Tag Archives: Saul

Saul’s Side-kick

Christian Life, , ,

SAUL’S SIDE-KICK

“Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. He found him and brought him back to Antioch. They were there a whole year, meeting with the church and teaching a lot of people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were for the first time called Christians.” Acts 11:25-26 (The Message).

Luke shines the light on the two main characters of his story, Peter and Saul. Up to this point, Peter was in the limelight, with Saul making brief appearances as a kind of introduction. Peter’s function and influence was in and around Jerusalem and in widening circles around Israel. He was the natural leader of the new movement, together with James and John until James’ untimely death at the hands of Herod.

Saul appeared briefly in Jerusalem before and after his conversion but he was essentially an out-of-Jerusalem Jew. His hometown was Tarsus in Asia Minor to which he was smartly returned when his fiery preaching stirred up trouble in Judea. He disappeared off the scene for a while until Barnabas, realising his worth as a teacher, fetched him from Tarsus and brought him to Antioch to ground the new non-Jewish believes in the Scriptures.

What a Bible School that must have been! As a rabbi, Saul was well-versed in the Scriptures and, with the Holy Spirit as his teacher, he was able to anchor the new converts in the accurate understanding of the Messianic prophecies and of Jesus as their fulfilment.

Saul himself was being enlightened as he taught, honing his understanding of the life and ministry of Jesus as the Messiah, qualifying him to be a skilful exponent of the good news. All these factors were preparing him for what lay ahead, pioneer missionary, author of many of the writings which would later be gathered together into the sacred volume of the Book, and martyr for Jesus.

Although Barnabas was initially the leader, his major role was to be Saul’s side-kick in the missionary enterprise. Without the support of Barnabas, Saul might never have been recognised as the significant and prominent figure he was to become in the history of the early church.

God has room for every kind of person and every gift in the growth of His kingdom on earth. No one is greater than anyone else regardless of whether he is in the limelight or not. We all fit together in an amazing mosaic of divine purpose. Our reward lies, not in the visibility of what we are doing, but in the effectiveness of our obedience to our calling. Had Barnabas not been who he was and done what he did, Saul might never have been in the right place at the right time to become who he was to the church.

Like Jonathan in the Old Testament, who was willing to play second fiddle to David, knowing that David would take his place as king of Israel, God needs people who are not bent on making a name for themselves but are there to stand by and support another chosen by God for leadership. These are the truly great people of the kingdom without whom God’s purposes will not be fulfilled. What an important role they play!

It takes wisdom and humility to promote and support someone else. Your name may never appear in the history books but it will be written on the palm of God’s hand.

“Therefore my dear brothers, stand firm. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15; 58 (NIV).

A Hot Potato

Christian Life, , ,

A HOT POTATO

“After that, he was accepted as one of them, going in and out of Jerusalem with no questions asked, uninhibited as he preached in the Master’s name. But then he ran afoul of a group called Hellenists — he had been engaged in a running argument with them — who plotted his murder. When his friends learned of the plot, they got him out of town, took him to Caesarea, and then shipped him off to Tarsus.” Acts 9:28-30 (The Message).

What does one make of this scenario?

Saul was emerging as a powerful leader of this new movement. His highly trained legal mind and Pharisaical upbringing wrestled with the implications of the life, death and resurrection of the Man he had met on the Damascus road. As he preached and taught, he was formulating his defence of the gospel and pitting his new understanding against the best brains of his day.

He was drawing a great deal of attention from fanatical Jews and particularly those who were Greek-speaking and had embraced a much more “broad-minded” religious outlook on life. His debates with them had become so one-sided and hot that they could not out-argue him so they decided that the best way to win the war of words was to eliminate him.

One wonders about the wisdom of Saul’s actions. Was there any value in stirring up the kind of opposition that drew too much attention to the followers of Jesus and put their lives in danger? Up to this point Peter and John had been the natural leaders of the church. They had fallen foul of the authorities by preaching the resurrection of Jesus, implicating them in His death.

The crippled beggar’s healing outside the Temple put the cherry on the top. The Jewish religious leaders thought they had safely disposed of Jesus and intimidated His followers into silence, but now His uneducated Galilean peasant disciples were publicly insisting that Jesus was alive and doing the same things as He had done. The movement had become unstoppable.

When Stephen had publicly accused them of being in league with their forefathers who silenced every prophet that indicted the people of God for their stubborn disobedience and rebellion against God, they were so incensed that they stoned him to death. The set off a wave or persecution so fierce that the believers had to flee Jerusalem.

Now Saul comes along and stirs up more trouble by his fiery debates with these Hellenists. It’s no wonder the believers in Jerusalem shipped him back to Tarsus where he was safely out of their way!

We have to admire Saul’s zeal and his courage but we must also remember that he was a young man and a new believer. Sometimes the fire of youth does not always match the wisdom of experience. Amazing how God uses everything for our good! Perhaps the time Saul spent back home in Tarsus gave him opportunity to think through his own understanding of the gospel.

When the right moment came, he was available to join Barnabas and accompany him to Jerusalem on a mission of mercy for the suffering believers. Perhaps a little tamer and a little wiser, he was ready to embark on his calling to take the message from Jerusalem to Rome.

Stone Blind!

Christian Life, , ,

STONE BLIND!

“His companions stood there dumbstruck – they could hear the sound, but couldn’t see anyone – while Saul, picking himself up off the ground, found himself stone blind. They had to take him by the hand and lead him into Damascus. He continued blind for three days. He ate nothing, drank nothing.” Acts 9:7-9 (The Message).

