Year A – Lent 2
Full-text of the Appointed Lessons (RSV and NRSV), with instructions for lectors
March 1 – The Second Sunday in Lent, Year A – RCL
ILLUMINATION for the First Lesson
The Second Sunday in Lent, Year A, March 1, 2026
Genesis 12:1-4a
Abram trusts in God and he and his family move from their own country to a strange land, where he is to become the father of many nations.
A reading (lesson) from the Book of Genesis:
(Lead in with) RSV and NRSV: The Lord said to Abram…
Conclude with The word of the Lord or Here endeth, etc.
Revised Standard Version
The LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.” So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him.
New Revised Standard Version
The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.
ILLUMINATION for the Second Lesson
The Second Sunday in Lent, Year A, March 1, 2026
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
Paul presents an example of how we are justified before God. He uses Abraham as an example of how righteousness comes through faith and not by works of the law.
A reading (lesson) from the Letter of Paul to the Romans:
(Lead in with) RSV: What then shall…; NRSV: What then are…
Conclude with The word of the Lord or Here endeth, etc.
Revised Standard Version
What then shall we say about Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due. And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness. The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants–not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations” — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
New Revised Standard Version
What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness. For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
ILLUMINATION for the Gospel Lesson
The Second Sunday in Lent, Year A, March 1, 2026
John 3:1-17
Jesus tells Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees, that the life abundant and eternal is a gift from above and is not attained by achievement, claim or proof. Jesus tells him that in order to see the kingdom of God, he must be born anew.
A reading (lesson) from the Gospel according to John:
(Lead in with) RSV: There was a man…; NRSV: There was a Pharisee…
Conclude with The word of the Lord or Here endeth, etc. If read by an ordained person as the eucharistic gospel, conclude with The gospel of the Lord.
Revised Standard Version
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can this be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”
New Revised Standard Version
There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
March 1 – The Second Sunday in Lent, Year A – BCP
ILLUMINATION for the First Lesson
The Second Sunday in Lent, Year A, March 1, 2026
Genesis 12:1-8
Abram trusts in God and he and his family move from their own country to a strange land, where he is to become the father of many nations.
A reading (lesson) from the Book of Genesis:
(Lead in with) RSV and NRSV: The Lord said to Abram…
Conclude with The word of the Lord or Here endeth, etc.
Revised Standard Version
The LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.” So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions which they had gathered, and the persons that they had gotten in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. Thence he removed to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
New Revised Standard Version
The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord.
ILLUMINATION for the Second Lesson
The Second Sunday in Lent, Year A, March 1, 2026
Romans 4:1-5 (6-12 optional) 13-17
Paul presents an example of how we are justified before God. He uses Abraham as an example of how righteousness comes through faith and not by works of the law.
A reading (lesson) from the Letter of Paul to the Romans:
(Lead in with) RSV: What then shall…; NRSV: What then are…
Conclude with The word of the Lord or Here endeth, etc.
Revised Standard Version
What then shall we say about Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due. And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness. [So also David pronounces a blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not reckon his sin.” Is this blessing pronounced only upon the circumcised, or also upon the uncircumcised? We say that faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received circumcision as a sign or seal of the righteousness which he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them, and likewise the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but also follow the example of the faith which our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.] The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants–not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations” — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
New Revised Standard Version
What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness. [So also David speaks of the blessedness of those to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the one against whom the Lord will not reckon sin.” Is this blessedness, then, pronounced only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We say, “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.” How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the ancestor of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them, and likewise the ancestor of the circumcised who are not only circumcised but who also follow the example of the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised.] For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
ILLUMINATION for the Gospel Lesson
The Second Sunday in Lent, Year A, March 1, 2026
John 3:1-17
Jesus tells Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees, that the life abundant and eternal is a gift from above and is not attained by achievement, claim or proof. Jesus tells him that in order to see the kingdom of God, he must be born anew.
A reading (lesson) from the Gospel according to John:
(Lead in with) RSV: There was a man…; NRSV: There was a Pharisee…
Conclude with The word of the Lord or Here endeth, etc. If read by an ordained person as the eucharistic gospel, conclude with The gospel of the Lord.
Revised Standard Version
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can this be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”
New Revised Standard Version
There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Scripture quotations labeled NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
The Living Word | Lectionary Preaching Aids
Exploring the Texts
“The longer one stays with Christ, the more the world of Christ opens up as a grand and incredible landscape: beautiful, inviting, strange, frightful, wondrous, infinite.”
“Divine wrath is not human anger amplified. … God wants to save, but apart from God there is nothing. Passively, wrath is the nothingness and emptiness of life cut off from its source. Actively, wrath is God’s opposition to any attempt to thwart his will for the salvation of the world.”
