Saul of Tarsus

May 28, 2023 Background Scripture: Acts 9:1 - 31 Lesson Passage: Acts 9:9 - 17 The greatest Christians I have known, or read about, all had testimonies of deliverance. The greater the deliverance experienced the greater the testimony. Many started as skeptics concerning religion before their deliverance. Religious practices just seemed to be the social activity of choice for people of various faiths. Saul of Tarsus may be the most well-known of all religious skeptics. To make matters worse, he was a person of faith. It is one thing to dismiss all religions; it is something else to embrace a religion and dismiss all others. Saul embraced Judaism and dismissed all other religions as heathenish, or superstition. Judaism was established by God the Creator through the lineage of Abram the Syrian. Judaism was a prophetic religion that pointed towards God's ultimate fulfillment of mankind' s deliverance through a Messiah. Over time, adherents of Judaism began to accept Judaism as though it was God's ultimate fulfillment itself. There was no room, or tolerance, for anything besides Judaism. Even after God sent the Messiah, they refused to accept Him because accepting Him seemed to veer too far off course from what they understood and practiced. They seemed to be so busy looking for the Messiah that they had no time to accept Him after He arrived. Saul of Tarsus had risen through the ranks of Judaism as a young man. He became a fierce defender of Judaism. He vigorously opposed what he believed to be a threat to Judaism. Saul went so far as to have offenders arrested, and some were even stoned to death with his consent. If offenders were seen as a threat to Judaism, they were seen by Saul as enemies of God. As the newest faith began to spread among the Jews, Saul made it his personal mission to seek out followers of "the Way" and have them prosecuted—or persecuted if need be. It was the work of Saul that caused the members of the Jerusalem congregation of Christians to be scattered away from Jerusalem. Only the apostles were left in Jerusalem. As the members of the congregation fled Jerusalem for their lives, they continued to proclaim salvation through Jesus Christ everywhere they went. Saul' s persecution of the Christians was having the opposite effect from what he intended. Saul was trying to stop the spread of that new religious movement, however, what he did aided in the propagation of it. Saul learned about a group of Christians in Damascus. He secured letters from the high priest that authorized him to arrest them. While traveling to Damascus, Saul had an amazing encounter that was hard for him to comprehend. The Supreme Architect of "the Way', who had been put to death at the urging of the high priest and the Sanhedrin Council, interrupted Saul's journey. Jesus blinded Saul on the road to Damascus. As Saul lay on the road blind, Jesus vocally questioned his actions. Saul asked who was it that was talking to him. Jesus identified Himself, and then He identified Himself as being one with the Christians Saul was persecuting. Saul asked Jesus for directions as to what he should do, Jesus sent him to Damascus to receive instructions from a Christian there. Saul went to Damascus where he received his sight and was baptized into the Christian faith. Saul stayed with some of the disciples in Damascus for some days. Then Saul began to preach about Jesus in the synagogue. This amazed the Christians. Saul was not readily accepted by the Christians and then the Jews who were Judaists no longer trusted him. They threatened Saul's life. The one who once persecuted Christians was now fleeing for his own life. With Saul's conversion, the Christian congregations experienced peace and continued to increase in numbers. Saul of Tarsus became the servant of Jesus known to us as the Apostle Paul. Robert C. Hudson May 6, 2023