[stephenkhoo]

Scripture Reflections
12 April, 2012, Thursday within Octave of Easter
THE RISEN LORD ENLIGHTENS US IN OUR IGNORANCE OF GOD’S PLAN FOR HUMANITY

SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 3:11-26; LK 24:35-48

There are so many things we do in life out of ignorance. Many evils have been committed because of ignorance. Ignorance is the root of misunderstanding and suspicion. Wars, especially religious wars, have been fought because of ignorance. Ignorance resulted in the death of Jesus because He was perceived to be a troublemaker, a heretic and a political rebel. This was what Peter said to his fellow Jews, “Now I know, brothers, that neither you nor your leaders had any idea what you were really doing.”

Ignorance breeds fear in our lives. The gospel tells us that when Jesus appeared to the disciples, “in a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost.” In their ignorance, they betrayed Jesus and abandoned Him. This explains why they were fearful to see Jesus, even as a ghost. We fear ghosts only because we have a guilty conscience. If we have done nothing wrong, why should we fear ghosts? On the contrary, if we truly love our departed ones, we should be happy to see them. Hence, logically, the disciples who supposedly loved Jesus very much, should not have been afraid to meet Jesus. But they felt guilty. They thought Jesus came to seek revenge, or to reprimand them. Hence, the first words of Jesus to them were an assurance of forgiveness, “Peace be with you!”

Finally, ignorance brings about bitterness and despair in our hearts. The disciples in the gospel yesterday were filled with disappointment and despair. They could not accept the tragic end of their master. Their hopes and dreams were dashed with the death of Jesus. Many of us cannot accept our lot in life. We wonder why God allows us to go through such difficulties. We may even fall into depression and despair over the meaning of life, and question the love of God.

Perhaps, the only saving grace of ignorance is that we are not condemned. There is no condemnation for those who act in ignorance. That is why when Jesus was on the cross, He said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” Peter also said the same thing in today’s first reading. God does not condemn us because by being ignorant, we would have wrought sufferings upon ourselves. The consequences of our folly are in themselves sufficient. God forgives us and feels sorry for us, for in our ignorance, we continue to hurt ourselves foolishly.

Of course, we would be culpable if we do not grow out of our ignorance. For this reason, Peter, after enlightening them about “the way God carried out what he had foretold” through all His prophets and Christ, said, “Now you must repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, and so that the Lord may send the time of comfort. Then he will send you the Christ he has predestined, that is Jesus, whom heaven must keep till the universal restoration comes …”

How then can we become enlightened? At Easter we celebrate the Risen Christ as our light. He is the Light in darkness. We are called to come to Jesus, the Light who will reveal to us about God, suffering, death and life. If we want to live enlightened lives, we must see everything in the light of the resurrection. This is the key to finding meaning in life. So the liturgy today tries to present the paradoxes of life in the light of the resurrection. In today’s gospel, Christ in His resurrection allays all our doubts, anxieties, agitations and fears. Indeed, the gospel says, “He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures.”

What did Christ reveal to us? Firstly, He reveals to us the plan of God for humanity. He made clear what was not understood. He said, “So you see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.’” Peter elaborates by saying, “The Lord God will raise up a prophet like myself for you, from among your own brothers; you must listen to whatever he tells you.” Indeed, as Peter said, we “are the heirs of the prophets, the heirs of the covenant God made with our ancestors when he told Abraham in your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed. It was for you in the first place that God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

Secondly, the resurrection vindicates the person of Jesus and reveals His identity. Jesus said, “This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you, that everything written about me, in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, has to be fulfilled’.” Jesus is therefore the fulfillment of God’s plan. He is truly the one who reconciles us with God. He is our Saviour.

Accordingly, He revealed to us the meaning of His suffering. God has used the ignorance of man, which resulted in the suffering and death of His Son, to bring about our salvation. His suffering and death therefore became life giving. It appeared to be a disaster, but God transformed it into His glory, for on the cross, He manifested His utter and forgiving love in Jesus. Hence, the resurrection is the meaning of the cross, and the cross finds its completion in the resurrection. In this way, through suffering and death, new life is born.

But how can we arrive at such a perspective of life? In order to see everything in the light of the resurrection, we must encounter the Risen Lord. Without faith and an encounter with the Risen Lord, we cannot see all things in the light of the resurrection. So how do we encounter the Risen Lord?

Firstly, we must come into contact with the Jesus of History. The Risen Lord must be seen in continuity with the Jesus of Nazareth. A personal knowledge of Jesus is the prerequisite in bringing about an encounter with the Risen Lord, for only then the signs of the Risen Lord may be seen. This explains why Luke had the Lord showing His hands and feet, and even eating, when He appeared before the disciples. This is to underscore that the Risen Lord is neither a ghost nor someone in total discontinuity with Jesus.

Hence, in the first reading, Peter immediately knew that it was the power of the Risen Lord at work in him when he performed the miracle of healing the crippled man. Peter instinctively knew that it was through the same power of the Risen Lord that healed the crippled man. He immediately acknowledged thus, “God, however, raised him from the dead, and to that fact we are the witnesses; and it is the name of Jesus which, through our faith in it, has brought back the strength of this man whom you see here and who is well known to you. It is faith in that name that has restored this man to health, as you can all see.” Peter knew that through prayer and the power of the Risen Lord, such miracles were possible.

We are called to be His witnesses to the resurrection and the resurrected life. We are called to enlighten all those who seek to walk in the truth and in the light. “In his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.’”

Let us therefore deepen our faith in the resurrection and our personal encounter with the Risen Christ, so that we can see everything in the light of the resurrection. Only then can everything make sense in life, be it failure, suffering, punishment or death. In the resurrection, we find the perfection of the incarnation. In the resurrection, we recover our true humanity.