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The Conversion of Saul

Today’s discussion is about the conversion of Saul—who we all know by his Greco-Roman name, Paul—the greatest writing apostle.

We met Saul briefly in lesson 6. Saul is a Hellenized Jew—which the bible calls a Grecian Jew—from Tarsus in Cilicia (part of modern Turkey). We speculate he may have been a member of the Synagogue of the Freedmen in Jerusalem, whose members were the most strongest opponents of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. We speculate Saul may have debated Stephen . . . perhaps orchestrated Stephen’s trial by the Sanhedrin . . . maybe even organized the mob which stoned Stephen to death. But we know for a fact that Saul "gav(e) approval to (Stephen’s) death" (Acts 8:1) by guarding the cloaks of his murderers (Acts 7:58). And we know Saul became a zealous persecutor of Christians; going "from house to house, dragg(ing) off (Christians to) put them in prison" (Acts 8:3).

As we begin today’s lesson, we learn Saul is "still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples" (Acts 9:1) . . . and Jerusalem is not enough. Saul asks the Sanhedrin for a commission to chase down Christians who fled to Damascus . . . in Syria, 150 miles from Jerusalem.

To understand the task Saul has undertaken, we need to know something about the political jurisdictions involved. It’s useful to compare Jerusalem and the Jewish Sanhedrin with the Vatican and the pope. The Vatican is an independent "nation" with the pope as chief of state . . . but it’s police and courts have no authority outside an invisible line: the boundary of the city of Rome. Similarly, the Sanhedrin and the temple police have lots of authority within the temple precincts of Jerusalem, but no authority outside. This analogy is imperfect, because the Sanhedrin is accountable to the Roman governor . . . but he is 60 miles away in the Roman capital of Caesarea, and doesn’t want to be bothered with most religious disputes. And although the lines of authority are muddied after 2000 years, the point I’m making is this: the Sanhedrin has no direct authority to send temple police outside Jerusalem to arrest someone accused of violating Jewish law. The Sanhedrin can exercise influence in nearby areas, but not in Syria.

The Roman Province of Syria is ruled by King Aretas IV—a Nabatean Arab, who may have ruled from Petra . . . the city pictured in an Indiana Jones movie. Remember that John the Baptist was beheaded because he repeatedly accused King Herod Antipas of adultery? . . . the wife Herod divorced to commit adultery was the daughter of King Aretas IV. We might say "what goes around comes around"; King Aretas was no friend of the Jews, and the Sanhedrin had virtually no relations with Syria. To chase Christians to Damascus, Saul had to lead private police into potentially hostile territory. Private police aren’t unusual for this time and place—caravan operators often employed guards—but they had darn well better stay on the "good side" of the Roman authorities, or they were in big trouble . . . and the Romans liked to use brutality as a crime deterrent; there was no Miranda and no Bill of Rights.

Saul’s job is to go to the synagogues, present letters from the Sanhedrin—presumably informing them the Christian "sect" is guilty of "blasphemy"—and persuade the synagogues to turn Christians over to him voluntarily. He must take them 150 miles to Jerusalem . . . probably by force. He will receive no help from the local governments . . . instead, one of his biggest challenges is not to offend local governments, or else he might find himself in jail. To put it in language we might relate to: Saul is like a bounty hunter in the old west, pursuing his prey into Mexico . . . where he had better watch his step. Saul’s only defense is his Roman citizenship, which ensures special treatment . . . and this may be the reason the Sanhedrin chose him for this assignment.

Why am I going over this? To illustrate the extreme difficulty and great personal risk of the task Saul had undertaken . . . and by so doing, to demonstrate the intensity of Saul’s anti-Christian sentiments . . . of his zeal to cleanse Judaism by eradicating Christian "vermin." Would any of us go to such effort to bring people to Jesus? But this is the effort Saul went to to persecute Christians. And that should—hopefully—give us perspective on Saul and the intensity of his belief.

