Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said, “I am the Mighty God. Walk faithfully with me. Live in a way that pleases me. ² I will now act on my covenant between me and you. I will greatly increase the number of your children after you.”

³ Abram fell with his face to the ground. God said to him, ⁴ “This is my covenant with you. You will be the father of many nations. ⁵ You will not be called Abram anymore. Your name will be Abraham, because I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will greatly increase the number of your children after you. Nations and kings will come from you. ⁷ I will make my covenant with you last forever. It will be between me and you and your family after you for all time to come. I will be your God. And I will be the God of all your family after you.

¹⁵ God also said to Abraham, “Do not continue to call your wife by the name Sarai. Her name will be Sarah. ¹⁶ I will give her my blessing. You can be sure that I will give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations. Kings of nations will come from her.”

¹³ Abraham and his family received a promise. God promised that Abraham would receive the world. It would not come to him because he obeyed the law. It would come because of his faith, which made him right with God. ¹⁴ Do those who depend on the law receive the promise? If they do, faith would mean nothing. God’s promise would be worthless. ¹⁵ The law brings God’s anger. Where there is no law, the law can’t be broken.

¹⁶ The promise is based on God’s grace. The promise comes by faith. All of Abraham’s children will certainly receive the promise. And it is not only for those who are ruled by the law. Those who have the same faith that Abraham had are also included. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷ It is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” (Genesis 17:5) God considers Abraham to be our father. The God that Abraham believed in gives life to the dead. Abraham’s God also creates things that did not exist before.

¹⁸ When there was no reason for hope, Abraham believed because he had hope. He became the father of many nations, exactly as God had promised. God said, “That is how many children you will have.” (Genesis 15:5) ¹⁹ Abraham did not become weak in his faith. He accepted the fact that he was past the time when he could have children. At that time Abraham was about 100 years old. He also realized that Sarah was too old to have children. ²⁰ But Abraham kept believing in God’s promise. He became strong in his faith. He gave glory to God. ²¹ He was absolutely sure that God had the power to do what he had promised. ²² That’s why “God accepted Abraham because he believed. So his faith made him right with God.” (Genesis 15:6) ²³ The words “God accepted Abraham’s faith” were written not only for Abraham. ²⁴ They were written also for us. We believe in the God who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. So God will accept our faith and make us right with himself. ²⁵ Jesus was handed over to die for our sins. He was raised to life in order to make us right with God.

Jesus Tells About His Coming Death

³¹ Jesus then began to teach his disciples. He taught them that the Son of Man must suffer many things. He taught them that the elders would not accept him. The chief priests and the teachers of the law would not accept him either. He must be killed and after three days rise again. ³² He spoke clearly about this. Peter took Jesus to one side and began to scold him.

³³ Jesus turned and looked at his disciples. He scolded Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You are not thinking about the things God cares about. Instead, you are thinking only about the things humans care about.”

You Must Pick Up Your Cross

³⁴ Jesus called the crowd to him along with his disciples. He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must say no to themselves. They must pick up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ Whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for me and for the good news will save it. ³⁶ What good is it if someone gains the whole world but loses their soul? ³⁷ Or what can anyone trade for their soul? ³⁸ Suppose anyone is ashamed of me and my words among these adulterous and sinful people. Then the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Jesus’ Appearance Is Changed

² After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him. He led them up a high mountain. They were all alone. There in front of them his appearance was changed. ³ His clothes became so white they shone. They were whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. ⁴ Elijah and Moses appeared in front of Jesus and his disciples. The two of them were talking with Jesus.

⁵ Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters. One will be for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶ Peter didn’t really know what to say, because they were so afraid.

⁷ Then a cloud appeared and covered them. A voice came from the cloud. It said, “This is my Son, and I love him. Listen to him!”

⁸ They looked around. Suddenly they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

⁹ They came down the mountain. On the way down, Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen. He told them to wait until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.