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The Conversion of Saul/Paul
(from ravaging the church to speaking boldly in the name
of the Lord)
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Text
is from the New Revised Standard Version
©1989, Division of Christian
Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA.
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The Beginning of Persecution in Jerusalem
(Acts 7:54-8:3)
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Stephen, only recently chosen as one of the first
"Deacons" in the Jerusalem church (6:1-6),
did much more than "wait on tables" in the daily
distribution of food to the needy. His "great wonders
and signs among the people," (6:8)
drew the attention of those who questioned his work. Filled
not only with God's "grace and power," but
also with wisdom and the Spirit (6:10),
he was an able speaker. In refuting their criticism, he
stirred up a hornets' nest of opposition (6:9-15).
Like Peter (2:14-42),
he proved to be an inspired preacher. His first recorded
sermon on earth, when brought before the religious authorities
(7:1-53),
turned out to be his last.
On the
charge that he has spoken "blasphemous words against
Moses and God" (6:11), Stephen
faces the Sanhedrin. His lengthy testimony there enraged those
who heard them, but their fury was not unleashed, according to
the writer of Acts, until after his proclamation, when he had
a vision of Jesus with God, and said so. Strictly
speaking, was this blasphemy? Regardless, the hearers cover
their ears and act. Was this upon the official decision of the
high council, or was it a mob action? Whether a court
sanctioned punishment or a lynching, the result is the same.
Stephen's last words remind us of an earlier cross. There
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not
know what they are doing" and "Father, into
your hands I commend my spirit." (Luke
23:34, 46) Here, Stephen places his spirit into the
hands of his "Lord Jesus." |
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Deuteronomy 17:2-7
{2} If there is found among you, in one of
your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, a man
or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD
your God, and transgresses his covenant {3}
by going to serve other gods and worshiping
them--whether the sun or the moon or any of the host of
heaven, which I have forbidden-- {4}
and if it is reported to you or you hear of it, and
you make a thorough inquiry, and the charge is proved
true that such an abhorrent thing has occurred in Israel,
{5} then you shall bring out to
your gates that man or that woman who has committed this
crime and you shall stone the man or woman to death.
{6} On the evidence of two or
three witnesses the death sentence shall be executed; a
person must not be put to death on the evidence of only
one witness. {7} The hands
of the witnesses shall be the first raised against the
person to execute the death penalty, and afterward the
hands of all the people. So you shall purge the evil
from your midst. |
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In the Mishnah, Sanhedrin
6:1-4
"When the trial is finished, the man convicted is
brought out to be stoned. The stoning place was
outside the court ... When ten cubits from the stoning
place they say to him, 'Confess: for it is the custom
of all about to be put to death to make confession;
and every one who confesses has a share in the world
to come.' ... Four cubits from the stoning place the
criminal is stripped ... The drop from the stoning
place was twice the height of a man. One of the
witnesses pushes the criminal from behind, so that he
falls face downward. He is then turned over on his
back. If he die from this fall, that is sufficient. If
not, the second witness takes the stone and drops it
on his heart. If this cause death that is sufficient;
if not, he is stoned by all the congregation of
Israel." (from
Bruce,
pp. 170-80)
(Click for more on
capital punishment from the Mishnah and other
Jewish sources.
Or check out the various offenses
for which stoning was commanded in the Torah ) |
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Saul, a Pharisee, is there. The cloaks of the
witnesses (note - it is not Stephen's cloak - from when, as
the Mishnah prescribes, he is stripped - here his accusers
remove their outer garments to better accomplish the task),
are laid at Saul's feet. "And Saul approved..."
From this point Saul (known also as Paul) provides leadership
for a campaign against the followers of Jesus. He becomes the
focal point of fear among the early Jewish Christians. There
is, however, no justification here for later generations to
reverse the trend and use Paul as an excuse for anti-Semitic
pogroms of their own. |
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{54} When they heard these things,
they became
enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen.
{55} But filled with the Holy Spirit,
he gazed into heaven and saw
the glory of God
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
{56}
"Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened
and
the Son of Man
standing at the right hand of God!"
{57} But they covered their ears,
and with a loud shout all rushed
together against him.
{58}
Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him;
and the witnesses laid their coats
at the feet of a young man
named Saul.
{59}
While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed,
"Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit."
{60}
Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice,
"Lord,
do not hold this sin against them."
