Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Saul of Tarsus: Unlikely Missionary to the Gentiles

SAUL OF TARSUS

THE UNLIKELY MISSIONARY

TO THE GENTILES


Introduction

He was the scourge of the newly formed early Christian church. By his own account, he was one of the most religious Jews ever. He was a real Pharisee. He hated Christians and had purposed in his heart to rid the world of these disgusting, anti-Jew Christ followers. He regularly persecuted Christians; dragging them into the street. He had them beaten, thrown in jail, and even killed. There would be no chance that Saul of Tarsus would ever bow the knee to the so-called Messiah and follow Him. But Jesus Christ had plans for Saul, and on the Damascus road, everything changed. In fact, not only would Saul proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the nation of Israel, but he would be hand picked by Christ to carry that message to one of the most reprehensible people groups on the planet for a Jew; the Gentiles.

The Early Years

Saul was born in Tarsus, capital of the small Roman district of Cilicia in Asia Minor. His father was a Pharisee and was given the privileged status of a Roman citizen, which was passed on to Saul. Saul’s father was from the ancient tribe of Benjamin and named him Saul after Israel’s first king.

Because his father was a Pharisee, Saul grew up in a household that adhered to strict observance of Jewish laws and customs. Accordingly, Saul received detailed instruction in Jewish law from an early age, and he studied under the most respected rabbis in Tarsus.

As a young man, Saul scorned the pagan religions of the region, but was attracted to the Greek culture, which was the prevailing culture in the Near East at the time. He learned to speak and read Greek and became familiar with the most influential philosophy at the time: Stoicism.

As every young Jewish boy at the time had to learn a particular trade, Saul was taught to fashion tent material from goat’s hair or tanned goat skins. When he was 13, he left home for Jerusalem to study under the famous Jewish Rabbi, Gamaliel, who was the head of the most respected school for Jewish learning at the time. Gamaliel favored a more liberal interpretation of Jewish law. He was also a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court.[1]

As anyone could see, Saul was being groomed from an early age to strictly adhere to Jewish law, and would certainly reject any belief in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, but no one could predict the fervor with which Saul of Tarsus would go after this new found religion and its participants.

The Persecution

According to Saul’s later testimony, he grew up and assumed the position of a Pharisee with a “zeal” for the law in “Judaism”. The pre-conversion Saul was a zealot who in the model of the Macabees and Phinehas devoted himself to maintaining the integrity of the Jewish religion against the corruption of Hellenism. His goal would be to protect Israel’s national identity from the pressures of the Gentiles. So Saul set out on a course to persecute the Hellenistic Jewish Christians not for their preaching of the crucified Jesus, or for their breaking the law, but for their preaching the gospel to the Gentiles and accepting Gentile converts without requiring their circumcision.[2]

As stated above, Saul stresses only his own initiative, (and thus his guilt), and mentions his basic reason for this, “as regards zeal, a persecutor of the church”. He persecuted the community as a Pharisee, in the firm conviction he was doing the right thing for God. He states in Galatians that he, “persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it”, and that he surpassed many of his contemporaries in his progress in the study of the law.

The Apostle Luke’s evidence is ambiguous at best, but gives Saul only a subordinate hand in the stoning of Stephen, however, the charge Saul levies against Stephen is that he is bringing blasphemous attacks against Israel’s election, the Temple and the Torah. The result is a young Saul holding the coats of the men who actually stone Stephen to death.

In the persecutions that follow, he is known as the driving force. He arrests Christians in their homes, and as a judge gives a yes vote when it comes to their subsequent execution. He has them whipped and dragged out of their homes. He has them sentenced to prison on a routine basis. The Apostle actually says twice in his own story later recorded that he, “sought to destroy the community or the new faith”.[3]

With all this hatred for the new church, it would take a miracle for Saul of Tarsus to not only stop persecuting Christians, but actually take the gospel of Christ to the nation of Israel, much less the Gentiles. That’s where Jesus Christ comes in the picture.

The Road to Damascus

The reputation of Saul of Tarsus, persecutor of the Christian church was known far and wide. Saul had established himself as a man who would stop at nothing to destroy this rabble. But Jesus Christ had different plans for Saul, as given by his own testimony in Acts 22:

1"Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense." 2When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.

