Matthias the Apostle

Acts 1:15-26

In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said,  “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For it is written in the Book of Psalms [69:25],

“‘May his camp become desolate,

    and let there be no one to dwell in it’;

and [109:8]

“‘Let another take his office.’

 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesuswent in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

This year it also happens to fall on Sexegesima Sunday, where there is 8 weeks until Easter.

Polycarp of Smyrna

Polycarp of Smyrna (c.69–c.155) was an apostolic church father, who was a student of John the Apostle, who ordained him. He is referenced by Tertullian, Jerome, and Irenaeus. He is best known for his letter to the church in Phillipi and eventually was martyred.

Martin Luther's Nicknames

Just for fun, I have compiled a list of Martin Luther's nicknames. When Luther was in college and graduate school to become a lawyer between 1497 and 1505, he spent so much time in public debate and was so good at it that he earned the nickname "the philosopher."

The Philosopher

In 1518 Martin Luther began the reformation by posting the 95 Theses and a papal bull was issued on June 15, 1520 condemning him and other reformers for questioning Roman Catholic teaching, "Listen to our prayers, for foxes have arisen seeking to destroy the vineyard whose winepress you alone have trod.... The wild boar from the forest seeks to destroy it and every wild beast feeds upon it."

A fox and a wild boar

After the papal bull was issued, Luther grew out his hair and beard and went into hiding in Wittenberg, going by Junker Jörg. The German word Junker means an aristocrat, young German nobleman, young Lord, country squire, or lesser nobleman.

Junker Jörg

Later in life Luther, comparing Melanchthon and his style said, “Philipp stabs, too, but only with pins and needles.  The pricks are hard to heal and they hurt.  But when I stab, I do it with a heavy pike used to hunt boars.” Luther also stated that Rome was being stubborn and "A knotty stump requires a tough wedge."  During Luther's funeral, Melanchthon stated that a "bad disease" (Catholicism) needed a "harsh doctor" (luther)

A heavy pike, a tough wedge, and a harsh doctor

St. Valentine's Day

Nothing is reliably known of St. Valentine except his name and the fact that he died on February 14 as a martyr. The feast of St. Valentine's became associated with romantic love in the middle ages for unknown reasons, but possibly due to fictional traditions that Geoffrey Chaucer made up in his writings.

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Since this is a holiday that has turned into a day about love, I thought I would take the opportunity to correct a pet misinterpretation of mine. 1 Corinthians 13:13: "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

The "now" in verse 13 is not a temporal now, but a logical now.  It means, "therefore" because it is the conclusion to verse 12.  Verse 13 must be read in context of the immediately preceding verse 12: "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."

Currently, we have faith, hope and love.  We will know fully in heaven, so our hope will be fulfilled and we won't need faith, when we see God face to face.  Therefore, all that will remain is love.

Aquila, Priscilla, and Apollos

          After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade....

          After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with himPriscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews....

          Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.

-Acts 18:1-3,18-19,24-28

Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 
-Romans 16:3-4

The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. 
-1 Corinthians 16:19

Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. 
-2 Timothy 4:19

          What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?...For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth....
          Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.
-1Corinthians 1:1-13, 3:4-6, 6:12

Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing.
-Titus 3:13

Silas

Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers…. And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words.

As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.

-Acts 15:22,32;16:16-34;17:1-15

Peter (Simon) the Apostle

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”  He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). -John 1:35-42

He was the brother of Andrew, also an apostle. He was a fisherman with his brother and the brothers James and John (sons of Zebedee). After Jesus death and resurrection, he worked among the Jews for a while and then went to Rome, where he was the first bishop in the Church.  Catholics call him the first pope. Tradition has it he was crucified head down at his request because he did not consider himself worthy to be crucified like Jesus was. Martyred by Nero under his persecutions in AD64.

Jacob/Israel

At the age of 40, Isaac married Rebekah (Genesis 25:20). After they had been married for 20 years, they had twin sons, Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25:23-26). Jacob eventually became the sole heir of God's covenant when Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of stew (Genesis 25:29-34), and later Jacob got the blessing of the blind Isaac through trickery (Genesis 27:1-40).

It was while he was running away from Esau, who was very angry about being tricked out of his blessing, that Jacob had his vision of the stairway to heaven.

After running away, Jacob lived with his uncle Laban and married both of his daughters, Rachel and Leah.  He also married two other women. Between his four wives he had twelve children, who's descendants became the twelve tribes of Israel, thus fulfilling God's covenant with his grandfather Abraham. After dying, Jacob was was buried in the "Tomb of The Patriarchs" which is the burial place of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob/Israel and Leah. (Genesis 35:28-29, 49:31).

Jacob is mentioned in the New Testament as a Patriarch, or forefather for the Jews, in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, and Hebrews.

The Purification of Mary and Presentation of Our Lord

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” -Luke 2:25-32

The Torah directed that forty days after giving birth, a sacrifice needed to be offered in order to cleanse the mother of ritual uncleanness. The other thing that is happening is the redemption of the first born son. At the Passover in Egypt, God spared Israel while killing the first born son of the Egyptians. God commanded the Israelites to redeem their own first born son. This was to be a constant reminder to Israel about how God had acted to rescue them from slavery. Later in the book of Numbers, God set the price of this redemption at five shekels that were used in the tabernacle and then temple. However, Jesus, being the redeemer, was the one firstborn child who did not need to be redeemed.

This was also done to fulfill the prophecy in malachi 3:1: “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts." This is important because the temple was destroyed and never rebuilt in 70 AD, showing that the messiah must have come before then.

Once again, everything about Jesus' life was being done in accordance with God’s revelation in the Old Testament, both in terms of perfectly following the law, as well as fulfilling all of the prophecies. In His sacrifice, this Son of God becomes a "son of Egypt" that all of us "sons of Egypt" might become "sons of God" in Him. The First-born Son of the Father is our substitute, so that we are redeemed instead of him. Paul even callss Christ the First-born among many brethren and the author of Hebrews calls His Body the Church of the First-born.