Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The believers help each other

³² All the believers agreed completely with each other about how they should live. They wanted to help each other. Nobody kept anything only for themselves. They let the other believers use it. ³³ The apostles continued to teach about the Lord Jesus. They spoke with great power. They told people, ‘After Jesus died, God caused him to live again. We saw that happen.’ God was very kind to all the believers and he helped them in many ways. ³⁴ Everyone had as much as they needed. Some believers had land or houses, which belonged to them. They sold those things and then they took the money to the apostles. ³⁵ Then the apostles gave the money to any of the believers who needed it.

A song to sing as we climb.

David wrote this song.

Jesus is God's message to people

1 We have an important message to tell you. We want to tell you about the person who was already there before the beginning of the world. We have heard him speak. We have seen him with our own eyes. We watched him and we touched him. He is the Word that gives us life with God.^[a]

² He showed himself clearly when he lived on this earth. From long ago he was together with God the Father, and he lives for ever. We saw him and we are telling you what is true. He is the one who has shown himself to us. ³ We also want you to share this new life with us. We share this life with God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son. That is why we are telling you about everything that we have seen and heard. ⁴ We are writing to you so that together we all may be completely happy.

God is light

⁵ We are telling you the good news that Jesus Christ told to us. This is the message: God is completely good and clean. He is like light. There is nothing dark about him. ⁶ Do you say that you share in the life that God gives? If you say that, but if you still live in the dark, you are telling a lie. You are not living in God's true way. ⁷ But when we live in a right way, it is like living in the light. God is always in the light. So, if we live in the light, we share together in the life which God gives. And when Jesus, the Son of God, died on the cross, he saved us from all our sins. The blood of his sacrifice makes us clean.

⁸ If we say that we never do any wrong thing, we are deceiving ourselves. Even though we may think it is true, it is a lie. ⁹ Instead, we should agree that we have done wrong things and tell that to God. Then God will forgive us for our sins. He always does what he has promised to do. He always does what is right. He will forgive us and he will make us clean again, whatever bad things we may have done. ¹⁰ God says that all people have done wrong things. So, if we say that we have not done any wrong thing, we are saying that God tells lies. It shows that we have not accepted his message at all.

God forgives our sins because of Jesus' death

2 I am writing this letter to you, my friends who are like my little children. I am writing to you because I do not want you to do wrong things. But if anyone among you does something wrong, there is someone who will speak to God on our behalf. That person is Jesus Christ, who always does only what is right. He will ask our Father God to forgive you. ² Jesus died as a sacrifice to take the punishment for our sin. Then God could forgive us. Jesus did that not only for us. He did it for all people in the world, so that God could forgive them for their sins.

Jesus appears to his disciples

¹⁹ On the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the disciples were meeting together. They had locked the doors of the room because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Then Jesus came and he stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ ²⁰ After he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were very, very happy when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, in the same way I am now sending you.’ ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them. He said, ‘Receive God's Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive a person's sins, God will forgive them too. If you do not forgive them, God will not forgive them.’

Jesus shows himself to Thomas

²⁴ One of the 12 disciples was called Thomas. (He was also called ‘the Twin’.) He was not with the other disciples when Jesus came to them. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But Thomas said to them, ‘I will never believe that he is alive again unless I myself see him. I want to see the marks of the nails in his hands. I want to touch where the nails were with my finger. I want to put my hand into his side where the spear went in. If I cannot do that, I will not believe.’

²⁶ Eight days after that, the disciples were in the house again. This time Thomas was with them. They had locked the door. But Jesus came and he stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger in here. Look at my hands. Put your hand here, in my side. Do not refuse to believe what is true. Now, believe.’ ²⁸ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord, and my God!’ ²⁹ Jesus said to him, ‘You believe because you have seen me. Other people have not seen me, but they do believe in me. God is really happy with those people.’

The purpose of this book

³⁰ Jesus did many other miracles while the disciples were with him. I have not written about all of them in this book. ³¹ But I have written about these things, so that you will be able to believe the truth. You will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Because you believe in him, you will have life with God.