Then Paul said: 3"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

6"About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?'

8" 'Who are you, Lord?' I asked.

" 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. 9My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.

10"'What shall I do, Lord?' I asked.

"'Get up,' the Lord said, 'and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.' 11My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.

12"A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. 13He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see him.

14"Then he said: 'The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. 15You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'[4]

Suddenly, the persecutor of the church became an apostle of Jesus Christ. As a zealot for the law, he was mid-course in checking a plague against the nation of Israel, when in his own words he was, “apprehended by Jesus Christ”. Luke provides three different account of Saul’s conversion with some variations, however, they all agree on this; about midday, on the way to Damascus, he heard a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” To which of course he replied, “Who are you Lord?” “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.” No single event has proved as determinant for the course of Christian history as the conversion and commissioning of Saul.[5]

Saul of Tarsus, who is now referred to as Paul, is converted by a vision of the risen Christ Himself. He is then instructed, again by Christ Himself, to continue on to Damascus, where he will be instructed by a man named Ananias as to what he should do next. Paul would obviously have to be a little perplexed at this point. He’s spent his entire life so far defending the nation of Israel against this Christian threat. He’s been an absolute zealot for God and His law. In one short instant, he finds himself blind, scared, and certainly not sure about what his future holds; but he does know this, his life will never be the same. By his own account, he has seen the risen Christ. He has seen a vision of the very one he’s been persecuting all these years. Everything he had been trained for and been educated about had just changed.

In the words of the eighteenth century author, “the conversion and apostleship of St. Paul alone, duly considered, was of itself a demonstration sufficient to prove Christianity to be a divine revelation”[6]

Paul’s Mission Field: The Gentiles

According to Acts chapter 22, Paul goes on to Damascus, and just as Christ said to him, Ananias meets him and says to him, “Brother Saul, receive your sight!” By Paul’s own testimony, it was like scales fell off of his eyes and he immediately gained his sight back. As he was praying in the temple, he fell into a great trance. The Lord told him at that time that he must leave Jerusalem, as the men there would not accept Paul’s testimony about Him. In verses 19-21, Paul receives his marching orders. “19" 'Lord,' I replied, 'these men know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. 20And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.'

21"Then the Lord said to me, 'Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.' "[7]

Following the orders of the Lord, Paul left the area and went to Arabia. His visit to Arabia mentioned in Galatians 1:17, seems best placed between Acts 9:22 and 23.[8] His first years as a Christian in Arabia are indeed a mystery. Three years after his call, Paul went to Jerusalem to visit, where he met Peter and James. It was some fourteen years after this that Paul returned to Jerusalem for a meeting often referred to as “the Jerusalem Council”.[9] Before the meeting in Jerusalem, Paul went on his famous missionary journeys, started churches and brought about many converts; but it was his arrest and subsequent trials which took him all the way to Rome, that solidified Paul as the missionary to the Gentiles, and changed the face of Christianity forever.

Paul was taken before the Sanhedrin to answer for his story of what had happened to him. As Paul was giving his testimony, the high priest ordered him to be struck on the mouth. “3Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!"[10] After a huge argument breaks out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, they order the guard to take Paul by force to the barracks. It is here that Paul receives his orders to take the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles. “11The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome."[11]

“Paul’s call then is unique: he’s not only the “least of the apostles”, the “stillborn” child; he’s also the “last” of the apostles. Although every Christian is called, Paul is a “called apostle”, and thus the direct mediator of the gospel, and its authoritative interpreter. His call is unique in that he is not “sent out”, to the “circumcised”—like Peter—but to the “uncircumcised”. He is indeed the apostle to the Gentiles, commissioned to proclaim God’s grace in Jesus Christ to all nations—Jew and Gentile alike—which means that the gospel is “apart from the law.”[12]

“Some verbal communication, beyond the heavenly vision itself, is implied in Paul’s statement, “he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal His son in me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles.” (Galatians 1:15)”[13]

