Here are the questions for the following texts on the Third Sunday of Easter, April 14, 2024.
Questions for Luke 24:36-48
Note: It will help you to read Luke 24:1-35 to get some context for this week’s gospel.
By the time Jesus appears to the disciples, they have heard three reports of Jesus’ resurrection, the women, the followers who met him on the road to Emmaus and Peter. Why do you think they still had doubts?
Jesus asks the disciples to touch him and to see his feet and hands. Looking at last week’s gospel (John 20:19-31), why was it important for the disciples to see Jesus’ feet and hands?
The disciples were terrified at seeing the Risen Christ. How would you respond in the disciples’ place? How does God work in the midst of our own fears and doubts?
Jesus says the disciples are his witnesses. They saw Jesus in action, healing and preaching. How are we witnesses we haven’t seen Jesus?
Questions for Acts 3:12-19
Note: It helps to read Acts 3:1-11 to frame the reading.
Peter responds to the astounded crowd after healing the man who could not walk. How does this healing line up with the resurrection of Jesus? How is this an Easter story?
Christianity began as a sect within Judaism. Theologian Willie James Jennings says this text is an “in-house conversation” among Jews. That said, when Peter accuses the crowd of rejecting Jesus is he also including himself since he also rejected Jesus by denying him?
Peter says that it is faith in Jesus that healed the man, allowing him to walk. What can faith in Jesus do in our communities of faith today?
Peter implicates the crowd for their complicity in Jesus’ death, but he also preaches repentance. How does this inform our speaking with others today, especially when we discuss fraught issues?