Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹² When Peter saw this, he told the people: “Fellow Israelis, why are you wondering about this, and why are you staring at us as if by our own power or godliness we made him walk? ¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of our ancestors—has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and rejected in the presence of Pilate, even though he had decided to let him go. ¹⁴ You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer released to you, ¹⁵ and you killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead. We are witnesses to that. ¹⁶ It is his name—that is, by faith in his name—that has healed this man whom you see and know. Yes, the faith that comes through Jesus^[a] has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

¹⁷ “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance like your leaders. ¹⁸ This is how God fulfilled what he had predicted through the voice of all the prophets—that his Messiah^[b] would suffer. ¹⁹ Therefore, repent and turn to him to have your sins blotted out,

To the Director: With stringed instruments. A Davidic Psalm

Trust God under Adversity

We are God’s Children

3 See what kind of love the Father has given us: We are called God’s children—and that is what we are!^[a] For this reason the world does not recognize us, because it did not recognize him, either.

² Dear friends, we are now God’s children, but what we will be like has not been revealed yet. We know that when the Messiah^[b] is revealed, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is. ³ And everyone who has this hope based on him keeps himself pure, just as the Messiah^[c] is pure. ⁴ Everyone who keeps living in sin also practices disobedience. In fact, sin is disobedience. ⁵ You know that the Messiah^[d] was revealed to take away sins,^[e] and there is not any sin in him. ⁶ No one who remains in union with him keeps on sinning. The one who keeps on sinning hasn’t seen him or known him.

⁷ Little children, don’t let anyone deceive you. The person who practices righteousness is righteous, just as the Messiah^[f] is righteous.

Jesus Appears to the Disciples^(A)

³⁶ While they were all talking about this, Jesus^[a] himself stood among them and told them, “Peace be with you.”^[b]

³⁷ They were startled and terrified, thinking they were seeing a ghost. ³⁸ But Jesus^[c] told them, “What’s frightening you? And why are you doubting? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet, because it’s really me. Touch me and look at me, because a ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰ After he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.^{[d] 41} Even though they were still skeptical due to their joy and astonishment, Jesus^[e] asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”

⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³ and he took it and ate it in their presence. ⁴⁴ Then he told them, “These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled.”

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so that they might understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He told them, “This is how it is written: the Messiah^[f] was to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and then repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things.