Third Sunday of Easter                                        April 26, 2020

Prayer of the Day
O God, by the humiliation of your Son, you raised up this fallen world. Teach us whom you have rescued from endless death to have the fullness of eternal joy, through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. For he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

First Reading: Acts 2:14a, 36-41
^14aPeter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them:
³⁶“Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” ³⁷Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” ³⁸And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” ⁴⁰And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” ⁴¹So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Psalm 116:1-14*
¹I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my | supplication,*
     because he has inclined his ear to me whenever I | called upon him.
²The cords of death entangled me; the grip of the grave took | hold of me;*
     I came to | grief and sorrow.
³Then I called upon the name | of the Lord:*
     “O Lord, I pray you, | save my life.”
⁴Gracious is the | Lord and righteous;*
     our God is full | of compassion.
⁵The Lord watches | over the innocent;*
     I was brought very low, | and he helped me.
⁶Turn again to your rest, | O my soul,*
     for the Lord has treat- | ed you well.
⁷For you have rescued my | life from death,*
     my eyes from tears, and my | feet from stumbling.
⁸I will walk in the presence | of the Lord *
     in the land | of the living.
⁹I believed, even when I said, “I have been brought | very low.”*
     In my distress I said, “No one | can be trusted.”
¹⁰How shall I re- | pay the Lord *
     for all the good things he has | done for me?
¹¹I will lift up the cup | of salvation*
     and call upon the name | of the Lord.
¹²I will fulfill my vows | to the Lord *
     in the presence of | all his people.
¹³Precious in the sight | of the Lord *
     is the death | of his servants.
¹⁴O Lord, I | am your servant;*
     I am your servant and the child of your handmaid; you have freed me | from my bonds.
Second Reading: 1 Peter 1:17-25
¹⁷If you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. ²⁰He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you ²¹who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. ²²Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, ²³since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; ²⁴for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, ²⁵but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Gospel: Luke 24:13-35
¹³That very day two of {Jesus’ followers} were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. ¹⁶But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” ¹⁹And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. ²¹But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. ²²Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, ²³and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. ²⁴Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” ²⁵And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” ²⁷And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. ²⁸So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, ²⁹but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. ³¹And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” ³³And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, ³⁴saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Lessons for Next Week:
Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10
* — Some psalms within the Book of Common Prayer psalter, which the Sola lectionary uses, are numbered differently than the psalms in the psalter of the English Standard Version Bible, on which the lectionary calendar is based. Today’s reading ends at verse 14; the equivalent ESV reading ends at verse 16.