The Conversion Of Saul Series

The Conversion of Saul

INTRODUCTION

Let us imagine for a moment that this is the week of Saul's arrival at Damascus. By this time, Saul had become the movement's ringleader to wipe out Christianity. A devout Hellenistic Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, Saul was a Pharisees and was taught by none other than Gamaliel, whom we have already met (Acts 5:34-40). Saul disagreed with his teacher, Gamaliel, on how the Christians should be dealt with; however, he sought the arrest, trial, conviction, and punishment (with imprisonment the norm and death the ideal, it would seem) of those in Jerusalem. His career as a persecutor of Christians seems to have begun with Stephen, but it quickly spread to all Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 7:58–8:3). Saul was not content to punish some and to drive the rest from the "holy city." He did not want to contain Christianity or merely drive it from Jerusalem; he wanted to rid the earth of Christianity and its followers. Thus, his opposition to Christ and His Church took on a "missionary" spirit. Saul went to other cities where he sought to arrest Christians and bring them back to Jeru-salem for a trial and punishment. Damascus, a city some 150 miles northeast of Jerusalem, was one such city. Word was out that Saul would soon arrive at Jerusalem looking for Christians.

Now, suppose you were a Christian and had just arrived in Da-mascus, and you had been able to learn the hiding place of a group of believers. Let us suppose further that the Church had gathered on this particular evening for a time of prayer, prompted by the news that Saul was soon to arrive, with all the necessary legal machinery (that is, the authorization of the chief priests and the Sanhedrin) to arrest and extradite the Christians who were in the city. What do you suppose the saints would have prayed at this special prayer meeting? We are given a little insight from the account in Acts 12 when Peter was imprisoned, and it appeared he would soon be exe-cuted, as James had already been, and as we would infer Herod pur-posed to do with Peter (Acts 12:1-4). No one seems to have prayed for Peter's miraculous escape on this occasion. At least we can say that no one had enough faith to believe it, even as Peter stood at the door, knocking to get in (12:12-17).

I very much doubt anyone prayed that this Saul might be saved. I can believe someone might have prayed that Saul is waylaid or "terminated" in some divine act or providential accident ("act of God"). I believe the saints who gathered to pray would have prayed for the protection of the Church in Damascus and the safety of indi-vidual saints, especially the leaders and the most visible Christians. No one, it would seem, was even thinking of what God was about to do. Ananias is not only surprised by his commission; he is resistant to it, at least initially.

There would likely be another group meeting the evening before Saul arrived in Damascus—those who did not believe in Jesus as their Messiah and eagerly sought the eradication of the Church in their city. Were these people as eager as Saul to destroy the Church? Did they send it to Saul? Or did they somewhat dread his arrival, knowing how zealous he was in his opposition to the Church? If he were viewed as a reactionary, a troublemaker, perhaps some unbelievers thought Saul was too much trouble. Nevertheless, there must have been those who intended to use Saul's coming to oppose the Church. They may have attempted to compile a list of known (and even sus-pected) Christians, along with addresses, to facilitate Saul's task.

What a shock Saul's conversion must have been to both groups! To the Church, Saul turned out to be a friend, a colleague-believer, and a flaming evangelist. They proclaimed Christ more clearly and powerfully than anyone had previously done in Damascus. The Church did not shrink or suffer from Saul's arrival but grew because of it. Moreover, the second group, who were waiting for Saul to come and help them deal with the followers of "the Way," discovered that Saul had joined them, perhaps bringing other opposition members along with him. Did they think their task would be a simple one? They found that Saul's arrival shut down their cause, and his conversion took the wind out of their sails. What can you say about Christianity when its most outspoken and zealous opponent suddenly claims to have seen the risen Christ and trusted in Him as the Messiah?

The importance of Saul's conversion can hardly be overesti-mated. Three times in the Book of Acts, it is reported, the first time in the third person ("he") by Luke (Acts 9:1-31), the second time in the first person ("I") by the apostle, as he spoke to his unbelieving Jewish brethren in defense of his ministry (Acts 22:1-21), and the third time, again in the first person, as his testimony to King Agrippa, Festus, and Bernice (Acts 26:1-23). This three-fold repetition indi-cates the importance of this event, especially in the themes Luke seeks to develop in the Book of Acts.