During the Easter season, lections from the book of Acts are used in place of the Old Testament because they record the early response of the church to Christ\u2019s resurrection. In its larger context, the assigned text for Easter 4A serves as a transition from Peter\u2019s first sermon (2:14-36, 38-40, cf. Easter 3A) to his second sermon (3:12-26, cf. Thursday in Easter Week). This passage describes what happened in response to Peter\u2019s first sermon. In verse 42, we see four characteristics of the community life of the church, i.e. devotion to (1) the apostles\u2019 teaching, (2) fellowship, (3) the breaking of bread, and (4) the prayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The word in Greek for \u201cfellowship\u201d is koinonia, which means a shared and common life. We see characteristics of this common life by \u201call who believed\u201d in the rest of the passage, in that they were together, had all things in common, spent much time together, and so forth (vv.44-46). It is possible that \u201cthe breaking of bread\u201d is a double entendre, that is, it could refer to both the Eucharist and to common meals. Regarding the former, we are reminded of what happened in Luke 24, where the eyes of the followers were not opened until Jesus had \u201cbroken the bread\u201d (vv.31, 35). Regarding the latter, we see them \u201c[breaking] bread at home\u201d and eating their food with \u201cglad and generous hearts\u2026\u201d (v.46).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What more can be said about this Song of Trust, which is read each Easter 4 and on other days of the church year? The simple yet profound metaphor of \u201cthe shepherd,\u201d and his relationship to his sheep is often viewed as unifying the entire psalm. According to this perspective, the whole psalm is an exposition of the first verse, where we see a typical near-eastern shepherd fulfilling his duties: ensuring that the sheep have water, food, rest, and safe paths to walk on, protecting them from dangers, particularly predators that would attack and kill them, using his staff and rod to not only protect the sheep, but to herd them, and putting oil on their heads and noses to drive away the annoying insects that cause infection. The themes of guidance, provision, and refuge are predominant. When Christians read this psalm, they see Jesus as the Good Shepherd (cf. John 10) who restores our souls, leads us in right paths, accompanies and comforts us through danger and darkness, provides the Eucharistic meal in the presence of our enemies of sin and death, and actively pursues us every day we live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The idea of suffering for doing good is a theme in 1 Peter. We see this illustrated in the proverbial quality of the first two verses in this lection, where a contrast is highlighted between enduring pain and suffering for doing wrong, versus for doing right. For the former, there is no credit due. For the latter, however, there is not only \u201ccredit to you\u201d for suffering unjustly, but moreover, \u201cGod\u2019s approval\u201d of you. Lest the reader be surprised by this, the writer points to Christ\u2019s suffering on our behalf, drawing from the image of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53, where we see Jesus, the one without sin, choose to suffer without protest, because he trusted God for his vindication (vv. 22-23). The author suggests Christ\u2019s suffering is not only an example for us to follow (vv. 21), but it is also redemptive (v. 24). Christ\u2019s passion, his atoning sacrifice for our sins, restores our relationship with \u201cthe shepherd and guardian of [our] souls\u201d (v. 25). Jesus is not only the Good Shepherd who gives his life for his sheep, but he is also the one who protects, provides for, and leads his sheep (cf. John 10, Psalm 23).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This lection contains two instances of reported direct speech (vv.1-5 and vv.7-10), both of which contain two images to describe Jesus\u2019 relationship to his followers: a shepherd and a gate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the first section (vv.1-5), we hear Jesus use a shepherding metaphor to describe legitimate and rightful leadership. We note a contrast between how the sheepfold is accessed, and how the sheep respond to the voice they hear. Those who seek to access the sheepfold in a stealthy manner are deemed to be thieves and bandits. In contrast, the rightful shepherd uses the gate, which is opened by the gatekeeper (1-3a). When the sheep hear the voice of a stranger, they will run away because they do not recognize the voice. In contrast, when the sheep hear the voice of the rightful shepherd, they follow because they know his voice (3b-5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before leaving this section, the two observations are worth noting about the nature of his leadership: the shepherd not only \u201ccalls his own sheep by name,\u201d but he also \u201cgoes ahead of them\u201d once he has led them out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the close of this section, we get a comment from the narrator in verse 6. Since Jesus\u2019 audience did not understand his \u201cfigure of speech\u201d (vv.1-5), it becomes necessary for him to offer a different way to describe his relationship to his followers. In this second section (vv.7-10), Jesus uses the \u201cgate\u201d image again, thereby connecting it with the first section, where its function was to identify who the rightful and legitimate shepherd was, that is, the gate was the only point of authorized entry into the sheepfold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While there are many interesting observations to make here, it\u2019s important to note the use of this image in connection with the declaration \u201cI am,\u201d which harkens back to Ex 3:14, Isa.45:5a; 48.12b, and used in the Gospel of John six other times (I am \u201cthe bread of life,\u201d \u201cthe light of the world,\u201d \u201cthe good shepherd,\u201d \u201cthe resurrection and the life,\u201d \u201cthe way, and the truth, and the life,\u201d and, \u201cthe true vine\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Acts 2:42-47 During the Easter season, lections from the book of Acts are used in place of the Old Testament because they record the early response of the church to Christ\u2019s resurrection. In its larger context, the assigned text for Easter 4A serves as a transition from Peter\u2019s first sermon (2:14-36, 38-40, cf. Easter 3A)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201221,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,22,52,3],"tags":[126],"class_list":["post-766972","bible_study","type-bible_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-studies","category-easter","category-sermons-that-work","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-easter-4a"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":23,"label":"Bible Studies"},{"value":22,"label":"Easter"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":126,"label":"Easter 4A"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bible_study"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":951757,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766972\/revisions\/951757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}