Eastertide

April 18, 2023

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:14a, 36-41
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.

Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.’

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we do?’ Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.’ And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.

I subscribe to a grammar and spell checker that is very helpful for one who was raised in the era of not teaching phonics and who has not been back in school to keep up primarily with the changes in the use of commas. I do not always agree with the recommendations, but they have been most helpful. It also checks the grammar in the scriptures I include daily, and I do not change them or any other direct quotes. I had to laugh, however, today because every line on the above scriptural quote has grammar corrections. Yesterday in Sunday School, I read a segment from the book of Acts, and one of the other participants asked what version I was reading from.  I said the NIV.  She was trying to follow along using the NRSV. It was markedly different, not in the meaning of the scripture but in how it was worded. I like to read from different translations because it makes me think about what I am reading. I also like to check out the meaning of words used in the Bible because Hebrew and Greek use words with multiple meanings that are sometimes hard to match in English.

We have been blessed with dedicated scholars who have diligently translated the words to help our understanding. That is all lost when we do not translate these same words into living them.

Prayer: Lord, guide us as we study the words passed down to us of your deeds and instruction, and open our minds to understanding them fully for our use in living your love in our world today. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.