Bible Readings April, 2021

April 1, 2021 Maundy Thursday

With nightfall our Lenten observance comes to an end, and we gather with Christians around the world to celebrate the Three Days of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  At the heart of the Maundy Thursday liturgy is Jesus’ commandment to love one another.  As Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, we are called to follow his example as we humbly care for one another, especially the poor and the unloved.  At the Lord’s table we remember Jesus’ sacrifice of his life, even as we are called to offer ourselves in love for the life of the world.

 

The Prayer of the Day  

Holy God, source of all love, on the night of his betrayal, Jesus gave us a new commandment, to love one another as he loves us.  Write this commandment in our hearts, and give us the will to serve others as he was the servant of all, your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

The Old Testament Reading---Exodus 12:1-14

Israel remembered its deliverance from slavery in Egypt by celebrating the festival of Passover.  This festival featured the Passover lamb, whose blood was used as a sign to protect God’s people from the treat of death.  The early church described the Lord’s supper using imagery from the Passover, especially in portraying Jesus as the lamb who delivers God’s people from sin and death.

12The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: ²This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. ³Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. ⁴If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. ⁵Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. ⁷They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. ⁸They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ⁹Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. ¹⁰You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. ¹¹This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. ¹²For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. ¹³The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. ¹⁴This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19

¹I love the Lord,

 because he has heard my voice and my supplications. 

²Because he inclined his ear to me, 

therefore I will call on him as long as I live. 

¹²What shall I return to the Lord

 for all his bounty to me? 

¹³I will lift up the cup of salvation

 and call on the name of the Lord, 

¹⁴I will pay my vows to the Lord

 in the presence of all his people. 

¹⁵Precious in the sight of the Lord

is the death of his faithful ones. 

¹⁶O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.

 You have loosed my bonds. 

¹⁷I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice

 and call on the name of the Lord. 

¹⁸I will pay my vows to the Lord

 in the presence of all his people, 

¹⁹in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem.

 Praise the Lord! 

The New Testament Reading---1 Corinthians 11:23-26

In the bread and cup of the Lord’s supper, we experience intimate fellowship with Christ and with one another, because it involves his body given for us and the new covenant in his blood.  Faithful participation in this meal is a living proclamation of Christ’s death until he comes in the future.

²³ I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, ²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

The Gospel Reading---John 13:1-17 31b-35

The story of the last supper in John’s gospel recalls a remarkable event not mentioned elsewhere: Jesus performs the duty of a slave, washing the feet of his disciples and urging them to do the same for one another.

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ²The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper ³Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, ⁴got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. ⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” ⁸Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” ⁹Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” ¹¹For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” ¹²After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. ¹⁴So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. ¹⁶Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. ¹⁷If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 

³¹ “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³²If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ ³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” 

April 2, 2021 Good Friday     

Life and death stand side by side as we enter into Good Friday.  In John’s passion account, Jesus reveals the power and glory of God, even as he is put on trial and sentenced to death.  Standing with the disciples at the foot of the cross, we pray for the whole world in the ancient bidding prayer, as Christ’s death offers life to all.  We gather in solemn devotion, but always with the promise that the tree around which we assemble is indeed a tree of life.  We depart silently, and we anticipate the culmination of the Three Days in the Easter Vigil.

Prayer of the Day

      Almighty God, look with loving mercy on your family, for whom our Lord 

      Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, to be given over to the hands of sinners, and to suffer death on the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  C Amen

The Old Testament Reading---Isaiah 52:13--53-:12

The fourth servant poem promises ultimate vindication for the servant, who made his life an offering for sin.  The early church

 saw in the servant’s pouring himself out to death and being numbered with the transgressors important keys for understanding

 the death of Jesus.

¹³See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. ¹⁴Just as there were many who were astonished at him—so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals— ¹⁵so he shall startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate. 

53Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? ²For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. ³He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. ⁴Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. ⁵But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. ⁶All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. ⁸By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. ⁹They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. ¹⁰Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper. ¹¹Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. ¹²Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. 

Psalm 22

¹My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

 Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? 

²O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;

 and by night, but find no rest. 

³Yet you are holy,

 enthroned on the praises of Israel. 

