Brief synopsis of the readings: We continue our journey in Acts with Peter speaking at the Temple. He told those gathered about how they (the people) handed Jesus over to Pilate, choosing Jesus for death over Barabbas. Peter told them that they acted out of ignorance but that if they repent their sins will be wiped away. Luke’s Gospel tells us about the Road to Emmaus. Previous to this reading Jesus walked with two disciples from Jerusalem to the nearby town of Emmaus; they welcomed him but did not recognize him. Here Jesus is sharing a meal with them and only when he broke the bread they recognized him. He showed them the crucifixion wounds to prove he was Jesus and ate some fish to prove he wasn’t a ghost. He then explained that he needed to suffer and be put to death in order for him to rise; repentance and forgiveness of sins would be preached, first in Jerusalem and then to all nations.

I recognize that it’s only the 3rd Sunday of Easter but it appears Peter and the other apostles are starting to hit their stride. Here he is doing something pretty gutsy. The Temple was the heart and soul of all worship and that was where you could find the leaders and the smart people, and Peter frankly accuses them of killing the Messiah. But then it takes an interesting turn. Peter made it clear that the risen Jesus isn’t coming to settle scores and he didn’t say he promised revenge. Of course Peter was himself a recipient of that mercy as Peter denied Jesus three times on the night Jesus was arrested.

Peter was, let’s face it, a little harsh in blaming them for Jesus’ crucifixion and we now recognize statements like that led to a long history of antisemitism. But he quickly turned to the issue of forgiveness, seemingly letting them off the hook. When Peter said they were acting out of ignorance he was hearkening Jesus’ statement (Luke 23:34) on the cross that those who crucified him weren’t responsible for “for they know not what they do.” In other words they weren’t incorrigible evildoers but simply people blinded to what is in front of them.

I’ve often spoken of the place of forgiveness in our lives as disciples of Jesus but not so much about the need for repentance. That said should never forget the role forgiveness plays. Some of us well remember the name Madeleine Murry O’Hair because she brought the lawsuit that banned prayer in schools in the 1960s. She identified as an atheist and didn’t believe her sons should be forced to pray or read Scripture in schools. Later one of them embraced Christianity and became a minister; his mother disowned him. When asked if she would welcome him back and forgive him if he asked she indicated she wouldn’t. I was astounded, probably because the idea of ending a relationship with a child was so foreign to what I believe. In fairness he never did ask forgiveness of his mother.

But Peter made it clear that Jesus’ forgiveness did not complete the job. They needed to repent and convert. We have lots of descriptions for repentance. It means getting back on the path of righteousness after wandering off. It means no longer being held captive to our fears and fantasies but seeing with new eyes and acting on it.

But it means more than recognizing and seeing. It calls us to different actions. If an alcoholic claims to have seen the destructive pattern of his addiction but does not choose to stop drinking it doesn’t do any good. Likewise those in the Temple may claim to believe that Jesus rose from the dead but if it didn’t change them it was of no purpose. Repentance isn’t an intellectual exercise. It’s also not a one time event: it’s become fashionable for Christians to describe themselves as “born again.” In fairness there are Scriptural roots for this but it can sometimes give the impression that it’s a one time event: “old life, bad; new life good.” And there are a variety of experiences of people who now identify as disciples and wrote about how they left their old lives. St. Augustine’s Confessions and Thomas Merton’s The Seven Storey Mountain come to mind. But their conversions didn’t mean they were done. It’s a lifelong of recognizing our need to stay vigilant.

And we do see the effects in today’s Gospel. I think we’re all familiar with the events we call the road to Emmaus and it’s interesting that today’s Gospel takes place right after that. The two disciples who encountered Jesus recognized him in the breaking of the bread. In other words it was the Eucharist that opened their eyes, not only to who Jesus was but who they were now in this new reality.

For the first disciples after Jesus’ resurrection it meant that they not only needed to accept forgiveness from Jesus, they needed to get to work. They were not permitted to sit down, relax, and wait for their salvation. They needed to accept the role of the first disciples.

Now I grew up in Baptist country and I can hear my fellow Christians crying out against “salvation by works.” In other words we Catholics were sometimes accused of seeing salvation as transactional: if we do a good enough job on earth God will allow us into heaven. Obviously that’s not the case. But it is the case that true faith makes sense only in the context of serving others.

And finally, let’s face it: the change in Peter from the Gospels to Acts almost defies belief. He went from a cowering man who feared even knowing Jesus to someone who spoke truth to power to the most powerful people in the Jewish world. He clearly saw himself as the leader of the apostles and he’s someone we now see as the first pope.

For the next several weeks of the Easter season we’ll see how this small group of disciples begin the process of building a church and it’s a good reminder that we continue their same legacy. Even when, and especially when, we are called to speak truth to power.