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Saul
Good Heart Wrong Head
Lesson 46
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This study has focused on
Bible characters whose experiences have
significant end time parallels, and the life of
the apostle Paul is no exception. To summarize
the life of Saul before his conversion into a
single sound bite, I would say, good heart,
wrong head. If I were sum up the life of
Saul after conversion, I would say, Whole
heart, right head. The story of Sauls
transformation has dimensions that every
Christian should consider because a complete
paradigm shift is no small thing.
As
a Child
Bible students know few
facts about Sauls childhood. Most scholars
believe that he was born about A.D.12 in the
coastal city of Tarsus. Tarsus was near the
northeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea at a
location about 250 miles southeast of where
Ankara, Turkey is today. Saul belonged to the
tribe of Benjamin, a tribe well known for its
fierce and zealous devotion. (Genesis 49:27,
Judges 20:15,16) Sauls parents many have
named him after the first king of Israel, who was
also a descendant from the tribe of Benjamin.
Because Pompey made Tarsus the capital of the
Roman Province of Cilicia in 67 B.C., Saul came
into this world having two identities: He was a
Jew by nationality, and he was also a Roman
citizen. This unique combination ultimately
enabled Paul to travel and speak for god in
places and languages that few people could have
done at that time. As a city, Tarsus was noted
for its advanced schools, including a respected
school in stoic philosophy. The pride of Tarsus
was its academic prowess and this son of Tarsus
was no embarrassment.
As a young man, Saul
decided to serve God as a rabbi. His passion for
learning was as great as his ability to absorb
and comprehend. As a lad, Saul probably traveled
to Jerusalem with his father for the appointed
feasts. It must have been an awe-inspiring treat
for young Saul to see the grandeur of the temple
and the fascinating services the priest
conducted. Perhaps it was these events that
inspired Saul to dedicate Himself to Gods
service. Saul was not a Levite, so he could not
become a priest, however, he could do the next
best thing and become a member of the Pharisee
party.
After completing studies
in Tarsus, he was accepted into the school taught
by the Pharisees scholars in Jerusalem. There, he
studied under the famous teacher, Gamaliel. (Acts
22:3) I believe Saul was about 18 when he arrived
in Jerusalem, shortly after Jesus ascended to
Heaven in A.D. 30. Saul was deeply passionate
about his religion and being accustomed to a life
of self-denial, he paid careful attention to
right doing. Saul was totally committed to
becoming a Pharisee. He was a zealot in every
detail; energetic, intense and ideological. He
was an exemplary student, and because he was
intellectually superior, his teachers were
confident this young man would have a bright
future within their ranks. It has been said,
love is blind. If this is so, then
Sauls love for his religion led him to be
totally convinced of the inerrancy of the
Pharisaical doctrines and the righteousness of
his ways. Years later he wrote,
If
anyone else thinks he has reasons to put
confidence in the flesh, I have more: 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. (Philippians
3:4-6)
Religious
Parties
In Sauls day,
Israel consisted of several religious sects (or
denominations) much like Protestantism today.
Tensions between various sects were openly
hostile and militant toward each other at times.
Constant friction made it difficult for Rome to
govern Jerusalem. Because Jerusalem was a city of
relatives having competing views about
God, it was a contentious place in which to live.
No doubt this caustic environment was one reason
why John the Baptist conducted his meetings in
the desert.
When Saul arrived in
Jerusalem for advanced schooling, tow religious
parties dominated the scene. As you might expect,
these two parties represented the liberals and
the conservatives. The Pharisee party, to which
Saul had pledged himself, was known for its pious
commitment to righteousness through austerity and
rigor. As conservatives, they were zealous for
righteous living and were quick to condemn anyone
who violated their rules of righteousness.
(Mark 2) They believed righteousness was of
utmost importance because they thought
unrighteous people could not receive eternal
life. Therefore, the Pharisees were constantly
codifying righteousness by defining rules for
every aspect of life. For example, when it came
to Sabbath observance, the Pharisees had codified
more than 400 rules for proper Sabbath
observance. The Pharisees were convinced that
life in the hereafter was only possible through
rigorous obedience to Gods laws.
Their winning argument was: Would God grant
eternal life to a sinner who chose to live in
ignorance and defiance to His laws? Because
Israel had a long history of apostasy, the
Pharisees reasoned that using a heavy
legalistic doctrine would help the
Jews prevent apostasy from occurring again.
(Matthew 23) It is ironic that the greatest
fear of the Pharisees was apostasy.
The religion of the
Pharisees required conformity to rules rather
than purity of heart. (Matthew 3:7-10) To them, a
zeal for conformity was the evidence of a
new heart mentioned in Ezekiel.
(Ezekiel 18:31; Jeremiah 31:33) Pharisees loved
religion; it was their God. They believed that if
a righteous person happened to have
any unknown sin in his life, the
righteousness of Abraham, their father, covered
any deficit. (Genesis 15:6; Luke 3:8) Perhaps
Saul was attracted to the Pharisees because like
him, they were dogmatic and their thirst for
advanced education was insatiable. (John 5:39,40;
2 Timothy 3:7) The Pharisees considered the
Old Testament, plus the writings and traditions
of the rabbis to be the Word of
God. Therefore, the Pharisees staunchly
defended the traditions and orthodoxy of Judaism
more aggressively than any other party in Israel.
