Eastertide

April 12, 2021Justice

Scripture Reading: Acts 3:12-19
When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, ‘You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

‘And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,

Ignorance is a challenging word. There are at least two types of ignorance. The first is a lack of knowledge or experience. We all are acquainted with that one, which can be corrected by study or observation or wisdom shared by others. I remember the centurion saying at the foot of Jesus’ cross Truly this man was God’s Son*! My high school American and Oklahoma History teacher contributed much outside information than was provided in our textbooks. Besides being my teacher, he was the Principal Chief of the Otoe Missouria Tribe at that time. The second type of ignorance is gained by ignoring what we have observed and blindly believing what we have been taught. Many of the Jews had been anticipating a Warrior King, Son of David Messiah, not one willing to die on a cross whose rule is based on love rather than military might.

Ignorance does not need to last forever. We can learn the better way, and we can turn around from holding on to knowledge without substance and experience without knowing.

Prayer: God of Love, open our hearts and minds to your ways and your truths. Amen.

*Matthew 27:54

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.