Ordinary Time 
Pause
We are his witnesses: Christ who was dead is now risen!
God raised him up on the third day from death’s dreary prison.
Now we proclaim: All can have life in his name.
We have been freed and forgiven.
from “We Are His Witnesses” by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette (2015)
Listen
Seeing this, Peter addressed the people: “You Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why are you staring at us as if we made him walk by our own power or piety? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of our ancestors—has glorified his servant Jesus. This is the one you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence, even though he had already decided to release him. You rejected the holy and righteous one, and asked that a murderer be released to you instead. You killed the author of life, the very one whom God raised from the dead. We are witnesses of this. His name itself has made this man strong. That is, because of faith in Jesus’ name, God has strengthened this man whom you see and know. The faith that comes through Jesus gave him complete health right before your eyes.”
Acts 3:12-16
Think
Peter (along with John) has just healed a man and the crowds are staring at them. But Peter and John deflect all the attention onto Jesus. It is through faith in Jesus that the man was healed. They implore the crowd to receive that same grace through their own faith in Jesus. They essentially tell those gathered around the healed man to stop staring at them and start faithfully staring at God.
What Peter says about their relationship to God is blunt and harsh. He is holding them accountable for their actions at Jesus’s trial and at the cross. Yet Acts 3 insists that human sin does not get the last word. God raised Jesus from the dead. God responded to human violence with the gift of life. God met death with divine resurrection. That is the final word and the good news. To this we are witnesses.
Where have you witnessed God’s good news as the final word? When in your life have you seen resurrection and renewal?
Katie Cashwell
Pray
Author of Life, open my eyes and adjust my gaze so that I might clearly see your healing power in my life and in the world around me. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. Amen.
Go
We in the church have a message beyond all comparing:
Christ is alive and brings life to the lost and despairing.
He takes our sins! Easter assures us God wins!
Ours is the good news for sharing.
from “We Are His Witnesses” by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette (2015)
