Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Peter Speaks to the Crowd

¹⁴ Peter stood with the eleven apostles and spoke in a loud and clear voice to the crowd:

Friends and everyone else living in Jerusalem, listen carefully to what I have to say!

²² Now, listen to what I have to say about Jesus from Nazareth. God proved he sent Jesus to you by having him work miracles, wonders, and signs. All of you know this. ^23 (A) God had already planned and decided that Jesus would be handed over to you. So you took him and had evil men put him to death on a cross. ^24 (B) But God set him free from death and raised him to life. Death could not hold him in its power. ^25 (C) What David said are really the words of Jesus,

²⁹ My friends, it is right for me to speak to you about our ancestor David. He died and was buried, and his tomb is still here. ^30 (D) But David was a prophet, and he knew that God had made a promise he would not break. He had told David someone from his own family would someday be king.

³¹ David knew this would happen, and so he told us Christ would be raised to life. He said God would not leave him in the grave or let his body decay. ³² All of us can tell you that God has raised Jesus to life!

(A special psalm by David.)

The Best Choice

A Real Reason for Hope

³ Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a hope that lives on. ^4 (A) God has something stored up for you in heaven, where it will never decay or be ruined or disappear.

⁵ You have faith in God, whose power will protect you until the last day.^[a] Then he will save you, just as he has always planned to do. ⁶ On that day you will be glad, even if you have to go through many hard trials for a while. ^7 (B) Your faith will be like gold that has been tested in a fire. And these trials will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold that can be destroyed. They will show that you will be given praise and honor and glory when Jesus Christ returns.

⁸ You have never seen Jesus, and you don't see him now. But still you love him and have faith in him, and no words can tell how glad and happy ⁹ you are to be saved. This is why you have faith.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

(Matthew 28.16-20; Mark 16.14-18; Luke 24.36-49)

¹⁹ The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. He greeted them ²⁰ and showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy.

²¹ After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, “I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me.” ²² Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ^23 (A) If you forgive anyone's sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don't forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven.”

Jesus and Thomas

²⁴ Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn't with the others when Jesus appeared to them. ²⁵ So they told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But Thomas said, “First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won't believe unless I do this!”

²⁶ A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples ²⁷ and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!”

²⁸ Thomas replied, “You are my Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Jesus said, “Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!”

Why John Wrote His Book

³⁰ Jesus worked many other miracles^[a] for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. ³¹ But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in^[b] him, you will have true life.