Surprise of the Day  

It took courage for Joseph of Arimathea to ask for Jesus’ body.

Mark 15:43  –  Acts 10:27-29

Fact of the Day

Joseph had to break one of the Jewish traditions of never entering the home of a Gentile.  Procurator Pilate was a Gentile.  Also, as a member of the Jewish governing Sanhedrin, he would have been “disbarred” and excommunicated by the leading Jews.

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Surprise of the Day  

While Simon of Cyrene carried Jesus’ cross, Jesus walked along with him.

Mark  15:22  –  Mark 14:65  –  Mark 15:16-19

Fact of the Day

No! He seems to have collapsed after that.  He had just been beaten by fists of the priests.  Then soldiers beat him on his head and whip lashed his back so much, it was now pure raw meat.  Then the soldiers brought Jesus to Golgotha.  The word “brought” in Greek is “carried” such as “carried a bowl”.  Jesus was so weak, they had to carry him up the hill and keep him alive long enough to kill him.

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Surprise of the Day  

The Garden of Gethsemane agony was the only time Jesus was as “distress” and “troubled” as he was this night.  

Mark 14:33  –  Hebrews 5:7

Fact of the Day

No!  His whole life Jesus begged God with “loud cries” to not have to go through with his death.  (The Greek in Mark for “distress” is “horror”.)  There was more to it than his just dying.  He faced down Satan from the cross.

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Surprise of the Day  

The man carrying a pitcher of water who showed the apostles the upper room for Jesus’ last supper could have been a Gibeonite.

Mark 14:12-16 –  Joshua 9:1-27

Fact of the Day

1400 years earlier when Joshua was punishing the earlier people of the “promised land” for worshipping idols and practicing human sacrifice, Amorite tribesman (the Gibeonites) fooled him, so instead of being killed, were made water carrier slaves.

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Oops of the Day  

Judas believed in Jesus until the end.  He turned on Jesus after three years.  He betrayed Jesus just because of the money he got – 30 pieces of silver.

Mark 14:10-11 –  John 6:64

Fact of the Day

No!  Jesus  never  fully  believed  in  Jesus  and  who  he  was.  Look  it  up.

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Surprise of the Day  

About a week before Jesus’ crucifixion and death, Mary anointed Jesus with precious oil.  Judas and the other apostles complained the money should have been given to the poor.  Just money from a single flask of oil?

Mark 14:3 & 5

Fact of the Day

At that time in Jewish history, anointing with oil was done to make a person either the high priest or the king.  Both titles had equal powers.  It was the same as crowning someone king.  A single flask of the special oil Mary used to anoint Jesus with the week before his crucifixion and death was worth a year’s wages!

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Surprise of the Day  

When Jesus came up out of the waters of his baptism, the Holy Spirit descended on him, and God announced he was his son and how proud he was of him.  And from then on…

Mark 1:9-11 – Matthew 3:16-17  – John 1:12-13 – Acts 2:38 – Galatians 4:5 – Ephesians 1:5 – Hebrew 1:10 & 13

Fact of the Day

Ever since then, when we do what Jesus did that day, the same thing happens to us.  When we come up out of the waters of baptism, the Holy Spirit descends on us, announces we are now his sons, and tells us how proud he is of us. We are not begotten sons as Jesus was because he was the materialized Word of God and there can be only one Word of God.  But we are adopted sons, adopted children of the King of the Universe.

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Surprise of the Day  

Will there be degrees of punishment in eternity?

Mark 12:38-40

Fact of the Day

“A large crowd was gladly listening to Jesus. ³⁸As he was teaching, he said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law! They want to walk around wearing clothes which make them look important. They like the greetings of respect which people give them in the marketplaces. ³⁹They always want the most important seats in the synagogues and the best seats at the dinners. ⁴⁰But, they are unfair to widows; they steal their homes. Then they make themselves look good by saying long prayers. Because of all this, God will punish these men so much more.”

SO, it looks like there will be degrees of punishment in eternity.

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Surprise of the Day  

Jesus praised a widow because she gave to God more than anyone else at the temple, even the rich people.

Mark 12:42

Fact of the Day

The widow’s mite she gave to God was worth 1/64th of one day’s wage.  She gave more than the rich people because she gave all she had.

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Oops of the Day  

Jesus’ crown of thorns was arranged neatly in a perfect circle with long, bare thorns everywhere.

Matthew 27:29

Fact of the Day

No!  First, it is nearly impossible to fold a branch in a perfect circle.  Second, it was spring, not winter.  There were leaves on the bushes and flowers.

A crown of thorns with just leaves on it would be a mock Julius Caesar crown. 

A crown of thorns with flowers on it would be a mock Olympic winner’s crown.

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