Acts 3:13-15,17-19; Ps 4; 1Jn 2:1-5a; Lk 24:35-48

COMMENTARY

“You are witnesses of these things”

The third Sunday of Easter in the liturgical cycle of Year B invites us to reflect on the episode of the appearance of the Risen One to the Eleven with the other disciples, which took place immediately after Christ’s encounter with the two on the road to Emmaus. At least three important aspects of the mission to which the disciples are called emerge from hearing this text of the Word of God. These are the consoling and illuminating presence of Christ in spite of the disciples’ confusion and doubts, the fundamental content of preaching in His name, and the role of the disciples as witnesses of all “these things.” We dwell on these three aspects, also drawing some insights from Church teaching, especially from Pope Francis’ two messages for World Mission [Sun]Day 2022 and 2023, with their respective themes “You shall be my witnesses” and “Hearts on fire, feet on the move.”

1. “[Jesus] stood in their midst.” The Comforting and Illuminating Presence of the Risen Christ in the Confusion and Doubt of the Disciples.

As on the road to Emmaus, the disciples in this episode are still frightened, confused, troubled and, as a result, doubtful about the Jesus who “stood in their midst”. Here, with all the Eleven and the other disciples who stood with them, the same experience is repeated as with the two at Emmaus: the presence of the Risen One who, patiently and in spite of all the disciples’ dispositions and faults, offers them peace of heart and light of mind to understand the divine plan revealed in the Scriptures. Let us listen to the Pope’s still relevant commentary on this unique experience in his message for World Mission [Sun]Day 2023:

As when he first called the disciples, so now, amid their bewilderment, the Lord takes the initiative; he approaches them and walks alongside them. So too, in his great mercy, he never tires of being with us, despite all our failings, doubts, weaknesses, and the dismay and pessimism that make us become “foolish and slow of heart” (v. 25), men and women of little faith.

And so: Today, as then, the Risen Lord remains close to his missionary disciples and walks beside them, particularly when they feel disoriented, discouraged, fearful of the mystery of iniquity that surrounds them and seeks to overwhelm them. So, “let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of hope!” (Evangelii Gaudium, 86). The Lord is greater than all our problems, above all if we encounter them in our mission of proclaiming the Gospel to the world. For in the end, this mission is his and we are nothing more than his humble co-workers, “useless servants” (cf. Lk 17:10).

It is about the certain presence of the Risen One that overcomes all fear and doubt. The disciples are called to experience this presence, even to “touch” it, and thus to enter into intimate communion with the living One who breaks bread with them. Such a presence will be the divine treasure that the disciples must jealously guard in their Christian life and mission, especially in the hour of storms. With and in such a sweet presence, then as now, the Risen Lord continues to open to his disciples “minds to understand the Scriptures,” which, as the Word of God explained by Jesus in the Holy Spirit, are the only ones capable of giving an understanding of everything about history and the world according to divine thought. Let us therefore listen again to the Pope’s teaching:

Jesus is himself the living Word, who alone can make our hearts burn within us, as he enlightens and transforms them. […]
So let us always be willing to let ourselves be accompanied by the Risen Lord as he explains to us the meaning of the Scriptures. May he make our hearts burn within us; may he enlighten and transform us, so that we can proclaim his mystery of salvation to the world with the power and wisdom that come from his Spirit.

2. “That Repentance, for the Forgiveness of Sins, Would Be Preached in His Name to All the Nations […]”

After opening the minds of the disciples to the Scriptures concerning the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ, the Risen One reiterates the fundamental content of the universal preaching that will be entrusted to His disciples: the “ repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,” and this “ in His name.” This is why the Apostle Peter himself, at the end of his first sermon on the day of Pentecost, invited those who asked him what they should do: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). This was the heart of the proclamation that the first Christians brought to the world at the command of their Lord and in His name. This explicit proclamation of the person of Christ, the living Word of God, who died and rose again for the forgiveness of sins, remains essential in the life and mission of each one of his disciples-missionaries in every age. In this regard, it is worth recalling a passage from Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, which in turn echoes the teaching of Pope Paul VI’s Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi:

Our responsibility is not limited to suggesting shared values to the world; rather, we need to arrive at an explicit proclamation of the word of God. Only in this way will we be faithful to Christ’s mandate: “The Good News proclaimed by the witness of life sooner or later has to be proclaimed by the word of life. There is no true evangelization unless the name, the teaching, the life, the promises, the Kingdom and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, are proclaimed” (Evangelii nuntiandi, 22). (Verbum domini, 98).

3. […] You are witnesses of these things”

Finally, after having indicated to the disciples the essence of their preaching to all nations, the Risen Lord emphasizes their call to be witnesses of “these things”, that is, of the whole mystery of Christ’s life, death and resurrection, as foretold in the divine Scriptures, as He Himself recommended to the disciples before the Ascension: “You shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). In addition to the plural emphasis on the communal nature of the witness to Jesus, we can see here a subtle reminder of a fundamental truth that must always be kept in mind: Christian proclamation necessarily involves the witness of life, and conversely, Christian witness involves proclamation. In other words, for disciple-missionaries, proclaiming Christ is living Christ. In this regard, we reflect once again on the important teaching of Pope Francis in the Message for World Mission [Sun]Day 2022, precisely on the theme “You shall be my witnesses”:

Finally, when it comes to Christian witness, the observation of Saint Paul VI remains ever valid: “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses” (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 41). For this reason, the testimony of an authentic Christian life is fundamental for the transmission of the faith. On the other hand, the task of proclaiming Christ’s person and the message is equally necessary. Indeed, Paul VI went on to say: “Preaching, the verbal proclamation of a message, is indeed always indispensable… The word remains ever relevant, especially when it is the bearer of the power of God. This is why Saint Paul’s axiom, “Faith comes from what is heard” (Rom 10:17), also retains its relevance: it is the word that is heard which leads to belief” (ibid., 42).

