Next Sunday's Scriptures - April 2

April 2, 2006

5th Sunday in Lent, Year B

Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Psalm 51:1-12 or Ps 119:9-16

Hebrews 5:5-10

John 12:20-33

Jeremiah 31:31-34

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new

covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will

not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I

took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt--a

covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the

Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of

Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within

them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their

God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one

another, or say to each other, "Know the Lord," for they shall

all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the

Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin

no more.

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How do you move from obeying God's rules to living in relationship with God?

In what ways do you "know the Lord"?

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Psalm 51:1-13

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your

loving-kindness; *

in your great compassion blot out my offenses.

2 Wash me through and through from my wickedness *

and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions, *

and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against you only have I sinned *

and done what is evil in your sight.

5 And so you are justified when you speak *

and upright in your judgment.

6 Indeed, I have been wicked from my birth, *

a sinner from my mother's womb.

7 For behold, you look for truth deep within me, *

and will make me understand wisdom secretly.

8 Purge me from my sin, and I shall be pure; *

wash me, and I shall be clean indeed.

9 Make me hear of joy and gladness, *

that the body you have broken may rejoice.

10 Hide your face from my sins *

and blot out all my iniquities.

11 Create in me a clean heart, O God, *

and renew a right spirit within me.

12 Cast me not away from your presence *

and take not your holy Spirit from me.

13 Give me the joy of your saving help again *

and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.

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We began Lent with this psalm on Ash Wednesday.

Read this meditatively as a prayer of confession and forgiveness.

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Hebrews 5:5-10

So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest,

but was appointed by the one who said to him,

"You are my Son,

today I have begotten you";

as he says also in another place,

"You are a priest forever,

according to the order of Melchizedek."

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers

and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was

able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his

reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience

through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became

the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been

designated by God a high priest according to the order of

Melchizedek.

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What does the High Priestly ministry of Jesus mean to you?

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John 12:20-33

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some

Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,

and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and

told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus

answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be

glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls

into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if

it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it,

and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for

eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am,

there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will

honor.

"Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say--'Father,

save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have

come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came

from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."

The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder.

Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This

voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment

of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people

to myself." He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to

die.

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What does it mean to you to die in order to live?

When have you given up and experienced new life?