Peter, seeing this, addressed the people:
“Israelites, why are you amazed at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him…
ACTS 3:12-19
Peter, seeing this, addressed the people:
“Israelites, why are you amazed at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.
You rejected the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.
And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.
This text follows a miraculous healing performed by Peter at the temple gate. In the face of the people’s amazement, Peter interprets the meaning of this SIGN. It is the same meaning as the signs of Jesus. The presence of God’s saving action, which is shown in health, in the Word, in the presence of the power of good.
The same power of God that raises Jesus is the one that restores health to this man. This is the fundamental thesis. Immediately, the conclusion is drawn: you rejected Jesus out of ignorance; you have a new opportunity, repent and accept the Word, convert.
1 JOHN 2:1-4
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
It presents two basic themes:
· Jesus shows God as forgiveness
· knowing God is a matter of deeds, not words.
There is a danger of drawing incorrect conclusions from these texts, as if Jesus were offering himself to the Father so that the Father might lay aside his wrath at the sight of Jesus’ bloody sacrifice, worse still, as if the Father willed Jesus’ death.
Jesus is killed by the sins of many, the pride of the scribes, the “reason of state” of the priests, the political compromise of Pilate, the indifference of the people, the cowardice of his disciples.
Jesus is killed by his courage, his decision to fulfill his mission to the end, his truth.
In his death we learn that sin kills: pride, envy, the exclusive desire to possess and enjoy… so many things that destroy our lives and the lives of others. That is what kills, not the will of the Father, who wants and seeks the full life of all his children.
On the other hand, the author of the letter is concerned about the overly charismatic, overly speculative tendencies of his community, and strives to put love in its place: Jesus’ love was his deeds, his giving until death. And to love as Jesus is to love one’s neighbor and serve him.
The context of the entire letter expresses it very well: “The one who says he loves God but does not help his brother is a liar.”
José Enrique Galarreta, S.J.