As far as the apostles were concerned, they were as weak as any other men. They were uneducated, very ordinary men. Yet they are given this privileged position: they will deliver the Word of God through the Son to the world. From God the Father, through the Son, through the Spirit, and through the apostles to the world. In this sense, the apostles are 'foundational' to the church... Theological and ethical instruction from the apostles is universally binding. Indeed, it is 'from God to us.'
Fred Zaspel

jh9404

This entry is part 8 of 9 in the series JOHANNINE HOURS - from the Taize Community

JOHANNINE HOURS - from the Taize Community

jh9404 Document: pub/resources/text/taize/johannine: johannine.94.04.TXT

April 1994 – Johannine Hour – 1 Peter 1,3-9 – Taize-Community.

For believers rooted in the hope of the Bible, the resurrection cannot be an individualistic matter; it is a collective event that marks the beginning of a new age (cf. Dan 12,2-3). What meaning can there be, then, in proclaiming that “Christ is risen” in a world that seems to go its own way with no apparent change?

At the beginning of his first letter, Saint Peter helps believers to see their way clear in this matter. By the resurrection of Christ, he tells them, God has brought you to birth anew; the object of your hope, what God has promised from the beginning, is now a reality (vv.3-4). True, you are still undergoing all kinds of hardships: evil and suffering have not disappeared by magic. And yet something has indeed changed; the very fact that you can believe in and love Christ “without seeing him” is already the proof that the life of resurrection is at work transforming the world.

In other words, the existence in the present time of women and men who support the difficulties of daily life with the cheerfulness and the constancy of faith prepares the universe to welcome and to recognize the Risen Lord when he is revealed in fullness (vv.6-7). The meaning of the Christian life can be summed up in joy, a joy beyond all attempts at explanation because it is rooted in the life of God, a joy that is already a real communion with the Christ who is not yet visible to the eye (v.8).

Do I find in my faith in the Risen Christ a serene force that enables me to cope with the difficulties of daily life?

Have I ever experienced, in the midst of the trials of life, a spark of joy that came from elsewhere? When and how? What can such experiences teach us about the mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ?

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