⁴In you our ancestors trusted;

 they trusted, and you delivered them. 

⁵To you they cried, and were saved;

 in you they trusted, and were not put to shame. 

⁶But I am a worm, and not human

 scorned by others, and despised by the people. 

⁷All who see me mock at me;

 they make mouths at me, they shake their heads; 

⁸“Commit your cause to the Lord;

 let him deliver— let him rescue the one in whom he delights!” 

⁹Yet it was you who took me from the womb; 

you kept me safe on my mother’s breast. 

¹⁰On you I was cast from my birth,

 and since my mother bore me you have been my God. 

¹¹Do not be far from me, 

for trouble is near and there is no one to help. 

¹²Many bulls encircle me,

 strong bulls of Bashan surround me; 

¹³they open wide their mouths at me, 

like a ravening and roaring lion. 

¹⁴I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint;

 my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; 

¹⁵my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws;

 you lay me in the dust of death. 

¹⁶For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me.

 My hands and feet have shriveled; 

¹⁷I can count all my bones.

 They stare and gloat over me; 

¹⁸they divide my clothes among themselves,

 and for my clothing they cast lots. 

¹⁹But you, O Lord, do not be far away!

 O my help, come quickly to my aid! 

²⁰Deliver my soul from the sword, 

my life from the power of the dog! 

²¹Save me from the mouth of the lion! 

From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me. 

²²I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;

 in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: 

²³You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; 

stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! 

²⁴For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted;

 he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him. 

²⁵From you comes my praise in the great congregation;

 my vows I will pay before those who fear him. 

²⁶The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord.

 May your hearts live forever! 

²⁷All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;

 and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. 

²⁸For dominion belongs to the Lord,

 and he rules over the nations. 

²⁹To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; 

before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him. 

³⁰Posterity will serve him;

 future generations will be told about the Lord, 

³¹and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,

 saying that he has done it. 

The New Testament Lesson---Hebrews 10:16-25

In the death of Jesus, forgiveness of sins is worked and access to God is established.  Hence, when we gather together for worship and when we love others we experience anew the benefits of Jesus’ death.

¹⁶“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,” ¹⁷he also adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” ¹⁸Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. ¹⁹Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, ²⁵not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 

The Gospel Reading---John 18:1—19:42

On Good Friday, the story of Jesus’ passion---from his arrest to his burial---is read in its entirety from the Gospel of John.

18After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. ²Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. ³So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. ⁴Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” ⁵They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. ⁶When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. ⁷Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” ⁸Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” ⁹This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, “I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.” ¹⁰Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. ¹¹Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?” ¹²So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him. ¹³First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. ¹⁴Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people. ¹⁵Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, ¹⁶but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. ¹⁷The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself. ¹⁹Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. ²⁰Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. ²¹Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.” ²²When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” ²³Jesus answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” ²⁴Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. ²⁵Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” ²⁶One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” ²⁷Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed. 

²⁸Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. ²⁹So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” ³⁰They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” ³¹Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” ³²(This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.) ³³Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” ³⁵Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” ³⁷Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” ³⁸Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him. ³⁹But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a bandit. 

19Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. ²And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. ³They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. ⁴Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” ⁵So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” ⁶When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.” ⁷The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.” ⁸Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. ⁹He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” ¹¹Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” ¹²From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.” ¹³When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. ¹⁴Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” ¹⁵They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” ¹⁶Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; ¹⁷and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. ¹⁸There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. ¹⁹Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” ²²Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” ²³When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. ²⁴So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.” ²⁵And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” ²⁷Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. ²⁸After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” ²⁹A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. ³⁰When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 

³¹Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. ³²Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. ³³But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. ³⁵(He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) ³⁶These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” ³⁷And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”

³⁸After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. ³⁹Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. ⁴⁰They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. ⁴²And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. 

April 4, 2021 Resurrection of Our Lord Easter Day

Christ is risen!  Jesus is alive, and God has swallowed up death forever.  With Mary Magdalene, Mary            the mother of James, and Salome, we may feel astonished and confused, unsure of what to make of the empty tomb.  But this is whay we gather: to proclaim, witness, praise, and affirm the liberating reality of Christ’s death and resurrection.  In word and feast, we celebrate God’s unending love, and depart to share this         good news with all the world.  Alleluia!

