The Holy Apostles Jason and Sosipater; the Holy Martyrs Dadas, Maximus and Quintilianus (286-305); Our Father among the Saints Cyril of Turau (1183)
Acts 4:23-31; John 5:24-30
Read Acts 4:23-31
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
In today’s passage, Peter and John show remarkable confidence in God’s providence from the beginning of the world to their own day. They acknowledge God as the Sovereign Lord who created the world, who spoke through King David, and who even anointed the rulers who had Jesus put to death. Those rulers who put Jesus to death are now threatening Peter and John and the other believers. Having expressed their confidence in God’s providence, Peter and John ask God for boldness in preaching the truth of Christ and for God to continue working signs and miracles.
As a result, their speaking of the Word of God was so bold, the place itself was shaken.
When we are confident in God’s plan for our lives and for the world and we are bold in speaking about the salvation that Christ brings, the ground around us will shake. There might not be an actual earthquake, but people will see how our lives are transformed by Christ. We may even experience threats—be they in the form of ostracization from friends or family because of our ‘weirdness’ or even in the form of explicit threats from employers who don’t like our Christian beliefs on certain issues. We need to be tactful in some of these more delicate situations, but our confidence in God’s plan should lead us into a greater boldness in preaching that plan in our words and actions.
Recall the hymn of from Paschal Matins: ‘Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ’. Indeed, we have beheld the resurrection of Christ. Christ has destroyed death’s grip over us and the world. Our lives should reflect that. Be confident in this and be bold in preaching it.
If you do this, the world around you will be shaken.