Paul's Lesson (Part Two)

In the last post, we traced Paul, the Jew and the future disciple of Jesus, through his childhood and into his early to mid-twenties. Paul was sufficiently brilliant as a child student to be sent from his childhood home to Jerusalem to study with the renowned teacher Gamaliel, a Pharisee. Although we presume he did well, he was still an ‘outsider’ to the inner circle in Jerusalem because he was a Greek and not a Hebrew. He, in all likelihood, went to the synagogue of the Freedman, with Stephen and others of foreign birth. In order to prove his ‘worth’ to those in the inner circle he was zealous in enforcing the teaching of ‘the Law’ and became a force in persecuting the followers of a teacher named Jesus.

Paul, it appears, was “completely enclosed in himself.” As Franz Rosenzweig has argued, this is the “tragedy that threatens everyone.” People,” Rosenzweig goes on, “do not always hear this voice (the voice of God) saying ‘love me’” and they fail to heed “the request…to step outside of (them)selves, to enter into a relationship”…the relationship with God. It seems that Paul had this problem.

His emphasis seems always to have been on himself: “I strictly obeyed the Law of Moses.” (Philippians 3:5); “I was so eager that I even made trouble for the church.” (3:6); “I did everything the Law demands in order to please God.” (3:6); “I was cruel to God’s church and even tried to destroy it.” (Galatians 1: 13); “I was a much better Jew than anyone else my own age…” (1: 14); and “I obeyed every law that our ancestors had given us.” (1: 14). Everything seems to be focused on the “I”! But, this was about to change.

Paul was at Stephen’s death. He most assuredly was present when Stephen spoke to the high priest. It is highly likely that Paul had had heated and emotional debates with Stephen at the synagogue of the Freedman. He knew the story the followers of Jesus were telling and he knew all the arguments that supported this story. Could it be that within the highly tense situation that he found himself in that he could not get the story out of his mind?

Paul had time to mull the story over. In his position, he was probably a loner and isolated. He was a persecutor and a violent young man…probably not one to associate with. The crowd he could be with…the Greeks…he didn’t want to be a part of and the crowd that he wanted to be a part of…the Hebrews…wouldn’t have him. He traveled over substantial distances…as the trip to Damascus shows…and he probably didn’t eat well…observance of the law…and he probably fasted a lot.

He was a lonely, driven, and unhappy man! He was about 25 years old. And, then it happened!!!

“He (God) was kind and had decided to show me his Son, so that I would announce his message to the Gentiles.” (Galatians 1: 15-16) This, of course, is his reflection on the events that took place on the road to Damascus and later. After the revelation, Paul stayed with the disciple Ananias in Damascus and then began to talk with other disciples in that town. And then “he immediately began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues…” (Acts 9: 20) He “became increasingly more powerful and confronted the Jews who lived in Damascus…” (Acts 9: 22) He has to be right again…even if it was on the other side. He forced it on others.

How could this happen? Remember, Paul had probably been debating about Jesus for maybe up to 5 years by this time. Paul was extremely bright. Paul had been debating with some pretty astute people…and, we are told that he lost all the debates…while he was on the Jewish side of the argument. He probably knew the story backwards and forwards. Paul even says that “I didn’t talk this over with anyone.” That is, it all came together for him…it was revealed to him. “I didn’t say a word, not even to the men in Jerusalem…” (Galatians 1: 16-17) This, of course, is the basis of Paul’s claim to be an apostle…he got all his information from…Jesus, himself.

What happens next is cloudy: in Acts 9: 26-29 we get one story but in Galatians, Paul writes that “I went at once to Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.” (Galatians 1: 17) and this seems more consistent with the time line set out above. Paul, himself, says that “Three years later I went to visit Peter in Jerusalem.” (Galatians 1:18) At this time he also sees James, the brother of Jesus, who is now a leader of the Hebrew followers of Jesus. (Galatians 1:19)

Things apparently did not go well in Jerusalem. In general it appears as if Paul’s presence stirred up enough trouble that he was hastened out of Jerusalem. For example, the Hebrew followers of Jesus continued to worship at the temple. It seems that the early Christians wanted to remain within the Jewish faith and maintain their role within the temple. Paul seemed to be an embarrassment to the apostles and, in addition, Paul was a Greek!

