{"id":767089,"date":"2012-04-15T00:00:05","date_gmt":"2012-04-15T04:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/episcopalchurch:8888\/bible_study\/bible-study-easter-2-b-2012\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T13:38:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T17:38:46","slug":"bible-study-easter-2-b-2012","status":"publish","type":"bible_study","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/bible_study\/bible-study-easter-2-b-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Study: Easter 2 (B) &#8211; 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><hr>\n<h4><strong>Acts 4:32-35<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>Marxism! Communism! Socialism! This passage could be seen to propose community sharing of possessions and wealth, and, in fact, that is what it says. But Luke is not writing about a political system here \u2013 he\u2019s writing about a specific faith community doing its best to practice koinonia as they understood it from the teachings of Jesus. This is a continuation of Luke\u2019s emphasis on divine love and mercy, which calls for a response of love and mercy from the followers of Jesus. There is considerable evidence in addition to Acts that the practice of the early church was to share with those who had need. Justin Martyr, writing in the early- to mid-second century, describes the practice of Christian worship in his First Apology:<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cWhat is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need\u201d (Chapter 67).<\/p>\n\n<p>Similarly, The Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, from the late first or early second century, instructs, \u201cDo not turn away from him who is in want; rather, share all things with your brother, and do not say that they are your own\u201d (Chapter 4).<\/p>\n\n<p>We have become far too accustomed to viewing what we have as the product of our own blood, sweat, and tears rather than wholly gifts from God, and to give away any of our own wealth is seen as diminishing our bottom line. This passage from Acts is, therefore, instructive. Generosity in giving did not derive from sheer willpower on the part of the giver. No, it sprang from the Apostles\u2019 faithful proclamation of the resurrection, \u201cand great grace was upon them all\u201d (4:33). We cannot hope to achieve such selfless generosity on our own. It is a product of God\u2019s grace and mercy toward us that we are drawn into generosity and love of our neighbor. Even if we achieved this kind of koinonia in all of our churches, this world would be a vastly different place!<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>Verse 34 claims that \u201cthere was not a needy person among them.\u201d How might such a utopian statement be made real here and now, or is that a hopeless dream in our day and age?<\/li>\n\t<li>What is it that inspires you to give generously of your wealth and possessions?<\/li>\n\t<li>Does this community sharing seem fair to you?<\/li>\n\t<li>Which of Jesus\u2019 teachings led to these communal practices?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4><strong>Psalm 133<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>This is a Song of Ascents, one of the songs that would be sung as the people went up to Jerusalem for the required festivals. It is beautiful in its simplicity \u2013 unity is not only preferable to dissension, it is as precious as the oil used to anoint priests and as life-giving as the morning dew in an arid land. Imagine the Rite of Baptism with not just a splash of water, but a font-full poured over the head and running down one\u2019s face and clothing. It is such delightful imagery of the abundance of God in the life God has ordained for those of us united in God\u2019s church.<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>What song might you sing as you go up to the temple\/church?<\/li>\n\t<li>This psalm has imagery of anointing\/baptism and refreshing, life-giving dew in reference to unity. What other images can you think of that describe how you experience harmony between God\u2019s people?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4><strong>1 John 1:1-2:2<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>In the early church as today, it is not always easy to identify true disciples of Jesus and those who are the pretenders, the false prophets. This epistle of John is very clear that those who walk in the light are the ones in true fellowship with Christ. They are also those who recognize their own sinfulness and call on the one true Advocate, \u201cJesus Christ the righteous\u201d (v. 2:1). Notice the parallels between the beginning of this letter and the Prologue in John\u2019s gospel \u2013 begin at the beginning, light and darkness, Jesus as the one true light. \u201cThe light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it,\u201d John wrote in 1:5 of the gospel. This epistle continues that theme with those true to Jesus\u2019 call being identified as the ones walking in the light, admitting their sins, and asking for forgiveness.<\/p>\n\n<p>This passage is beautifully summarized in Hymn 490 in the text by Kathleen Thomerson:<\/p>\n\n<p>In him there is no darkness at all,<br>\nThe night and the day are both alike.<br>\nThe Lamb is the light of the City of God.<br>\nShine in my heart, Lord Jesus.<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>What does it mean to \u201cwalk in the light?\u201d<\/li>\n\t<li>How are we to identify \u201cfalse prophets\u201f in a world of such Christian diversity?<\/li>\n\t<li>Verse 2:1 says, \u201cI am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.\u201d Is that even possible?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4><strong>John 20:19-31<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>Most people focus on Thomas in this passage. This is understandable. It is a fairly dramatic moment when the unbelieving one finally sees the risen Jesus and proclaims him \u201cMy Lord and my God!\u201d There are, however, two other aspects of this text that are easily missed, yet remarkable.<\/p>\n\n<p>The first is in verse 19, which makes clear that the disciples were hiding in fear on the evening of the resurrection having heard from Mary Magdalene that she had seen the risen Jesus. Jesus appeared to the disciples (minus Judas and the absent Thomas, presumably), yet even his words sending them out were apparently not enough to free them from fear, for there they are a week later in the same room, this time with Thomas present.<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>What was it about this encounter that released them from whatever it was that was holding them back?<\/li>\n\t<li>What was it that freed them to leave that room and go out into the world proclaiming the Good News?<\/li>\n\t<li>Was it Thomas\u2019 proclamation that this was, indeed, the risen Jesus that prompted the change in their behavior?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>It is not the Thomas narrative that first strikes me about this passage from John\u2019s gospel but Jesus\u2019 words in verse 23: \u201cIf you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.\u201d Yikes! We can read these words as if Jesus is speaking only to these original disciples, but that is not generally the approach taken by people of faith \u2013 we believe that Jesus speaks to us in our own time and place. Are we to simply ignore the responsibility Jesus places on his followers in saying that we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, have the ability to forgive or condemn to non-forgiveness? If we ignore this one, then we would have to ignore the rest, and I find this a particularly sobering directive from Jesus because I don\u2019t want that kind of responsibility on my conscience!<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>Does Jesus really intend for us to have the power to forgive and condemn?<\/li>\n\t<li>What are the implications of this, especially in light of other of Jesus\u2019 sayings that we are not to judge (Luke 6:37, for instance)?<\/li>\n\t<li>Why might John have included this at the moment Jesus conveys the Spirit on them?<\/li>\n\t<li>Finally, the Collect for the day says, \u201cGrant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ&#8217;s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith.\u201d Reflecting on each of these readings, what elements of your faith are being called into practice in these stories of community sharing, abundance and joy, light and darkness, faith without sight, and forgiveness or non-forgiveness of sins? How are you called to respond during this Eastertide?<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Acts 4:32-35 Marxism! Communism! Socialism! This passage could be seen to propose community sharing of possessions and wealth, and, in fact, that is what it says. But Luke is not writing about a political system here \u2013 he\u2019s writing about a specific faith community doing its best to practice koinonia as they understood it from&#8230;<\/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":[193],"class_list":["post-767089","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-2b"],"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":193,"label":"Easter 2B"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/767089","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\/767089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":951733,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/767089\/revisions\/951733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}