The reading from Acts today needs a little bit of background. Peter and John were going up to the temple in the afternoon, probably round 3 p.m., when sacrifice was offered with prayer, and passed a man lame from birth who was begging at the Beautiful Gate, which was probably on the east side of the Temple. Peter looked at him intently, then told him to look at them, which he did, probably expecting some alms. He told the man he had no silver or gold, but that he would give what he had. He told the man to stand up and walk in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Having said this, he pulled the man to his feet, and he was immediately healed and able to walk.

This healing was done in a busy place. The man entered the Temple with them, passing through into Solomon's portico. He was walking and leaping and praising God--thus making a lot of noise and drawing a lot of attention to them. He clung to Peter and John while people gathered to see what all the fuss was about.

The crowd formed inside the Temple grounds, where it was illegal for a gentile to pass, so the crowd of people were Israelites. Many of these people recognized the man as having been lame from birth, so there was no question of this being a miracle. They are astonished.

Peter addresses the crowd that forms around them, speaking to them as a fellow Israelite, but also as a disciple of Jesus, the Messiah.

Peter does not harangue the crowd with judgmental remarks, but tells them simply that they acted through ignorance in having Jesus crucified, and that it was fulfillment of prophecy. His aim is to convince them that Jesus was the suffering Messiah spoken of in scripture, and to move them to repent and be saved.

Peter and John are arrested soon after this miracle, for preaching about Jesus and the resurrection. The priests, captain of the temple, and the Sadducees are very annoyed, so the apostles, and the man they cured, spend the night in custody. As you may not know, the Sadducees are a rich ruling class. The Pharisees believe in the resurrection, and are more numerous. Sadducees, though, do not believe in the resurrection, therefore, they are sad, you see.

The next day Peter and John are questioned by the rulers, Annas, the high priest, the elders, and the scribes. Their interrogators realize they cannot deny such an obvious sign, and that all Jerusalem will know about it in no time. After all, the cured man is standing right next to Peter and John, so they have nothing to say in opposition. To keep from having the news of this miracle spread further, they decide to warn them not to speak about it and set them free. They cannot figure out how to punish Peter and John, since everyone is praising God for the miracle. It is not until this point that we find out that the man who was cured is over forty years old. Peter tells them that they cannot keep from testifying to the truth, they threaten the two apostles again, and set them free.

John's epistle is a bit harder to read. He says so much in a few words that simply hearing it read briefly allows it to flow through without the special impact it should have. Personally, I had to read and reread this, savoring it a line at a time, then read the verses before it and after it to give it the proper perspective.

To paraphrase, John says that those who believe that Jesus was the Christ, have been born of God, through their belief. Also, having loved Jesus, they will obey His commandments, and in doing so, they will then love His followers, who are His adoptive children. If we love God, we will obey Him. God's commandments are not burdensome, according to John, but in loving and obeying God, we have become His children, and whatever is born of God conquers the world. We could not do so if we did not believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Here John also mentions the Trinity. In John's time, the doctrine of the Trinity had not been officially declared, so this is an interesting passage. God, the Father, whom we love if we love the Son; Jesus, the Messiah, God's only begotten son, who came by water and blood, as John says; and the Holy Spirit, who testifies, because the Spirit is the Truth. In a few short weeks we will celebrate Pentecost, at which time the Spirit will become very important indeed.

After this reading, John goes on to explain that there are three testimonies, that of God the Father, the water, and the blood. Jesus was not only baptized with water, but went on to be crucified to prove His love for us.

Earlier in this epistle, John points out that we, as Christians, should love one another, because God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God. In fact, most of the first letter of John has to do with the need for all Christians to love each other as Christ loved us, and in doing so, to avoid sin. One of my favorite quotes is 1 John 4:18: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love." I don't know about you, but I'm still working on that.

