Scripture Readings for April 22, 2025

Acts 2: 36-41, Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22, John 20:11-18

Today’s readings explore the amazing depth of what Jesus’ resurrection means. In the Gospel, Peter has just recounted the history of God’s revelations in Hebrew Scriptures to the surprising recognition on the part of the assembled Jews. Crucially they were “cut to the heart” and in that recognition of who Jesus was they ask what should they do? Peter explains they need to repent of their sins and be baptized “in the name of Jesus.” They need to pledge their lives to Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

The part of this reading that strikes me as most significant is what Peter says next. Those who repent and are baptized will receive the “gift of the Holy Spirit” to fulfill “the promise made to you … and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God may call.” This is massively inclusive. At the time it certainly was meant to include the Gentiles, non-Jews who weren’t Abraham’s descendants. For me it feels like a call to us today who are “far off” in time and not just heritage. We are being called to see the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection in our lives and not just as a religious belief but as an offer of presence.

What I mean by an offer of presence is what I think today’s reading in John’s Gospel is about. Peter and the disciples have just left the tomb after discovering it empty. But Mary Magdalene overcome by emotion remains and looks inside to find two angels who ask her why she’s crying. Mary replies that someone has taken Jesus body away and she’s trying to find him. In her loving search for Jesus, he appears to her but she doesn’t recognize who she’s talking to and repeats her plea that she will take away the body if this man will just tell her where Jesus is. Only when Jesus calls her by name, does she recognize him and he cautions her not to cling to him and tell his disciples he has not yet ascended to his Father. Now she goes to tell them, “I have seen the Lord.”

I think John has told us a story of what Resurrection means for us. As I have written in other reflections, recognizing God’s presence in our lives is not an obvious experience, it takes time to see the presence of God that is right there in our lives. When Mary first “turns” around she thinks she’s talking to a gardener. Remember Jesus is someone she knows really well, so you would think she’d recognize him immediately. But Resurrection means Jesus has been transformed in a way we don’t fully understand. Mary has no experience that will help her see a divine presence. So Jesus asks her to identify what is going on for her and what she wants. He asks her to think about who she is in this moment. Then Jesus addresses her by name. In these times a person’s name was considered to hold their whole identity. When Mary hears her name called, she recognizes who she is, and she recognizes Jesus. I believe this is the pattern John is trying to explain to us. God’s Spirit promised so long ago to Abraham and then through Jesus to everyone else is here if we take the time to look deep within ourselves and the life around us. Jesus’ death on Good Friday ended the history of human separation from God. Jesus Resurrection is the demonstration of a new life in which God’s Spirit is present to us as today’s Psalm says, “The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” We just have to learn how to recognize God’s presence as it exists in each of us and the lives we live.