The First Pope held onto Jesus long enough to get the “keys to The Kingdom of Heaven” that Jesus gave to him. Those “keys” open doors within Catholic minds that let us see “overlooked Miracles” in “The Facts of Acts”!
~
Question 1: “What did The First Pope do after God gave him the power to heal a man who was ‘born crippled’?”
Answer: “The ‘Facts of Acts’ 4:1-12 tell us Peter and John were ‘still speaking to the people’ who had seen The First Pope’s First Public Miracle a few hours earlier!”
~
Question 2: “What happened to The First Pope as he spoke to ‘the people’ about The Power of God’s Messiah?”
Answer: “Peter was arrested! ‘They were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They laid hands on Peter and John and put them in custody until the next day, since it was already evening.'”
~
Question 3: “Acts 3:1-10 tells us that the ‘man born crippled’ was cured before 3:00 in the afternoon. Why did it take several hours before ‘the priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees confronted them, disturbed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.’?”
Answer: “The Jerusalem Establishment had hours of meetings! They knew that thousands of people had seen The First Pope perform a Miracle by publicly curing a ‘man born crippled’. ‘Arrest them!’ was a difficult decision that took several hours. That shows disagreements about Who Jesus Is within The Jerusalem Establishment.”
~
Question 4: “What did their hours of discussion lead The Jerusalem Establishment to do?”
Answer: “The authorities wanted to keep control more than letting people who were ‘born crippled’ be cured! ‘They laid hands on Peter and John and put them in custody until the next day, since it was already evening.’”
~
Question 5: “What happened after they put The First Pope and Jesus’ ‘most beloved’ Bishop in jail?”
Answer: “An ‘overlooked Miracle’! Their arrest gave Peter and John so much credibility from those who understood the self-serving nature of The Jerusalem Establishment that: ‘many of those who heard The Word came to believe and the number of men (The First Catholics who believed in Jesus) grew to about five thousand.’
Several dozen believers multiplied to ‘five thousand’ because The First Pope and Jesus’ ‘most beloved’ Bishop obeyed The First Commandment ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.’!
~
Question 6: “That is an ‘overlooked Miracle’! Were there others?”
Answer: “Only Catholics have enough faith in Jesus to consider what may be another ‘overlooked Miracle’! ‘Five thousand‘ is also the number of ‘men’ who received ‘food from Jesus’ in Mt.14:13-21. ‘Multiplying loaves and fishes’ was a Prophecy of what would become Catholic Communion for billions of Catholics by The Miracle of Transubstantiation; changing bread and wine into The Body and Blood of Jesus.
The early Catholic converts in the huge crowds of Jerusalem that day may be the same ‘5,000 men’ (and, their families!) among the millions who were inspired to make annual Pilgrimages to Jerusalem. The Holy Food provided by the ‘loaves and fishes’ opened their minds to let them see Who Jesus Is!
~
Only Catholics can begin to see the possibility of God’s Power being manifested in That Miracle!
~
. . . . . . . . . . . .
catholicfundamentalism.com is “Simple Reasons to be Catholic.” Our free Daily Columns and Books help many see how blessed we are to be Catholic. You may find our newest free book interesting:
https://catholicfundamentalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Saint-James-the-Less-Is-More.pdf
BUT, The Best Book of the last Century is <em>“The Diary of St. Faustina”</em>. It lets each of us realize how much Jesus loves our soul. It is also free: http://www.seraphim.my/divinemercy/diary/text/DiaryI.htm
