Commentary: The Apostle Peter was the leader of the apostles, chosen by Christ Himself to be in that position. In the book of Acts, after the apostles received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, Peter began confidently proclaiming the gospel. In today’s reading, Peter recounts the events of Jesus’ crucifixion, speaking to the crowd that advocated for Jesus’ crucifixion. Peter proclaims that this Jesus who was crucified was not any mere man. In fact, a correct understanding of the Old Testament reveals that Jesus is the expected Messiah, who is God in the flesh. Peter’s speech is full of Old Testament language, connecting this passage to what we will hear in today’s Gospel in which Jesus explained to the disciples how everything in the Old Testament is about Him. Peter now conveys the same message, using the Old Testament scriptures to proclaim Jesus’ true identity to his audience. Jesus is, in fact, “the author of life.” He is “the Holy and Righteous One.” Peter’s message is poignant: you crucified God. Yet, he says they did so out of ignorance and that the crucifixion is not the end of the story. Peter and others are eye witnesses to the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. And Jesus can forgive their sins if they will “repent” and “be converted.”
Commentary: The Apostle John’s message here is twofold: 1.) avoid sin and keep God’s commandments; and 2.) when you do sin, repent and accept Jesus’ forgiveness. The reality is that we all sin and there are consequences for our sins. But the message of the gospel is that Jesus died in order to offer forgiveness of our sins. He is “an Advocate with the Father,” interceding on our behalf. Jesus is “expiation” for the sins of the whole world. What does this mean? Expiation means an act of making amends or reparation between two parties. Jesus came to fix our broken relationship with God that is the result of sin. There is no one Jesus did not die for. He offers forgiveness of sins to everyone. But will we accept His forgiveness? Not everyone will. Furthermore, His forgiveness does not mean we can live however we want. Many people say, “It doesn’t matter what I do because God will forgive me anyways.” This can’t be further from the truth. We must truly repent of our sins in order to receive forgiveness. Even more, the sure sign of knowing God is keeping His commands.
Commentary: This passage immediately follows the famous “Road to Emmaus” account of two disciples encountering the risen Lord on their journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus on the day of the resurrection. In that account, the disciples did not recognize Jesus until He broke bread with them, an allusion to His presence in the Eucharist. Today’s gospel reading begins with these two disciples telling of their encounter with Jesus to the apostles after returning to Jerusalem that same day. Thus, these events also take place on Easter Sunday. Here Jesus appears to the disciples and offers them peace. He calms their fears by reassuring them that it is He through showing them His wounds and even eating a piece of fish to prove that He is not a ghost. As one might imagine, they were amazed. Just think of all they had been through. They had followed Jesus and recognized Him as the promised Messiah. But, then, contrary to their expectations, He was brutally crucified at the hands of their enemies, the Romans. These events plagued them with doubts and left them cowering in fear, wondering if they would be sought out and killed for associating with Jesus. Now, the one they knew to be dead was alive and standing in their midst. Imagine what was going through their minds! Jesus not only assured them it was Him but “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,” revealing to them that the Old Testament had, in fact, taught that the Messiah would have to suffer, die, and rise again. Therefore, they came to understand these events.
Taking it Home: Peter said in today’s first reading: “Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.” In what areas of your life do you need to repent and experience conversion?