Lectionary Readings for Sunday 4.28.24 (Easter 5, Year B)
The interwoven story of Christ in the Scriptures
Enter the Story
Eastertide
The Season of Easter (often called Eastertide or The Great Fifty Days) is the theological center of the liturgical year. It begins with the Easter Vigil on Saturday evening and continues fifty days until Pentecost. In sum, the season is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection, the events that proceed from the resurrection (discovery of the empty tomb, appearances of the risen Christ, the ascension, and the gift of the Holy Spirit), the beginnings of the post-resurrection church (as narrated in the Acts of the Apostles), and the theological and existential implications of the resurrection for a life of faith. 1
Weekly Collect Prayer
Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Liturgical Color - White or Gold
Monday 4.22.24: John 15:1-8 (The Jesus Story)
For the three Sundays of Eastertide leading up to Pentecost, the church reads from John’s account of Jesus’ farewell discourse to the disciples before his death. This may seem odd given that we have already commemorated Jesus’ death and resurrection. But for John, Jesus’ departure involves his death, resurrection, and exaltation. In the readings for these three Sundays, the thematic focus is on the intimate relation of God and Jesus and Jesus’ followers.
John 15:1-8 (NLT)
1 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.
2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.
3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.
4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.
7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!
8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
Summary: Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. God desires us to bear fruit, and to do so we must remain in Christ.2
Questions
If this story happened today, what would it look like?
What is the story showing or telling me?
Could it make a difference to my life? How? Did it? How?
How does this passage point to Jesus?
How does this passage connect or conflict with Jesus' teachings, loving actions, or mission?
How does this passage shape me to be more loving like Jesus?
Tuesday 4.23.24: 1 John 4:7-21
As we continue reading through 1 John, we hear the author calling the readers to love one another in the same vein that he did in the passage we read last week. Here the call is rooted in the understanding of God as love.
1 John 4:7-21 (NLT)
7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.
8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.
10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.
12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
13 And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.
14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.
16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
19 We love each other because he loved us first.
20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?
21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.
Summary: An exhortation to love one another, because God is love. If we cannot love our brothers and sisters whom we have seen, we cannot love God whom we do not see, but, as God has loved us, inspiring love for God in our hearts, so too, we should love one another. Such love drives out fear.
Questions
If this story happened today, what would it look like?
What is the story showing or telling me?
Could it make a difference to my life? How? Did it? How?
How does this passage point to Jesus?
How does this passage connect or conflict with Jesus' teachings, loving actions, or mission?
How does this passage shape me to be more loving like Jesus?
Wednesday 4.24.24: Acts 8:26-40
According to Acts, after Stephen was martyred, persecution hit Jerusalem causing many disciples to flee the city. One of those fleeing was Philip. After preaching in Samaria, the Holy Spirit leads him to offer the Gospel to a eunuch returning to Ethiopia. This story illustrates both that the good news is spread to Africa and the early church’s concern for the giving of the Holy Spirit in relation to baptism.
Acts 8:26-40 (NLT)
26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
27 So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship,
28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”
30 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.
32 The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
33 He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?”
35 So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.
36 As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?”
37 38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing.
40 Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea.
Summary: Philip is instructed to go to a certain road where he encounters an Ethiopian eunuch on his way home after worshipping in Jerusalem. Philip finds him reading Isaiah’s scroll, and explains what the Scriptures say about Jesus. Then he baptizes the eunuch.
Questions
If this story happened today, what would it look like?
What is the story showing or telling me?
Could it make a difference to my life? How? Did it? How?
How does this passage point to Jesus?
How does this passage connect or conflict with Jesus' teachings, loving actions, or mission?
How does this passage shape me to be more loving like Jesus?
Thursday 4.25.24: Psalm 22:25-31
Psalm 22 is a lament, but the section we read today expresses confidence in God. It is chosen because its description of God as ruling over all nations echoes Luke’s concern to highlight the spread of the Gospel to Africa in the Acts lesson.
Psalms 22:25-31 (NLT)
25 I will praise you in the great assembly. I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who worship you.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied. All who seek the LORD will praise him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.
27 The whole earth will acknowledge the LORD and return to him. All the families of the nations will bow down before him.
28 For royal power belongs to the LORD . He rules all the nations.
29 Let the rich of the earth feast and worship. Bow before him, all who are mortal, all whose lives will end as dust.
30 Our children will also serve him. Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord.
31 His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done.
Summary: A psalm of praise and commitment in which God is celebrated for God’s provision and authority, and all people are challenged to worship God, to fulfill promises to God, and to proclaim God’s righteousness to unborn generations.
Questions
If this story happened today, what would it look like?
What is the story showing or telling me?
Could it make a difference to my life? How? Did it? How?
How does this passage point to Jesus?
How does this passage connect or conflict with Jesus' teachings, loving actions, or mission?
How does this passage shape me to be more loving like Jesus?
Friday 4.26.24: Find the Story Threads
How does these passages point to Jesus?
How does these passages connect or conflict with Jesus' teachings, loving actions, or mission?
How does these passages shape me to be more loving like Jesus?
Check out my post this Friday where I will share the Story Threads that I found.
https://pcpe.smu.edu/01b_Year_B.pdf
https://sacredise.com/