When he had said this, he
died. (or
"fell asleep")
{8:1} And Saul approved of their killing him.
That day a severe
persecution began against the church in Jerusalem,
and all except
the apostles were scattered
throughout the countryside of Judea
and Samaria.
{2}
Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him.
{3}
But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after
house;
dragging off both men and women, he committed them to
prison.
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On the Road to Damascus
(Acts 9:1-7)
When
someone is headed in the wrong direction, it may take a blinding
light to expose his own blindness. In Acts, Paul embodies the
persecution of the early church. The "Road to Damascus"
has become, for succeeding generations, the path of turning. It was
so for Paul, who was headed (as is written) with permission to stamp
out this Jesus movement. On his way to root out adherents of 'the
Way,' he begins to walk in a new way himself. In this telling,
Paul's companions heard the voice but saw nothing. In a later
recollection (22:9), they
saw the light but didn't hear the voice. Even later, before King Herod
Agrippa, Paul (and/or the writer of Acts) adds a bit more detail (cf. 26:12-18).
There are some
similarities between this account and the story of Heliodorus in the
Old Testament apocrypha. This chancellor of the Seleucid king was
sent to Jerusalem to raid the Temple treasury. Before he could
accomplish his task, his way was blocked by a blinding vision, and
he (supposedly) turned to the God of Israel (cf. 2
Maccabees 3:24-40). God has a way of opening eyes!
Perhaps those of us who have not been "breathing threats and
murder against the disciples of the Lord," or robbing the
Temple treasury, still need to be confronted with the question,
"Why do you persecute me?" Have we really never
'been there, done that' - even within the church? Are we blind to
some of the consequences of our own actions (in a personal or a
social sense, as in our lifestyle choices), even those which seem
benign but have a negative effect upon others? "I once was
blind but now I see," that old slave ship Captain, John
Newton,
once wrote of God's "Amazing
Grace." Why do the words to that old hymn resonate so well with our experience? |
{1} Meanwhile Saul,
still breathing threats and
murder against the disciples of the Lord,
went to the high priest
{2}
and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus,
so
that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women,
he
might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
{3} Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus,
suddenly a
light from heaven flashed around him.
{4}
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,
"Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
{5}
He asked,
"Who are you, Lord?"
The reply came,
"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
{6}
But get up and enter the city,
and you will be told what you
are to do."
{7} The men who were traveling with him stood speechless
because
they heard the voice but saw no one.
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New Vision
(Acts 9:8-19a)
The immediate result of this vision is a lack of it.
This man who had become leader of the effort to squash the Jesus
movement needed to himself be led by hand. He had been headed
straight to the synagogues of Damascus, but now he found himself on
a "street called straight." A different
"way," indeed! Is he fasting by choice, having experienced
a revelation, or is food and drink now just an unimportant detail?
An interesting crisscross of visions takes place. As he prays, Saul
"sees" a man named Ananias come and lay hands on him. And
Ananias, in a vision, hears of what this blind man "sees,"
that he (Ananias) is coming.
Saul's reputation had
preceded him to Damascus. Ananias knew, and was reluctant to go, but
the Lord prevailed upon him the importance of what is is to
do. "Has Saul come to persecute those who call on the
name of the Lord? Quite the reverse! He is a chosen instrument,
destined to bear the Lord's Name before the Gentiles and Kings and
the children of Israel." (Haenchen,
pp. 324-25)
Here, the Lord does not
tell Ananias what to do when he reaches the house of Judas where
Saul is staying. Instead, he does as he has "seen" in the
telling of Saul's vision. The "be filled with the Holy
Spirit" is his own addition in the narrative. Note: this one
who approved of Stephen's stoning, and witnessed this deacon
"filled with the Holy Spirit" (7:55) seeing Jesus standing
at the right hand of God, now receives the prayer of another
believer that he be filled in the same way.
In a scene
reminiscent of the healing of Tobit's father in the Old Testament
apocrypha (Tobit
11:7-15), Saul is healed. His sight is restored, he is
baptized, and he eats and drinks once again. |
{8} Saul got up from the ground,
and though his
eyes were open, he could see nothing;
so they led him by the hand
and brought him into Damascus.
{9}
For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor
drank.
{10} Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias.
The Lord
said to him in a vision,
"Ananias."
He answered,
"Here I am, Lord."
{11} The Lord said to him,
"Get up and go to the street
called Straight,
and at the house of Judas look for a man of
Tarsus named Saul.
