Daily Lectionary | Acts 9:1-22 and John 12:20-end
Today is the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. Before Paul was Paul, he was Saul, a famous persecutor of Christians. He meets the Lord Jesus Christ on his way to Damascus and learns that he is actually persecuting Jesus: “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” This shows us just how closely Jesus identifies with his church. The church, as Paul would later teach, is the body of Christ on earth, Christ being the head. Saul then undergoes a mini-death and resurrection experience: he’s blinded in darkness for three days. On the third day he’s raised up to see the world in a new light, the light of Christ.
The Lord prepares Ananias to receive Paul and tell him that Paul is his chosen “instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” Saul’s vocation will now be one of mission and suffering with Jesus and his church.
But he’s resourced for such a mission: the scales fall off his eyes, he’s filled with the spirit, baptized, and given food.
Reflection Questions
Consider how Paul’s dramatic encounter with Jesus influenced his theology of suffering and his understanding of the body of Christ.
Note how Paul meets Jesus, his eyes are opened, he’s given the Holy Spirit, then fed. In all of this, he’s strengthened. How are we similarly strengthened to follow Jesus?
John 12:20-end
Summary
Jesus came to his own people but they did not receive him, but “the world has gone after him” (Jn. 12:19). Now, the Greeks come to Philip curious to see Jesus. This leads to Jesus saying that his hour has come to be “glorified.” How will he be glorified? He will be a kernal of wheat that dies in the ground, but much fruit will come from it.
The approaching hour troubles Jesus soul, but Jesus desires his hour of glory to be a time for God’s glory, so he prays to that end. The Lord answers his prayer: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
The voice becomes another witness of judgment: the rule of this world, Satan, will be cast down when Jesus is lifted up. When he is lifted up he will draw all men (e.g., Greeks and many others) to himself.
While many are going out to Jesus, still many are refuse to believe. So Jesus is like the prophet Isaiah who preaches and no one believes: the people’s eyes are blind.
The theme of light and darkness continues. Jesus, the light, is about to go away. To belive in Jesus is to believe in the Father and come to the light. The universal message of Jesus continues: he’s come not to judge the world but to save it, to give the world eternal life. And all of this is not of his own authority, but it comes from the Father.
Reflection Questions
Why does Jesus respond to the disciples inquiry about the Greeks wanting to see him with a message that his hour has finally come?
How does Jesus pray to his Father in John 12:27-28? What can we learn about prayer from this?