Tinybeetle - Warrior Priest

I noticed something today that I've read many times before. But today it drew my attention.

Acts 4:27-28 27 That is what has happened here in this city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. In fact, everything they did occurred according to your eternal will and plan.

That last sentence, the one about they did…

In about 20 B.C. Herod the Great decided to rebuild the Jewish temple that had been reconstructed during the time of Nehemiah. He hired 10,000 skilled workers. Since only priests could work on the Temple itself, he also trained 1,000 priests in the art of masonry and stonework.

By the time Jesus came on the scene, construction had been going on for some time.

John 2:20 The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are…

Many years ago in high school I learned to write computer programs in BASIC. One of the most important things I learned was "if then". It is the way to test something and then perform an action based upon that test. An example would be, if the keyboard letter pressed was a 'y', then end the program.

I see an if-then condition in today's reading.

Acts 2:38 Peter replied, "Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be…

After the death of Judas, the remaining apostles held an election of sorts to fill his spot. They narrowed it down to two candidates and then threw dice to determine the winner.

Acts 1:26 Then they cast lots, and in this way Matthias was chosen and became an apostle with the other eleven.

So who was this guy?

We know that he was with Jesus during his entire three-year earthly ministry. We know that he heard and witnessed…