Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord Gives Water from a Rock
17 (A) The Israelites left the desert and moved from one place to another each time the Lord ordered them to. Once they camped at Rephidim,[a] but there was no water for them to drink.
2 The people started complaining to Moses, “Give us some water!”
Moses replied, “Why are you complaining to me and trying to put the Lord to the test?”
3 But the people were thirsty and kept on complaining, “Moses, did you bring us out of Egypt just to let us and our families and our animals die of thirst?”
4 Then Moses prayed to the Lord, “What am I going to do with these people? They are about to stone me to death!”
5 The Lord answered, “Take some of the leaders with you and go ahead of the rest of the people. Also take along the walking stick with which you struck the Nile River. 6 When you get to the rock at Mount Sinai,[b] I will be there with you. Strike the rock with the stick, and water will pour out for the people to drink.” Moses did this while the leaders watched.
7 The people had complained and tested the Lord by asking, “Is the Lord really with us?” So Moses named that place Massah, which means “testing” and Meribah, which means “complaining.”
(A special psalm by Asaph.)
What God Has Done for His People
1 My friends, I beg you
to listen as I teach.
2 (A) I will give instruction
and explain the mystery
of what happened long ago.
3 These are things we learned
from our ancestors,
4 and we will tell them
to the next generation.
We won't keep secret
the glorious deeds
and the mighty miracles
of the Lord.
13 (C) God made a path in the sea
and piled up the water
as he led them across.
14 (D) He guided them during the day
with a cloud,
and each night he led them
with a flaming fire.
15 (E) God made water flow
from rocks he split open
in the desert,
and his people drank freely,
as though from a lake.
16 He made streams gush out
like rivers from rocks.
True Humility
2 Christ encourages you, and his love comforts you. God's Spirit unites you, and you are concerned for others. 2 Now make me completely happy! Live in harmony by showing love for each other. Be united in what you think, as if you were only one person. 3 Don't be jealous or proud, but be humble and consider others more important than yourselves. 4 Care about them as much as you care about yourselves 5 and think the same way that Christ Jesus thought:[a]
6 Christ was truly God.
But he did not try to remain[b]
equal with God.
7 Instead he gave up everything[c]
and became a slave,
when he became
like one of us.
8 Christ was humble.
He obeyed God and even died
on a cross.
9 Then God gave Christ
the highest place
and honored his name
above all others.
10 (A) So at the name of Jesus
everyone will bow down,
those in heaven, on earth,
and under the earth.
11 And to the glory
of God the Father
everyone will openly agree,
“Jesus Christ is Lord!”
Lights in the World
12 My dear friends, you always obeyed when I was with you. Now that I am away, you should obey even more. So work with fear and trembling to discover what it really means to be saved. 13 God is working in you to make you willing and able to obey him.
A Question about Jesus' Authority
(Mark 11.27-33; Luke 20.1-8)
23 Jesus had gone into the temple and was teaching when the chief priests and the leaders of the people came up to him. They asked, “What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus answered, “I have just one question to ask you. If you answer it, I will tell you where I got the right to do these things. 25 Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?”
They thought it over and said to each other, “We can't say God gave John this right. Jesus will ask us why we didn't believe John. 26 On the other hand, these people think John was a prophet, and we are afraid of what they might do to us. That's why we can't say it was merely some human who gave John the right to baptize.” 27 So they told Jesus, “We don't know.”
Jesus said, “Then I won't tell you who gave me the right to do what I do.”
A Story about Two Sons
28 Jesus said:
I will tell you a story about a man who had two sons. Then you can tell me what you think. The father went to the older son and said, “Go work in the vineyard today!” 29 His son told him he would not do it, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The man then told his younger son to go work in the vineyard. The boy said he would, but he didn't go. 31 Which one of the sons obeyed his father?
“The older one,” the chief priests and leaders answered.
Then Jesus told them:
You can be sure tax collectors[a] and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you ever will! 32 (A) When John the Baptist showed you how to do right, you would not believe him. But these evil people did believe. And even when you saw what they did, you still would not change your minds and believe.
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