The third reading today, the Gospel according to John, tells the story of Thomas, the twin. For most of my life I have known him as "Doubting Thomas." I have early memories of sermons in which Thomas is criticized for doubting that Jesus had risen from the dead. It was not until a few years ago, having read the Gospels carefully, and having pondered them deeply, that I began to have some compassion for him.

After all, on Easter, according to the different Gospels, the women came early to the tomb to find the stone rolled back and Jesus gone. They were told to go tell the apostles that Jesus was risen, yet they were not believed. Poor Mary Magdalene, according to the Gospel of John, believed that His body had been stolen, and in her grief she mistook Jesus for the gardener. It wasn't until he spoke to her that she realized he was alive.

The point is, doubting is a very human failing. One would think after all the time spent seeing miracle after miracle, including the raising of Lazarus, that the apostles would accept something as wonderful and amazing as resurrection. Unfortunately, it is very human to want to crawl back to normalcy. We tend to explain away anything out of the ordinary, especially if it makes us feel uncomfortable. After Jesus was crucified, the disciples were despondent. They hid, because having followed what the rest of the Jews termed a "false Messiah," they were in danger themselves. As Jesus said, "Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter."

One thing that stands out about Thomas is the level of his need for proof. He wants to make sure the appearance of Jesus to the others is not the apparition of a ghost. He insists he must feel the nail holes and the wound in the side. No ghost would be substantial enough to provide him with this kind of proof.

Jesus appears a week after everyone else has seen and believed--for the sake of Thomas--and urges him to feel the nail holes and the wound in His side, but believe. He remarks that there will be those who believe without such concrete evidence. I don't think this was a rebuke. It was a comment on the faith of those who would follow. I think Jesus acted from love for Thomas, who had been so decimated by His death that he could not accept the miracle of His resurrection without proof.

If faced with this kind of situation today, how many of us would be even as trusting as Thomas? I have heard person after person claim to be Christian, but unable to believe in miracles. These people do their best to explain away every little detail of the writings in the New Testament to fit their pet theories of modern thought. While I agree with bible scholars who say that some of the Bible we have today is allegory, not historical fact, I cannot help but accept that miracles do happen.

This is not to say I think we should believe everything we hear. I believe in having an open mind, but not so open that the brain falls out. A little healthy skepticism keeps us from joining cults and giving all our life savings away to false messiahs. We need discernment. The apostles either truly saw miracles, believed they saw miracles, or were liars. If they believed they saw miracles and were wrong, or were liars, upon what is our Christianity based? If we are to call ourselves Christians, does this, or does it not mean that we follow Jesus and believe in His teachings? If we believe Jesus, then should we not also believe in miracles, since they occur in every Gospel? If the apostles were misled, or were liars, then our faith is on very shaky ground, indeed.

If the writers of the four Gospels and all the epistles were liars, why were they willing to die in order to foster their beliefs? The apostles would have been the first to disappear to a safe place, and stay there, had their stories been lies. What person in his or her right mind makes up a lie and then marches forth to die for it?

God knows we are fallible creatures. We cannot turn belief on like a faucet. It would be so much easier if we could simply decide we were going to believe something and then do it. Wasn't there a character in Through the Looking Glass who claimed to believe something impossible each day before breakfast, as if it was a desired quality?

None of the apostles believed Jesus when he told them he was going to be crucified in the first place, even when he told them plainly, without parables. Peter even at one point told Jesus "heaven forbid" he would die, and received a rebuke for it. None of the apostles were brave, fearless, warriors come to rescue Jesus from His fate. They weren't meant to be. They were all afraid. They all hid after he was crucified.

This contrast is also what makes the miracle of Pentecost so spectacular when it happens. These unpromising, frightened, doubting apostles in a few weeks--only fifty days from Easter--will be completely transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. They will go out and completely change the world.

When Jesus breathes on them and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit," He gives them their great commission. The whole reason they have been called to be apostles is about to come to fruition. From the time Jesus called them they have been educated and groomed for their real mission: To proclaim to the world the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah, and the salvation of those who will follow Him.

Amen