Reading for March 30th

The OT reading is replaced by Acts readings during the Easter season:

Acts 2

14 Peter stood up with the Twelve, raised his voice, and announced to them: “Gentlemen of Judea,[i] and all of you who are living in Jerusalem, I will reveal this circumstance to you, listen closely to my words.[ii]

22 Gentlemen of Israel, you must listen to these things: Jesus from Nazareth, a man who was commended to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did through him among you, so that you know these things. 23 You killed this man, handing him over to be crucified by the hands of lawless men by the specific intention and foreknowledge of God. 24 He is the one whom God raised up releasing the pain from Death[iii], since it was not able to imprison him. Indeed, David spoke of him, “I foresaw my Lord before me through everything, because he is at my right hand, I will not stumble. Because of this (one), my heart is joyful and my tongue shouts for joy, and my flesh keeps its hope, because you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to rot. You have revealed the path of life to me. You fill me with joy in your presence.”

29 Gentlemen, Brothers, I am testifying legally, with confidence before you concerning the Patriarch, David, because his life ended and he had a funeral, and his tomb is still with us today. 30 Therefore, he is a Prophet and he knew that God swore an oath to him that one of his ancestors would sit on his throne. 31 Foreknowing this, he spoke about the resurrection of the Christ from the dead because, “my flesh will not be abandoned to Hades nor will my flesh experience decay.”

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[i] This is how you address a jury. It might best be translated “Gentlemen of the jury.” Though I would normally translate this with, “Ladies and Gentlemen . . .” because Greek addresses usually imply both genders, in this case he is addressing the men because they are the qualified jurors in Greek and Jewish society. It is not unlikely that this is also part of the reason Jesus chose all men for the twelve: it would be shameful and invalid for a woman to act as a juror and, though courts always accepted their testimony, just speaking out in public would have been considered shameful by the society except under very special circumstances.

[ii] These people have accused them of drunkenness and Peter takes the opportunity to “testify” about Jesus.

[iii] Goruping Death and Hades (the proper name of the keeper of the underworld) is a likely indication that the author (and maybe Peter) intended to personify them ala Greek Myth.