04/21 – 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 – The Last Enemy

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 65:17-25

I will create a new heaven and a new earth. Past things will not be remembered. They will not come to mind. Be glad, and rejoice forever in what I’m going to create, because I’m going to create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people to be a joy. I will rejoice about Jerusalem and be glad about my people. Screaming and crying will no longer be heard in the city. There will no longer be an infant who lives for only a few days or an old man who doesn’t live a long life. Whoever lives to be a hundred years old will be thought of as young. Whoever dies before he is a hundred years old will be cursed as a sinner.

They will build houses and live there. They will plant vineyards and eat fruit from them. They will not build homes and have others live there. They will not plant and have others eat from it. My people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will enjoy what they have done. They will never again work for nothing. They will never again give birth to children who die young, because they will be offspring blessed by the Lord. The Lord will bless their descendants as well.

Before they call, I will answer. While they’re still speaking, I will hear. Wolves and lambs will feed together, lions will eat straw like oxen, and dust will be food for snakes. “They will not hurt or destroy anyone anywhere on my holy mountain,” says the Lord.

Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:19-26

If Christ is our hope in this life only, we deserve more pity than any other people, but now Christ has come back from the dead. He is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Since a man brought death, a man also brought life back from death. As everyone dies because of Adam, so also everyone will be made alive because of Christ. This will happen to each person in his own turn. Christ is the first, then at his coming, those who belong to him will be made alive. Then the end will come. Christ will hand over the kingdom to God the Father as he destroys every ruler, authority, and power. Christ must rule until God has put every enemy under his control. The last enemy he will destroy is death.

Gospel Reading: Luke 24:1-12

Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb. They were carrying the spices that they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. When they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzled about this, two men in clothes that were as bright as lightning suddenly stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed to the ground.

The men asked the women, “Why are you looking among the dead for the living one? He is not here. He has been brought back to life! Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee. He said, ‘The Son of Man must be handed over to sinful people, be crucified, and come back to life on the third day.’”

Then the women remembered what Jesus had told them. They left the tomb and went back to the city. They told everything to the eleven apostles and all the others. The women were Mary from Magdala, Joanna, and Mary (the mother of James). There were also other women with them. They told the apostles everything.

The apostles thought that the women’s story didn’t make sense, and they didn’t believe them, but Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He bent down to look inside and saw only the strips of linen. Then he went away, wondering what had happened.