Easter and Sin - 3rd Sunday of Easter (4/18/2021)

Acts 3:13-15, 17-19

Psalm 4

1 John 2:1-5

Luke 24:35-48

Why bring up the ugly topic of sin? The Easter Season is such a joyful time that it seems out of place to talk about sin, right? Not really. Because Easter, by definition, celebrates Christ’s victory precisely over sin. And that is a common denominator in our readings today.

ACTS

Our first reading is from St. Peter’s sermon in Solomon’s Portico of the Temple, after the cure of a cripple at the Beautiful Gate. Peter preaches the basic gospel message of salvation in Jesus. It is another example, among several in Acts, of the early Christian kerygma (message): “The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead. The “bottom line”, according to Peter, is this: “Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.” Because Christ died and lives again, we can be forgiven!

GOSPEL

Today’s gospel begins with Cleopas and another disciple reporting to the eleven apostles on their experience of meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Then Jesus himself interrupts their report by appearing in their midst. The Lord convinces the group that he is not a ghost by eating some fish. (Some translations say it was broiled, and others say baked…I would like to know!)

Then Jesus explains the Scriptures written about him, even as he did with the two Emmaus disciples. The gospel points out that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name…” Once again, we have the message: Easter is the victory over sin!

FIRST LETTER OF JOHN

Yes, this reading also has to do with sin! The author does not want us to sin, but if anyone does sin, he reminds us that we have “an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one…(Jesus) is an expiation for our sins and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.”

The First Letter of John has an interesting interplay between love and obedience – two sides of the same coin, so to speak. We can’t claim to really know and love God without obeying the commands he has given us. “Those who say, ‘I know him,’ but do not keep his commandments are liars, and the truth is not in them.” If we truly love God, we will honor him by obeying his word, doing his will, and keeping his commandments.

OVERCOMING SIN

One way to summarize the entire gospel message is that of God overcoming the effects of our sin by the saving work of Jesus through his cross and resurrection. The topic of sin is a downer for sure, but it is a sad, pervasive fact of human existence. The good news is that Jesus is our Savior from sin and Lord of all. As the Easter Sequence has it: “Tu nobis, victor Rex, miserere…Victor King, have mercy on us.”