At this moment he is praying,
{12}
and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in
and
lay his hands on him
so that he might regain his sight."
{13} But Ananias answered,
"Lord, I have heard from many
about this man,
how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem;
{14}
and here he has authority from the chief priests
to bind all
who invoke your name."
{15} But the Lord said to him,
"Go, for he is an instrument
whom I have chosen
to bring my name before Gentiles and kings
and
before the people of Israel;
{16}
I myself will show him how much he must suffer
for the sake
of my name."
{17} So Ananias went and entered the house.
He laid his hands on
Saul and said,
"Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to
you on your way here,
has sent me so that you may regain your
sight
and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
{18}
And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes,
and
his sight was restored.
Then he got up and was baptized,
{19a}
and after taking some food, he
regained his strength.
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Still Causing Havoc
(Acts 9:19b-25)
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Saul/Paul, previously seeking to end this movement, now becomes an
ardent proponent. Rather than bringing his letters from the high
priest to the synagogues of Damascus, he becomes a letter for Jesus,
the Son of God. His about face is almost incomprehensible. He is
still making havoc, but this time it's for the good news message he
brings and not for his earlier threats against the disciples of
Jesus. A plot against him begins, and he escapes his detractors by
basket lowered through the town wall. He is, however, no basket
case! |
{19b} For several days he was
with the disciples in Damascus,
{20} and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues,
saying,
"He is the Son of God."
{21} All who heard him were amazed and said,
"Is not this the
man who made havoc in Jerusalem
among those who invoked this name?
And has he not come here for the purpose
of bringing them bound
before the chief priests?"
{22} Saul became increasingly more powerful
and confounded the
Jews who lived in Damascus
by proving that Jesus was the Messiah.
{23}
After some time had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him,
{24}
but their plot became known to Saul.
They were watching the
gates day and night
so that they might kill him;
{25}
but his disciples took him by night
and let him down through
an opening in the wall,
lowering him in a basket.
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Back in Jerusalem
(Acts 9:26-30)
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Jerusalem, still the center of the Jesus movement - as it is the
center of Judaism - is the place to which one returns. Saul comes
back traveling a very different (spiritual) road, than when he left.
The change is still hard to fathom, even for those who had known
Jesus personally, and how the Lord continues to turn the world
upside-down. Saul will not be silenced, much to the horror of those
who will not swallow his message. The "Hellenists" were
Greek speaking Jews, as opposed to "Hebrews" - Jews who
speak Aramaic or Hebrew. There is a division between these two
groups within Judaism, as will as within the church (the calling of
the first deacons happened because Hellenists within the church
complained that their widows were being neglected in the daily
distribution of food - 6:1-6).
Were Saul's opponents here among the Greek speaking believers in
Jesus? Hardly, but with future opposition to his mission to the
Gentiles (non-Jews within the wider Greek and Latin speaking world
to whom Saul was called by God to minister), this remains a puzzling
question. |
{26} When he had come to Jerusalem,
he attempted to
join the disciples;
and they were all afraid of him,
for they did
not believe that he was a disciple.
{27}
But Barnabas took him,
brought him to the apostles,
and
described for them how on the road
he had seen the Lord, who had
spoken to him,
and how in Damascus
he had spoken boldly in the
name of Jesus.
{28} So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem,
speaking
boldly in the name of the Lord.
{29}
He spoke and argued with the Hellenists;
but they were
attempting to kill him.
{30}
When the believers learned of it,
they brought him down to
Caesarea
and sent him off to Tarsus.
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Apparently, Jerusalem is not where Saul is to be at this time.
Tarsus awaits, a "waiting" place. In Acts, the scene now
shifts the Peter, who is drawn, first to Lydda (9:32-35),
then to Joppa (9:36-43), and then to Caesaria (10:1-48).
Here, the way is paved to reach beyond Israel - to the Gentiles, as
Peter is shown in his own vision that "God shows no
partiality" (10:34-43). The news
returns and influences the home church in Jerusalem (11:1-18).
From Jerusalem, the scene fast forwards to Antioch, where the Spirit
does not wait for the church to get in gear. Already the boundary
wall between Jewish Christians and Gentiles is coming down, and
Barnabas is sent there (11:19-24). At this
point, Barnabas journeys to Tarsus, where Saul has been waiting.
