March 2010 Readings
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the readings for that date.
Mar 7
Mar 14
Mar 21 Mar 28
Third Sunday in Lent
First Lesson
Isaiah 55:1-9
"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no
money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without
cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not
satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will
delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your
soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful
love promised to David. See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a
leader and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know
not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the
LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with
splendor." Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is
near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him
turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will
freely pardon. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways
my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Psalm
Psalm 63:1-8
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my
body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my
hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my
mouth will praise you.
On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
Second Lesson
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our
forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the
sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all
ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they
drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was
Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies
were scattered over the desert. Now these things occurred as examples
to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be
idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to
eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." We should not commit
sexual immorality, as some of them did--and in one day twenty-three thousand
of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did--and were
killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did--and were killed
by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples and were
written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has
come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't
fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is
faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when
you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up
under it.
Gospel
Luke 13:1-9
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the
Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus
answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the
other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless
you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the
tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than all
the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you
too will all perish." Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree,
planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not
find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, `For three
years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't
found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' "`Sir,' the man
replied, `leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and
fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'"
Prayer of the Day
Eternal Lord, your kingdom has broken into our troubled world through the
life, death, and resurrection of your Son. Help us to hear your Word and
obey it, so that we become instruments of your redeeming love; through your
Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and forever.
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Fourth Sunday in Lent
First Lesson
Joshua 5:9-12
Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of
Egypt from you." So the place has been called Gilgal to this day. On the
evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the
plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. The day after the
Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land:
unleavened bread and roasted grain. The manna stopped the day after
they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the
Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.
Psalm
Psalm 32
Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in
whose spirit is no deceit.
When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in
the heat of summer. Selah
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said,
"I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt
of my sin. Selah
Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found;
surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me
with songs of deliverance. Selah
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel
you and watch over you.
Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must
be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.
Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD's unfailing love surrounds the
man who trusts in him.
Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are
upright in heart!
Second Lesson
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we
once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone
is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All
this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us
the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to
himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has
committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's
ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you
on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be
sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Gospel
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear
him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man
welcomes sinners and eats with them." Then Jesus told them this parable:
"There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father,
`Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between
them. "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off
for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After
he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country,
and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of
that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his
stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him
anything. "When he came to his senses, he said, `How many of my father's
hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set
out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against
heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me
like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled
with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and
kissed him. "The son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and
against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. ' "But the father
said to his servants, `Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a
ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill
it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is
alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he
heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what
was going on. `Your brother has come,' he replied, `and your father has
killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' "The older
brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and
pleaded with him. But he answered his father, `Look! All these years I've
been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me
even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of
yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill
the fattened calf for him!' "`My son,' the father said, `you are always with
me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad,
because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and
is found.'"
Prayer of the Day
God of all mercy, by your power to heal and to forgive, graciously
cleanse us from all sin and make us strong; through your Son, Jesus Christ
our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and forever.
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Fifth Sunday in Lent
First Lesson
Isaiah 43:16-21
This is what the LORD says-- he who made a way through the sea, a path
through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army
and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: "Forget the former things; do not
dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you
not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the
wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I
provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to
my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim
my praise.
Psalm
Psalm 126
When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who
dreamed.
Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it
was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."
The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev.
Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.
He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of
joy, carrying sheaves with him.
Second Lesson
Philippians 3:4b-14
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I
have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the
tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as
for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness,
faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of
Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the
surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have
lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be
found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,
but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from
God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection
and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his
death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not
that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect,
but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one
thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I
press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me
heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Gospel
John 12:1-8
Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus
lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in
Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the
table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive
perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And
the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his
disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, "Why
wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a
year's wages. " He did not say this because he cared about the poor but
because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself
to what was put into it. "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "[It was
intended] that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You
will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."
Prayer of the Day
Almighty God, our redeemer, in our weakness we have failed to be your
messengers of forgiveness and hope in the world. Renew us by your Holy
Spirit, that we may follow your commands and proclaim your reign of love;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
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Sunday of the Passion
Palm Sunday
First Lesson
Isaiah 50:4-9a
The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word
that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to
listen like one being taught. The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears, and I
have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back. I offered my back to those
who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my
face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will
not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will
not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring
charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him
confront me! It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me. Who is he that will
condemn me?
