Homily Easter 3B: You are witnesses of these things

Homily for Easter – 3rd Sunday Year B 2018 

Acts 3:13-15,17-19; 1 John 2:1-5; Luke 24:35-48

Introduction 

“You are witnesses of these things.” These are the parting words of the Risen Jesus to the disciples in today’s gospel. But what of what things are they witnesses?  And what kind of witnesses are they? 

One of the first movies I saw when I came to this country was the 1985 movie Witness.  The detective played by Harrison Ford, goes into Amish country, to protect a young boy, who had seen a murder taking place.  And so because the boy knew who the murderer was, information that was not common knowledge, he was a witness.  With what he knew he could help the justice system convict the murderer.  He was a witness to the murder. 

Scripture and Theology 

The disciples too were witnesses to a murder, the death of Jesus and much more.  By calling them witnesses of these things, Jesus is reminding them that they know important things, which other people don’t.  Only they, like the little Amish boy, could tell others what they knew.  What things did the know? 

• For three years Jesus taught them many things: the beatitudes, the great commandments, many parables about God’s love and mercy, name it!  But the most important lesson, which he repeated when he appeared to them in today’s gospel was this: “. . . that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.”  .  God brought him back to life, to prove that all Jesus said and did was true.  The disciples know these things because Jesus taught them. 
• Even better than hearing Jesus teach, the disciples had seen him do many things: he had performed miracles like making wine out of water, multiplying bread and fish, healing people and even raising the dead to life. 
• But the most important thing they had seen was the risen Lord.  Jesus goes to extra trouble to provide evidence of his resurrection.  We heard in today’s gospel that he invited them to touch his hands and feet which had been nailed to the cross.  He also asked for a piece of baked fish so they could see him eating right before their eyes, something only a person who is alive can do.  This minor detail is recorded, not simply to indicate that Jesus like you, was fond of seafood, but as proof for the disciples that the man they were seeing and talking to was Jesus, who had died and now was risen.  And as far as evidence is concerned, the disciples were holding truly astounding evidence; they were privy to an exclusive; that the Lord had risen and we too would rise again on the Last Day, and like him have new spiritual bodies. 

But a witness is of no use, if he or she does not take the stand.  The witness must share that information, especially if sharing is going to benefit others.  And that is why Jesus, after reminding the disciples about the mystery of his death and resurrection, he also reminds them of his earlier teaching: “that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”  In other words, the disciples must pass on what they have seen and heard, not only to the Jewish people, but indeed to all nations. 

To their credit, these first disciples shared the Good News.  They preached, like we heard Peter preach so fearlessly in today’s first reading.  In fact Peter tells his listeners: “The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.”  Besides teaching, they also gave witness by healing people in the name of Jesus like Peter and John did to the man at the temple.  But most importantly they gave witness by suffering and dying for the gospel.

Christian Life 

What Jesus said to the disciples: “You are witnesses of these things,” he also says to you and me.  After all, we too are in the know about what Jesus did and taught, and especially that Jesus died and rose from the dead. 

And how do we know these things?  We don’t have first-hand experience like the first disciples.  Yes, but we know these things because the first eye-witnesses passed on this knowledge to their successors, and they in turn to their successors, until today.  And yes, we are hearsay witnesses, who are not admissible in a court of law.  But when it comes to spreading the gospel our witness is admissible. 

Perhaps we heard the Good News from our grandmothers and grandfathers, perhaps our mothers and fathers, perhaps from our teachers and catechists; the fact is that we received this nugget of Good News, that had been handed down all the way from Jesus and the first disciples.  And when we became privy to this information, we joined the club of witnesses.  And so Jesus can rightly call us witnesses of these things.  If we don’t want to make him a liar, we must share what we have learned. 

What kind of witness are we to be?  From watching TV shows like Law and Order and Midsomer Murders, I have observed that there are four types of witnesses. 

There is the unwilling witness, one who is compelled to give testimony, usually by a sub poena.  This kind of witness is often hostile, uncooperative and might even plead the fifth, refusing to share what he knows.  Christians should not wait for a sub poena to testify to their faith.  Christians cannot plead the fifth.  In fact our testimony is more reliable if we answer questions not only about what we have seen and heard, but also about how the gospel has affected us personally. 

Then there is the untruthful witness, one who does not tell the whole truth.  This witness might withhold some of the information or even misrepresent it.  Sometimes this witness does so because he fears the consequences of his testimony for himself and his family; sometimes the witness is simply a big liar.  Again clearly Christians cannot be this kind of witness.  We must preach the full gospel and nothing but the gospel truth.  We cannot cherry-pick what we like and what we don’t like from the gospel; it is a package deal.  For example, our witness to life cannot just be about abortion while at the same time we support the death penalty.  Or our witness cannot just be about caring for the material needs of the poor, while we neglect the need for committed and faithful monogamous marriage between a man and a woman. 

There is also the unreliable witness.  In another movie, My Cousin Vinny, an elderly lady with poor eyesight wrongly identified the two boys as murderers; she was literally an unreliable eye-witness.  The Christian witness must ensure that his eyesight, his eyesight of faith is clear and good.  Through prayer and study, this witness must first inform himself or herself about the faith and then pass it on in a reliable manner to others.  The Christian witness must not pass on wrong information, not even accidentally. 

Conclusion 

And so, we must be the fourth type of witness: willing, truthful and reliable; we testify both in word and action.  In fact our example is perhaps the best testimony that we can give to the Risen Lord.  Like St. Francis of Assisi, when asked by his disciples, how they were to preach said: “Preach always, sometimes with words.” 

Finally I want to make a distinction between being a witness and being a gossip.  Both the witness and the gossip possess a juicy piece of information.  But what the gossip has is poison and when they share it, it kills.  What the witness has is the good news and when they share it, they give life.  May we be witnesses of the things Jesus has taught and done for us, so that others may also have life and have life to the fullest.