Second Sunday of Eastesr

First Reading -Acts 5:29-42 (ESV)

29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

 

The Epistle - 1 Peter 1:3-9 (ESV)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

The Holy Gospel - John 20:19-31 (ESV)

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” 24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Palm Sunday

THE OLD TESTAMENT READING                                                                      Isaiah 50:4-9 (ESV)

The Lord God has given Me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary.  Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens My ear to hear as those who are taught.  The Lord God has opened My ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.  I gave My back to those who strike, and My cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not My face from disgrace and spitting.  But the Lord God helps Me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.  He who vindicates Me is near.  Who will contend with Me?  Let us stand up together.  Who is My adversary?  Let him come near to Me.  Behold, the Lord God helps Me; who will declare Me guilty?  Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.

THE EPISTLE                                                                                                 Philippians 2:5-11 (ESV)

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

THE HOLY GOSPEL                                                                                      Matthew 27:11-66 (ESV)

Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”  Jesus said, “You have said so.”  But when He was accused by the chief priests and elders, He gave no answer.  Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?”  But He gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.  Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted.  And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.  So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”  For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered Him up.  Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous Man, for I have suffered much because of Him today in a dream.”  Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.  The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?”  And they said, “Barabbas.”  Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”  They all said, “Let Him be crucified!”  And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?”  But they shouted all the more, “Let Him be crucified!”  So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”  And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”  Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered Him to be crucified.  Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head and put a reed in His right hand.  And kneeling before Him, they mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”  And they spit on Him and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the robe and put His own clothes on Him and led Him away to crucify Him.  As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  They compelled this man to carry His cross.  And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when He tasted it, He would not drink it.  And when they had crucified Him, they divided His garments among them by casting lots.  Then they sat down and kept watch over Him there.  And over His head they put the charge against Him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.  And those who passed by derided Him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”  So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked Him, saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself.  He is the King of Israel; let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him.  He trusts in God; let God deliver Him now, if He desires Him.  For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”  And the robbers who were crucified with Him also reviled Him in the same way.  Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This Man is calling Elijah.”  And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to Him to drink.  But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.”  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit.  And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.  And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.  The tombs also were opened.  And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”  There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.  When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus.  He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him.  And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock.  And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.  Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.  Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that Impostor said, while He was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’  Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples go and steal Him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.”  Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers.  Go, make it as secure as you can.”  So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

Fifth Sunday in Lent

THE OLD TESTAMENT READING  -   Ezekiel 37:1-14 (ESV)

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.  And He led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.  And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”  And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”  Then He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord God to these bones:  Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.  And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”  So I prophesied as I was commanded.  And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.  And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them.  But there was no breath in them.  Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God:  Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”  So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.  Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.  Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.’  Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God:  Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O My people.  And I will bring you into the land of Israel.  And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O My people.  And I will put My Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land.  Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

THE EPISTLE -  Romans 8:1-11 (ESV)

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the Law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the Law of sin and death.  For God has done what the Law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.  By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.  To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s Law; indeed, it cannot.  Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.  But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

THE HOLY GOSPEL - John 11:17-27; 38-53 (ESV)

Now when Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.  Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.  So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met Him, but Mary remained seated in the house.  Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.”  Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”  Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”  Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.  Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.  Do you believe this?”  She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”  Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb.  It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.  Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”  Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”  Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”  So they took away the stone.  And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.  I knew that You always hear Me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that You sent Me.”  When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”  The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth.  Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”  Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what He did, believed in Him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.  So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, “What are we to do?  For this Man performs many signs.  If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”  But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all.  Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one Man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”  He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.  So from that day on they made plans to put Him to death.

Fourth Sunday in Lent

THE OLD TESTAMENT READING                                                                     Isaiah 42:14-21 (ESV)

For a long time I have held My peace; I have kept still and restrained Myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant.  I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools.  And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them.  I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground.  These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.  They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, “You are our gods.”  Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see!  Who is blind but My servant, or deaf as My messenger whom I send?  Who is blind as My dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the Lord?  He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear.  The Lord was pleased, for His righteousness’ sake, to magnify His Law and make it glorious.

THE EPISTLE                                                                                                Ephesians 5:8-14 (ESV)

At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.  Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.  For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.  But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light.  Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

THE HOLY GOSPEL                                                                            John 9:1-7; 13-17; 34-39 (ESV)

As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.  And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.  We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”  Having said these things, He spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva.  Then He anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent).  So he went and washed and came back seeing.  They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.  Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.  So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight.  And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”  Some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.”  But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?”  And there was a division among them.  So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about Him, since He has opened your eyes?”  He said, “He is a Prophet.”  They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?”  And they cast him out.  Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”  He answered, “And who is he, Sir, that I may believe in him?”  Jesus said to him, “You have seen Him, and it is He who is speaking to you.”  He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped Him.  Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”