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Seventh Sunday of Easter

 

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, 16 "Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus— 17 for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry."

21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

Commentary on First Reading by Jacob Myers

Our lection today is the first recorded faith crisis of the Early Church: What to do with the betrayer, Judas.

We are not given access to the debates and deliberations that precede Peter's explication, but the first thing I notice in this text is that the time was ripe for a faith crisis.

Psalm 1

1 Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; 2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. 3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Commentary on Psalm by Mark Throntveit

"Why do they keep messing with my Bible?"

I chuckled at this exasperated question following an adult forum on Bible translations that I was leading in one of our local congregations. Upon asking for more specificity, I was deluged with the likes of "When did the Red Sea become the Reed Sea?"; "What's wrong with 'the Son of Man'?"; and "What are 'resident aliens,' anyway . . . immigrants?" to cite but three of many.

1 John 5:9-13

9 If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. 10 Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Commentary on Second Reading by Audrey West

1 John offers a Twitter version of John 3:16 as the central claim of this week's text: "God gave us eternal life, and this life is in God's Son." (1 John 5:11b).

The "open essay" (or perhaps a sermon, but certainly not a letter) of 1 John is written to encourage a community that is divided over the question of the humanity of Jesus.  Yes, Jesus' humanity.  That sounds a little odd in our day, where modern and post-modern questions are more likely to arise around the divinity of Christ.  Nonetheless, some of the members of the 1 John community have split off from the church, [apparently] denying that Jesus is the Christ (2:22) or that he came in the flesh (4:2-3).  The author is intent on encouraging those who remain that their confession of the earthly Jesus as the Christ and Son of God is true.

John 17:6-19

6 "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours.

Commentary on Gospel by James Boyce

The hour approaches and along with it the glory of both the Father and the Son as Jesus prays on behalf of those to whom the Father has authorized him to "give eternal life."

Consistent with this major Johannine theme (cf. John 3:16) this eternal life is that all those who have been entrusted to the Son should know the Father as the "only true God" and Jesus Christ as the one whom God has sent into the world (17:3)

San Juan 17:6-19

6 »He manifestado tu nombre a los hombres que del mundo me diste; tuyos eran, y me los diste, y han guardado tu palabra. 7 Ahora han conocido que todas las cosas que me has dado proceden de ti, 8 porque las palabras que me diste les he dado; y ellos las recibieron y han conocido verdaderamente que salí de ti, y han creído que tú me enviaste.

9 »Yo ruego por ellos; no ruego por el mundo, sino por los que me diste, porque tuyos son, 10 y todo lo mío es tuyo y lo tuyo mío; y he sido glorificado en ellos.

Comentario del Evangelio por Amaury Tañón-Santos

Tanto la narrativa juanina, como la línea de pensamiento que han venido desarrollando las lecciones evangélicas en el leccionario común revisado, nos ubican este domingo en una transición en la experiencia discipular de la iglesia.

La oración de Jesús por los creyentes en el capítulo 17 es la última escena del ministerio de Jesús antes de su pasión. El séptimo domingo del Tiempo Pascual es el último domingo antes de Pentecostés. Según el calendario litúrgico, Pentecostés es el preámbulo del Tiempo Ordinario, o el Tiempo de la Iglesia. Esta temporada litúrgica invita a la iglesia a ir al mundo a compartir el mensaje y las historias que hemos venido escuchando desde Adviento hasta el Tiempo Pascual, o el Tiempo después de la Resurrección. Visto de varias maneras – teológica, litúrgica, devocional y práctica – parece apropiado que Jesús haga una oración por aquellos/as a quienes va a enviar próximamente – sea a sus discípulos/as a una vida fiel y fortalecida en medio de la tribulación de la pasión, o a nosotros/as, a proclamar y vivir el evangelio.