The Restoration of All Things? A reflection
The first reading for this coming Sunday takes us to Acts 3, where Peter takes the opportunity to preach in Solomon’s Portico after he and John participated in the healing of a man with a disability. The lectionary reading ends in verse 19, though the sermon ends in verse 26. I plan to take the reading to verse 21, in part because, at least in the NRSV verse 19 ends with a comma, while verse 21 brings the sentence to a close. It’s in verse 21 that I find an intriguing phrase. Peter declares that Jesus will remain in heaven “until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets.” Another way of rendering that statement about “universal restoration” is the “restoration of all things.” Although J ü rgen Moltmann doesn’t believe that universal salvation is in play here (Moltmann suggests that Peter means by universal restoration the fulfillment of all of God’s promises). However, Moltmann does suggest that the
