I want to start this week with a list on names. Some of them you may know others you might not know.
Jane Fonda- an actor that some consider a traitor. During the Vietnam War, she went to North Vietnam and posed on a Vietnamese anti-aircraft battery as if she was shooting at in-coming American planes. This photo earned her the name of “Hanoi Jane.”
Norma McCorvey aka Jane Roe of Roe vs. Wade- Her lawsuit led to legalized abortion causing the death of over 55 million unborn children.
Harry Reems - A pornography star from the seventies that made 139 pornographic films.
Tex Watson- A radical who became a member of the Charles Manson family and assisted in killing seven people. He confessed to the murder of actress Sharon Tate who was eight and a half months pregnant.
David Berkowitz- A serial killer responsible for the death of six people and the wounding of seven others. He terrorized New York in 1976-77. He left notes mocking the police and only signed “son of Sam.”
Jeffery Dahmer - Another serial killer responsible for the death of 17 young men. And also a confessed cannibal.
All these people on this list have one thing in common. They claim to be born-again Christians. That would make each of them followers of Jesus.
Last week we witnessed the last healing that Jesus would do, apart from healing the slave that lost an ear in the Garden. He was on his way to Jerusalem when He passed by the blind beggar. The blind beggar recognized him as the Messiah and called out above the crowd. Jesus heard him and healed him.
Jesus would encounter a chief tax collector in Jericho. He was a wee little man and a wee little man was he. He would see Zacchaeus in a sycamore-fig tree and would invite himself to Zacchaeus’ house for dinner. Because of this encounter, Zacchaeus made the discission to give half of his wealth to the poor and pay back four times what he had cheated people. With his wealth wiped out, Jesus declared, “Salvation has come to this house today.”
Leaving Jericho Jesus would visit his friend, Lazarus in Bethany. After they ate, Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume and anointed the feet of Jesus. He understood it was in preparation for his burial. With the crowds gathering to see Jesus the leading priests decided to have, Lazarus killed also.
Next would come his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. For the second time in his ministry, He would clear the temple of the moneychangers and vendors.
The Passover arrives and Jesus and his disciples have their last meal together. Soon He would be betrayed, arrested, tried, and crucified. He would be buried in a tomb but would rise from the dead three days later.
Two women at the tomb would see him. The remaining eleven Apostles would see him. Two followers on the road to Emmaus would see him. Over 500 of his followers at one time saw him. Finally, the eleven Apostles would see him ascend into heaven. However, there would be one more man in the scripture who would see Jesus on Earth.
The disciples are in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit ascends upon them. They are emboldened to preach the good news of Jesus and the church is born. Soon opposition arises. The Jewish council threatens Peter and John. They are commanded to stop preaching about Jesus. They of course refuse and the church continues to grow.
Soon we meet Stephen. He got into a debate with a group called the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, a conservative group of Jews from different locals. Because they were not able to win their debate, they accused Stephen of blaspheming Moses and God.
So Stephen was brought before the high council. He began to give them a history lesson on Abraham, Moses, King David, and Solomon. Then he accused them of betraying and murdering the Messiah, Jesus.
They became enraged, drug him outside the city, and began to stone him. They took off their coats so as not to be hindered and laid them at the feet of a young man. And to be sure that we understand that he is more than the coat check guy, the scripture informs us that he was a witness and in complete agreement with the murder of Stephen. This is our final character in the dirty dozen. His name is Saul.
Saul in Hebrew meant, “Asked for.” The first man named Saul in the Bible was made king of Israel against the wishes of God, hence he was “asked for.” Like King Saul, he was also from the tribe of Benjamin. This is how he described himself.
Philippians 3:5-6 “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.”
Saul was a righteous man obeying the law perfectly. He was a Pharisee that required this of him. Saul followed the laws of Moses to the letter. All those around him respected him. He knew that this new cult called “people of the way” that taught following this dead man who supposable rose from the dead was a threat that needed to be stopped. And whom better than Saul, the one “asked for.”
Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He heard they were meeting in their homes celebrating this false Messiah. So he went from house to house having them dragged out and thrown into prison. The fact that some of these were women was appalling to him, for no respectable Jewish man would socialize with women. This only proved to him that this cult needed to be destroyed.
Saul had a zeal for the traditions of his ancestors that was far ahead of his fellow Jews. This church was becoming a threat to these sacred traditions.
When we look at this man Saul, we usually do so with a very critical eye. But are we really much different today. When our sacred traditions are challenged, do we have zeal to protect them?
