They are preaching that Jesus is Messiah, that God raised him from the dead. I believe that the reason Saul so whole heartily persecuted the church was because he was so confident in his faith. Knowing his faith and being so confident to a level of not letting any one mess with your beliefs that he was willing to take the steps that he thought to be necessary.
Saul was so perfect and faultless by the standards of the law, and when Stephen started preaching that we are not saved by the lay, or rather justified, he was angry because he thought himself to be faultless and had lived his life persecuting people that disobeyed the law. Later in this story of Saul we are on the road to Damascus.
Saul is traveling to do some more persecuting of the church. I believe that this is important. Maybe the rad to Damascus was a wake up call to get back on the right track. Good, Dan. That has to be a factor — but it seems to me that he could back up his confidence! He was really, with respect to the Law, blameless. How is believing that Jesus is the Messiah, or even that Jesus raised from the dead blasphemous? As Saul says in his letters, he was filled with zeal against the church and against the Christian Jews.
If someone was teaching something false about what you believe to be true, you would be filled with the same frustration and zeal that Saul felt. Saul took pride in his high posistion as a Pharisee. Anything that went against what they believed to be true was something worth killing for. Especially with the amount of converts that the early church was having, would be enough to cause Saul to want to go on a killing spree.
Acts starts the story off by giving us a brief look at how Saul looked at followers of Jesus Christ. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. Just within these two short verses we see the anger Paul had for these Christ Followers.
He wanted to find any person that was declaring that Jesus was the Messiah and drag them into the street, beat them, throw them into prison, and even kill them. Why did he have this hatred for the followers of Jesus? First of all, Paul was a Pharisee and Jesus never had anything good to say about the Pharisees.
Another reason I think Paul was so mad right now is because of everything that just happened with Stephen the martyr. I can imagine that for Paul it felt pretty good to put out a leading influential follower of Jesus Christ the way Stephen was murdered. I am sure that Paul felt like a king when he gave the orders to have Stephen Killed and then when the people were putting their cloaks down in front of him.
Simply put, Paul wanted to destroy the Church. Certainly that is the case, although not believing in the right messiah did not always meet with the violence of Paul, or the violence Paul received. That was very radical and for some Jews, it was enough to stir up Zealously reminiscent of Elijah and Phineas.
Great above comments. The secular world only sees Paul as a hypocrite without doing any research … despite our wealth of information at our fingertips. Saul would feel he is completely … justified before God.. And his love for God … i. A complete devotion and love towards the God he knows … gave him the full justification needed to kill anyone who dare … mock God by preaching the message of Jesus.
I have an picture of a drama show in my head. Stephen laid a foundation for Moses and Moses laid a foundation for Saul in Damascus. Although there is no representation of that in Scripture, that would all the more emphasize the the New Perspective of Paul.
Acts as history in the sense that we moderns use the term is questionable. Now Paul does admit that he persecuted the earliest believers, who probably considered themselves Jews, but his motives would take careful exegesis to uncover.
Any kind of official approval though, especially for capital punishment as Acts implies, would have had to come from Roman authorities not Jewish ones.
Rest assured that the Chief Priests have taken notice of this young man as well…they see his drive, his charisma, his passion. They also see that he is ambitious to advance…he has no problem doing what needs to be done to squash this new group of Jesus followers who are causing such a ruckus.
So the Chief Priests stir the pot. They include Saul in the trials; they expose Saul to the floggings; they make sure that he is standing by when Stephen gets stoned. How many of you like Star Wars? I am a big fan of the Star Wars movies. As I was thinking about Saul, I could not help but reflect on the character of young Anikin Skywalker.
If you remember your Star Wars movies, you might recall that young Anikin was a prodigy from the beginning. But then something goes terribly wrong with Anikin. Saul has great talent, great religious convictions, great intentions…but somewhere along the way Saul becomes convinced that the Christians are the enemies of God, and with a completely clean conscience, Saul takes on the role of a righteous persecutor…like so many before and since, he unleashes his own jihad against the Christians.
Saul is not alone. Luke writes that Saul was ravaging the church, entering house to house, dragging off men and women and committing them to prison. Luke writes in that Saul was breathing threats and murder against the disciples of Jesus, and how his obsession with ravaging the church leads him to pursue those who have escaped Jerusalem into other cities and villages.