Saul’s conversion is a familiar story, but we should make sure we understand it correctly. This week we read the version in Acts 9; other versions—in Acts 22 and Acts 26—are essentially the same, but provide more details:

• There was a bright light from heaven, which so startled Saul and his companions that they fell to the ground.
• Saul did not see Jesus . . . his eyes were closed in reaction to the bright light. He heard Jesus speak to him . . . asking Saul why he was persecuting Him. (Notice: Jesus says Saul was persecuting Him—not His followers.)
• Jesus tells Saul to go to Damascus and await instructions.
• Saul’s companions cannot hear Jesus speaking; they only hear noise (Acts 22).
• When Saul gets up from the ground and opens his eyes, he is blind.
• Saul is Jesus’ only target; his companions don’t hear the voice and aren’t blinded by the light. They were able to lead Saul to Damascus

The whole episode probably lasted only seconds, but Saul is instantly converted. Right then and there he becomes a follower of Jesus. How do we know? Jesus talks to Saul as if he is already converted; He gives him instructions . . . expecting him to obey.

Why was Saul—after a lifetime as a fundamentalist, Pharisaic Jew—converted to be a follower of Jesus so quickly? There's a simple, obvious answer—if we see a blinding light from heaven and hear the voice of God speaking to us, we do what He says. It's like the old joke: "Where does a 600 lb. gorilla sit? Wherever he wants!" And although this answer is right, it’s too shallow. We let the 600 lb. gorilla sit wherever he wants . . . but we exit as soon as we can. Yet Saul, Jesus’ worse opponent, became Paul, Jesus’ strong supporter. We need to understand what why this happened . . . what was going on in Saul’s head (as best we can). Because if we misunderstand this event, or we risk falling into error.

I’m making a big deal out of this because I was taught the wrong answer in church long ago . . . the same wrong answer which was called the Marcion heresy in the 2^nd century. Marcion claimed the message of Jesus—revealed to and through Paul—was a rejection of Old Testament Judaism . . . and that Christians should focus strictly on parts of the New Testament and reject the Old Testament. I was taught a 20^th (or 21^st) century version of that heresy, which is that Saul learned on the Road to Damascus to reject Judaism . . . to do a 180^o turn and relearn everything.

But that attitude is wrong . . . and thankfully it is no longer taught today (except in the most fundamentalist and anti-Semitic churches). Now we emphasize the Jewishness of Jesus and the Christian religion. In fact, Jesus and Paul both teach that Christianity flows naturally out of Judaism . . . that Jesus and the New Testament follow logically from God’s Old Testament promises . . . just as the apostles taught the Jews of Jerusalem after Pentecost. Remember what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount:

But Saul on the road to Damascus may know little of Jesus’ teachings. To understand what motivated Saul, we need to consider what he witnessed himself, and the arguments he heard from Stephen and others. First, as we have discussed over the first 7 chapters of Acts, there is substantial evidence Jesus meets all the prophetic criteria to be the Jewish Messiah; and moreover, signs and miracles done in His name demonstrate Jesus has the power of God. Yet for a variety of reasons, only 8% of the estimated 60,000 (+ or – 50%) Jews in Jerusalem look at the evidence and believe Jesus is the Messiah. 92% are in denial; they see the evidence but refuse to believe. They are like Sen. Daschle on the "Fox News Sunday" program day-before-yesterday, saying the elections last Tuesday were a great victory for the Democrats. The 92% tries to deny the undeniable . . . and some of them are men like Saul who become angry because they are unable to dispute the facts . . . men who express their insecurity by oppressing the 8% minority of Christians.

In summary, Saul was vehement and violent in his persecution of Christians because he couldn’t face the facts, and he wanted to eliminate the messengers so he wouldn’t have to. But Jesus brought him face-to-face with these facts in a way he couldn’t avoid. And instantly—like Stephen and Philip and 5000 others—Saul realizes Jesus is the Messiah.

Remember what Stephen said to the Sanhedrin that brought out the mob?

Stephen was quoting Messianic prophesy from Daniel and applying it to Jesus. He was saying, "Jesus was the Messiah, and I see Him now at the right hand of God in heaven." And Saul heard him say it. Hence, Jesus’ appearance to Saul on the Road to Damascus makes Saul realize: "Stephen was right. Jesus was the Messiah, and Stephen did see Him at the right hand of God in heaven . . . and so do I."

Saul is not rejecting Judaism. Saul is affirming Jesus as the fulfillment of Judaism. Saul doesn’t need to relearn everything . . . he only needs to reinterpret things in light of the reality that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.

And let’s remember what Saul’s tutor Gamaliel said to the Sanhedrin about Christians:

In Acts 26, as Saul retells this story to King Herod Agrippa II, he quotes Jesus’ words:

"Kicking against the goads" comes from a Greek proverb . . . we would use the term "beat your head against the wall." Jesus essentially echos the counsel of Gamaliel, which is surely familiar to Saul. He says: "Saul, quick trying to fight God; you can’t win!"

