Episode 22: Year A – Third Sunday of Easter
In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on three details in the readings for the Third Sunday of Easter, Year A. The first detail is Peter’s speech on the Day of Pentecost, which makes up the first reading from Acts 2:14, 22-23. This corresponds to the apologetical topic of the Papacy. The second detail, coming from the second reading (1 Peter 1:17-25), is Peter’s comment about God judging us according to our works, which, of course, relates to the topic of salvation and the relationship that good works have with it. The third detail is Luke’s mention of Mary’s “sin offering” made at the Presentation of the Lord, which is narrated in the Gospel reading, taken from Luke 2:13-35. This raises questions concerning Mary’s sinlessness.
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Hey everyone,
Welcome to The Sunday Catholic Word, a podcast where we reflect on the upcoming Sunday Mass readings and pick out the details that are relevant for explaining and defending our Catholic faith.
I’m Karlo Broussard, staff apologist and speaker for Catholic Answers, and the host for this podcast.
In this episode, we’re going to focus on three details, one from each of the readings for this upcoming Third Sunday of Easter. The first detail is Peter’s speech on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, which is the first reading—Acts 2:14, 22-23. This corresponds to the apologetical topic of the Papacy. The second detail, coming from the second reading (1 Peter 1:17-25), is Peter’s comment about God judging us according to our works, which, of course, relates to the topic of salvation and the relationship that good works have with it. The third detail is Luke’s mention of Mary’s “sin offering” made at the Presentation of the Lord, which is narrated in the Gospel reading, taken from Luke 2:13-35. This raises questions concerning Mary’s sinlessness.
Peter’s Day of Pentecost Speech
Let’s start with the first detail: Peter’s speech on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2.
Luke starts by telling us that Peter took initiative among the other apostles to preach to the crowd gather: “Peter stood up with the Eleven raised his voice, and proclaimed to them “You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem. Let this be known to you, and listen to my words” (v.14). Peter then goes on to reference different Old Testament passages—Joel 2:28-32 and Psalm 16:8-11—and proclaims that they are fulfilled in their midst.
It’s worth noting Luke’s reference to Peter raising his voice in the presence of the Eleven. This suggests that Peter speaks on behalf of the Eleven, thereby suggesting a leadership role. The late reformed theologian Simon Kistemaker, who was a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, concurs. In his New Testament commentary Acts, he writes:
Peter assumes the leadership role within the company of the 120 believers . . . Peter shows the crowd that he is the leader of the twelve apostles. In earlier days, the multitudes came to listen to Jesus. Now they come to the apostles and Peter realizes that the task of giving leadership belongs to him . . . The presence of the other apostles next to him conveys to the crowd that Peter speaks on their behalf.
This exercise of leadership on the Day of Pentecost is just one example among many in the first half of the book of Acts. We don’t have time to list them all here. But Luke highlights Peter’s leadership role all the way up to the council of Jerusalem in Chapter 15, after which Luke shifts his focus to Paul’s missionary activity.
The second detail comes from the second reading, which is taken from 1 Peter 1:17-25. In verse 17, Peter writes, “17 Now if you invoke as Father him who judges impartially according to each one’s works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning.”
This detail is significant for doing apologetics because it illustrates the idea that our good works do have a role to play with regard to our salvation. We are judged based on them.
Now, it’s important to point out that this judgment refers to our final salvation—that’s to say, the reward of eternal life. Good works are not taken into consideration for God to initially save us. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion” (2010).
That our good works can merit the final state of our salvation—again, which is entrance into heaven—is confirmed by both Jesus and St. Paul. Jesus makes it clear that we are judged according to our works in Matthew 25:31-46. There Jesus says that when God comes in judgment, the sheep will go to eternal life for performing the corporeal works of mercy and the goats will be damned due to their failure to perform such works.
Paul follows suit in Romans 2:7-8, writing, “For he will render to every man according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury.”