“Notwithstanding the promise of blessing and a great name and a nation for the life of the world, the command to ‘go’ is haunting and difficult, even strange. And yet ‘Abram went, as the Lord had told him’ (12:4).”
Preaching Today
Gavin Dunbar: Beginning the Journey
“What moves Abraham to start the journey? It is not unselfish, noble altruism, but need, longing, and a desire for the blessing God so abundantly promises him. For there is no human being who is not by his nature moved by need, desire, and longing, for his own happiness, to attain a blessing.”
Jessica Martin: A Very Strange Thing Is the Wind
“You don’t earn the gifts of your baptism in water and the spirit. You don’t even have to understand them. You just receive God’s life into you, blowing like the wind from no one knows where, blowing you onward toward no one knows where; endless, unexpected, playful, overwhelming, or stormy or tender or scarcely felt, but always a gift.”
Dan Martins: The Gift of the Unattainable
“But it’s through this miraculous sort of birth experience—born again, born from above—that we are connected to God through Christ in a way that that enables us to share God’s deathless life, God’s immortal life, the sort of life that is not contingent, but which God has in himself, by his own nature, eternal life.”
Classic Texts
John Bunyan: My Grace Is Sufficient
“And as I was then looking for nothing but hell and the everlasting damnation of my soul, suddenly, as I thought, I saw the Lord Jesus looking down from heaven upon me, and saying, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved’ (Acts 16:31). But I replied, Lord, I am a great, a very great sinner. And he answered, ‘my grace is sufficient for you’ (2 Cor. 12:9).”
Bernard of Clairvaux: How Much?
“God has loved us and loved us freely, while we were enemies. How much has he loved us? John answers: ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son.’”
Basil the Great: Restores Us to Life
“The Spirit bestows life-giving energy, recalling our souls from the death of sin to the vitality they once enjoyed. This is what is meant by being ‘born again of water and the Spirit.’ Death itself is killed in the water and the Spirit restores us to life.”
Articles on Rebirth
Amy Lepine Peterson: Faith in the First Person
“Zierman realizes that the real work of faith has nothing to do with saying the right words (‘I’m born again!’), but rather is about finding the real, complex, and often inexpressible truth at the heart of those words.”
Sam Keyes: Getting Saved
“The Church doesn’t cease to be the Church when she fails to influence presidential elections, or when she fails to satisfy the emotional needs of every ecclesiastical lobby group …. But if the Church cannot actually say anything about salvation … I wonder … whether we have any claim to Church at all.”
John Martin: Finding Faith on the Margins
“‘We’ve gone from being professional liars — I was one of them. Now, we don’t want to live that life … because the Holy Spirit’s inside us. We want to go 100 percent legal. That’s what happens when you’re born again.’”
Articles on Law and Faith
“Our very being and salvation in Christ are, in the order of nature, impossible. ‘The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any that go down into silence’ (Ps. 115:17). But we bless the Lord as those called out of nothing, pulled from the emptiness of sin and death into a new and divinized humanity.”
Gene Schlesinger: Timeless, Just Not the Way You Think
“As St. Paul makes clear, Gentile Christians are inheritors, but not supplanters, of the covenant made with Abraham (Rom. 11; Gal. 3). Invited by Christ Jesus to a new covenant with God, we can indeed claim the Ten Commandments as our own, but not in such a way as to wrest them away from their original setting and purpose.”
Elizabeth Kincaid: Good Moralistic Preaching
“The moralizing preacher who simply lays down the law fails to explain the beauty, joy, and adventure of life in Christ. She is like the piano teacher who never exposes her students to beautiful music, but simply presents them with a program of chord exercises.”
Articles on God's Promises
Sarah Puryear: Baptism, A New Birth into a Living Hope
Baptism is a similar sort of encounter: God in Christ drawing us up out of the waters of sin and death that threaten to quench our life; God in Christ tenderly embracing us as he calls us by name; God in Christ infusing us with new life that is infinitely stronger than death, and that he promises will be everlasting.
Nick Comiskey: Leaving Ourselves Behind
“Luther needed something else, however, to make faith not just unreflective but deeply personal — to be sure the promises of God applied to him. He found this assurance by likewise looking to the sacraments and understanding them in light of what Cary calls ‘the double structure of God’s word.’”
Brandt Montgomery: The Gospel According to Rite One
“The very invitation to draw near to God is Good News. ‘Almighty God … hath promised forgiveness of sins to all those who with hearty repentance and truth faith turn unto him.’ ‘Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him’ (Prov. 30.5).”
