Commemoration of the Appearance of the Sign of the Precious Cross over Jerusalem; The Holy Martyr Acacius.
Acts 14:20-27; John 9:39-10:9.
Read Acts 14:20-27
The Gospel reading last Sunday was the Samaritan woman at the well. (John 4:1-42) One of the significant comment that Jesus made in his conversation with the Samaritan woman is this, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” (John 4:23) Jesus goes on to say, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)
You may recall that the first Sunday of the Great Fast is the Sunday of Orthodoxy. The word “orthodoxy” stems from the Greek word orthodoxia (orthos = right; doksa = opinion), which signifies the true faith and the true worship of God. It is in this context that one must understand the movement of the apostle Peter’s theological transformation where he was convinced of the evangelization of the Gentiles. With truth of that fact now anchored deeply in his mind heart and soul as well as evolving into the mind of the Church, Peter is ready to go forth in this labour, even as it were, very imperfectly.
Who is the one chosen by God to advance the Kingdom of God to the Gentiles, none other than Saul, who is called Paul. “Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, ‘it was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you (the Jews) first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us….’” (Acts 13:46,47)
In today’s reading of the Acts of the Apostles, in the city where the gospel was preached, many disciples were made, and this fact was expressed to “strengthen the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘We must through many tribulations enter the Kingdom of God.’” (Acts 14:21,22)
Jesus said to them, “For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard see, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.” (Matt. 17:20) Of course Jesus taught His disciples of the fruitfulness of faith in the context of healing and forgiveness of sins; however in the context of the Acts of the Apostles, the ‘mountain’ being moved is getting the Jews to believe that Jesus is the Messiah AND to have them accept that the door is now opened to receive the Gentiles into the Kingdom of God.
It’s easy to understand why Paul had to encourage the disciples to persevere in the faith and why tribulations would be unavoidable when they are faithful. This was also illustrated in the gospel of the Samaritan woman at the well last Sunday; the tasks of working in the Lord’s Vineyard are monumental, but O how glorious! Glory to God.