Paul wanted to be within the ‘in’ crowd again…only this time, being with the ‘in’ crowd meant being with Peter and James and the other apostles and disciples. However, he was not allowed to ‘play ball’ with the varsity squad. There was no future for Paul in Jerusalem.

Before his departure, Paul had a dream…”After I returned to Jerusalem and while I was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance.” (Acts 22: 17) In his trance Jesus told him to leave Jerusalem and then Jesus said “Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.” (Acts 22: 21) This, along with the passage in Galatians, is the second reference to the fact that Paul is to be the apostle to the Gentiles. However, his personality had to change because he could not fulfill the role God had in store for him if he continued to be so focused upon being “a much better Jew” than anyone else.

And so, Paul was, in essence, sent off into the wilderness to grow and mature into someone who would be useful to God in the way that God wanted him to work. Believers, then, “took Saul to Caesarea. From there they sent him to Tarsus.” (Acts 9:30) In Paul’s own words, “Later, I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.” (Galatians 1: 21) And, that is where Paul learned and developed. He could not play for the ‘first team’ as he was and he had to find out what he needed to do in order to be brought back into the major leagues. We know nothing of what Paul did for the time he was back in Tarsus. It was not earth-shaking for we have no record of it and apparently it was not significant enough for Paul to make mention of it…at least in the records we are limited to. We do know one thing, however…he was a different person when he came back on the scene…he was tolerant…he was focused…and his focus was on Jesus…and on God! His tragedy, as Rosenzweig might describe it, had played out!

In Paul’s own words: “Fourteen years later I went to Jerusalem with Barnabas.” (Galatians 2: 1) Since Paul was writing about his conversion, I am taking the fourteen years to mean fourteen years from his conversion, not that he spent fourteen years in Tarsus. This seems to be the only way the time line fits together and puts Paul back in action around 48 C. E. At that time he was around 38 years old, much different from the hot-headed zealot he was at 25 when he had the experience on the road to Damascus.

The reason for the call: After the death of Stephen, we are told that the persecuted followers of Jesus were scattered and some went to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. (Acts 11:19) We are primarily talking about Greek Jews because Phoenicia and Cyprus were in Greek speaking areas and in Antioch we are specifically referring to the Hellenists there. (Acts 11: 20) When Jerusalem heard of the interest in Antioch, they sent Barnabas to that city. Barnabas had been the disciple that took Paul under his wing when Paul originally came to Jerusalem at the age of about 27 and ‘calmed the waters’ so that he could meet with Peter and James. Now, Barnabas remembers Paul…the Greek…and perceives that he could be useful with the group of interested people in Antioch. Consequently “Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul.” (Acts 11:25) and brings Paul back to Antioch to work with these people. The rest is history.

Paul was an entirely different person. He had been discriminated against much of his life…being of Greek heritage he was not fully acceptable to the Hebrew Jews or Hebrew Christians that he associated with in Jerusalem. After being rejected and kept on the ‘outside’ for most of his life, he realized that this was putting the focus on the wrong thing. Paul had matured sufficiently so that if he were to work with people he would focus on Jesus…and on God. He would not let the insignificant things of life get in his way of telling the good news. He was going to be all things to all people so that he could bring people to a greater happiness.

I close with this passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans, Chapter 3, verses 21-31: “But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction (between peoples), since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God….

Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.”

The early Paul could not have written this. Yet, the later Paul has not forsaken his “Native Judaism.” His focus has changed. He has gone from a person that set out to prove his worth and has been transformed into a person who looks to God for all things. He has gone from a person who looks for outcomes to one who abides by the process of love. Before, Paul belonged only to Paul; now he belongs to God!