Acts 9:36-43
Earlier in Acts, Peter had great success in turning the hearts of his Jewish listeners to Jesus through his first speech. (Acts 2:37-42) then Peter visits the coastal plain and heals a man named Aeneas and, through this healing, converts a whole area, “who turn to the Lord.” (Acts 9:32-35) So, through word and action, the Christian mission is expanding among the Jews of Jerusalem and the surrounding region. Our reading follows this story of the healing of Aeneas, with Peter responding to a cry for help. In our story today we gain a glimpse of the humanity of those involved in the story. Often, as in the case of the healing of Aeneas, the narration of the miracle is terse and to the point. And because of this, we often miss that a healing or other miracle like this comes after a tragedy that deeply affected those around. (Not only the one healed.) And because the story is usually told so matter-of-factly, we miss the human element. But in this story, we are provided a window into the grief of ordinary people. We are told of Tabitha’s good works, and those who grieve show Peter the evidence of this. They loved this woman. After she dies, they lay her in an upstairs room. (As was the custom.) We glimpse a real life here. And through Peter, Jesus gives her life. (It is important to note that Peter does not have life in himself – the power is that of Jesus.)
Rev 7:9-17
Immediately prior to the section that we are reading, the tribulations of history are in full swing. (Rev 7:1-8) But there is a short respite before the tribulations continue, to allow time for the servants of God to be marked and sealed on their foreheads. And the number who were sealed were 144,000, with 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, including, significantly, the ‘lost tribes’ of Israel. (See Jeremiah 31:8) This number, constituted by multiples of the symbolic number twelve, represents the fullness of the reconstituted and renewed people of God. “Israel” is first used in Revelation here at verse 4; the chosen ones are gathered and sealed with the blood of the Lamb. Another, and final, Exodus is underway in the vision.
And then we arrive at our reading today. John sees a vast multitude, too great to count, from every nation and language. (Interacting with Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-11) While it might seem confusing that there are two accounts of the redeemed, they play into each other. The vocation of Israel (see Genesis 12:1-3) is fulfilled in the renewed twelve tribes of Israel, called from every nation and language. (And we are reminded of Jesus calling twelve Apostles to symbolise the renewed twelve tribes of Israel, and through these apostles, the renewed people of God would include Jews and Gentiles.)
We are still witnessing the liturgy of heaven. The people of God are worshipping at the throne, with robes and palms reminiscent of worship in the (recently destroyed) Temple in Jerusalem. We are told that the worshippers have come through the great ordeal, purified by the blood of the Lamb. John is giving his listener/reader (including us) a vision of ourselves with God and the Lamb in the kingdom (to come, yet also strangely here). In this Kingdom there will be no more tears, and the Lamb will guide us to “springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” This is the message: Rejoice and have confidence that God is working on our behalf for the fulfillment of the Kingdom.
John 10 :22-30
What do you use to identify who and what God is? One ancient way is by the things that God does. If the one you are identifying as God carries out these functions, then that one is God. In John’s Gospel, the author demonstrates that Jesus is God because he carries out these functions. There are a number of functions that only God can execute. For example, life-giver, creator, and judge. Filling out life-giver a bit, we might say that God is source of all life. Not like a prophet who raises the dead in the name of God, but someone who has life in himself, the sheer livingness of God as their own possession. This is Jesus. A classic passage where Jesus identifies himself as possessing life in himself is John 5:25-26. (See also John 10:17-18; 11:25-26.) And this also touches on God as creator, the one who gives life to everything that lives. (See John 1:1-4) And another function of God is protection, because God is greater than all else. These two, life and eternal protection, are the central point in today’s Gospel reading. Jesus says that he, the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep, will give his sheep eternal life. And, just as no one will snatch his sheep out of his hand (not like the hireling of John 10:1-10), no one can snatch the sheep out of his Father’s hand because the Father is greater than all, even death and sin. Therefore – and this is the climax - Jesus and the Father are one. (John 10:30) We can trust Jesus, for he is the very Word of God made flesh. (See John 1:1-5, 10-18.) All that Jesus is he has received from the Father through self-giving love: God’s sheer livingness, judgement, life and protection to share with creation. And Jesus the Son loves the Father, and in that love gives his life in obedience to the Father’s desire for our good, our life, our eternal life. (John 3:16)
