From Terrorist to Apostle: The Amazing Conversion of Saul to Paul
August 10, 2009
Dear Friends,
The Lord Jesus Christ saw something in Saul of Tarsus worthy of redemption. For the untrained eye, he doesn’t appear to be any more than a common terrorist when we are introduced to him in Acts.
In Acts 26, the Apostle says of his former self,
On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them. (v. 10,11 NIV)
In Acts 8:3, we are told that Saul’s terrorism was not limited to men, but included women as well. It is possible that Saul left some children as orphans as he killed both of their parents.
Saul was, in his own words, “obsessed” with persecuting believers. The insight is meaningful in the context of Saul’s story because he chose an extreme path. Saul had been taught at the feet of the famous rabbi Gamaliel from the school of Hillel. Gamaliel is known for his moderate approach to the believers. Rather than persecute them, he reasoned that they should be left alone saying
Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.(Acts 5:38-39)
Paul was so obsessed, he forsook the advice of his famous former teacher. Paul later uses this as the epitome of his misguided zeal – “concerning zeal,persecuting the church.” (Phil. 3:6) Paul was willing to risk it all in his obsession.
Many people are zealous for God or their version of God in very misplaced ways. Unfortunately for us, not many of them have the direct calling by Jesus in such a dramatic manner as Saul did on the road to Damascus. At the same time, many might experience the goading that Saul experienced.
Paul recounts to King Agrippa an important point of what Jesus said. Jesus told Paul,
Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
A goad is a long sharpened pole that is used to poke cattle that are in a yoke to keep them moving in the right direction. Jesus is telling Saul that he had been poking him for a while but didn’t get the right result. One would presume that at least one desired result that Jesus was looking for was for Saul to stop this insane persecution of believers.
We are not told what the goading was. It would be interesting to know if only to compare it to the goading that we find in our own life. If God loves us, he works with us through the same process Jesus was using to work with Paul. I am sure an ox doesn’t like getting poked with a spear in its hindquarters anymore than we like to endure the Lord’s metaphorical poking. It is part of the process of guiding us in the right direction.
My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. (Heb. 12:5-6)
Paul didn’t respond to his goading and therefore Jesus was left with a more direct approach.
It is interesting to note that when Jesus appears before Saul, he does not say, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute my disciples?” This is personal with Jesus. He says “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Jesus shared this principle before he ascended. He has told the world “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matt. 25:40) What a comfort it is to know that Jesus identifies so closely with us that if anyone mistreats us, he sees it as a direct personal assault. This also serves as a serious warning for how we treat each other.
So in our brief look at the conversion of the Apostle Paul so far, what can we learn in summary?
- Those who are zealous need to check themselves and make sure they are operating in keeping with the fruit of the spirit – “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,” The world already has too many misguided, zealous religious people.
- Watch your life for goading. God will be prodding us in our lives. We shouldn’t expect a Damascus Road experience, but we should feel God’s presence in our lives gently poking and prodding us to head down the right path.
- Take comfort that Jesus takes what happens to you very personally such that it is happening to him too. We aren’t in this alone!
We’ll pick up here next week, Lord willing.
Have a great week,
Comments»
I wonder if Saul of Tarsus was in the group of in Luke 11 when Jesus admonished the lawyers? At the beginning of Acts 8 is says Saul was “consenting” to the death of Stephen (i.e. even though he didn’t physically stone him he added his support so as good as did the deed) and Jesus uses the same word in Luke 11 when he says the lawyers “allow” the deeds of their fathers and then goes on to list their misdemeanors, the murder of righteous men from Abel to Zechariah. The similarity in context might suggest Saul was there and it’s interesting to speculate that he was, but it is only speculation.
I also wonder if he was in the temple in Jerusalem (learning at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the doctors of the law) when Jesus was there at 12 years of age? Saul’s conversion follows the flow of events in Luke 2 in a remarkable way (no space here to go through the connections). Again it’s speculation but when you get Bible connections like that it makes you wonder.
I also wonder if Jesus saying “it is hard for you to kick against the pricks” was instead an ironic statement? The word kick literally means “to kick with the heel”, i.e. to stamp rather than toe poke. The word “pricks” is only used elsewhere to describe the sting of the scorpion in Revelation 9 and also, more significantly, the sting of death which is sin in 1 Corinthians 15. If the “pricks” represent the sting of death which is sin then in effect Jesus is saying “it is hard for you to kick with your heel against sin”. That is, Saul viewed himself as the seed of the woman stamping out the serpent Christian movement. Of course he got it the wrong way round: he was the serpent and Jesus was the seed of the woman. It’s just that Paul’s own use of the word in 1 Corinthians 15, in a section that connects very closely with his conversion, makes me think he might have been alluding to the Damascus road.
Anyway, thanks for your thought. Saul’s conversion is an immense NT event which helped me immensely when I went through it the last few years (the study, and the conversion myself too hopefully…)