Here’s how Luke begins chapter 8 of Acts…
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
Sounds straight out of Hollywood doesn’t it! We don’t know how long has passed since Pentecost, but in the days since the Church has experienced tremendous growth. Things have changed everyday, and it’s been impossible for anyone, including the leaders, to really keep up with things. They’ve simply been responding to the move of God all around them.
But now something has changed. There is a new level of hostility directed at them. Stephen was actually killed for this. At that point all except the apostles fled Jerusalem. Remember, most of the people who were now a part of the church were not from Jerusalem. They had just come for the festivals. But then they had stayed because they simply didn’t want to leave. But now they knew it was time to go home. But they would return as different people. This Jesus of Nazareth had changed their lives, and now, as they left Jerusalem, they told people what had happened to them. More lives were changed as a result.
We were introduced to Saul at the end of the previous chapter, when Stephen was killed. But we know nothing about him. Now we see that he is in a sense the ring leader of the persecution. So who was this young man? Here are a few things we learn from letters he later writes to the same Christians he had once persecuted…
- He was from a devout Jewish family in Tarsus
- His family came from the tribe of Benjamin, which meant that he was a Hebrew of Hebrews (Philippians 3:5)
- He was the student of a prominent rabbi named Gamaliel
- He was a Pharisee
- He was zealous for his beliefs
- He believes, like his fellow Pharisees, that Jesus and his followers were doing damage to their religion, and they must be stopped by any means necessary
Our story picks up with Saul going to the high priest and asking permission to put in prison any followers of Jesus (also called followers of the Way) that he found in Damascus. But as he and his companions were going to Damascus, they saw a light and then heard a voice that said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” The voice then told him to go into the city and wait to be told what to do.
Saul chose to obey this voice, which Luke says belonged to the Lord. He had never experienced anything like it. And further, the light had caused him to go blind.
Saul spent three days in the city waiting. He was blind and refused to eat or drink anything.
At that same time a man in Damascus named Ananias heard this same voice. Jesus told him to go and find Saul of Tarsus. Ananias knew who Saul of Tarsus was, and he didn’t want anything to do with him. Here’s what the Lord said in response:
Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.
So Ananias obeyed. He found Saul exactly where he was told he would find him. He laid hands on Saul. Saul could once again see. Then he baptized Saul.
I’m sure that there was an emotional connection that happened for Saul in this moment. But I also think it was a mental exercise. He had just spent three days isolated and scared, but during that time he must have been going back over everything he knew. And at some point there I think it began to make sense to him that the Jesus that he had been persecuting was in fact the Messiah that his people had been waiting for.
So Saul’s immediate response after having his vision restored and being baptized (and eating) was to channel his zeal into telling everyone about how he was rethinking everything (repentance).
You can imagine that those who heard him were pretty skeptical. Was this a trap? Even the apostles weren’t so sure about him when he came to Jerusalem to see them. Fortunately, a man named Barnabas believed his story and took him under his wing.
Here’s how Luke ends this section…
Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in number (Acts 9:31).