Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 18, 2003
Acts 8:26-40 or Deut. 4:32-40; Psalm 66:1-11 or 66:1-8; 1 John 3:(14-17)18-24 or Acts 8:26-40; John 14:15-21.
Philip is one of the least noticed of the disciples even though he figures prominently in several significant stories. Outside of the standard lists of the disciples, Philip appears in four stories in John and one in Luke. In John’s telling of the gospel story, Philip is the only disciple that Jesus specifically calls. His response is to go and get his friend Nathaniel and together the two of them follow Jesus. In the sixth chapter of that gospel, it’s Philip whom Jesus asks about feeding the multitude, and Philip’s response concerns how much money they would need. During Holy Week, Greeks approach Philip (who is Greek himself) asking to see Jesus, and in the upper room it’s Philip who asks Jesus to show them the Father.
These images paint a picture of a man who is uncertain and hesitant. We might even say dull and weak. One who on the eve of the crucifixion, still does not understand who Jesus is or his relationship to God. Based on this information, we might be forced to the conclusion that he was a poor candidate for a disciple and our expectations for him in the ministry might be pretty low. If a commission on ministry were interviewing him today, he would most likely be refused.
However, the picture we have of Philip in this week’s passage from Acts looks very different. Here we have an image of a man completely in tune with the Holy Spirit and who acts boldly and unhesitatingly as an evangelist. Because of Philip’s obedience a gentile is converted, and we might conjecture the gospel taken to the royal home of a nation that never before had heard the name of Jesus.
What transformed Philip from Milquetoast to a man of mettle? In all likelihood it was his experience of the resurrected Jesus. When Philip met with Jesus that Easter evening in the upper room, when he saw his hands and side and knew for certain that he had overcome death, he was able to make sense of all that had come before. Now the teaching about the cross and servanthood which had seemed so obtuse made sense. Now the signs that were performed could be understood in a context that made Jesus more than a thaumaturge. Now he was clearly seen as Savior.
And so it is in all our lives. When the world is viewed through the lens of the resurrection, everything looks different. Or as Paul says, it looks like a “New Creation” (2 Cor. 5:17).
Look It Up
Compare the episodes with Philip in the Gospel of John with today’s lesson from Acts.
Think About It
In what ways does the resurrection change my perspective on the world?
Next Sunday
Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 25, 2003
Acts 11:19-30 or Isaiah 45:11-13, 18-19; Psalm 33 or 33:1-8, 18-22; 1 John 4:7-21 or Acts 11:19-30; John 15:9-17.
