2nd week in Easter Time, Thursday – 11th April 2024 – Acts 5,27-33; Jn 3,31-36
Authentic Teaching
The first reading shows how, like Jesus, the Apostles were re-arrested and put on trial before the 71-member Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews. They are innocent, like Jesus, and yet are flogged (Acts 5,40) just as Jesus was scourged. Jesus’ command to preach the gospel (Acts 1,8) overrules the Sanhedrin’s command to keep quiet about it. This conformity to the life and mission of Jesus argues in favour of the authenticity of the apostles teaching. They were accused of two things: 1) They had continued to preach in “this name” even though they had been strictly forbidden. The accusers made sure not to mention the name of Jesus and so referred to “this name”. 2) They were blaming the Jewish leadership for Jesus’ death. Their motives were a mixture of religious narrow-mindedness and political self-interest. However, the apostles were least fazed by these accusations. In the midst of persecutions, they believed and proclaimed that Jesus was now in glory as ‘Ruler and Saviour’. This title corresponds to Jesus as ‘Prince and Redeemer’, which applies to Moses, a prefigure of Christ. This implicit comparison of Jesus with Moses, would have brought hatred to the judges. But the apostles were witnesses to all that they were saying. They could not say or do otherwise, no matter what others might tell them. Because their testimony was directed and confirmed by the Holy Spirit that strengthened them. They were also confident that they were following in the footsteps of their leader and Saviour and were on the path to life.