In evangelization, then, the example of a Christian life and the proclamation of Christ are inseparable. One is at the service of the other. They are the two lungs with which any community must breathe, if it is to be missionary. This kind of complete, consistent and joyful witness to Christ will surely be a force of attraction also for the growth of the Church in the third millennium. I exhort everyone to take up once again the courage, frankness and parrhesía of the first Christians, in order to bear witness to Christ in word and deed in every area of life.

We pray, then, that the Risen Lord will always make us experience his sweet presence among us, strengthening us by his Spirit in faith and in the understanding of Scripture, so that we may live our vocation to be his witnesses, with renewed zeal, both by the example of our lives and by the explicit proclamation of Christ among all peoples, to the end of the world. Amen.

Useful points to consider:

Catechism of the Catholic Church

II. The Power of the Keys

981 After his Resurrection, Christ sent his apostles “so that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations.” The apostles and their successors carry out this “ministry of reconciliation,” not only by announcing to men God’s forgiveness merited for us by Christ, and calling them to conversion and faith; but also by communicating to them the forgiveness of sins in Baptism, and reconciling them with God and with the Church through the power of the keys, received from Christ:
[The Church] has received the keys of the Kingdom of heaven so that, in her, sins may be forgiven through Christ’s blood and the Holy Spirit’s action. In this Church, the soul dead through sin comes back to life in order to live with Christ, whose grace has saved us.

III. The Sacraments of Faith

1122 Christ sent his apostles so that “repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations.” “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The mission to baptize, and so the sacramental mission, is implied in the mission to evangelize, because the sacrament is prepared for by the word of God and by the faith which is assent to this word:
The People of God is formed into one in the first place by the Word of the living God…. the preaching of the Word is required for the sacramental ministry itself, since the sacraments are sacraments of faith, drawing their origin and nourishment from the Word.

Pope Francis, Regina Caeli, Saint Peter’s Square, Sunday, 18 April 2021

On this Third Sunday of Easter, we return to Jerusalem, in the Upper Room, as though guided by the two disciples of Emmaus, who had listened with great emotion to Jesus’ words along the way and then had recognized him “in the breaking of the bread” (Lk 24:35). Now, in the Upper Room, the Risen Christ presents himself in the midst of the group of disciples and greets them: “Peace to you!” (v. 36). But they are frightened and believe “that they saw a spirit” (v. 37), the Gospel says. Jesus then shows them the wounds on his body and says: “See my hands and my feet” — the wounds — “that it is I myself; handle me” (v. 39). And to convince them, he asks for food and eats it before their astonished eyes (cf. vv. 41-42).
There is a detail here, in this description. The Gospel says that the Apostles “still disbelieved for joy”. The joy they felt was such that they could not believe that this was true. And a second detail: they were bewildered, astonished; astonished because the encounter with God always leads you to astonishment: it goes beyond enthusiasm, beyond joy; it is another experience. And they were joyful, but a joy that made them think: no, this cannot be true!… It is the astonishment of God’s presence. […]
Brothers and sisters, this Gospel passage tells us that Jesus is not a “ghost”, but a living Person; that when Jesus draws near to us he fills us with joy, to the point of disbelief, and he leaves us bewildered, with that astonishment that only God’s presence gives, because Jesus is a living Person.
Being Christian is not first of all a doctrine or a moral ideal; it is a living relationship with him, with the Risen Lord: we look at him, we touch him, we are nourished by him and, transformed by his Love, we look at, touch and nourish others as brothers and sisters.

Benedict XVI, Regina Cæli, Sunday, 22 April 2012

As the Resurrection did not erase the signs of the Crucifixion, Jesus showed the Apostles his hands and his feet. And to convince them, he even asked for something to eat, thus the disciples “gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them” (Lk 24:42-43). St Gregory the Great comments that “the fish grilled on the flame means nothing other than the Passion of Jesus, Mediator between God and men. Indeed, he deigned to conceal himself in the waters of the human race, he accepted to be caught in the net of our death and was placed on the fire, symbolizing the pain he suffered at the moment of the Passion” (Hom. in Evang. XXIV, 5: CCL l 141, Turnhout 1999, 201).
It was by means of these very realistic signs that the disciples overcame their initial doubt and opened themselves to the gift of faith; and this faith enabled them to understand what was written on Christ “in the law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms (Lk 24:44). Indeed we read that Jesus “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations…. You are witnesses of these things” (Lk 24:45-48).
The Saviour assures us of his real presence among us through the Word and through the Eucharist. Therefore just as the disciples of Emmaus recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread (cf. Lk 24:35), so we too encounter the Lord in the Eucharistic celebration. In this regard St Thomas Aquinas explains that “it is absolutely necessary to confess according to the Catholic faith that the entire Christ is in this sacrament… since the Godhead never set aside the assumed body” (Summa Theologiae III, q. 76, a. 1).