THE RESTORATIVE POWER OF FAITH IN THE RISEN LORD

EASTER THURSDAY

Reflection by Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP

Acts 3:11-26; Ps 8:2,5-9; Lk 24:35-48

The Restorative Power of Faith in the Risen Lord

The miracle worked by Peter and John at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple attracted attention. People gathered around them as the healed man praised God while clinging to them. Peter’s address to the crowd explained that the miracle they witnessed was nothing due to a unique power belonging solely to them. The power that made the disabled man whole was a gift God has given to everyone; it is part of the commonwealth founded on the death and resurrection of the Messiah. “Why are you so surprised at this? Why are you staring at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or holiness?” He explained to them how the privilege two of them enjoy through their faith in the Risen Lord is available for them to claim, especially as children of Abraham. To access this privilege, which is a commonwealth, they must believe in the name of Jesus Christ as the Risen Lord. Admitting that they acted in ignorance in their denial and betrayal of the Messiah, God has used their misdeed to fulfil his promise to their forefathers. “God, however, raised him from the dead, and to that fact we are the witnesses; and it is the name of Jesus which, through our faith in it, has brought back the strength of this man whom you see here and who is well known to you. It is faith in that name that has restored this man to health, as you can all see.” They must now right their wrong by confessing faith in the resurrection of the Messiah. The restorative power flowed through Peter and John’s faith in the Risen Lord to heal the disabled man. This power of restoration dwells in them because they encountered the Risen Lord and believed the word of God. They carry this power about, witnessing the resurrection of Christ by their faith.

The power of restoration of our human nature flows from the Risen Lord, directly from the human nature he assumed now glorified in God, to everyone who believes. It is possible to encounter the Risen Lord or the effects of his resurrection and fail to believe. The restoration of the disabled through the apostles was an effect of the Risen Lord, yet not all the people who witnessed it and heard Peter witness to the resurrection believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. To refuse to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is to refuse to believe the word of God. According to the gospel, when the Risen Lord appeared to his disciples gathered in Jerusalem, their incredulity did not disappear until he helped them. “They were still talking about all this when Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.’” After all these physical inspections and verification of the Risen Lord, they still needed spiritual help to believe. “He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures.” The implication is that their minds were closed spiritually, making them not to understand the spiritual meaning of the word of God. The Risen Lord acting through the Church and her ministers opens our minds to understand the word of God. He breaks the word and the bread at our gatherings for our spiritual and physical restoration.

Let us pray: Open our minds, Lord, that we may grasp the spiritual meaning of your word that we may be physically and spiritual restored by your real presence among us.

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