Book of Common Prayer

More than he bargained for

3 One day, Peter and John were going up to the Temple at three o’clock in the afternoon, the time for prayer. ² There was a man being carried in who had been lame since birth. People used to bring him every day to the Temple gate called “Beautiful,” so that he could ask for alms from folk on their way in to the Temple. ³ When he saw Peter and John going in to the Temple, he asked them to give him some money. ⁴ Peter, with John, looked hard at him.

“Look at us,” he said.

⁵ The man stared at them, expecting to get something from them.

⁶ “I haven’t got any silver or gold,” Peter said, “but I’ll give you what I have got. In the name of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

⁷ He grabbed the man by his right hand and lifted him up. At once his feet and ankles became strong, ⁸ and he leaped to his feet and began to walk. He went in with them into the Temple, walking and jumping up and down and praising God. ⁹ All the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰ and they recognized him as the man who had been sitting begging for alms by the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. They were filled with amazement and astonishment at what had happened to him.

The true vine

15 “I am the true vine,” said Jesus, “and my father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t bear fruit; and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it can bear more fruit. ³ You are already clean. That’s because of the word that I’ve spoken to you.

⁴ “Remain in me, and I will remain in you! The branch can’t bear fruit by itself, but only if it remains in the vine. In the same way, you can’t bear fruit unless you remain in me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches. People who remain in me, and I in them, are the ones who bear plenty of fruit. Without me, you see, you can’t do anything.

⁶ “If people don’t remain in me, they are thrown out, like a branch, and they wither. People collect the branches and put them on the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want, and it will happen for you. ⁸ My father is glorified in this: that you bear plenty of fruit, and so become my disciples.”

Obeying and loving

⁹ “As the father loved me,” Jesus continued, “so I loved you. Remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my father’s commands, and remain in his love. ¹¹ I’ve said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and so that your joy may be full.