These biblical passages support the Council of Trent’s teaching that our good works can merit eternal life. In chapter 16 of its Decree on Justification, the Council states,
Hence, to those who work well unto the end and trust in God, eternal life is to be offered, both as a grace mercifully promised to the sons of God through Christ Jesus, and as a reward promised by God himself, to be faithfully given to their good works and merits.
Then in Canon 26, the Council attached an anathema to anyone who denies the meritorious value of our good works in the Lord:
If anyone says that the just ought not for the good works done in God[127] to expect and hope for an eternal reward from God through His mercy and the merit of Jesus Christ, if by doing well and by keeping the divine commandments they persevere to the end,[128] let him be anathema.
Peter’s statement about God judging according to our works, therefore, gives us an opportunity to reflect on the Church’s teaching concerning the relationship between our good works and eternal life.
The last detail for this episode is Mary’s “sin offering” mentioned in the Gospel reading for this upcoming Sunday, which is Luke 2:13-35.
Luke tells us, starting in verse 22, “22 When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, 23 just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,” 24 and to offer the sacrifice of “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,” in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.”
According to Leviticus 12:6-7, this sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons is called a “sin offering” that is offered to “make atonement.” We read,
6And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the door of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, 7 and he shall offer it before the Lord, and make atonement for her.
Some Christians appeal to Mary’s “sin offering” as evidence that she was not sinless. For example, John MacArthur, in his book Luke 1-5 MacArthur New Testament Commentary, writes, “That Mary offered a sin offering is consistent with the reality that she was a sinner in need of a Savior. The Catholic dogma that Mary was immaculately conceived and lived a sinless life finds no support in Scripture” (pg. 171). Matt Slick, founder and director of Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, asks, “If Mary was sinless, how could she also be unclean?” Finally, in their Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences, Geisler and MacKenzie argue, “[Mary] offered a sacrifice for her sinful condition.”
What can we say in response?
First, this “sin offering” stipulated by Leviticus 12 is not for moral faults. Such sacrifices are explained in Leviticus 4 through 5. The “sin offering” of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons was an offering for the cleansing of ritual impurity. Surely, having a child didn’t make one morally unclean.
According to Leviticus 14:22, those who were cleansed of leprosy (v.1) had to offer the same “sin offering.” Since leprosy made one ritually unclean, the “sin offering” made them ritually clean. Having leprosy wasn’t a sin that the person needed to be cleansed of.
The ritual impurity incurred from having a child is similar to the ritual impurity incurred from touching a dead body, an impurity that prohibited a Jew from approaching the Temple (see Num. 19:13). This is the reason why the priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan pass the Samaritan by. They thought he was dead and they didn’t want to become ritually unclean by touching the dead body.
Given that this particular type of “sin offering” is offered specifically for ritual uncleanness, some scholars suggest that a better translation would be “purification offering.” J. Milgrom is one such scholar who makes this argument in his 1971 article “Sin-Offering or Purification-Offering?” in the volume 21, number 2, of the journal Vetus Testamentum.
At this point, a question arises: “If this offering is for ritual uncleanness, then why call it a ‘sin’ offering?”
I suppose because such an offering is first stipulated to be made for sin, as explained in Leviticus 5. It is thereby labeled as a “sin offering.” In Leviticus 12, this specific offering, which is labeled as a “sin offering,” is simply extended to cover other impurities that are not sin, such as ritual impurities. This is not dissimilar to how the biblical authors use the term “brother” in a way that extends beyond biological brotherhood as to include other kinds of kinship.
So, that Mary offers a “sin offering” in the Temple doesn’t conflict with the Catholic understanding of Mary’s sinlessness. It is an offering for ritual cleansing and Mary does so to humbly submit to the Mosaic Law.
Conclusion
Well, my friends, that does it for this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word. The Third Sunday of Easter has no shortage of information to help us engage in conversations on three different apologetical topics:
- Peter’s role as the first Pope
- The role of works and our salvation
- Mary’s sinlessness
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I hope you have a blessed Third Sunday of Easter.