Holy Name of Jesus/Second Sunday after Epiphany
In those days Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said to them: Ye princes of the people and ancients hear: if we this day are examined concerning the good deed done to the infirm man, by what means he has been made whole, be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel: that by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God hath raised from the dead, even by him this man standeth here before you whole.
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, as well as commemorating the Second Sunday after Epiphany. Devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus has existed for many centuries. It was very popular in medieval England. Since the eighteenth century this feast has been observed on the Second Sunday after Epiphany.
However, though this feast is medieval in origin the roots of this feast are biblical. We have just heard today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles about how in the earliest days of the Church in Jerusalem the disciples were able to heal an infirm man not through their own strength, but through the power of the name of Jesus. St. Peter and St. John had come to the temple for prayer. A certain man, lame from birth was daily carried and laid at the gate of the temple called Beautiful to ask alms of those who entered into the temple. When he saw St. Peter and St. John he asked alms of them, but instead St. Peter said, “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give thee: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” He then took him by the right hand and lifted him up, his feet and soles received strength and he stood up and walked. When the people saw him walking and praising God they were filled with wonder at what had happened. When St. Peter saw this he spoke to them saying: “Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this, as though by our own power or strength we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Son Jesus, whom ye delivered up and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Author of life, whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. And his name, through faith in his name, hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all” (Acts 3).
What had happened attracted the attention of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the Jewish Supreme Court. In its own eyes it was the supreme governing body over Israel. In practice, it was constrained to exercise authority subject to what the Romans allowed it. As in the case of Jesus himself it was concerned to clamp down on any sign of disorder for fear that it would undermine its own position in the eyes of Rome. It was dominated by Sadducees. They were a high priestly party who were the most dominant players in the power politics of the time. They accepted only the Law of Moses, rather than the later scribal traditions of interpretation. Hence, they denied the belief in the future resurrection of the dead and consequently rejected any belief in Jesus’ resurrection. There were also Pharisees in the Sanhedrin. The Pharisees were not the official leaders of the people like the high priests, but were rather zealous self appointed guardians of the ancestral traditions of the Jewish people. They acknowledged the authority of the later scribal traditions and believed strongly in the future resurrection of the dead. Hence, they were not as in principle opposed to belief in Jesus’ resurrection as the Sadducees (however much many of them rejected it in practice). They disagreed among themselves on many important issues and were divided between two rival schools of interpretation, the school of Shammai (the stricter school of thought) and the school of Hillel (the more lenient school of thought). Hence, we find Gamaliel, one of the most prominent sages of the age later pleading for toleration of the early Christian movement (Acts 5), whereas his pupil, Saul (who later became St. Paul) sought actively to persecute the first Christians.
St. Peter and St. John were therefore brought before the Sanhedrin and asked by what power or name they had healed the lame man. St. Peter replied that the healing was not performed in their own name or strength, but through the power of the name of Jesus of Nazareth, who had recently been crucified, but had now been raised from the dead. This is the stone which the builders rejected, which has now become the head of the corner. Salvation was not to be found in any other name, for there was no other name given under heaven by which they must be saved.
St. Peter and St. John had themselves witnessed how in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the hope of Israel and the world for salvation had been fulfilled. It is fitting that the Gospel for the Second Sunday after Epiphany (which we are commemorating today) is from St. John, the Gospel which enshrines the witness of St. John, the Beloved disciple. It tells of the first miracle, (or sign as St. John calls them) that Jesus wrought at Cana in Galilee and how he thus revealed his glory and his disciple put their faith in him (John 2). It was not simply the case that the miracles of Jesus fulfilled the hope of Israel that in the coming age of redemption the eyes of the blind would be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. The miracles did not only show the coming of the Kingdom of God in the person of Jesus. At a deeper level they also revealed the glory of the Father in the person of the Son and were not only miraculous deeds, but signs that pointed to the identity of the Word made flesh.
In his ministry Jesus had performed miracles as signs to reveal the glory of the Father and showing himself to be the full, final and definitive embodiment of God’s will, the very Word of God incarnate. Now that he is risen, ascended and glorified, his disciples were enabled to work miracles in his name. He acted in the name of the Father, the Church (in the person of the apostles) acted in the name of the Son. This was made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus had promised to his disciples and which was bestowed at Pentecost. Hence, all their power and authority came not from their own strength, but from him. They had been commanded to baptise into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and to celebrate the Eucharist in fulfilment of his commandment to do this in remembrance of him. In their preaching of the Gospel, in the miracles that they wrought, in the sacraments that they celebrated they acted not in their own person, but in his. In the name of him they devoted themselves to teaching and to fellowship, the breaking of bread and to prayer and were one in joy and in simplicity of heart, and in the power of the Holy Spirit were granted boldness to preach the Gospel to all nations.
Since Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever, we are called to follow the same path today, to preach the same Gospel of salvation through the name of Jesus Christ and to celebrate the same sacraments. We must continue to make clear that we do not act in our own name, but rather in the name of him, for there has been no other name given to men whereby we must be saved.