In our text this morning we read that Saul is now on his way to Damascus to find whatever Christians might be in that town so that he can drag them back to Jerusalem and throw them into prison. Damascus was miles away from Jerusalem…hardly a threat to the Jewish Temple or the capitol city…yet Saul was obsessed. He would not rest as long as the Christian message was spreading from town to town.
Make no mistake: Saul was one scary dude. Saul was ruthless, without mercy, and no doubt his talent, charisma, and zeal led to many men joining him in the persecution of the Christians. And where was God? What was God up to? How could God allow this Jewish prodigy, this young man of such promise, to become Darth Vader?
How could God allow this powerful young man to wreak such pain and suffering upon innocent people who were simply trying to live peaceful lives as followers of Jesus? These are good and difficult questions. The simple answer is that we are always free creatures who make choices, but the Bible helps us to understand that there is also a Liar who whispers to us.
And we are all susceptible to hearing and agreeing with lies…all of us. Like so many throughout history, Saul believed the lie of religious indignation.
Here the old Roman road rises over a low summit and travellers would have caught their first glimpse of the city in the distance. Acts Ananias — a disciple living in Damascus — has a vision of the Lord Jesus who tells him to go to Saul. I have chosen Saul for an important work. So Ananias goes to the house of Judas on Straight Street — still the main thoroughfare in the old city of Damascus today — and finds Saul. He prays that Saul will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Immediately, Saul is changed. He is baptised and, on regaining his strength, he begins at once to teach in the Jewish synagogues of Damascus that Jesus is the Son of God — the promised Messiah or Christ.
He then returns to Damascus where he preaches the Good News to the Jewish community for three years. Go to next page. This website uses cookies to monitor usage see Privacy Statement in drop-down box under 'Contact Us'. Using the website implies your agreement to the use of cookies.
The Bible Journey. Home Start here Bible Journey 1 1. Who wrote the Gospels? English Translations of the New Testament 2. Journeys of Jesus's Followers Who were Jesus's followers?
Dating events in the Old Testament Judah in exile in Babylonia Biblical sources relating to Judah in exile The middle years of exile BC Daniel interprets dreams and riddles Daniel's vision of the 'Son of Man' Daniel's vision of the 'end times' Obadiah foretells the punishment of Edom Introduction to the prophecy of Obadiah Obadiah prophesies the resurgence of Israel Seeking revenge or Offering forgiveness?
The Commandments - Impossible to keep? Was Jesus the Jewish Messiah? Was Jesus an outspoken rabbi or was he God? How to get right with God: Sacrifice or Faith? How to get right with God: By water or the Spirit? The power of the Holy Spirit - for everyone? A new nation? Or eternal life in God's kingdom? More sections to be added soon My Journey Timelines 1. From the Kingdom of Israel to the Exile 3. From the Exile to the Birth of Jesus 4. From the Birth to the Death of Jesus 5. John 2 Jan.
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Mark 26 Feb. Mark 27 Feb. Matthew 28 Feb. Luke March New Testament readings 1 Mar. John 2 Mar. John 3 Mar. John 4 Mar. John 5 Mar. John 6 Mar. John 7 Mar. Mark 8 Mar. Luke 9 Mar. Luke 10 Mar. Luke 11 Mar. Luke 12 Mar. John 13 Mar. John 14 Mar. John 15 Mar. John 16 Mar. John 17 Mar. John 18 Mar. Luke 19 Mar.
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Mark 29 Mar. Mark 30 Mar. Mark 31 Mar. Mark April New Testament readings 1 Apr. Mark 2 Apr. Mark 3 Apr. Mark 4 Apr. John 5 Apr. John 6 Apr. John 7 Apr. John 8 Apr. John 9 Apr. Mark 10 Apr. Mark 11 Apr. Mark 12 Apr. He turns from the authority which was vested in his life, as an educated and devout Pharisee, at the behest of Temple authorities, those who had been established as representatives of the Scripture and its interpretation, and recognizes God present in a new and surprising way.
This is a challenge to all of us: when do we turn from an old way to a new way? When do we know God is speaking to us in some new way and that it is not just our own desires or prejudices? When must we recognize God new among us? When do we hear God's voice and turn so we might be converted? Your source for jobs, books, retreats, and much more. The Good Word. John W. Martens May 13, God spoke to him in a clear and distinct voice, which most of us never receive: Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
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