The Court System

There was a rising tension in Jerusalem over reports that Paul was teaching Jews in the dispersion to forsake Moses. A plan was suggested that Paul make it clear that he had no aversion to a voluntary keeping of the law. Although the Judean believers were satisfied with this, it ultimately led to Paul’s arrest. Some Jews from Asia, upon seeing Paul declared that he had defiled the Temple. Paul was rescued from the Jewish mob by the Roman chiliarch and some soldiers, but wanted to speak to the crowd; he was given permission and addressed them from the castle steps. The Jews gave silent attention to Paul until he mentioned his commission to the Gentiles, when the riots broke out anew.[14]

Paul is then ordered to be scourged, until he makes it clear to a Roman Centurion that he is a Roman citizen. Once it is determined that Paul is indeed a Roman citizen, it starts the process of working him through the court system, which would lead all the way to Rome, just as the Lord had told him.

The Jews had formed a conspiracy amongst more that 40 men, that they would not eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul. According to Acts 23, the plot was recognized, and the Roman Centurion ordered Paul to be taken to Caesarea, where he would appear before Felix, the Roman Procurator.

“23Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, "Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen[b] to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. 24Provide mounts for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix."

25He wrote a letter as follows: 26Claudius Lysias, To His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings. 27This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen. 28I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin. 29I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment. 30When I was informed of a plot to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to present to you their case against him.

31So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris. 32The next day they let the cavalry go on with him, while they returned to the barracks. 33When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. 34The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia, 35he said, "I will hear your case when your accusers get here." Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod's palace.”[15]

Paul is brought before Felix and his Jewish wife Drusilla. It’s made clear to Felix that the charges against Paul were spurious at best, but because he didn’t want to antagonize his Jewish subjects, Felix postpones a decision on Paul. Given the opportunity to speak before Felix, Paul seizes the moment and preaches in his presence about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come. Upon hearing this message, Felix is terrified and dismisses Paul, but later gave him opportunity to bring a bribe for his release, which Paul does not do. After two years, Felix is summoned to Rome, but leaves Paul where he is; an uncondemned prisoner.[16]

When Festus, the new governor of Caesarea arrived, he listened to the case against Paul and wanted him taken back to Jerusalem. Paul new the dangers that awaited for him there, and when given the opportunity, he declared, “Caesarem apello! -- "I appeal to Caesar!" Festus had no choice at that time but to make arrangements to send Paul to Rome for Caesar himself to hear Paul’s case.[17]

In all of this, the will of Jesus Christ was being accomplished through the apostle Paul. Not only were the most famous and powerful Gentiles in the known world hearing the gospel of Christ, but the fame and message of Paul was going throughout the land as well.

When Herod Agrippa II and his sister Bernice came to the region for a visit, Festus presented them with Paul’s case as well, as Agrippa was an acknowledged expert in Jewish affairs. When Paul was permitted to speak before his royal audience, he gave a masterly exposition of the gospel and used the occasion to attempt to win Agrippa to Christ. Agrippa, being uncomfortable with Paul’s efforts, cut the meeting short; but said to Paul, “you almost persuade me.” Nonetheless, he declared Paul’s innocence to the governor, and Paul was sent to Rome.[18]

Before Caesar

The apostle Paul actually appeared before Nero twice in his life. He was acquitted the first time and released. As he was allowed to roam as a free man, he used the opportunity to preach the gospel. He was eventually arrested and tried by Nero again, but this time was martyred. According to Doud, this time period played out as follows: “In Rome Paul dwelled in his own hired house under the supervision of a Prefect of the Praetorian Guard. He was permitted t o hold meetings, and he met with Jewish elders, winning some of them to Christ. This period lasted two years, during which he wrote Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians.

He was acquitted by Nero, so he was free to travel and did so. His visits were to Crete and to Asia Minor; and it is widely thought that he traveled in Spain on a missionary journey. He is thought to have been arrested again in Ephesus and taken again to Rome from there, but this time treated as a malefactor, with his friends deserting him (except for Luke and Onesiphorus). There was persecution in Rome at this time, and a campaign of terror by Nero against the Christians. Paul was condemned and executed in Rome.

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day."[19]

Summary of Paul’s Life

Saul of Tarsus was a zealot for God’s law. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees; a Jew among Jews. He hated the Christian church and with every fiber of his body wanted to stamp it out before it could get a foothold and tarnish the nation of Israel. Saul of Tarsus had a plan of how he would make this happen; but Jesus Christ obviously had a different plan. On the road to Damascus, Jesus Christ struck Saul blind with his brilliance and told him he would now be His personal messenger to proclaim the gospel throughout the earth.

