Surprise of the Day  

How injured were the apostles when they preached after being beaten?

Acts 5:40-42  –  Deuteronomy 25:3

Fact of the Day

The apostles were flogged by the Sanhedrin with 39 lashes from a leather whip.  

The following is an eye-witness account of 40 whip lashings at https://bit.ly/452Ih32

• 14th stroke – Blood appeared
• 20th stroke – The red stripes could hardly be distinguished. The back was one red quivering mass.
• 29th stroke – The dark blood, which had made its appearance in small clots after the first few lashes, began to ooze from the lacerated flesh and trickle down his back
• 40th stroke – He was close to fainting, only capable of uttering quiet moans, and his limp body hung by his arms.

But, the next morning, the gutsy apostles struggled out of bed, walked bent over in excruciating fiery pain, showed up at the temple again, and resumed preaching “day after day”.

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Oops of the Day  

The apostles were ignorant and uneducated.

Acts 4:13  –  Luke 5:7-10  –  Matthew 9:9

Fact of the Day

No! That’s what their enemies called them. They were raised Jews, so went to the local synagogue school. At least four were business owners. One was a tax collector. Further, if they had been uneducated, how were they able to write such eloquent letters that became parts of the New Testament of the Bible?

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Surprise of the Day  

What was Solomon’s Porch

Acts 3:11

Fact of the Day

Solomon’s porch was 8-1/2 feet wide and ½ mile long. It was a colonnade – a walkway with numerous pillars and a roof over it.  It was all that was left of the original temple complex built by Solomon around 900 years before Jesus.

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Oops of the Day  

Only ordained ministers can baptize someone.

Acts 2:41  –  Acts 9:10-19

Fact of the Day

No! The 12 apostles would have had to baptize 250 people each on the Day of Pentecost to be done by dark.  At 20/hr (1 every 3 minutes), each would have had to baptize people without resting for 12.5 hours.  If they began at noon, the would have had to be baptizing people to or past midnight.  Surely some of those they baptized helped baptize others.  The 3000 were baptized “that day”. Further, the future apostle, Paul, was baptized only by “a certain disciple/follower”.

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Oops of the Day  

Peter was the only one of the apostles to preach on the Day of Pentecost

Acts 2:14-15  –  Acts 2: 4-11  –  Acts 2:37

Fact of the Day

No! Peter stood up “with” the other apostles.  “All” the apostles began to speak  languages they had not learned.  The crowd heard “them” speak.  The countries represented that day represented 12 languages. They heard all the apostles speaking.  Since Josephus said there were normally a million people in Jerusalem for these major feast days, there may have been 10,000 people or more gathered to hear them.  Perhaps they were on the roof of a large building with three apostles on each of the four sides and spaced from each other.  Only Peter’s sermon was recorded, but at the end, the crowd asked  “all”the apostles what they needed to do to save themselves.

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Surprise of the Day  

The Jewish Day of Pentecost always fell on Sunday.  That was the day the church was born.  Sunday was also the day of the week Jesus came back alive.  

Acts 2:1  –  Leviticus 23:15 – Mark 16:9 – Acts 1:3  –  Acts 20:7  –  Revelation 1:10

Fact of the Day

Pentecost was 50 days after the seventh sabbath. Always.  And Mark testified he came back alive “on the first day of the week”.    No wonder we worship on Sundays!  The apostles celebrated the Lord’s Supper on Sunday.  When the apostle John said he was worshiping on “the Lord’s Day” what other day could he have meant?  

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Oops of the Day  

All 120 men and women began speaking in other languages (“tongues”) on the Day of Pentecost.

Acts 1:13-14  –  Acts 2:1,7&15  –  Acts 2:37&43  –  Acts 5:12

Fact of the Day

No!   Read Acts 2. 

• It was “another day” (after the 120 chose a new apostles in chapter 1) when this happened. 
• Those who received the gift were all Galileans (remember Mary Magdalene was from Magdala, etc.)
• Those speaking were always referred to as men and all the people understood them (it wasn’t jibberish)
• The signs and wonders were done by the apostles.

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Oops of the Day  

Jesus questioned Peter about his love and loyalty to make sure Peter was sure this time after denying him in public.

John 21;15-17

Fact of the Day

No!   He was building Peter up a little at a time.  The 1st time Peter said he loved Jesus, Jesus replied, “Okay, you can take care of the young-lamb Christians.” The 2^nd time, Jesus replied, “Good.  Then you can keep my sheep rounded up and together.”  The 3^rd time, Jesus replied, “Good.  Now you can take care of all my sheep as a good shepherd.”  

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Oops of the Day  

Doubting Thomas is our example of what not to be.  The other apostles believed Jesus had come back to life but he did not.

John 20:24-25  –   John 11:16  –  Luke 24:10-11  –   Mark 16:14  –  John 20:19-20

Fact of the Day

No!   A couple of weeks earlier while in hiding, Jesus received word Lazarus was sick. Jesus decided to go to Bethany which was about 6 miles from Jerusalem. The other apostles objected to him going so close to Jerusalem since the priests had announced they were going to kill him. BUT, Thomas said, “Let us go so we may die with him!” Later, after Mary Magdalene told the apostles she had seen Jesus in the cemetery and he had come back to life, it was just foolish talk to the apostles.  They refused to believe. When Jesus finally appeared to the apostles, he had to show them the nail and spear holes and chastised the apostles for not believing. In fact, Thomas was the first of the apostles to call Jesus God.    

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Oops of the Day  

On resurrection morning, the wrappings that had been around Jesus’ body were piled in one place.  The square napkin that had been on Jesus’ face was neatly folded in another place inside the tomb.

John 20:6-7 – John 11:16

Fact of the Day

No! Back when Lazarus came back to life, the strips of linen wrappings were still around his body and the wrappings were still around his head.  His head did not have a single flat cloth laid over it. If that had been the case, the cloth would have fallen off of him when he stood up.  Jesus would not have told them to take the grave cloths off of him to free him.   Both Luke and John emphasize that Peter found Jesus’ wrappings without Jesus in them, like a hollow mummy.   The face wrapping strips that had been rolled around Jesus’ head were in another place, still with the form of Jesus’ head as though he had been beheaded.

• These Greek words in the account of LAZARUS:    δεω (deo) to bind tightly –  σουδαριον (soudarion) a sweat cloth also used as a hood –  συνδεσμος (sundesmos) many pieces bound together –  περιδεω (perideo) to bind around, swaddle, wrap around   
• These Greek words in the account of JESUS:   οθονιον (othonion) pieces of cloth like a bandage wrapping –  σουδαριον (soudarion) a sweat cloth also used as a hood – συνδεσμος (sundesmos) many pieces bound together  – κεφαλη (kephale)  head or skull –  ουκ (ouk) not + μετα (meta) within, inside –  χωρις (choris) apart, separate        

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