Thursday of the Octave of Easter
As the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering.
When Peter saw it, he responded to the people, "You men of Israel, why do you marvel at this man? Why do you fasten your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had determined to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, And killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, to which we are witnesses. By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which is through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
"Now, brothers, I know that you did this in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But the things which God announced by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.
"Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, And that he may send Christ Jesus, who was ordained for you before, Whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God spoke long ago by the mouth of his holy prophets. For Moses indeed said to the fathers, 'The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him in all things whatever he says to you. It will be that every soul that will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.' Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed after, as many as have spoken, also told of these days. You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, 'All the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.' God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to you first to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your wickedness."
You make him ruler over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet: All sheep and cattle, Yes, and the animals of the field, The birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, And whatever passes through the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord, How majestic is your name in all the earth!
They related the things that happened along the way, and how he was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.
As they said these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, "Peace be to you."
But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
He said to them, "Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn't have flesh and bones, as you see that I have." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they still didn't believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, "Do you have anything here to eat?"
They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. He took them, and ate in front of them. He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms concerning me must be fulfilled."
Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures. He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
The disciples are still trying to wrap their minds around the impossible. Even when Jesus stands before them, eating fish and honeycomb, they struggle between terror and wonder. Notice how Jesus doesn't scold them for their doubt—instead, he invites them to touch his wounds, to watch him eat, to ground their faith in something tangible.
This same tension lives in our daily experience of faith. We proclaim Christ's resurrection each Sunday, yet when Monday morning arrives with its ordinary struggles, we often find ourselves like those first disciples—caught between believing and wondering if we've imagined it all. The beauty here is that Jesus meets us exactly where we are, doubt and all.
Peter's boldness in Acts reveals what happens when that resurrection reality finally takes hold. He doesn't minimize the crowd's role in Christ's death, but neither does he leave them in despair. "You did this in ignorance," he says, "but God can work through even this." There's profound hope in recognizing that our failures, our moments of denial or indifference, don't disqualify us from God's plan—they can actually become part of it.
The movement from fear to witness happens gradually. Jesus opens their minds to understand the scriptures, connecting the dots between ancient promises and present reality. This same opening continues in our lives—in conversations that suddenly illuminate something we've read countless times, in moments when a familiar prayer takes on new meaning, in ordinary encounters that reveal Christ's presence.
Consider how Jesus chose to reveal himself through the most basic human activities—walking, eating, conversation. His resurrection doesn't remove him from the everyday; it transforms the everyday into a place of encounter.
Where do we sense Christ's presence in our most routine moments? What would change if we truly believed we are witnesses to the resurrection?