Chosen by God as Witnesses

John 20:1-18, Acts 10:34-43

Our gospel of John tells the account of those who first found Christ’s tomb empty. Mary Magdalene arrives first and finding the stone rolled away goes to Peter and John (the disciple Jesus loved) who run to the tomb. Both of them enter and find it empty with the graveclothes lying there. Seeing this it says that John believed. Still, they did not understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead. They both go home.

Mary, however, stays and weeps. Two angels appear asking why she weeps. She turns around and sees Jesus who she thinks is the gardener and asks where Christ’s body is. He says “Mary” and she recognizes that it is Jesus. She is recorded then as the first witness of the resurrected Jesus. She is also the first messenger of Christ being alive telling the disciples what Jesus had said to her. Later on, Christ will appear to Peter, John, and the other disciples, including woman, and to even doubting Thomas.

These are the chosen by God as witnesses that Peter speaks about in our Acts passage. Peter is following what is known as the Great Commission – the send off words of Christ to his disciples: to preach the gospel to the whole world. Peter is preaching here telling the story of Christ. He tells how he was anointed with the Holy Spirit at his baptism and of the healing and good he did. He proclaims how he and the disciples were witnesses to all that he did in Judea and Jerusalem.

Then he gives the Passion story of Christ being put to death but being raised up by God on the third day. He tells how the risen Christ appeared to those chosen as witnesses and how Christ ate and drank with them after he rose from the dead. Finally, Peter understands that Christ was the one the prophets testified about – that everyone who believes in Christ as the Messiah will receive forgiveness for sin and can become children of God. Because he lives we can live through him and also be his witnesses. Amen.