Are we critical of those who do not worship the way we do? Do we claim that our self-righteousness is a guideline for others to follow?
Saul was a good man in the sense that he had zeal for his beliefs no matter how misguided they were. He believed in his cause. He believed he was doing what God had called him to do. I believe it was this zeal was caught the attention of Jesus.
The church began to scatter fearing this great persecution. Saul was consumed with doing God’s work and destroying these followers of Jesus. He went to the high priest with a request for letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus. These letters asked for cooperation in arresting any followers of the Way that were in their city. He wanted to bring the men and women back to Jerusalem in chains. With letters in hand, he set off to Damascus.
Acts 9:3-5 As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. 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!
It has been around three years since the ascension of Jesus. The Bible tells us that the men with him heard a voice but saw nothing. But Saul saw something. Besides this light from heaven, Saul saw Jesus. Let us look at Saul’s own words.
1 Corinthians 9:1 “Am I not as free as anyone else? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes? Isn’t it because of my work that you belong to the Lord?”
Make no mistake, Saul saw Jesus in a glorified body. Saul would be the last man to see Jesus in a bodily form on earth.
Jesus calls his name twice to emphasize the importance of getting his attention and then ask, “Why are you attacking me?”
Saul’s response is one of confusion. “Who are you?”
“I am Jesus.”
Imagine the fear in his heart. Perhaps he remembered the words of his friend Gamaliel, Acts 5:38-39 “So my advice is, leave these men alone. Let them go. If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!”
Or the final words of Stephen, Acts 7:56 “And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”
Notice how Jesus related the persecution of his church to himself? In other words, Jesus took it personally. We serve a Lord who takes our persecutions upon himself and handles it much better than we do. Perhaps not the way we want it handled but the proper way. Saul has attacked his church and thus attacked him. Here is how Jesus handled Saul.
Acts 9:6-9 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.”
What does Saul do during those three days of blindness? We know he fasts, not eating or drinking for three days. I believe he also evaluated himself and his relationship with God. To what conclusions did he arrive?
Philippians 3:7-11 “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!”
Saul lets it be known that everything he held valuable; his heritage, his position in society, his righteousness, his zeal in following the law, all of this was garbage and totally worthless. What really was valuable was knowing Jesus, developing his faith in Jesus, experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit, and giving himself as a sacrifice to the church.
Perhaps during these days he comes to understand that his righteousness was a cover-up for sin. In a letter to Timothy he writes 1 Timothy 1:15 “This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.
What a better witness to the world would we be if we adopted this attitude? I am the worst sinner of them all. How humbling would it be for us to face our sins as being greater than those of others are?
Acts 9:10-17 “Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord!” he replied.
The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now. I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”
“But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.”
But the Lord said, “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. And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 9:18 “Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized”
The Greek word used for scales is lepis. This is the only time in the Bible that it is used. It is the base word for leprosy. It perhaps was cataracts. Untreated cataracts can lead to blindness if the cataract becomes hyper-mature (completely white). This complete whiteness of the eyes would appear to be leprosy. What Ananias witnessed was Saul regaining the color back into his eyes.
Saul soon returned to Jerusalem empty handed of any prisoners but with life filled wit exuberance. Imagine his excitement of wanting to return home and join with his family of Christ followers. However, it would not be so easy.
Acts 9:26 “When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had truly become a believer!”
Remember that list at the beginning of the sermon? Did you hear a name or a crime and think “No way. No way did this pornographer or murderer become a Christian.”? This was the view that others had of Saul. Sometimes we are the victim being judged. Other times we are the ones judging.
Jesus’ ministry was a healing ministry, both physical and spiritual. Saul was the only one touched by Jesus and was cursed with physical blindness. It required physical blindness to help him discover his spiritual healing. And although healed physically he carried the scars from that encounter the rest of his life.
Galatians 4:13-15 “Surely you remember that I was sick when I first brought you the Good News. But even though my condition tempted you to reject me, you did not despise me or turn me away. No, you took me in and cared for me as though I were an angel from God or even Christ Jesus himself. Where is that joyful and grateful spirit you felt then? I am sure you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me if it had been possible.”
In closing his letter to the Galatians, he writes Galatians 6:11 “Notice what large letters I use as I write these closing words in my own handwriting.”
Saul would soon decide to change his name. He would go from Saul, the one asked for, to Paul, which meant small, humble.
Paul became blind so that he might see. We could probably use some blindness in our lives.
