7 January 2014

I plan on writing reflections on the recorded prayers of the apostle  Paul, but first some background.

We meet the future apostle in Acts 7:59 when Stephen was stoned for proclaiming Christ. While Stephen's death was something Saul agreed to, that one man's death was not enough for Saul. He went on a rampage, ravaging the church in Jerusalem, going from home to home, and taking men and women to prison. Success in this was not enough for Saul. He was going to wipe out this blasphemous  sect wherever it was. That desire is what set him on the road to Damascus.

Saul was at the top of the top in Judaism. He gave testimony to this in Philippians 3:4-6: "If anyone thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless." His spiritual resume was impeccable, externally.

This was the man whom God chose, whom God converted from the most zealous Jew to the most zealous Christian.

This one man's conversion would shake everyone from the Christians and the Jews in Damascus and outward. But his conversion was genuine. As he had sought to persecute believers in Christ, now he was willing to be persecuted as one of them. All he once cherished, he now considered as dung.

All was now turned upside down. A nervous but obedient Christian in Damascus named Ananias was sent by the Lord to Saul. Calling Saul "brother," Ananias was God's instrument by whom Saul received his physical sight and received the Holy Spirit. Once healed and so filled, Saul was baptized and then finally had his first meal in three days.

We are informed after this he "immediately began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues in Damascus, saying 'He is the Son of God.'" This baffled people. He was recognized as the same one who had persecuted believers in Jerusalem and had come to Damascus to do the same. Could he be trusted?

Neither the Jews nor the Christians knew what to think. Saul's reputation had preceded him. Was he proclaiming Christ only to bring believers out of hiding with the intent of jailing them?

The Jews decided his conversion was real and he was trouble for them. He had to run for his life. He fled Damascus for Jerusalem. "Out of the frying pan and into the fire" is the expression that comes to mind.

Suspicion on the part of the Christians in Jerusalem awaited Saul. Providentially, a man named Barnabas vouched for Saul. Accepted by the Christians in Jerusalem, again the Jews sought his life. Again, Saul had to flee.

As recorded in Acts 8, when the church in Jerusalem was persecuted, all but the apostles were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. It is likely that Saul was an active participant in this persecution. But in Acts 10, after his conversion, matters were different: "So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase" (Acts 10:31).