Lectionary Ruminations: Scripture for Worship on April 26, 2009

Here are the passages for April 26th, 2009, the Third Sunday of Easter (Year B). All links are to the TNIV via BibleGateway.com, but if you prefer another translation, feel free to use that instead (either with your own Bible, or via the drop-down menu at BibleGateway.com).

Acts 3:12-19

• I'm intrigued by Peter's question: "why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?" Even granting that this is the power of God at work, and assuming that people understood that fact, how should they have reacted? Should people who know God's power show no surprise or amazement when such power is demonstrated? Does Peter expect that people should become blasé about such things? How should we respond to miraculous works, knowing that it is God, and not God's apostles, accomplishing the deed?
• Peter has strong words for those to whom he is speaking. Does Peter see these people, and recognize them as having specifically been involved in the events of Jesus' death (there were indeed lots of people in those crowds), or is he speaking to them as a group of people that, while they may not have individually been a part of those actions, nonetheless share in that guilt?
  

Psalm 4:1-8

1 John 3:1-7

• When I was younger, I used to think of being a "child of God" in the sense of being God's creation. While this is certainly true, Bible teachers I've had as an adult have caused me to think of the concept of being God's "child" more in terms of adoption. I am God's child because God has taken me in as a member of the family. What might be the benefits or drawbacks to such a concept? How does it fit with this passage?
  

Luke 24:36b-48

• One of the down-sides to BibleGateway.com is that the site doesn't really know how to handle partial verses, such as that called for with verse 36b here. The letter "b" indicates that only a part of the verse is to be read as part of the lectionary. In this case, the reading starts with the second part of the verse, which begins "Jesus himself stood among them...".
• As with Jesus' post-resurrection appearance to the disciples (particularly Thomas) in John (which was one of last week's readings), Jesus calls attention to his hands and feet (where he has wounds leftover from his crucifixion). Yet Luke does not specifically mention the wounds themselves. Why not? (Well, John did mention Jesus' side, not his feet. Is that distinction important?)
• Luke also gives us the picture of the resurrected Jesus asking for, and eating, some fish. Did the resurrected Jesus need to eat to continue to survive, or is this just something he could do to emphasize that he was really present in front of his disciples? What might the implications, if any, of this be for our own resurrected bodies?