We tend to think of Paul’s “Damascus” experience as the moment when he had a blinding revelation of Jesus, lying on the ground and hearing a voice so real that his companions heard it too. No doubt that was the beginning but what about the three days of blindness and fasting in Damascus that must have elongated and consolidated that life-changing encounter with the Master.

In his letter to the Galatians, in the heat of the defence of his apostleship, he refers, possibly, to this interlude in his life, suspended in time, when the on-going revelation of Jesus forever cemented his conviction and his loyalty to Him as the Son of God. He lived in the aura of this moment for the rest of his life.

“I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preach is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

“For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man…” Galatians 1:11-16 (NIV).

What transpired in his heart in those three days of blindness and solitude? No-one dared go near him – at least none of the community of believers – because his reputation had preceded him. He was probably too stunned to say anything to anyone. Even those who hosted him, most likely people of his old persuasion, seeing his companions were like-minded and would have contacts in Damascus, would have left him alone.

How would they have understood why he was suddenly blind and why the fire of hatred against the believers had gone out? They must have either tiptoed around him or left him alone to process what had happened.

Perhaps he reflected on the bewildering experience of watching Stephen die at the hands of vicious murders, and witnessing such grace that it fired his antagonism even more. Now the Jesus whom Stephen saw in his dying moments was the Jesus who had spoken to him outside the city. So He was alive after all! He could no longer dispute that, and fighting against it was futile.

Whatever took place in his inner being during those days, Saul was convinced that Jesus of Nazareth had risen from the dead and that everything He had preached and claimed was the truth. From now on he, Saul, soon to be renamed Paul, would as fearlessly proclaim His resurrection as he had fought against it in his ignorance.

Nothing less than a personal encounter with the risen Jesus could have ever convinced him of that truth. For three days and nights he marinated in that moment until it energised and influenced every waking minute of the rest of his life.

Without the resurrection our faith is as empty and ridiculous as any other religious fantasies taught and believed as fact. Jesus Christ of Nazareth claimed to be the Son of God and, to prove it, He said He would be crucified and, after three days, He would rise again. He said it and He did it! Whatever else He said, did and promised hinges on this.

In those three days of physical blindness, Saul came alive, and was able to “see” more clearly than he had even seen before. His eyes were opened and he saw the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Enter Saul

Christian Life, , , ,

ENTER SAUL

“And Saul just went wild, devastating the church, entering house after house after house, dragging men and women off to jail. Forced to leave home, the believers all became missionaries. Wherever they were scattered, they preached the Message about Jesus. Going down to a Samaritan city, Philip proclaimed the Message of the Messiah. When the people heard what he had to say and saw the miracles, the clear signs of God’s action, they hung on his every word. Many who could neither stand nor walk were healed that day. The evil spirits protested loudly as they were sent on their way. And what joy in the city!” Acts 8:3-8 (The Message).

Enter Saul, a young man made of the stuff God needed but, unfortunately, fighting for the wrong side at this point. But, from God’s perspective, he was already a marked man.
God let him run with his hate campaign a little longer while He set the stage for Saul’s transfer from darkness to light.

From his perspective, Saul was fighting for God. On hindsight, he described himself as a Pharisee of the Pharisees, with an unquenchable zeal for God. He was willing to go as far as murder to protect what he considered to be the truth about God. He was the one-man audience that was applauding the crazy mob that killed Stephen. But God was right there, biding His time for the moment of His personal encounter with Saul.

In the meantime, the battle continued to rage between light and darkness. The more the agents of the dark realm of religious fanaticism struck at the children of light, the more the message spread and the church grew. Persecution had not driven the church underground — it had spread the fire beyond the confines of Jerusalem into the neighbouring half-breed nation of Samaritans.

The Jews despised the Samaritans because they were the result of intermarriage between Jews and Gentiles. When Assyria conquered Samaria in 722 BC, they carried off some of the people into captivity and repopulated the area with people displaced from other conquered nations.

But the old hatred was swallowed up by a new love. Such was the transformation of these Jewish believers that they willingly shared the Message of Jesus with the very people they had previously hated and avoided so that a whole Samaritan city was affected.

Philip, another of the men chosen to distribute food parcels to the suffering widows in Jerusalem, surfaced as a powerful witness to this new Way. Like Stephen, he was at the centre of the action, with miracles of healing and deliverance going on apace. He had to flee from Jerusalem with the other believers to escape Saul’s murderous assault on the church but, instead of disappearing, he was at the headwaters of a flood of missionary activity.

The phenomenal spread of “The Way”, as it was called, must have driven Saul into a frenzy. Far from curbing the growth of the church, he contributed to its spread. These people could not be silenced or stopped. Like a cancer, they infiltrated every corner of society and brought an unstoppable joy to the city!

What is it that has dampened the activity of God so effectively that we see little of the early power and growth of the church today? As I have moved slowly through Acts, one thing is becoming clearer. Every problem that surfaced in the church threatened their unity and every solution restored unity.

What if church leaders today recognised their responsibility to foster and protect unity? What if humility and submission became the priority of every leader and every member in the local church? What if pastors and preachers became more serious about their function than their title? What if they focussed less on being “bosses “and more on being servant-leaders?

What if “Christians” became true followers of Jesus? Would we see the power of God at work again now as it was then?