Preparing for Worship - April 16, 2023

At the heart of our Scripture readings this week is the Gospel lesson, the story of Jesus and doubting Thomas and the other readings all revolve around it.

The Psalm is Psalm 148, a song of praise to the Lord. First, the angels are called upon to praise the Lord and then the sun, moon, and stars and all we see above - for He commanded, and they were created. Then, the things of earth are called upon to praise the Lord, as well, culminating with all rulers and people of all ages. All of creation is thus to praise the Lord’s Name and majesty. Finally there is a prophecy of the Lord raising up “a horn” for His people, and for this, especially, the Lord is to be praised. A horn had been a symbol of power and strength in the Old Testament, and Zechariah, in the Gospel of Luke, identifies this “horn” as the coming Savior, Jesus, whose way John the Baptism would prepare. (See Luke 1:67-79, and especially, v.69.)

The Gospel lesson is John 20:19-31. The Risen Lord Jesus shows Himself alive to His disciples on Easter evening and gives them His Holy Spirit and the power to forgive sins. The disciple Thomas was not there, though, and refuses to believe that Jesus could be alive unless he sees Him and touches Him. A week later, Jesus appears again to the disciples, and Thomas is there. Quickly he believes, calling Jesus, “My Lord and my God.” It is good that he believes, but Jesus adds, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  John adds that all that he has written in this Gospel was written that we too may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, we may have life, also, in His Name.

The first Scripture lesson is from Acts 5:28-42, part of the history of the early Christian church. The disciples had been arrested and jailed for telling people about the Risen Lord Jesus, but an angel came and set them free. They were telling about Jesus again when religious leaders stopped them and brought them before the Jewish Council. They were threatened again and told not to teach in the name of Jesus. They responded, “We must obey God, rather than men” and proclaimed Jesus as leader and Savior, now alive again and exalted to the right hand of God. The Council members talked among themselves, and a respected Pharisee, Gamaliel, spoke of other troublemakers who had died away eventually. He recommended that they leave the disciples alone and see what happened. This would avoid the very unlikely chance that the Council could even be opposing God, themselves. They beat and threatened the disciples and let them go, and the disciples felt it an honor to suffer dishonor for the sake of Jesus. They kept right on teaching and preaching that “the Christ is Jesus.”

The Epistle lesson is from 1 Peter 1:3-9. Peter writes this later letter to Christian believers scattered in various places. He talks of Christians being born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus. They now have an inheritance kept for them in heaven that would be fully revealed at the return of Christ, and they already have “the outcome of their faith, the salvation of their souls.” Their souls will be with their Lord in heaven when they die, even if they have to go through various trials and testing of their faith , when still here on earth.