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Today’s Readings

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!

Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.

There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly; the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”I shall not die, but I shall live and recount the deeds of the Lord.The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death.

Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.

This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.

I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Jeremiah 31:1-6

At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

Thus says the Lord:

The people who survived the swordfound grace in the wilderness;

when Israel sought for rest,the Lord appeared to him from far away.

I have loved you with an everlasting love;therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

Again I will build you, and you shall be built,O virgin Israel!

Again you shall take your tambourines,and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.

Again you shall plant vineyardson the mountains of Samaria;

the planters shall plant,and shall enjoy the fruit.

For there shall be a day when sentinels will callin the hill country of Ephraim:

“Come, let us go up to Zion,to the Lord our God.”

Acts 10:34-43

Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every people anyone who fears him and practices righteousness is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Matthew 28:1-10

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers and sisters to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Bonus show notes and corrections

Early in the episode Joe mentions a classic probability problem that he couldn’t remember the name. It’s the Monty Hall Problem (you can read a bunch of online debates about it, here is the wikipedia).

We reference the work of Jason Staples, whose 2023 book Paul and the Resurrection of Israel: Jews, Former Gentiles, Israelites has made waves in Pauline scholarship.

Also, another fun bonus mistake that was caught in the episode: in our gospel reading, Joe mistook the angel’s lightning white appearance for a reference to the transfiguration and Jesus, mixing the angel’s appearance up with Christ’s. This criterion of embarrassment is proof that we really don’t study in advance as we sift through the different gospel narratives and sort out the details. Check our work!

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