The Prayer of the Day

O God, you gave your only Son to suffer death on the cross for our redemption, 

      and by his glorious resurrection you delivered us from the power of death.  Make

      us die every day to sin, that we may live with him forever in the joy of the resurrection, 

      through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy 

     spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

The First Reading---Acts 10:34-43

Peter crosses the immense religious and social boundary that separates Jews from Gentiles in order to proclaim the good news of Jesus’ Life, death, and resurrection, so that God’s forgiveness in Jesus’ name would reach out to the Gentiles just as it had to Jews.

³⁴Peter began to speak to the Gentiles: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, ³⁵but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. ³⁶You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. ³⁷That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: ³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. ³⁹We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; ⁴⁰but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, ⁴¹not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

¹O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

 his steadfast love endures forever! 

²Let Israel say,

“His steadfast love endures forever.” 

¹⁴The Lord is my strength and my might; 

he has become my salvation. 

¹⁵There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:

 “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly; 

¹⁶the right hand of the Lord is exalted;

 the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.” 

¹⁷I shall not die, but I shall live, 

and recount the deeds of the Lord. 

¹⁸The Lord has punished me severely,

 but he did not give me over to death. 

¹⁹Open to me the gates of righteousness, 

that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 

²⁰This is the gate of the Lord;

 the righteous shall enter through it. 

²¹I thank you that you have answered me

 and have become my salvation. 

²²The stone that the builders rejected

 has become the chief cornerstone. 

²³This is the Lord’s doing;

 it is marvelous in our eyes. 

²⁴This is the day that the Lord has made;

 let us rejoice and be glad in it. 

 

 

The Second Reading---1 Corinthians 15:1-11

The core of the Christian faith and Paul’s preaching is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  As the crucified and risen Christ appeared to the earliest of his followers, so we experience the presence of the risen Lord in the preaching of this faith.

15Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, ²through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. ³For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, ⁴and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. ⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. ⁹For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. ¹¹Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe. 

The Gospel Reading---Mark 16:1-8

The resurrection of Jesus is announced, and the response is one of terror and amazement.

16When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. ²And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. ³They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” ⁴When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. ⁵As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. ⁶But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. ⁷But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” ⁸So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. 

April 11, 2021 Second Sunday of Easter

The Easter season is a week of weeks, seven Sundays when we play in the mystery of Christ’s presence,             mostly through the glorious Gospel of John.  Today we gather with the disciples on the first Easter, and Jesus breathes the Spirit on us.  With Thomas we ask for a sign, and Jesus offers us his wounded self in the broken    bread.  From frightened individuals we are trans formed into a community of open doors, peace, forgiveness,       and material sharing such that no one among us is in need.

 

Prayer of the Day

Almighty God, with joy we celebrate the day of our Lord’s resurrection.   By the grace of Christ among us, enable us to show the power of the resurrection in all that we say and do, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

The First Reading---Acts 4:32-35

While the apostles testified to others about the resurrection of Jesus, the early Christian community shared what they owned or sold their possessions to help their fellow believers who were in need.

³²Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. ³³With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. ³⁴There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. ³⁵They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

Psalm 133

¹How very good and pleasant

 it is when kindred live together in unity! 

²It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard,

 on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes. 

³It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. 

For there the Lord ordained his blessing, life forevermore. 

The Second Reading---1 John 1:1---2:2

The opening of this letter serves as a reality check.  The reality of God is light, but our confessed reality has been sin.  God cleanses us from our sinful reality through Christ’s death so that we live in fellowship with Christ and walk in God’s light.

1We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— ²this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— ³we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. ⁵This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; ⁷but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 

⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 

2My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ²and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 

The Gospel Reading---John 20:19-31

The story of Easter continues as the risen Lord appears to his disciples.  His words to Thomas offer a blessing to all who entrust themselves in faith to the risen Lord.

¹⁹When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” ²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” ²⁴But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” ²⁶A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” ²⁸Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” ³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. 

