Readings
for Easter 3C:
Acts 9:1-19a; Revelation 5:6-14; John 21:1-14
April 25, 2004
The Rev. Mary B. Blessing
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
Peter is ecstatic to see his beloved Jesus again. He and his friends "dare not ask" who is inviting them to breakfast, for they know it is their Lord. By now they are familiar with Jesus' new look. They are not afraid. Seeing him now is almost like an extension of the life they had together before Jesus' horrific death. The transformation that began with Jesus during his life, now comes to fruition, in this seemingly normal activity of eating fish and breaking bread.
Saul has a very different story. Saul never knew the living Jesus. The drama of his story is so great it is told 3 times in Acts, and is referenced multiple times in Paul's letters (Acts 9:1-20; 22:1-21; 26:2-23; Galatians 1:11-24; in 1 Cor. 9:1; 1 Cor. 15:8 & Philippians 3:12.)
Saul, who became Paul, was the dreaded Pharisee, the "temple guard", a zealot for the Law of Moses. On behalf of the Chief Priests of the Temple (perhaps Caiaphas himself), Saul rounded up early followers of Jesus, and brought them back to Jerusalem for execution.
Who was this Saul? Saul of Tarsus was born a Jew, and remained a Jew to his death. He was well-educated in the best schools of Jerusalem. Not only was he Jewish, he belonged to the powerful religious party known as the Pharisees--a group known to be quite hostile to Jesus and his followers. Saul's well-established Jewish family were Roman citizens; they bought their citizenship, and lived in a Roman occupied Greek territory. His father was a wealthy tent-maker. Tarsus is described as a "university town" where Greek philosophy was expounded. But as a boy Saul's parents wished him to have a proper Hebrew education. They moved to Jerusalem where Saul was tutored by a highly regarded Pharisee of the Temple. As he matured, Saul believed that to follow God's command one had to keep Torah/The Law and protect The Temple. As a young man, he perceived followers of Jesus as a threat to Torah/The Law and the Temple; he was amongst those who vowed to exterminate the threat. (Anchor Bible Dict., v. 5, p.187)
Why was Saul going to Damascus? This city was traditionally an enclave for Jews waiting for the Messiah. (Amos 5:26f) Now large numbers of Jews who believed Jesus was The Messiah gathered in Damascus. They claimed to be Jews, but discontinued observance of The Torah. They believed Damascus was out of reach of the Jerusalem Temple authorities. Saul was offended by them, and sought special permission to arrest them. The "Jewish Christians" of Damascus were warned of this particular zealot for the Temple, and now feared Saul's arrival.
What an amazing turn of events, that just as Saul is pounding up the road, "breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord", he is suddenly zapped by a very bright light-stopped in his tracks! In is own words, "God..called me through his grace, and was pleased to reveal his Son to me" (Gal.1:15) Luke-Acts tells us witnesses saw "a light from heaven flash around him"…and they "heard a voice saying, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"… "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting" Saul is shocked, he is blinded. He stumbles, he is on his knees, listening to this voice. Through a series of events, Saul received the laying on of hands, his eyesight restored, and finally baptized. Saul became Paul and began a new life; he no longer served as one who preserved the Law of Moses, but as one who, having received the fullness of Truth, now proclaims "Jesus is the Son of God." (Acts 9:20)
Saul's encounter with the Risen Lord was well after Jesus' resurrection appearances to his disciples. It may have occurred as much as 3 years after Jesus died. (ABD, p. 191) He never met the living Jesus; he did not proscribe to the teachings of Jesus' disciples; he was not a follower of "the Way". Why in the world did Saul receive this revelation from God?
I was talking with a college student recently about this amazing turn of events in early Christianity. This student was raised in a Christian family, and believes in God, but has lots of doubt about Jesus. She struggles with the belief of Jesus as God. "How in the world can Christians claim that any human could be God?", she asks. But, she did acknowledge this: "The truly amazing thing about Saul's experience on the Road to Damascus was that he, Saul, was the least likely person to identify Jesus as Lord. Everyone knew that Saul was dead-set against the followers of Jesus-the Temple leaders knew, the Roman soldiers knew, the persecuted Christians knew, everyone knew Saul was against Jesus. There was no reason for Saul to conjure up a story that verified Jesus as Lord. It is amazing that God chose this enemy of Jesus to say, in effect: pay attention, Jesus really is God. It was rather ingenious of God to pick Saul out this way. Of course Peter and those who knew Jesus when he was alive would claim to see Jesus after his death, but why would Saul? He had no reason to make this claim, unless he had in fact experienced hearing God say so. That's what makes it so believable."
After this young woman gave me this clear analysis, she turned to me, with a twinkle in her eye and said: "Now, just because I said all that, doesn't mean I believe it."
I walked away from that conversation wondering, how can this be, that an articulate young student can so clearly see the atonishing truth in what she is saying, yet not believe it? Are we a population that demands empirical evidence, or we believe nothing? Must we experience a truth directly, personally, for ourselves, or we discount it? Do we no longer live trusting experiences others have, and believe because they are believable? Can we not make a choice to follow a working hypothesis that something is true, and then see if it works for us?
Countless books have been written analyzing Saul's experience. Most call it "the conversion of Paul". But it is not as if Paul converted from Judaism to Christianity-no, Paul was transformed from a Pharisidic Jew to a Christian Jew. It started with a dramatic experience of the Risen Lord, but, he made the choice to pay attention, to listen to the voice of God, to follow where it led. As E.F. Bruce says, we can only understand Paul's experience as one of "intelligent and deliberate surrender of his will to the risen Christ…the risen Christ who, from this time on displaced the Law as the center of Paul's life and thought." (E.F. Bruce, PAUL, p. 75)
Paul's life was barreling down the road of self-righteous piety. In a moment his life changed. He surrendered his will to God, and The Risen Christ entered his heart, removing bitter hatred, filling him with love In that moment he realized he was wrong: Jesus was the Christ; Jesus overcame the Cross. Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law.
Paul would not have called his experience a "conversion" from one religion to another, but rather, a transformation of the religious path he was already pursuing. A dramatic transformation, from "The Chief Persecutor of the Church of Christ" to the "Chief Apostle of Christ". He surrendered his will, and, the Holy Spirit endowed him with remarkable gifts to reach out to the Gentile world, to proclaim his witness of the Risen Lord, to bring unexpected people into relationship with Christ, and to save this fledgling religion from extinction.
What does the transformation of Paul's life tell you about the transformational power of Christ in your life? Are you able to surrender your will to God? Are you just going through the motions of your religion, living a righteous life, believing you are honoring your God, but not experiencing God? What if you lived in the expectation of Christ's Holy Spirit coming to you? Jesus says we are to "ask" for the Holy Spirit to enter our lives (Luke 11:13). Why not ask now? Then wait, listen and receive what God longs to give you--transformation of your heart for His Son's sake, and for the sake of the world. A transformation so great that you would freely place Christ at the center of your life and thought, and would be moved to proclaim "Jesus is the Son of God."
AMEN
| Updated /04 |
|