CHRISTIAN NEWS HEADLINES
You will not see these HEADLINES in the Jerusalem News twenty-one centuries ago or even now.
MIRACLE!
ישוע המשיח עלה!
Changes in Worship
Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service.
Acts:3:1 NLT
Post-resurrection Christians frequently miss some subtlety of detail in the Bible due to the amazing witness of the miracles which surround the circumstance. “Peter and John were:
- a. going to the Temple just a few months after Jesus had been found guilty of violating church rules, was tortured, murdered and made an example to others by powerful leaders.
- b. It was ‘three o’clock [3 p.m.] on a weekday afternoon and
- c. the church (Temple) had a prayer service where faithful Jews actually prayed.
Like many believers I have multiple versions of the Bible and wanted to check the facts in the English Standard Version which I generally quote. “the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. Footnotes: a. Acts 3:1 That is, 3 p.m.
Who would be praying at 3 p.m. on a weekday?
Yet, they did. It was customary – usual. [ctt title=”21st century worshipers take a much more casual attitude toward God than most generations before us.” tweet=”#Prayer Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. Acts 3:1″ coverup=”XSu36″]
Nothing wrong with a 3 p.m. prayer service. Temple officials would soon show up with objections when disciples of Jesus worshiped the Lord on their way to the service by healing a man who witnessed Christ by following these leaders of the new Way.
The NLT version heading states:
Peter Heals a Crippled Beggar
The text shows detail which gives glory to God.
6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene,[a] get up and[b] walk!”
9 All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God.
The more politically correct heading of the ESV for Acts 3:1 states:
The Lame Beggar Healed
The witness of Peter continues: [ctt title=”Christianity is never about what we have done for Jesus.” tweet=”Our witness is what Jesus will also do for you. #Jesus” coverup=”3JM77″]
ESV: Acts 3:9
And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
The King James Version (translation) has no labels
Recalling that scripture was hand-transcribed until the printing press, note that modern editors add headings. Headline Titles help us to see the topic of a section, while we prejudicially dismiss some important detail. If fact, consider that the Bible, as a traditional Holy Writing did not even divide into chapters and verses. Like scripture before, Acts and the letters are one connected writing and the witness all connects to Christ Jesus.
Take a look at the link below and note the headings of three renderings of the Acts text.
- Preaching in Solomon’s Portico [NKJV]
11 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John… - Peter Preaches in the Temple [NLT]
12 Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. - Peter Speaks in Solomon’s Portico [ESV]
11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s.
And if you would like to translate for yourself from the original Greek, try this:
Κρατοῦντος δὲ τοῦ ἰαθἐντος χωλοῦ τὸν Πέτρον καὶ Ἰωάννην συνέδραμεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ἐπὶ τῇ στοᾷ τῇ καλουμένῃ Σολομῶντος ἔκθαμβοι – Acts 3:11 TR
We don’t want to get caught up in this too much and miss the importance of witness of these verified miracles and the credit all witnesses give to the risen Christ Jesus. Note, however some of our natural prejudices in thinking about a setting over 2000 years ago. It is little different than not being able to wrap our heads around the concept of praying to the Lord our God and Creator at three in the afternoon.
Visual Prejudice of HEADLINE NEWS
Visual prejudice will not produce truth in your thoughts. The setting is not the Temple built by Solomon, but one built centuries later by a half-jew, Herod, a powerful puppet king beholden to the Caesars of Rome. The Herods, Jesus, Temple officials and Peter all appeal to traditions of Hebrew heritage.
Peter speaks to the crowds gathered after God’s miracle healing of the man:
“Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus…
22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers…
26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
[ctt title=”But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.” tweet=”Acts 4:4 – after a singular witness on their way to an obligatory prayer service.” coverup=”kaY9r”]
As our series highlighting passages from many centuries prior to the Cross concluded with the resurrection. This post from the early history of the church reminds us that even the journeys of Acts will cover much more territory and the spread of Christianity continues for centuries.
TalkofJesus.com takes you to scripture to discover the details of truth and God’s love. Links included go to trusted sources you may search for further study. My commentary is minimal, but your comments by reply are more than welcome as witness of Jesus Christ to others.
In my continuing journey of Christian Social Witness via http://talkofJesus.com you will see several updates to our HEADLINE look over the next few weeks. Don’t let it throw you.
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