April 18, 2021 Third Sunday of Easter

The gospel for the third Sunday of Easter is always one in which the risen Christ share food with the disciples,  meals that are the Easter template for the meal we share each Lord’s day.  In today’s gospel, Jesus both shares      the disciples’ food and shows them the meaning of his suffering, death, and resurrection through the scriptures:    the two main elements of our Sunday worship. 

Prayer of the Day

Congregation:  Holy and righteous God, you are the author of life, and you adopt us to     be your children.  Fill us with your words of life, that we may live as witnesses to the resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

The First Reading---Acts 3:12-19

After healing a crippled man, Peter preaches to the people how God’s promises to Israel have been fulfilled in Jesus.  Through the proclamation of Christ’s death and resurrection, God is offering them forgiveness and restoration Jesus’ name.

¹² Peter addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made this man walk? ¹³The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. ¹⁴But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, ¹⁵and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. ¹⁶And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you. ¹⁷“And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. ¹⁸In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. ¹⁹Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,

Psalm 4

¹Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress.

 Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer. 

²How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame? 

How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies? 

³But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself;

                        the Lord hears when I call to him. 

⁴When you are disturbed, do not sin;

 ponder it on your beds, and be silent.  

⁵Offer right sacrifices, 

and put your trust in the Lord. 

⁶There are many who say, “O that we might see some good!

 Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!” 

⁷You have put gladness in my heart

 more than when their grain and wine abound. 

⁸I will both lie down and sleep in peace;

 for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety. 

1 John 3:1-7

God has loved us in order to make us children of God.  Though we do not yet know the full details of our future existence, we trust that God will reveal it just as God revealed Jesus to take away our sins.

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ²Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. ³And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. ⁴Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. ⁵You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. ⁶No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. ⁷Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 

The Gospel Reading---Luke 24:36b-48

In this account of an appearance after his resurrection, Jesus opens the minds of the disciples to understand him as Messiah.  Jesus convinces them that he has been raised and sends them on a mission to proclaim the message of repentance and forgiveness.

³⁶ Jesus stood among the disciples and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ³⁷They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. ³⁸He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” ⁴²They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³and he took it and ate in their presence. ⁴⁴Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, ⁴⁶and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things.

April 25, 2021 Fourth Sunday of Easter    

The image of the Good Shepherd shows us how the risen Christ brings us to life.  It is the relationship between 

the shepherd and the sheep, one of mutual knowledge and love, that gives the shepherd authority.  The shepherd’s willingness to lay down his life for the sheep shows his love.  First John illustrates what it means to lay down our lives for one another by the example of sharing our wealth with any sister of brother in need. 

Prayer of the Day

Congregation:  O Lord Christ, good shepherd of the sheep, you seek the lost and guide us into your fold.  Feed us, and we shall be satisfied; heal us, and we shall be whole.  Make us one with you, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.                                                                                         

Old Testament Reading---Acts 4:5-12

Peter and John had been arrested the previous day because they were proclaiming the news of the resurrection to the people.  In today’s reading, Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit so that he is able to proclaim salvation in Jesus’ name to the religious authorities.

⁵After Peter healed the lame man their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, ⁶with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. ⁷When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” ⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, ⁹if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, ¹⁰let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. ¹¹This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ ¹²There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”

Psalm 23

¹The Lord is my shepherd, 

I shall not want. 

²He makes me lie down in green pastures; 

he leads me beside still waters; 

³he restores my soul.

 He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. 

⁴Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil;

 for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. 

⁵You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; 

you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 

⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

 and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long. 

New Testament Reading---1 John 3:16-24

Jesus’ death on our behalf is the clearest demonstration of divine love.  This is the very love we share with others, not just through our words but especially through our deeds.  In sharing such love we fulfill God’s commandments.

¹⁶We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. ¹⁷How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? ¹⁸Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. ¹⁹And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him ²⁰whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; ²²and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. ²³And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. ²⁴All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us. 

 

Gospel Reading---John 10:11-18

In language that recalls the twenty-third psalm, Jesus describes himself as the shepherd who cares for his sheep.  He is willing to ide for them, and he is able to overcome death for them.

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”