Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, April 6, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
It should have been one of the women. No offense to Matthias; I’m sure he was a great guy. But once again, the men are seen as the “real” disciples who can witness to the resurrection, while the women—the first ones to actually witness the resurrection—are relegated to a support role.
Yeah, yeah, I know. That was the society and culture of the time, yada yada yada. And maybe it was only men who were with him from the very beginning and the women came later, though I sort of doubt that. No way to know, I guess. It is what it is. Or was.
So, there, I acknowledged the elephant in the room. Now back to what we can get out of this lovely statement to inform our lives today. What’s the purpose of the disciples? To bear witness to the resurrection. Well…none of us was there. Not at the resurrection nor from the beginning with Jesus’ baptism by John. How, then, do we witness to what we have not seen?
I don’t know about you, but I’ve “seen” a fair amount. God has shown up in my life in myriad ways. God has shown up in the world in the actions of countless people who have given of themselves to work for justice, to answer God’s call to advocate for the voiceless, liberate the oppressed, protect the vulnerable. I can bear witness to the resurrected Jesus among us in all of these things, even though I wasn’t there at the resurrection. Even though I’m not a man (yeah, I had to go there again). We are, all of us, Matthias, elected by divine directive to be one of the apostles.
How have I borne witness to the resurrected Jesus in my life?
