Prior, we had watched the Holy Spirit empowering all the apostles to work miracle. Also, we witnessed one of Christ’s disciples, Stephen, speak of the Sanhedrin’s crime of killing Jesus by crucifixion and addressed them of blasphemy. They responded by having him stoned to death. (See First to Give Up His Life for Christ).
Let’s return briefly to the day of Stephen’s death.’
At that time, a certain ‘Saul of Tarsus,’ was present at the event. He was leading a campaign of persecution against the church of Christ:
Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.
A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. Ac. 8:1 NLT
Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there.
He wanted to bring them – both men and women – back to Jerusalem in chains. Ac. 9:1, 2.
So, just who is this Saul, and why did he have such a hateful attitude towards the followers of Christ?
Well, it just so happens that Saul tells us himself – in later scriptures that the Holy Spirit revealed to him:
“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did…” Ac. 22:3 NLT
I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin – a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.
I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. Phil. 3:5, 6. NLT
Thus, Saul was born of Jewish parents in the capital city of Tarsus, in the region of Cilicia (modern-day Turkey), raised in Jerusalem and educated as a Pharisee.
Remembering how hostile that they were to Jesus, Saul too must have hated Him, along with His followers. He felt He / they conflicted with the Pharisaic orthodoxy. Saul felt that it was his righteous duty to persecute the church of Christ:
…I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it. Gl. 1:13 NLT
Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death. Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities. Ac. 26:10, 11. NLT
Yet, Saul was totally ignorant of the Gospel:
For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it… Gal. 1:12 CSB
Let’s return to Saul’s campaign against the church.
He and his entourage were on the road to Damascus to hunt more of Jesus’ followers, when suddenly a light from heaven shines all around him and he falls to the ground.
[When Saul would retell this event later, he said the light was brighter than the sun, and his entourage fell as well (Ac. 26:13, 14):
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”
“Who are you lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!” Ac. 9:4, 5. NLT
Saul knew that he was in the presence of the power of God, but unsure of its exact nature. I’ll bet when Jesus identified Himself, his knees started knocking. (When Saul would later recount this event, he said that his entourage only saw light, and they heard a voice, but it was unintelligible).
Jesus adds:
“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Ac. 9:6 NLT
Again, when Saul would later recall this event, he would provide greater detail about what Christ said:
“Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell the people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future.
And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.” Ac. 26:16 – 18. NLT
What a turnaround of events! I’m sure at that time, that Saul had been a most ‘reluctant apostle’.
The light from heaven rendered him blind, so he had to be led by the hand to Damascus.
He remained blind for 3 days, and he fasted during that period as well.
Simultaneously, Christ appears to one of His disciples in Damascus by the name of Ananias. Jesus told him to go to a street called ‘Straight,’ (which still exists today). There, He said Ananias would find a certain house where Saul was praying in. Jesus added that He gave Saul a vision regarding his coming.
Ananias protested, because he had heard of the evil things that Saul was doing to his brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus sets him straight:
“Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.” Ac. 9:15 NLT
Only Jesus would transform His greatest enemy into His mightiest champion.
Ananias did as he was told and laid hands on Saul, whereupon he immediately regained his sight. The disciple baptized Saul, who was subsequently filled with the Holy Spirit.
Saul immediately went out to preach to the synagogues in Damascus, that Christ was the Son of God – to the amazement of those who knew his past.
This new apostle traveled to Arabia, where it is thought by some biblical scholars, the place where God gave him the deep revelations of the Gospel that he would later come to preach.
Indeed, when Saul returned to Damascus 3 years later, he was filled with irrefutable, Holy Spirit-inspired preaching – witnessing to all, that Jesus is the Messiah.
The non-converted Jews wanted to kill Saul. However, other disciples in Damascus lowered him over the city wall and he escaped.
Saul journeyed to Jerusalem but was initially ostracized because of his history of persecution of the church. However, the disciple Barnabas brought Saul to the apostles and told them about his conversion. (Saul would add additional detail when he later reiterated it – saying that he only met with 2 of the apostles: Cephus (Peter), and James the brother of Jesus, who was now an apostle as well.)
Saul preached while he was in Jerusalem, but the Jewish non-converts wanted to kill him as well. So, the apostles sent Saul off to Tarsus, where he would minister in Cilicia and Syria. Fourteen years would pass since Saul’s conversion…
(I have spent all this time talking about Saul, who would become the apostle ‘Paul,’ who happens to write most of the New Testament. So, I’m thinking he’s important.)
Finally, let’s shift to a short stretch of the apostle Peter’s path, to keep us in chronological harmony.
He begins to preach outside of Jerusalem, along the coast of Judea. Peter came upon a paralyzed man named Aeneas and spoke to him:
“Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up and roll up your sleeping mat!” And he was healed instantly. Acts 9:34 NLT
All the people in that community became converts. Peter travels to another town in the same region, where he was urged to come to the bedside of a woman named Tabitha, who had just died. He told everyone to leave the room and knelt and prayed over her, declaring:
“Get up, Tabitha.” And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up! Acts 9:40 NLT
More converts.
Peter journeyed 30 miles north to the city of Caesarea, the center of the Roman civil government in Judea. It is there that we get to meet a Roman Centurion called Cornelius:
He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was everyone in his household. He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God. Acts 10:2 NLT
Cornelius, obviously a Gentile, followed the Old Testament teachings, but was not a convert to Judaism. One afternoon, an angel presents itself to him in a vision, telling him that God has heard his prayers.
The angel gives Cornelius directions to where the apostle Peter is staying and tells him to send men to fetch Peter to him.
As the men were approaching the town where Peter is, we find the apostle on the rooftop praying, where he too receives a vision from God. In it, there is a large sheet descending from heaven, filled with all kinds of animals – both clean and unclean, as dictated by Mosaic Law. He hears the voice of Jesus saying:
“Rise, Peter, kill and eat.” Acts 10:13 NKJV
Peter balks by saying that he had never eaten anything unclean. Jesus counters:
“What God has cleansed and pronounce clean, no longer consider common (unholy).” Acts 10:15 AMP
Peter was trying to make sense of his vision, when the Holy Spirit told him that there were 3 men outside, looking for him, and that he was to accompany them, because they had been driven to find him by the Holy Spirit.
The apostle took some Jewish disciples with him and began the journey to Cornelius, who, filled his house with family and friends in high anticipation of Peter’s arrival.
When Peter arrived, Cornelius fell at the apostle’s feet and began to worship him. Peter immediately forbade him to do so, telling him that he, Peter, was just a man like him.
Instantly, Peter realized the meaning of his vision and revealed it to the household – saying that the Gentiles were considered to be ‘unclean’ to the Jews, but now God has made that prohibition (including against foodstuffs, or anything else that would get in the way of advancing the Gospel) null and void!
Peter elaborates:
“Most certainly I understand now that God is not one to show partiality [to people as though Gentiles were excluded from God’s blessing], but in every nation the person who fears God and does what is right [by seeking Him] is acceptable and welcomed by Him. Ac. 10:34, 35. AM
While Peter is still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those present in Cornelius’ house, and all the Jewish disciples that accompanied Peter were astounded to see Gentiles empowered by the Spirit. Peter responds to them:
“Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Ac. 10:47, 48. NLT
There can be no doubt now. The call of Christ is a world-wide summons…
Goodnight and God bless.