Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord’s Servant Trusts in the Lord’s Help

Psalm 116

Speak Wisely

3 Brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers. You know that we who teach will be judged more severely.

² All of us make a lot of mistakes. If someone doesn’t make any mistakes when he speaks, he would be perfect. He would be able to control everything he does. ³ We put bits in the mouths of horses to make them obey us, and we have control over everything they do. ⁴ The same thing is true for ships. They are very big and are driven by strong winds. Yet, by using small rudders, pilots steer ships wherever they want them to go. ⁵ In the same way the tongue is a small part of the body, but it can brag about doing important things.

A large forest can be set on fire by a little flame. ⁶ The tongue is that kind of flame. It is a world of evil among the parts of our bodies, and it completely contaminates our bodies. The tongue sets our lives on fire, and is itself set on fire from hell. ⁷ People have tamed all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures. ⁸ Yet, no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil filled with deadly poison.

⁹ With our tongues we praise our Lord and Father. Yet, with the same tongues we curse people, who were created in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Praise and curses come from the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, this should not happen! ¹¹ Do clean and polluted water flow out of the same spring? ¹² My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree produce olives? Can a grapevine produce figs? In the same way, a pool of salt water can’t produce fresh water.

Peter Declares His Belief about Jesus^(A)

²⁷ Then Yeshua and his disciples went to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say I am?”

²⁸ They answered him, “Some say you are John the Baptizer, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.”

²⁹ He asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah!”

³⁰ He ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Jesus Foretells That He Will Die and Come Back to Life^(B)

³¹ Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man would have to suffer a lot. He taught them that he would be rejected by the leaders, the chief priests, and the experts in Moses’ Teachings. He would be killed, but after three days he would come back to life. ³² He told them very clearly what he meant.

Peter took him aside and objected to this. ³³ Yeshua turned, looked at his disciples, and objected to what Peter said. Yeshua said, “Get out of my way, Satan! You aren’t thinking the way God thinks but the way humans think.”

What It Means to Follow Jesus^(C)

³⁴ Then Yeshua called the crowd to himself along with his disciples. He said to them, “Those who want to follow me must say no to the things they want, pick up their crosses, and follow me. ³⁵ Those who want to save their lives will lose them. But those who lose their lives for me and for the Good News will save them. ³⁶ What good does it do for people to win the whole world yet lose their lives? ³⁷ Or what should a person give in exchange for life? ³⁸ If people are ashamed of me and what I say in this unfaithful and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of those people when he comes with the holy angels in his Father’s glory.”