Daily Catholic Lectio
Sun, 14 April 2024
Third Sunday of Easter
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19. 1 John 2:1-5. Luke 24:35-48
You are witnesses!
‘Witness’ is one of the most commonly heard Christian jargons. This word is biblical, magisterial, and existential. Many of the Church Fathers and the teachings of the Church insist on ‘bearing witness to Christ or the gospel.’ In the gospel reading, the Risen Lord, who appears to the frightened disciples, tells them, ‘You are witnesses to these things.’ And they, having received the Holy Spirit, proclaim, ‘We are witnesses to this.’
At the outset, let us understand the word ‘witness’ in the light of the Bible.
(a) Confirming something as true
Boaz, who initiates a relational transaction with Ruth, invites the elders of the town to bear ‘witness’ (cf. Ruth 4:9) to confirm that this act truly happened.
(b) Announcing what one has experienced
The Lord God miraculously liberates the people of Israel from the slavery of Egypt and brings them to the Promised Land. He makes a covenant with them on Mount Sinai. He invites them to bear witness to others by telling other nations what they have experienced.
(c) Warning
As the people of Israel forgot their covenantal relationship with God, God sent them prophets to warn them and to invite them to return to God. A prophetic witness is a type of warning.
(d) Dying
The Greek word ‘martus’ gives birth to the English word ‘martyr,’ i.e., ‘someone who dies for a religious belief.’ Bearing suffering for the sake of one’s religion and dying for it is glorified as martyrdom, as witnessing.
In the first and the gospel readings of the day, the word ‘witness’ is used in the first and second meanings. The disciples confirm that Jesus event is real and true, and they announce to others what they themselves have experienced.
What did the disciples experience?
In the gospel reading, we read the Lukan narrative of the post-resurrection appearance. The Risen Lord appears to the disciples. The disciples, upon seeing the Lord, are caught with a flood of emotions: fear, terror, doubt, joy, and anxiety. Jesus, who wishes to confirm that he is not a ghost but a real person, eats a fried fish in front of them. He opens their inner eyes to understand the Scriptures. He announces to them that they are the witnesses.
The disciples move from the state of ‘Jesus is not there’ to ‘Jesus is there.’ They confirm that the resurrection of Jesus is not hearsay or a rumour, but a real, experienced reality. They get a new vocation, i.e., to be witnesses.
How did the disciples bear ‘witness’?
Though the invitation to be witnesses is given now, the disciples become witnesses only after the Pentecostal event. The first reading brings before us the first address of Peter to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He not only pointed out their error of disowning and killing Jesus but also invited them to conversion. The second reading asserts that in Jesus we have the forgiveness of sins.
How do we become witnesses of Christ?
(a) Through God experience
In court language, ‘witness’ is someone who has seen the event with his or her own eyes. He or she has experienced the event as it has occurred. The deeper the experience, the better the witnessing. Experience is not an intellectual insight but a real-life instance. It makes a concrete change within us. Jesus opens the eyes of the heart so that the disciples may understand what is written in the Scriptures about him. When we have God experience, we will become witnesses to God’s love, mercy, and grace. In the responsorial psalm (cf. Ps 4), the Psalmist prays that God must shine his light upon him.
(b) Being a bridge
Witnesses are the connecting bridges and hyphens between the event and the third parties. When we bear witness, we don’t become a wall, but a bridge, connecting each other. Becoming a bridge between Jesus and others means that we know Jesus and others well.
(c) Moving outward
One of the qualities of children that we have lost as we grow is ‘to keep moving.’ The children can never be constrained to a particular place. They keep running, even when held by force. This type of movement is necessary for our lives.
To the apostles who thought, ‘Jesus is dead. Everything is finished’, Jesus appears, announces his resurrection, and sends them on mission. Jesus poses to them questions for reflection and analysis: ‘Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts?’ Then, he takes a piece of fried fish and eats it in front of them – the attitude of the disciples is awesome. Even though their Master is dead, they keep frying fish! – Eating, in the Bible, signifies movement. Things began to ‘move’ after our first parents ate the forbidden fruit. If they had not eaten it, we would still be lingering in the garden! The Lord God, who feeds the depressed Elijah, tells him, ‘Get up. Eat. The journey will be long for you’ (cf. 1 Kgs 19:7).
Jesus opens the eyes of his disciples in order that they might understand the Scriptures. He makes them stand on their feet and move: “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to these things.”
He makes them begin from the place where they met their wall, which they considered their end. Jerusalem, which was considered an end for Jesus, becomes the starting point for Jesus’ disciples.
When we are frozen in life due to death, loss, illness, indifference of others, frustration, or ageing, let us remember the fried fish that Jesus ate. Let us get up and eat. And keep moving. Life is … until we keep moving!
When the commandment of Jesus – ‘you are witnesses to these things’ – becomes our announcement – ‘we are witnesses to this’ – there is movement and life.
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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