{"id":883848,"date":"2023-03-05T21:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-06T02:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/?post_type=bible_study&#038;p=283848"},"modified":"2026-06-23T13:38:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T17:38:46","slug":"bible-study-easter-2-a-april-16-2023","status":"publish","type":"bible_study","link":"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/bible_study\/bible-study-easter-2-a-april-16-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Study: Easter 2 (A) \u2013 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/lectionary\/easter-2a\/\"><strong>[RCL]<\/strong> <strong>Acts 2:14a, 22-32; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Ea2-2023-Bible-Study-Graphic-1024x536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-283853\" style=\"width:512px;height:268px\" width=\"512\" height=\"268\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Acts 2:14a, 22-32<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is part of Peter\u2019s first sermon, given at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit had just come down from heaven and the crowd was in an uproar, yelling that those who had been overcome by the Holy Spirit were actually overcome by drunkenness! In the first part of the sermon, he quotes extensively from Joel, and in this part, he quotes from today\u2019s psalm. Peter knows the word of God well, and he is able to reach for Scripture to preach his first sermon under conditions he never could have imagined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What words of wisdom, from Scripture or otherwise, come to you in overwhelming situations?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What passages of Scripture would you like to know better, so that you can lean on them in these situations?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Psalm 16<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Psalmist writes of their trust in God. They name the best things already in their life, the things that bring them delight, and state their belief that, not only do all good things come from God but that the protection and joy they hope for in the future will also come from God. And, wait \u2013 this passage looks so familiar! Didn\u2019t we just read this? Yes, this is the psalm that is quoted in the earlier reading from Acts. Paul interprets this psalm as referring to Christ: God ensures that the Psalmist will not be abandoned, and neither will Christ be abandoned to the grave forever, but resurrected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What good things in your life are you thankful for?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What does it mean when the Psalmist says, \u201cI will bless the Lord who gives me counsel; my heart teaches me, night after night\u201d?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1 Peter 1:3-9<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today\u2019s Gospel talks about Thomas, the disciple who doubted whether Jesus was really risen. This reading, however, is from a letter to the faithful who have <em>not<\/em> seen their savior or their salvation. \u201cAlthough you have not seen [Jesus], you love him,\u201d the author writes, also saying that salvation is \u201cready to be revealed\u201d \u2013 as in, not yet revealed. Often, we do not see or feel God\u2019s presence in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What does it mean to you to act as if Jesus is risen when God\u2019s presence seems absent?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What does joy mean to you, and how is it different from happiness or toxic positivity?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>John 20:19-31<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first part of this story connects to the Pentecost story in today\u2019s first lesson \u2013 the disciples experience the Holy Spirit. One commentary on this passage says, \u201cJust as God once breathed his spirit into man in the creation story (Gen 2:7), so Jesus now does so with the words: \u2018Receive the Holy Spirit.\u2019 At this point Easter and Pentecost fall together\u201d (<em>Hermeneia<\/em>, p. 211). This chapter is full of the disciples\u2019 desire to see evidence in order to believe the Resurrection. It\u2019s also a chapter full of disbelief and mistrust. Thomas doesn\u2019t believe his friends for a whole week that Jesus is alive! But Jesus is able to enter through any closed doors \u2013 the literal closed doors of the house, and the figurative closed doors of Thomas\u2019 disbelief. Thomas doesn\u2019t believe because of Jesus\u2019 personality or face or presence, but because of Jesus\u2019 scars. Thomas doesn\u2019t just need to know that the joy of Jesus\u2019 return is real, but that his grief over Jesus\u2019 death was real, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How does this picture of Jesus coming through closed doors compare or contrast with popular images of Christ knocking on a door, waiting to be let in? Which image makes more sense to you, and why?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What do you wish you could ask Jesus if he came through the door of your house?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-ddaf2105-25a6-450c-b2d9-94b7892095ff\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Bible-Study-Easter-2-English.docx\">Word \u2013 Easter 2 (A) Bible Study<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Bible-Study-Easter-2-English.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-ddaf2105-25a6-450c-b2d9-94b7892095ff\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-dc175fee-f507-4262-a2e9-ad696eb2c25f\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Bible-Study-Easter-2-English.pdf\">PDF \u2013 Easter 2 (A) Bible Study<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Bible-Study-Easter-2-English.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-dc175fee-f507-4262-a2e9-ad696eb2c25f\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[RCL] Acts 2:14a, 22-32; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31 Acts 2:14a, 22-32 This is part of Peter\u2019s first sermon, given at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit had just come down from heaven and the crowd was in an uproar, yelling that those who had been overcome by the Holy Spirit were actually overcome by&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201221,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,22,52,3],"tags":[140],"class_list":["post-883848","bible_study","type-bible_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-studies","category-easter","category-sermons-that-work","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-easter-2a"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":23,"label":"Bible Studies"},{"value":22,"label":"Easter"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":140,"label":"Easter 2A"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/883848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bible_study"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/883848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":951731,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/883848\/revisions\/951731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}