In summary, the message that converts Saul is this: "Quit trying to fight it; I, Jesus, am the Messiah." That was all it took. And it’s all very logical. Isn’t it just beautiful the way the bible just hangs together like this!

Was Saul radically different after his conversion? You have 19 more chapters to read and decide for yourselves. But as far as I am concerned, the converted Saul, who we know as Paul, did not change either the intensity of his efforts or his willingness to take great risk . . . what changed was his direction and his methods: to bring people to Jesus by persuasion, rather than to eliminate Christians violently.

Returning to the narrative . . . Saul stays in Damascus for 3 days without eating or drinking. (Saul’s three days of darkness may represent Jesus’ 3 days in the tomb before His resurrection.) During that time, God appears in a vision to both Saul and to a Christian named Ananias, telling them what will happen next. Ananias is reluctant to minister to Saul. "God," says Ananias, "don’t you realize this guy Saul is persecuting Christians. Are you sure you want me to go help him?" But God can be very persuasive . . . and God reveals his master plan to Ananias: "This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name" (Acts 9:15b-16).

Ss Ananias goes to Saul . . . and his sight is restored . . . and he is baptized . . . and he is "filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:17b). It’s the first recorded instance of the Holy Spirit coming upon a believer without an apostle laying on hands . . . which is probably symbolic for Paul’s later ministry (cf Gal 1:15-19).

And what does Saul do next. According to Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he went from Damascus to Arabia . . . then he returned to Damascus. He probably prayed and studied Jewish scripture—tutored by the Holy Spirit—in light of the revelation that Jesus is the Messiah of prophesy. He waited three years before he went into the Jewish synagogues. But when he does, he talks like Stephen . . . he’s an evangelist, arguing from scripture that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. And the Hellenized Jews in the synagogues respond just as Saul had done n Jerusalem . . . they can’t stand up against Saul’s wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke (cf Acts 6:10). Yet despite Saul's irrefutable logic, they continue to deny the undeniable . . . and in their insecurity they conspire to kill the messenger. It’s "déjà vu all over again." According to 2 Corinthians 11, the Jews secure the support of King Aretas to arrest Saul, but he is lowered in a basket through an opening in the city wall, and he escapes Damascus.

Then he goes to Jerusalem, and the story is repeated. First the Christians are suspicious. They worry Saul is not a true disciple; maybe he’s a double agent, trying to trick them into saying something "politically incorrect," so he can drag them before the Sanhedrin.

After he is accepted by the Christians, Saul confronts his old friends, the Hellenized Jews . . . perhaps back at the "Synagogue of the Freedmen." But it’s "déjà vu all over again," again. Just as Stephen had failed to convince Saul, just as Saul had failed to convince the Jews of Damascus, Saul's irrefutable logic now fails to convince his former supporters . . . and they conspire to kill him. So the Christians of Jerusalem smuggle Saul to the port of Caesarea, where he catches a ship home to Tarsus, in Cilicia.

The bible is silent about the reception Saul received when he returned to Tarsus . . . from where—years before—he had left to study in Jerusalem to be a rabbi and a Pharisee. Paul’s letter to the Galatians says he spent his time working to evangelize Cilicia and nearby Syria, but it gives no details. Nevertheless, for the next 5 years or so, Saul prepared for the rest of his life . . . and in particular for his great ministry to the Gentiles, to which we will be introduced in Acts 11 in three weeks.

This lesson ends with Acts 9:31:

This may demonstrate just how key Saul was to the persecution of Christians. But, nevertheless, this heralds the end of phase 2 of Jesus’ instructions in Acts 1:8 . . . with a strong church in Judea and Samaria.

For the next two lessons, the focus returns to Peter, who makes a missionary journey through Judea and Samaria. He takes the road from Jerusalem to the coast, and in Joppa he performs his most extraordinary miracle: he raises someone from the dead. Then he continues to Caesarea and is involved in what may be an even more extraordinary miracle: Peter, a Hebraic Jew, associates with Gentiles, and facilitates bringing Gentiles into the church. We think about Paul as the Apostle to the Gentiles, but it was Peter who first broke the ice.

Remember . . . we will meet next week . . . but we will skip the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and resume December 3.