Thus begins a new mission (11:25-30). The time
has come for Saul, also known as Paul (13:9). |
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Other Recollections of these
Events
"Why did
Luke (the writer of Luke/Acts) recount Paul's conversion three
times? Luke employs such repetitions only when he considers
something to be extraordinarily important and wishes to impress it
unforgettably on the reader. That is the case here... Why did the
Christians not content themselves with the mission to the Jews? Had
they done so, they would have been spared the conflict both with
Israel and with Rome. Against this, Luke constantly drives home the
idea that Christ himself brought about the change of front.
Paul did not want to become a Christian or a missionary, but he had
no option... Luke wishes to show that no human evolution is
responsible for the change, but an act of God - and that
alone!" (Haenchen,
pp. 327-28)
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Acts 22:3-21
(Paul - before the Sanhedrin)
{3}
"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought
up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly
according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just
as all of you are today. {4} I
persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both
men and women and putting them in prison, {5}
as the high priest and the whole council of elders can
testify about me. From them I also received letters to the
brothers in Damascus, and I went there in order to bind
those who were there and to bring them back to Jerusalem for
punishment.
{6}
"While I was on my way and approaching Damascus,
about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about
me. {7} I fell to the ground
and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you
persecuting me?' {8} I
answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' Then he said to me, 'I am
Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.' {9}
Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear
the voice of the one who was speaking to me. {10}
I asked, 'What am I to do, Lord?' The Lord said to me,
'Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told
everything that has been assigned to you to do.' {11}
Since I could not see because of the brightness of that
light, those who were with me took my hand and led me to
Damascus.
{12}
"A certain Ananias, who was a devout man according
to the law and well spoken of by all the Jews living there,
{13} came to me; and standing
beside me, he said, 'Brother Saul, regain your sight!' In
that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. {14}
Then he said, 'The God of our ancestors has chosen you to
know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear his own
voice; {15} for you will be his
witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard.
{16} And now why do you delay? Get
up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on
his name.'
{17}
"After I had returned to Jerusalem and while I was
praying in the temple, I fell into a trance {18}
and saw Jesus saying to me, 'Hurry and get out of
Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your
testimony about me.' {19} And I
said, 'Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I
imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. {20}
And while the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I
myself was standing by, approving and keeping the coats of
those who killed him.' {21}
Then he said to me, 'Go, for I will send you far away to the
Gentiles.'" |
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Acts 26:4-20
(Paul - before Herod Agrippa)
{4}
"All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, a
life spent from the beginning among my own people and in
Jerusalem. {5} They have known
for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I have
belonged to the strictest sect of our religion and lived as
a Pharisee. {6} And now I stand
here on trial on account of my hope in the promise made by
God to our ancestors, {7} a
promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they
earnestly worship day and night. It is for this hope, your
Excellency, that I am accused by Jews!
{8}
Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God
raises the dead? {9} "Indeed, I
myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against
the name of Jesus of Nazareth. {10}
And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority
received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many
of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against
them when they were being condemned to death. {11}
By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to
force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously
enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.
{12} "With this in mind, I was traveling to
Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief
priests, {13} when at midday
along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven,
brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions.
{14} When we had all fallen to the
ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language,
'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to
kick against the goads.' {15} I
asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' The Lord answered, 'I am Jesus
whom you are persecuting. {16} But
get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you
for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the
things in which you have seen me and to those in which I
will appear to you. {17} I will
rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles--to whom I
am sending you {18} to open
their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and
from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are
sanctified by faith in me.'
{19}
"After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to
the heavenly vision, {20} but
declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and
throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the
Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do
deeds consistent with repentance...." |
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Galatians 1:11-24
(Paul's words to "the churches of
Galatia")
{11}
For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the
gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin;
{12} for I did not receive it from
a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it
through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
{13}
You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism.
I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying
to destroy it. {14} I advanced
in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for
I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.
{15} But when God, who had set me
apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was
pleased {16} to reveal his Son
to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I
did not confer with any human being, {17}
nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already
apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and
afterwards I returned to Damascus.
{18}
Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit
Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days; {19}
but I did not see any other apostle except James the
Lord's brother. {20} In what I am writing to you, before
God, I do not lie! {21} Then I
went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, {22}
and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea
that are in Christ; {23} they
only heard it said, "The one who formerly was
persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to
destroy." {24} And they
glorified God because of me. |
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