Sermon Tone Analysis

Title

It Is All About Jesus

Outline

When we read accounts of the resurrection or of miracles in the early church, it is easy to be distracted from the purpose

The purpose is to reveal Jesus as the living Lord

The purpose is to reveal the Church as his presence in the world through which flows divine mercy

The purpose is to make sure the right message is proclaimed

In other words, the resurrection is about Jesus and his mission and not about us and the benefits we may receive

The revelation on Patmos starts with a revelation of the reigning Jesus - it is not about John

In fact, John had nothing to do with it - God chose to catch him up in the Spirit one Sunday

God sovereignly reveals Jesus in a Temple setting (the lampstands) as a high priest (his dress)

He is revealed as God (as described in Daniel 7 and Ezekiel 1)

He is revealed as a ruler (the stars held in his hand; the sword), but not a worldly one (the sword comes from his mouth, is thus a Word, rather than being in his hand)

Of course John worships in awe, and the message is of the conquest of death and of eternal being, the foundation of divine mercy

When Jesus meets his disciples in the upper room, it is to commission them

It is not to give them a great experience, although he does calm their hearts with “Shalom”

He then makes them witnesses by showing them his hands and side

He continues by sending them in persona Christi “as the Father has sent me”

Then he gives them the Divine Spirit, which is the basis of their being able to forgive and retain sins: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

That is, they are dispensers of mercy.

The Thomas is not a reflection on Thomas’ character (other than that he was a man who wanted evidence for so great a claim) as much as it is showing the Apostles that being Christ-bearers and proclaiming Christ is not the way to social acceptance, for most will not get what Thomas received, being left with the words of witness.

Finally, when the disciples are witnessing in the Temple, it was not about their apostolic status

It was about the presence of the Lord in them - the Lord was visiting his Holy Temple

Thus “none of the others dared to join them” either out of the fear of the authorities who had done Jesus in or out of fear of a power that they did not understand or control

Yet the miracles drew people to Jesus, for they authenticated the message: “more than ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women, were added to them.”

They had been found by the God of mercy.

Later the community would become visible enough that the greatest miracle would authenticate the message: “See how they love one another.”

Sisters, let this be the watchword of all we do

It is not about us; it is about Jesus and his mission of mercy

That is true whether you teach wonderfully or scrub the endless tile floors in this building

That is why you contemplate Him and why he sometimes grants a vision of his merciful reality - we need to be fully identified with him so his mercy can flow through us into the world, since God generally works through human beings

That is why we do all that we do, so that we can become so filled with him that we become an alter Christus (all of us, even if it is focally applied to priests) and the world learns that he is alive and he does reign and that his reign is a reign of mercy

Readings

FIRST READING

Acts 5:12–16

12 Many signs and wonders were done among the people at the hands of the apostles.

They were all together in Solomon’s portico.

13 None of the others dared to join them, but the people esteemed them.

14 Yet more than ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women, were added to them.

15 Thus they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on one or another of them.

16 A large number of people from the towns in the vicinity of Jerusalem also gathered, bringing the sick and those disturbed by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.

RESPONSE

Psalm 118:1

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,

his mercy endures forever.

PSALM

Psalm 118:2–4, 13–15, 22–24

2 Let Israel say:

his mercy endures forever.

3 Let the house of Aaron say,

his mercy endures forever.

4 Let those who fear the LORD say,

his mercy endures forever.

13 I was hard pressed and falling,

but the LORD came to my help.

14 The LORD, my strength and might,

has become my savior.

15 The joyful shout of deliverance

is heard in the tents of the righteous:

“The LORD’s right hand works valiantly;

22 The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.

23 By the LORD has this been done;

it is wonderful in our eyes.

24 This is the day the LORD has made;

let us rejoice in it and be glad.

SECOND READING

Revelation 1:9–11a, 12–13, 17–19

9 I, John, your brother, who share with you the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos because I proclaimed God’s word and gave testimony to Jesus. 10 I was caught up in spirit on the Lord’s day and heard behind me a voice as loud as a trumpet, 11 which said, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

12 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest.

17 When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead.

He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid.

I am the first and the last, 18 the one who lives.

Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever.

I hold the keys to death and the netherworld.

19 Write down, therefore, what you have seen, and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

John 20:29

29 Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?

Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

GOSPEL

John 20:19–31

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

21 [Jesus] said to them again, “Peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit.

23  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

24 Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.

25 So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them.

Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”

28  Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?

Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book.

31 But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

Notes

SUNDAY, APRIL 24, 2022 | EASTER

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER