The readings for Easter 5 are taken from Acts 11:1-18; Revelation 21:1-7; and John 16:12-22.
Acts records how Eastertide is still rising. The corruption of Adam in human nature opposes God in every way, at all times, even in the apostle Peter. But the Spirit of the Lord is powerful. The Spirit told Cornelius to send for Peter, the Spirit demonstrated to Peter why he should go, and the Spirit came mightily upon Cornelius and his family as the Word of the Lord was spoken to them. The “falling” of the Holy Spirit on people enabled them to speak in other languages as evidence of God’s saving presence with them, as evidence that the life of Jesus has redeemed everyone, and evidence of God’s will and work to bring that saving work to completion in the life of each person.
The Revelation to St. John brings evidence of Jesus’ saving work by way of explanation, vision, and promises (Acts 10 records this experience of Cornelius). A new Jerusalem has already come down from heaven and “tabernacled” among us by the incarnation of Jesus (John 1:14)! Jesus IS Immanuel, “God with us.” Jesus continues to dwell among us and in each of us by means of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “… the Words I speak to you are Spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). We already experience the life that God promises in our soul that God has regenerated by His Word and Spirit (John 3). God has made our soul new, He has forgiven all former things, and by this redeeming work wipes away every tear from our eyes. The regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in the Word relieves us from death, sorrow, crying, and pain. The inspired Word of Jesus IS the fountain of living water (John 4) by which God freely brings the life of Jesus to us and then through us to others, as He did with Peter and others recorded in Acts.
The lesson from John, along with Revelation and Acts, is getting us ready to celebrate Pentecost. Like Jesus, the Spirit of God communicates to us what God the Father wants us to hear. God is true; Jesus is the truth of God incarnate (John 14), and the Spirit of God conveys truth to us. The truth of God’s grace at work in redemption is only found here. The glory of Jesus means that He does what no one else can or would do. Jesus redeemed the whole world in His life, death, and resurrection. From that work flows the work of the Holy Spirit—to take what belongs to Jesus and to declare that to us. It is the declaration of God that covers our life with the perfect life of Jesus and wraps us in His innocence like a robe. It is the declaration of God that all our sins have been and remain forgiven. It is the Word and Spirit of God that regenerates our soul in the image of Christ and gives us the mind, heart, will, and wisdom of Christ. The lessons for today remind us that God is already doing in our world what He promises to finish doing at the end of the world. The redeeming work of Jesus, all over the world at all times and all places is also going on in each of us; God’s Word and Spirit overcome the opposition of our human nature and God’s Word and Spirit regenerate and inspire our soul. In our soul we know the joy of God’s new creation, already, and this joy no one can take away!