Acts 9:20-31 Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah. After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall. When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
We see in the above focus the worst of sinners, as Paul claimed himself to be, preaching the Good News. Saul’s conversion had been traumatic and thorough, preparing him to battle the darkness in the minds of men and women. Saul, once a man completely immersed in the Judaic religion of tradition, commandments and regulations, becomes a man set free by the grace of God. In his time of blindness, God reveals the truth of Jesus Christ as the Messiah. No longer will the works of men be paramount in Saul’s mind to serve God. Faith in Jesus Christ and his works will be central in his life. Saul now understood that to be right with God comes only through faith in Jesus Christ alone. It is by grace you have been saved,through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9) In Saul's three days of blindness, the revelation of Jesus being the Messiah sent from God became real in his life. Saul, later Paul, was so convinced of this truth; he immediately began to proclaim the Good News that Jesus was and is the Messiah, the Promised One, sent by God to restore man’s relationship to a holy God. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. His transformation from being an enemy of Jesus to advocating JESUS as the promised Messiah made him an enemy to the religious Jews. Saul was also feared by Christians for they were suspicious of his quick transition from enemy to friend. Consequently, Saul was an enemy of the Jews and feared by Christians. Both groups had reasons to dislike Saul. The Christians were leery of Saul's quick transformation, suspecting him to be a deceiver for the purpose of outing them to the religious authorities, exposing them to persecution. For the religious Jews, he was a betrayer, a narcissistic man who wished for his own reasons to dismantle the basic tenants of Judaism: the law and its customs. However, Saul’s focus was not on what men and women thought about him, but on following the will of God. Therefore, he immediately began to preach the message that God put on his heart: salvation, being right with God, comes only through faith in Jesus Christ and his works, not through the works of men. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17) This message of salvation by faith alone in Christ’s work quickly brought him death threats from the Jewish community. So persistent and hateful were these threats on Saul’s life that he fled Damascus. Day and night they, the Jews, kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall. Though fleeing Damascus, Saul’s mission of announcing the Good was primary in his life. He went to Jerusalem to continue his ministry of proclaiming the Good News that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ and his works.
However, Saul was not safe in Jerusalem. The Jews considered him a traitor to Judaism. His former acquaintances in Jerusalem and religious leaders despised him because they considered his identification as a Christian betrayed Judaism. As a believer in Jesus as the Messiah, his very existence condemned the Jewish leaders and people of killing an innocent man. He exposed the High Priest and Sanhedrin to be frauds, loving their position of power and deference in the Jewish society more than God. Saul knew as Jesus knew, these religious leaders had murderous hearts. Later on they would prove such evil existed in their hearts by rejoicing over James' death by the hands of Herod. They also would be instrumental in the imprisonment of Peter by Herod. The Sanhedrin's hatred of Christians was so intense that they wanted Christians to either recant their faith in Jesus or be put to death. Knowing and experiencing the Sanhedrin’s animosity towards them, they were especially distrustful of Saul, one of their chief persecutors. For the community of believers, the persistent question was, how could the chief of sinners, a foe to God’s redemption plan become a true believer so quickly? Such a transition stretches credulity. But Barnabas, not Saul, tells of Saul’s dramatic conversion of Jesus confronting Saul on the road to Damascus. Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. For Saul to preach the Good News even under the threat of death convinced the church’s leadership that his conversion was real. Why should someone preach something that could possibly end his life? Therefore, Saul was given free reign to minister in Jerusalem. Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. Because of his training as a Pharisee under the esteemed Gamaliel, Saul understood the ins’ and outs’ of this religious sect. As a young man, he wore the garment of a respected Pharisee in Jerusalem’s religious community. However, now as a Christian, he became a threat to the religious order in Jerusalem. He could talk their language from a position of knowledge about the law and its regulations and the customs they followed. In debating the leadership of the Jews, he frustrated and confounded them, exposing their lack of belief in the true and only God. He knew they wore a facade of knowing God, but their hearts were far from serving God in a righteous manner. As Stephen said at his stoning, You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it. (Acts 7:51-53) As with Stephen, Saul knew the Sanhedrin had uncircumcised hearts. He understood well that these religious leaders presented themselves as being close to God so that they might maintain their position of privilege and deference in the Jewish society.
Saul, this former prominent member of the Pharisee’s community, was now a thorn in their flesh. They had to get rid of him, they had to squash his ministry. As with Stephen, they had to kill him, to but an end to this apostate belief centered on faith in Christ. The Jerusalem church was aware of this hatred of Saul. The believers in Jerusalem were also feeling additional pressure on them because Paul was in their midst, so they decided to send him away from Jerusalem. When the believers learned of this (the threats on Paul’s life), they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. We see at the beginning of Paul’s ministry of him being sent to Caesarea and at the end of his ministry in Israel, being escorted to Caesarea by Roman soldiers. Then he, (the officer) called two of his centurions and ordered them, “Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.” (Acts 23:23-24) The Jews hatred of Paul never abated. The Sanhedrin was focused on killing Saul (Paul) from the beginning of his ministry to the ending of his ministry. For over 20 years, the Jewish elite carried this murderous intent in their hearts. Paul never found release from this tension that the Jewish community wanted to kill him. Yet, he ministered the Good News boldly everywhere he went, preaching the revelation that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. His ministry captivated many hearts in the Jewish community and in the Gentile world. We respect his ministry even 2,000 years later because we know he faced head-on the threats of a dark and wicked world. The devil was his enemy, a fallen world was his foe. As God said at Noah’s time, people were wicked from their conception. Paul knew this world; he felt their anger, their hatred of him, and of God, but he was faithful to the end. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8) Paul fought the good fight to the end of his life. He labored diligently and faithfully in the harvest field. He did not retreat to a safer role or place in the world. He went from town to town, desiring to minister to people who had never heard about THE WAY to eternal life. Paul poured out his life. Sadly in our time, we have Christians who are fearful to mention the name of Christ to a secular world, even anxious about carrying their Bible in public. Paul said there is a crown of righteousness that will be given to everyone who knows Jesus is real and who is looking for his quick return. Are we those who are looking for a real Jesus to return or are we those who are ashamed of Jesus? Let us not be the latter. Instead, let us speak passionately and boldly about our love for Jesus and let us as millions before us, long for his return.
