Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹² When Peter saw this, he said to them, “People of Israel, why are you surprised? You are looking at us as if it were our own power or goodness that made this man walk. ¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, gave glory to Jesus, his servant. But you handed him over to be killed. Pilate decided to let him go free, but you told Pilate you did not want Jesus. ¹⁴ You did not want the One who is holy and good but asked Pilate to give you a murderer^[a] instead. ¹⁵ And so you killed the One who gives life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses to this. ¹⁶ It was faith in Jesus that made this crippled man well. You can see this man, and you know him. He was made completely well because of trust in Jesus, and you all saw it happen!

¹⁷ “Brothers and sisters, I know you did those things to Jesus because neither you nor your leaders understood what you were doing. ¹⁸ God said through the prophets that his Christ would suffer and die. And now God has made these things come true in this way. ¹⁹ So you must change your hearts and lives! Come back to God, and he will forgive your sins. Then the Lord will send the time of rest.

An Evening Prayer

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.

We Are God’s Children

3 The Father has loved us so much that we are called children of God. And we really are his children. The reason the people in the world do not know us is that they have not known him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and we have not yet been shown what we will be in the future. But we know that when Christ comes again, we will be like him, because we will see him as he really is. ³ Christ is pure, and all who have this hope in Christ keep themselves pure like Christ.

⁴ The person who sins breaks God’s law. Yes, sin is living against God’s law. ⁵ You know that Christ came to take away sins and that there is no sin in Christ. ⁶ So anyone who lives in Christ does not go on sinning. Anyone who goes on sinning has never really understood Christ and has never known him.

⁷ Dear children, do not let anyone lead you the wrong way. Christ is righteous. So to be like Christ a person must do what is right.

Jesus Appears to His Followers

³⁶ While the two followers were telling this, Jesus himself stood right in the middle of them and said, “Peace be with you.”

³⁷ They were fearful and terrified and thought they were seeing a ghost. ³⁸ But Jesus said, “Why are you troubled? Why do you doubt what you see? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have a living body as you see I have.”

⁴⁰ After Jesus said this, he showed them his hands and feet. ⁴¹ While they still could not believe it because they were amazed and happy, Jesus said to them, “Do you have any food here?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish. ⁴³ While the followers watched, Jesus took the fish and ate it.

⁴⁴ He said to them, “Remember when I was with you before? I said that everything written about me must happen—everything in the law of Moses, the books of the prophets, and the Psalms.”

⁴⁵ Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He said to them, “It is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day ⁴⁷ and that a change of hearts and lives and forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name to all nations, starting at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things.