Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

 Lectionary: 270

Peter and the Apostles said in reply,
"We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.

Moses, in the Book of Deuteronomy, discouraged hanging as a form of capital punishment. Stoning, for whatever reason, was acceptable. Their gentile enemies and Roman occupiers preferred hanging or impalement, and God's people should never do either. I suppose there's a nicety there in how society should kill a man which escapes the modern mind. 

In any case, when Jesus was executed his disciples recognized the alien practice of crucifixion as an intentional violation of their religious sensibilities. To make matters worse, the religious authorities in Jerusalem had collaborated with the Romans to make it happen.  Their responsibility for his death was worse; and had clearly met with God's disfavor when he was raised up. 

But there was good news, nonetheless, for those who believed in the One "who was killed by hanging him on a tree:"

God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior
to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.
We are witnesses of these things,
as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.

In his letter to the Galatians, a largely gentile congregation, Saint Paul converted the scandal to Good News for those who would be grafted onto the Jewish tradition and its Messiah:

Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree," that the blessing of Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13)

The patristic Fathers of the Church also remarked upon the condemnation which came from a tree in Eden. It had been annulled by the tree of the cross. We should eagerly eat its fruit that we might have healing, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life.

As early as 60 AD, when scholar's surmise that Saint Mark first converted the Gospel proclamation into a narrative, the disciples had converted the grotesque rituals of crucifixion -- including the condemned man's carrying his cross to the place of execution -- to a sign of holiness:

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it." (Mark 8:34)

Many Christians have accepted the invitation even into the twenty-first century. So long as we are God's holy people, martyrdom will remain as proof of the Holy Spirit and our divine election. We should be profoundly anxious and uncomfortable if the nations stop howling against us; that would prove our loss of faith. 

As I studied Saint Mark's Gospel with a group here at Mount Saint Francis during Lent, and came up against its abrupt ending, I had to go back and read it again. Jesus predicted his mission three times; it would be complete with his passion, death, and resurrection. His fourth prediction of his resurrection came when the high priest demanded, 

"Are you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed One?"
Then Jesus answered, “I am; and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven. (Mark 14:62)

All three predictions were followed by a teaching about discipleship, "Hey, guys, it ain't what you think."

• Jesus commanded them to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him (8:33–9:1)
• Jesus taught that the first must be last and that those who receive children in his name receive him (9:33–50)
• Jesus taught that, to be great, they must become servants; to be first, they must become slaves; and that he came to serve by giving his life as a ransom for many (10:38–45)

If his resurrection also resembled a proof of eternal life for God's elect, and a vague "life-after-death," it's purpose was to send us to the nations teaching them to watch for, 

"The Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven." 

And, in the meanwhile, we should... 

Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15