Keeping Jesus in the tomb

The Sanhedrin realize that the men who are standing in front of them associated with the miraculous cure of the crippled man, in the name of Jesus, appear to be ordinary, uneducated people. The Acts of the Apostles account of this meeting in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today describes their amazement and their conclusion that they will be unable to punish or eliminate these men because of the crowds who are praising this deed as being from God. Friar Jude Winkler notes that when Peter and John pose the question of whether they should obey God or the Sanhedrin they are implying that the religious leaders have lost the authority of the Chair of Moses. The Gospel of Mark has a shorter ending which is attributed to the Evangelist and a longer ending which scholars suggest was added by a scribe at a later time. Friar Jude comments that the Evangelist may have been telling his audience of Roman Christians, many of whom were being martyred, that they would need to accept the evidence of others about Jesus Resurrection because they may not live to see His Second Coming. Chas Kestermeier, S.J. compares the disbelief of the companions and disciples of Jesus to the witnesses of Mary Magdalene that Jesus had risen to a motivation to keep Jesus in the tomb.

We often appear to be more comfortable as disciples of a great man who modeled a way of living which leads to holiness than as members of the Body of Christ, risen and living. When we step up as Peter and John in the full acceptance of the Life in which we live, our ordinary and uneducated appearance amazes people we encounter and we bring healing, acceptance, compassion and charity from Christ to his brothers and sisters.