Archive for April 2009
Cloud OS: VMware vSphere 4 Launches
CLOUD OS: VSPHERE 4 LAUNCHES This week, VMware upgraded its main product line VMware Infrastructure 3, to deliver IT infrastructure as a service internally. SaaS, or “Software as a Service” is a term often seen in discussions of Cloud Computing, where these services are offered remotely from data centers over the Web. With vSphere, companies…
Read MoreHistory of Earth Day
EARTH DAY April 22 is called Earth Day because it both commemorates and celebrates the observance of the anniversary of our discovery of planet Earth. At this time, by all accounts, there is general agreement that Earth is far superior to the place from which we came, as we shall see below. Recently, however, there…
Read MoreHistory of April 19
Many of my Facebook friends have asked me to write an article on the History of April 19th. Why? What important things have happened historically on this date in history? Three things come immediately to my mind: Reformation – 1529 On April 19, at the Second Diet of Speyer the first use of the term…
Read MoreHistory of the Players
What happened to our players AFTER the events in the Easter story?
Read MoreHistory of Good Friday
GOOD FRIDAY For centuries, pilgrims have walked the Via Dolorosa, “the way of sorrow” in Jerusalem, following the path Jesus took from the judgment seat of Pilate at the Antonia in the eastern part of the city immediately north of the Temple through several “stations of the Cross” to the ultimate location at the Church…
Read MoreHistory of the Trial
THE TRIAL OF JESUS The trial of Jesus leading up to his crucifixion was actually a series of perhaps half a dozen trials, across several locations in Jerusalem, some of which are captured in the tradition of the Via Dolorosa, the Way of Sorrow, a series of locations that pilgrims take through the streets of…
Read MoreHistory of Maundy Thursday
MAUNDY THURSDAY Amid the bustle of Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter, Maundy Thursday is easy to overlook. Few calendars label it, and some churches don’t observe it at all, though it may be the oldest of the Holy Week observances. It’s worth asking why, and how, generations of Christians have revered this day. The…
Read MoreHistory of Passover
PASSOVER This year, the evening at sunset April 8 marks the beginning of Passover. Exodus 12 in the Bible tells the story of Passover from the life of Moses. Ten plagues were visited upon the Egyptian pharaoh (starring Yul Brenner, but he was much better in “The King and I”) to get his attention to…
Read MoreHistory of the Sanhedrin
SANHEDRIN The Greek word sunedrion, translated “council” is referred to in the New Testament as “the Great Law-Court”, “the Court of Seventy-One”, and “the rulers and elders and scribes”. It was the supreme theocratic court of the Jews and reflected the local autonomy which the Greek and Roman powers granted the Jewish nation. Its origin…
Read MoreHistory of Herod Antipas
HEROD ANTIPAS Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great (whom we met in the Christmas story) and Malthake. After his father’s death in 4 B.C. he was made tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea in Trans-Jordan. Like his father, he was a lover of great and artistic architectural works, and built the beautiful Tiberias…
Read MoreHistory of Pontius Pilate
PONTIUS PILATE His name provides two valuable clues to his background and ancestry. The family name, Pontius was that of a prominent clan among the Samnites, hill cousins of the Latin Romans. They had almost conquered Rome in several fierce wars. The Pontii were of noble blood, but when Rome finally absorbed the Samnites, their…
Read MoreHistorical Climate of Easter
HISTORICAL CLIMATE OF EASTER What was the historical climate surrounding the last week of the life of Jesus of Nazareth? This man born to die, not just in the normal sense, but in some special sense, entered Jerusalem amidst a torrent of political, social and economic turbulence. The events in Palestine at this time are…
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