Psalm
Psalm 31:9-16
Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with
sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.
My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails
because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.
Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a
dread to my friends-- those who see me on the street flee from me.
I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken
pottery.
For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire
against me and plot to take my life.
But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God."
My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who
pursue me.
Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.
Second Lesson
Philippians 2:5-11
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in
very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be
grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a
servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a
man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a
cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name
that is above every name, 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.
Gospel
Luke 22:14 – 23:56
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he
said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I
suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment
in the kingdom of God." After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take
this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the
fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And he took bread, gave
thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for
you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper he
took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is
poured out for you. But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with
mine on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to
that man who betrays him." They began to question among themselves which of
them it might be who would do this. Also a dispute arose among them as to
which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, "The kings
of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over
them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead,
the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules
like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or
the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among
you as one who serves. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And
I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that
you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging
the twelve tribes of Israel. "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as
wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And
when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." But he replied, "Lord,
I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." Jesus answered, "I tell
you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that
you know me." Then Jesus asked them, "When I sent you without purse, bag or
sandals, did you lack anything?" "Nothing," they answered. He
said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if
you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: `And he
was numbered with the transgressors' ; and I tell you that this must be
fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment."
The disciples said, "See, Lord, here are two swords." "That is
enough," he replied. Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his
disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that
you will not fall into temptation." He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond
them, knelt down and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from
me; yet not my will, but yours be done." An angel from heaven appeared to
him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly,
and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose
from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted
from sorrow. "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that
you will not fall into temptation." While he was still speaking a crowd came
up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them.
He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you
betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" When Jesus' followers saw what was
going to happen, they said, "Lord, should we strike with our swords?" And
one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right
ear. But Jesus answered, "No more of this!" And he touched the man's ear and
healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple
guard, and the elders, who had come for him, "Am I leading a rebellion, that
you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple
courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour--when
darkness reigns." Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the
house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. But when they had
kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together,
Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the
firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him." But
he denied it. "Woman, I don't know him," he said. A little later someone
else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." "Man, I am
not!" Peter replied. About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this
fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean." Peter replied, "Man, I don't
know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster
crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered
the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you
will disown me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly. The men
who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. They blindfolded him
and demanded, "Prophesy! Who hit you?" And they said many other
insulting things to him. At daybreak the council of the elders of the
people, both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met together, and
Jesus was led before them. "If you are the Christ, " they said, "tell us."
Jesus answered, "If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you,
you would not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the
right hand of the mighty God." They all asked, "Are you then the Son of
God?" He replied, "You are right in saying I am." Then they
said, "Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own
lips." Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they
began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation.
He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king." So
Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is
as you say," Jesus replied. Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and
the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man." But they
insisted, "He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started
in Galilee and has come all the way here." On hearing this, Pilate asked if
the man was a Galilean. When he learned that Jesus was under Herod's
jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had
been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see
him perform some miracle. He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave
him no answer. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing
there, vehemently accusing him. Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and
mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.
That day Herod and Pilate became friends--before this they had been enemies.
Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and
said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to
rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for
your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as
you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish
him and then release him. " With one voice they cried out, "Away with this
man! Release Barabbas to us!" (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an
insurrection in the city, and for murder.) Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate
appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man
committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I
will have him punished and then release him." But with loud shouts they
insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So
Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been
thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and
surrendered Jesus to their will. As they led him away, they seized Simon
from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on
him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed
him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said
to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves
and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, `Blessed
are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never
nursed!' Then "`they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the
hills, "Cover us!" ' For if men do these things when the tree is green, what
will happen when it is dry?" Two other men, both criminals, were also led
out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull,
there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the
other on his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know
what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said,
"He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the
Chosen One." The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine
vinegar and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."
There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE
JEWS. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you
the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other criminal rebuked him.
"Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We
are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man
has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. " Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you
will be with me in paradise." It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness
came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining.
And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud
voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this,
he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God
and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." When all the people who had
gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts
and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had
followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. Now
there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright
man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the
Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to
Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen
cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet
been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the
tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared
spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the
commandment.
Prayer of the Day
Almighty God, you sent your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to take our
flesh upon him and to suffer death on the cross. Grant that we may share in
his obedience to your will and in the glorious victory of his resurrection;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
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