EASTER III SUNDAY: ACTS. 3: 13-15, 17-19; I JN 2:1-5; LUKE 24: 35-48  

The priest of a small Hindu congregation in a tribal area in India was being proselytized by some energetic Christian missionaries. He listened for a while and then said to them: "Gentlemen, look. I have a proposal that will settle this. I have here a glass of nux vomica, a poison which I use to kill rats. If you drink this poison and remain alive as your God Jesus Christ promised, I will join your religion – and not only myself, but my entire Hindu congregation. But if you won't drink the poison, well, then, I can only conclude that you are false ministers of the gospel you preach because you do not trust that your Lord would not let you perish." This created a problem for the missionaries. They conferred with each other and said, "What on earth are we going to do?" Finally, they arrived at a plan of action. They came back, approached the Hindu priest and said, "Here is our plan. You drink the poison, and we'll raise you from the dead by the power of Jesus!"

The theme of today’s Gospel reading is a challenge from Jesus to believe in his promise of resurrection. “He stood among the huddled up together Disciples and greets them peace.   He did not have to fumble with a key, or knock loudly  or call out to enter in the room. He stood among them to address their fear. 

The resurrected Jesus invites his disciples to touch his wounds and see. His wounds proclaim the extent of his love for them and the world. For many people, it is difficult to believe that God really cares about us that much.  Some of us are more comfortable with an impersonal God who is the First Cause, the Ground of Being, a Source of life and power but not of personality. We like God, but don’t want him to be too personal. The idea of God with nail prints in his hands and feet because of his great love for us is a concept we are not ready for.

Despite all their physical examinations and assurances, the disciples are still confused. Luke’s text describes them as “joyful” yet “disbelieving”, and yet “marveling” all at the same time. As a final demonstration of his genuine physical presence, Jesus asks for something to eat. He calmly munches down a bit of fish “in their presence.” With that act the disciples are now equipped for full witness to the bodily resurrection of Jesus.  

With this first hand faith, their witness is highly reliable. And so they are called to witness to Jesus and the love and forgiveness of God. People with a second-hand faith might be reluctant to give their lives. After all, they might have a degree of uncertainty. They weren’t there. They simply heard a report from people they trusted. But for the disciples they were first hand witnesses. They spoke with absolute certainty as we heard in the first reading. They saw nail scarred hands of Jesus. They spoke with him and ate with him. And, there can be no doubt of their reliability. Therefore they are called to be witnesses of the resurrection.

St Peter shows amazing courage in today's First Reading. In his post Pentecost sermon, he preached the gospel to the Jewish leaders and residents of Jerusalem - the very same group of people who had conspired to condemn Jesus to death by crucifixion.

And Peter doesn't sugar-coat his message; he reminds of that: "The author of life you put to death." But then he moves on from their sin, weakness, and ignorance. He lifts their gaze to something much more important. He tells them that God can handle it, that God took the evil of Christ's suffering and death and turned it into the definitive victory over evil, suffering and death: "God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses."

And as he said, "we are witnesses," certainly he was thinking of those times, when Jesus appeared to them, letting them see and touch his wounds, proving that he was no ghost or illusion stemming from wishful thinking.

It is Christ's resurrection that has made all the difference. It has dissolved the bonds of original sin and opened the door to a new life, a life in which each of us can truly leave behind the chains of sin and selfishness in all their forms. The Resurrection is the key that opens the treasure of hope for each of us, no matter how mediocre, hypocritical, or self-absorbed we have been and tend to be.

The Resurrection puts all good things within reach: wisdom, patience, joy, fortitude, self-control - in short, it makes holiness and lasting happiness possible for us.

That is what Peter is telling the crowds, and that is what the Church is telling us: hope in Christ, leave everything aside to follow him, and he will work wonders in our lives. Are we open to listen to him and the Church so that Christ may open the Scriptures to us?