and read our stories again. I hope you will join us this Sunday—see you then!