Witnesses of the Lord (1st Sunday of Easter)

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During the Easter Season, the first reading for Sundays is taken from the book of Acts rather than the Old Testament. Acts chronicles the life of the early church, and how Christianity spread from its birthplace in Jerusalem to the rest of the known world, culminating in St. Paul’s voyage to Rome.

In our reading, St. Peter is preaching regarding the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus. Twice, he appeals to the fact that he and the Apostles were witnesses to these things. He says this to emphasize the fact that he is not merely passing on something that he heard from others, but experienced directly. As he writes in one of his epistles, “we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16).

Likewise, St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, recounts how when Jesus was raised from the dead, “he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me” (1 Corinthians 15:5-8).

By appealing to eyewitness testimony, the Apostles assure us that the Resurrection is not a myth, or hearsay. Rather, it is a real historical event that took place in a definite place and time. And because it is a real event, it has real consequences for our lives. Paul teaches us that our eternal life depends on whether we confess and live by the reality of the Resurrection: “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

J. Luis Dizon