Thursday, March 31, 2016

Paul; the Apostle abnormally born

    In I Corinthians 15 Paul is stressing the importance, of first importance he says, of the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection is absolute truth. He reports that "he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers at the same time.......he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born." That's the NIV translation. Sounds odd, doesn't it. We're used to the traditional, "untimely born" being applied to Paul's apostleship. The word used is "untimely", as in a miscarriage, a birth which is incapable of sustaining life on it's own.
   I thought that was an amazing idea after our look at the life of Paul last Tuesday. I came away from that study just astounded by the supernatural circumstances of Paul's conversion, calling and ministry. Paul's own perspective is that he miscarried; his life didn't progress to full term. It's like he thinks of his life before that day on the Damascus road as only a gestation period...he wasn't born yet.... then supernaturally born, abnormally born on that road, almost more of a death he never really recovered from. He required God's sustaining life. Life support.
      Paul's life story is certainly different from any other and I really enjoyed trying to piece a timeline together from the small narrative here in Acts 9 and his own account of events in his letters.
      Here's what we learn of Paul before Acts 9. This is backstory is related in Philippians 3:5-6. He was "circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee, as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless." As a Jewish person, Paul was the best of the best. He had the right stuff. In fact, in Galatians 1:14 he says "I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers." He was climbing the ladder and by implication over the backs of anyone he could climb faster than. He was an ambitious Pharisee with his sights on the powerful places in Judaism.
     When we left the Jerusalem story in Acts 8:3 "Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison." The narrative continues in chapter 9 with Saul becoming so angry that the Jewish converts to Christ were getting away from him that he got letters from the High Priest himself to go to Damascus [about 150 miles] and bring back those who had fled to insure their proper punishment and imprisonment. He was "breathing out murderous threats"; his very atmosphere of his life, the breath he breathed was murder and threats.
    Suddenly as he and his soldiers rushed toward the destruction of these enemies, light flashed around him and the light knocked him to the ground! Then a voice spoke out of the light saying, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
     Saul replied, "Who are you, Lord?" We don't know what to make of that. Why did he call him Lord if he didn't know who he was? Why didn't he recognize Jesus as others did after the resurrection? But the question we do know the answer to is, "How scared was he?"
    Jesus commanded him to get up and go into Damascus. Then he told him to await further orders. And Saul, blinded and confounded by the vision, did exactly as he was told.
    Interestingly the people with him saw the light but didn't hear the voice. The voice was just for Saul. What a remarkable, miraculous calling! What is God going to do with this enemy of Christs? Maybe that's what Saul wondered about the next three days. He had given his life to Judaism, and after Jesus' death had devoted himself to destroying his followers...... and had been now been confronted by a very much alive and powerful Jesus. Everything he had ever believed was destroyed. He was so undone he didn't not eat or drink anything. But he remained in close communion with that living Christ! Verse 11 says Saul was praying and had a vision of Ananias restoring his sight.
    This enemy of Christ had been stopped dead in his tracks. We hold our breath to hear the rest of the story, but God's word to Ananias tells it all. "This is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." Literally Saul is God's instrument of choice.
   After this, Saul spent several DAYS with the disciples in Damascus. AT ONCE he began preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. Days. Profound change. Now he finds himself the target of Jewish hatred and persecution and has to be lowered over the city wall by night to escape. That's only the first time that's going to happen.
    If you want to think more about the change in Paul, there is much to be learned from 2 Corinthians 11:21-12:6, Paul's suffering for Christ. There is no better explanation or example of turning away from serving self to serve God. And there's some interesting biographical information in Galatians 1:11-2:10. Being me, I would love to say I have a timeline figured out for Paul's life. It's so intriguing. Even though Acts 11 to the end are about Paul and his missionary journeys, we discover in his letter to the Galatians events we've never heard of; a trip to Arabia and back to Damascus lasting three years; a 15 day meeting with Peter and James at a time he was filled with doubt; 14 years later the Jerusalem Council. We will fill some of that 14 years up with some mission work, but there is much more that we don't know about Paul than what we know.
    But what we know is miraculous. God chose the greatest enemy of the church to be it's greatest evangelist.






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