Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Peter’s Speech

³⁴ Peter began to speak: “I really understand now that to God every person is the same. ³⁵ God accepts anyone who worships him and does what is right. It is not important what country a person comes from. ³⁶ You know that God has sent his message to the people of Israel. That message is the Good News that peace has come through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Lord of all people! ³⁷ You know what has happened all over Judea. It began in Galilee after John^[a] preached to the people about baptism. ³⁸ You know about Jesus from Nazareth. God made him the Christ by giving him the Holy Spirit and power. You know how Jesus went everywhere doing good. He healed those who were ruled by the devil, for God was with Jesus. ³⁹ We saw all the things that Jesus did in Judea and in Jerusalem. But they killed him by nailing him to a cross. ⁴⁰ Yet, on the third day, God raised Jesus to life and caused him to be seen. ⁴¹ But he was not seen by all the people. Only the witnesses that God had already chosen saw him, and we are those witnesses. We ate and drank with him after he was raised from death. ⁴² He told us to preach to the people and to tell them that he is the one whom God chose to be the judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ Everyone who believes in Jesus will be forgiven. God will forgive his sins through Jesus. All the prophets say this is true.”

A New Time Is Coming

Thanksgiving for Victory

¹⁹ If our hope in Christ is for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone else in the world.

²⁰ But Christ has truly been raised from death—the first one and proof that those who are asleep in death will also be raised. ²¹ Death comes to everyone because of what one man did. But the rising from death also happens because of one man. ²² In Adam all of us die. In the same way, in Christ all of us will be made alive again. ²³ But everyone will be raised to life in the right order. Christ was first to be raised. When Christ comes again, those who belong to him will be raised to life. ²⁴ Then the end will come. Christ will destroy all rulers, authorities, and powers. And he will give the kingdom to God the Father. ²⁵ Christ must rule until God puts all enemies under Christ’s control. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed will be death.

Peter’s Speech

³⁴ Peter began to speak: “I really understand now that to God every person is the same. ³⁵ God accepts anyone who worships him and does what is right. It is not important what country a person comes from. ³⁶ You know that God has sent his message to the people of Israel. That message is the Good News that peace has come through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Lord of all people! ³⁷ You know what has happened all over Judea. It began in Galilee after John^[a] preached to the people about baptism. ³⁸ You know about Jesus from Nazareth. God made him the Christ by giving him the Holy Spirit and power. You know how Jesus went everywhere doing good. He healed those who were ruled by the devil, for God was with Jesus. ³⁹ We saw all the things that Jesus did in Judea and in Jerusalem. But they killed him by nailing him to a cross. ⁴⁰ Yet, on the third day, God raised Jesus to life and caused him to be seen. ⁴¹ But he was not seen by all the people. Only the witnesses that God had already chosen saw him, and we are those witnesses. We ate and drank with him after he was raised from death. ⁴² He told us to preach to the people and to tell them that he is the one whom God chose to be the judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ Everyone who believes in Jesus will be forgiven. God will forgive his sins through Jesus. All the prophets say this is true.”

Jesus’ Tomb Is Empty

20 Early on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb. It was still dark. Mary saw that the large stone had been moved away from the tomb. ² So Mary ran to Simon Peter and the other follower (the one Jesus loved). Mary said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb. We don’t know where they have put him.”

³ So Peter and the other follower started for the tomb. ⁴ They were both running, but the other follower ran faster than Peter. So the other follower reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent down and looked in. He saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then following him came Simon Peter. He went into the tomb and saw the strips of linen lying there. ⁷ He also saw the cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up and laid in a different place from the strips of linen. ⁸ Then the other follower, who had reached the tomb first, also went in. He saw and believed. ⁹ (These followers did not yet understand from the Scriptures that Jesus must rise from death.)

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹⁰ Then the followers went back home. ¹¹ But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. While she was still crying, she bent down and looked inside the tomb. ¹² She saw two angels dressed in white. They were sitting where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and one at the feet.

¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

She answered, “They have taken away my Lord. I don’t know where they have put him.” ¹⁴ When Mary said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. But she did not know that it was Jesus.

¹⁵ Jesus asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Whom are you looking for?”

Mary thought he was the gardener. So she said to him, “Did you take him away, sir? Tell me where you put him, and I will get him.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

Mary turned toward Jesus and said in the Jewish language,^[a] “Rabboni.” (This means Teacher.)

¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me. I have not yet gone up to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them this: ‘I am going back to my Father and your Father. I am going back to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and said to the followers, “I saw the Lord!” And she told them what Jesus had said to her.

Jesus Rises from Death

24 Very early on the first day of the week, the women came to the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid. They brought the spices they had prepared. ² They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance of the tomb. ³ They went in, but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were wondering about this, two men in shining clothes suddenly stood beside them. ⁵ The women were very afraid; they bowed their heads to the ground. The men said to the women, “Why are you looking for a living person here? This is a place for the dead. ⁶ Jesus is not here. He has risen from death! Do you remember what he said in Galilee? ⁷ He said that the Son of Man must be given to evil men, be killed on a cross, and rise from death on the third day.” ⁸ Then the women remembered what Jesus had said.

⁹ The women left the tomb and told all these things to the 11 apostles and the other followers. ¹⁰ These women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and some other women. The women told the apostles everything that had happened at the tomb. ¹¹ But they did not believe the women. It sounded like nonsense. ¹² But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He looked in, but he saw only the cloth that Jesus’ body had been wrapped in. Peter went away to be alone, wondering about what had happened.