Through the will of Jesus Christ and the power of His Holy Spirit, Saul of Tarsus, now Paul was hand picked and trained by Christ to preach the gospel; and not to Paul’s beloved nation of Israel, but to the Gentiles. Through trials and persecutions, Christ took the apostle Paul through a web of Jewish and Gentile courts, to stand before the most powerful people in the world, priests, governors and kings to proclaim the Good News of Jesus.

This one time zealous Pharisee had now seen the risen Christ and was a full fledged follower. After his conversion, Paul would be attributed with writing thirteen of the twenty seven New Testament books of the Bible. Through the power of Christ’s Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul single handedly did more to take the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles than any other person in history. Although he started out his life as an unlikely candidate, there’s no doubt that Saul of Tarsus was the most significant missionary of the gospel to the Gentiles.

Bibliography

Great People of the Bible and How They Lived, 1974 The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. pg. 404

Observations on the Conversion and Apostleship of St. Paul, G. Lyttleton, London, 1747, paragraph 1

Paul, Apostle of the Heart Set Free, Frederick Bruce, 1977, Paternoster Press, P.O. Box 300, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA3 OQS, UK

Paul and the New Perspective: Second Thoughts on the Origin of Paul’s Gospel, Seyoon Kim, 2002, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 255 Jefferson Ave, SE Grand Rapids, MI 49503 pg. 2

Paul the Apostle: the Triumph of God in Life and Thought, Johan Christiaan Beker, 1980, Fortress Press

The Apostle Paul: an introduction to his writings and teachings, Marion L. Soards, 1987, Paulist Press, 997 Macarthur Blvd., Mahwah, NJ 07430

The Jews Against Pagans and Christians In the Roman Empire, Judith Lieu/John North/Tessa Rajak 1992 Routledge Publishing 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX144RN p. 44-46

The Liberty Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN

The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, 1963, Zondervan Publishing House, 1415 Lake Drive, S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49506

Warren Doud, Grace Notes, 1705 Aggie Lane, Austin, Texas, 78757



[1] Great People of the Bible and How They Lived, 1974 The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. pg. 404

[2] Paul and the New Perspective: Second Thoughts on the Origin of Paul’s Gospel, Seyoon Kim, 2002, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 255 Jefferson Ave, SE Grand Rapids, MI 49503 pg. 2

[3] The Jews Against Pagans and Christians In the Roman Empire, Judith Lieu/John North/Tessa Rajak 1992 Routledge Publishing 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX144RN p. 44-46

[4] The Book of Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 22 vv. 1-16 NIV

[5] Paul, Apostle of the Heart Set Free, Frederick Bruce, 1977, Paternoster Press, P.O. Box 300, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA3 OQS, UK

[6] Observations on the Conversion and Apostleship of St. Paul, G. Lyttleton, London, 1747, paragraph 1.

[7] The Book of Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 22 vv. 19-21 NIV

[8] The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, 1963, Zondervan Publishing House, 1415 Lake Drive, S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49506

[9] The Apostle Paul: an introduction to his writings and teachings, Marion L. Soards, 1987, Paulist Press, 997 Macarthur Blvd., Mahwah, NJ 07430

[10] The Book of Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 23 vs. 3 NIV

[11] The Book of Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 23 vs. 11 NIV

[12] Paul the Apostle: the Triumph of God in Life and Thought, Johan Christiaan Beker, 1980, Fortress Press

[13] Paul, Apostle of the Heart Set Free, Frederick Bruce, 1977, Paternoster Press, P.O. Box 300, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA3 OQS, UK

[14] The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, 1963, Zondervan Publishing House, 1415 Lake Drive, S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49506

[15] The Book of Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 23 vv.23-35 NIV

[16] The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, 1963, Zondervan Publishing House, 1415 Lake Drive, S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49506

[17] The Liberty Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN

[18] The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, 1963, Zondervan Publishing House, 1415 Lake Drive, S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49506

[19] Warren Doud, Grace Notes, 1705 Aggie Lane, Austin, Texas, 78757

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