The other leading party
of the time, the Sadducees, was also legalistic
and politically powerful, but in a different way
than the Pharisees. The Sadducees did not believe
in a hereafter. Consequently, they were
self-indulgent and focused on obtaining wealth,
pleasure, status and comfort. Even more,
they rejected all but the first five books of the
Old Testament. The Sadducees were legalistic
pragmatists. For example, they saw nothing wrong
with hiring Gentiles to work for them on Sabbath,
as long as none of the Gentiles lived within
their gates. (Exodus 20:10) The Sadducees
despised the austere lifestyle of the Pharisees
and they constantly argued with them over
theological differences. Overall, it seemed that
the Sadducees held control of Israel politically,
while the Pharisees held control over the people
religiously.
A.D.
30 Christianity Begins to Grow
Before we examine
Sauls conversion on the road to Damascus,
we need to highlight developments that happened
in Jerusalem while Saul was attending school.
After the apostles baptized 3,000 believers into
the kingdom of God on that great day of Pentecost
in A.D. 30, the Christian movement in Jerusalem
began to expand rapidly. Over the next four
years, various disciples of Jesus were publicly
humiliated and punished for promoting what was
considered an inflammatory religion that was
highly critical of Jewish leaders and the
teachings of Judaism. As is so often the case,
the more Jewish leaders persecuted the disciples
of Jesus, the more popular they became!
The Bible says, The
apostles performed many miraculous signs and
wonders among the people. And all the believers
used to meet together in Solomons
Colonnade. [In the temple
complex]. (Acts 5:12, insertion mine)
Proselytizing in the temple and healing the sick
on the streets produced a large number of
converts. As Christianity grew in popularity in
Jerusalem, the Sadducees became highly agitated.
Their political support was eroding. The
Pharisees were also alarmed because people called
them the enemies of God. The Christian movement
was different than anything Jewish leaders had
ever seen before. The disciples of Jesus were
performing genuine miracles daily, just
like Jesus had done! People who had suffered from
lifelong illness were being healed, right before
the eyes of people who were intimately acquainted
with their illness. These wonderful and joyous
manifestations of divine power were the talk of
the town and crowds flocked to hear and see what
the disciples of Jesus were doing and saying.
People
brought the sick into the streets and laid them
on beds and mats so that at least Peters
shadow might fall on some of them as he passed
by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around
Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those
tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were
healed. (Acts 5:15,16) Boldly, Peter
and the disciples spoke and performed miracles
and Jewish authorities could not rebuff them.
Christians were teaching salvation through belief
in Jesus Christ. They were preaching to the
Jewish people that Jesus was mans High
Priest and the temple rituals were no longer
necessary. The Christians exclaimed that
Pharisees and Sadducees had slain the Lamb of
God! Over the course of time, the Pharisees and
the Sadducees held several meetings to discuss
proposals that would shut down the growth of
Christianity. Christian doctrine and
influence was threatening the survival of Judaism
and something had to be done.
The
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was
Israels highest court. The 71 members of
the Sanhedrin came from all religious parties
according to election and/or bribery. The Romans
granted the Jews (and other similar tribal
nations) a limited amount of civil power to deal
with their own people. As far as the Romans were
concerned, tribal nations were allowed to impose
their cultural laws as long as they stayed within
the higher laws of Rome. Granting this type of
authority freed the Romans from the onerous chore
of passing judgment on meaningless and disputable
matters like religion. However, there was one law
above all others that Rome imposed on all tribal
nations. The Romans made it clear that tribal
nations did not have the power to punish any
Roman citizen. Every Roman citizen had the right
to appeal to Caesar.
You may recall that after
Peter denied being a follower of Jesus in
Pilates judgment hall early Friday morning
before the crucifixion, Peters remorse and
broken spirit allowed him to have a born
again conversion that weekend. (John
21:15-19) The Lord restored Peters
credibility among the disciples by empowering him
with enormous Holy Spirit power. Thus, it was
Peter who boldly led the way at Pentecost when
3,000 souls were baptized. Later on, God used
Peter again in a powerful way when the Holy
Spirit revealed to him a deception of Ananias and
Sapphira. Their sudden death had a profound
impact on the early church. (Acts 5) For all his
faults and weaknesses, Peter had certain
qualities the Lord could use, but only after
Peter was converted. Peter became bold in
Gods grace and strength, no longer
depending on his arms of flesh. Peter was a
black and white kind of guy, leaving
no gray areas in his mind. He did not mince words
about the atrocities of Jewish leaders,
especially when telling the Jews about the murder
of Jesus. Peters boldness had a price for
which he was arrested and imprisoned, but an
angel miraculously freed him from the chains of
his captors during the night. A few days later,
Peter rallied the apostles and they went out on
the streets of Jerusalem again. No human can
thwart this kind of determination and power.
When the Sanhedrin heard
that Peter was out of prison and that he and the
apostles were healing the sick on the streets of
Jerusalem again, they immediately sent a
captain and soldiers for him. Notice what the
bible says, At that, the captain went
with his officers and brought the apostles. They
did not use force, because they feared that the
people would stone them. Having brought the
apostles, they made them appear before the
Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.
We gave you strict orders not to teach in
this name, he said. Yet you have
filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are
determined to make us guilty of this mans
blood. Peter and the other apostles replied
[in never-to-be-forgotten-words] We must
obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers
raised Jesus from the dead whom you have
killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him
to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that
he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins
to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and
so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to
those who obey him. When they heard this,
they [members of the Sanhedrin] were
furious and wanted to put them to death. (Acts
5:26-33, insertion mine)
The Bible record
continues: But a Pharisee named
Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored
by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and
ordered that the men be put outside for a while.
Then he addressed them: Men of Israel,
consider carefully what you intend to do to these
men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to
be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied
to him. He was killed, all his followers were
dispersed, and it came to nothing. After him,
Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the
census and led a band of people in a revolt. He
too was killed, and all his followers were
scattered. Therefore, in the present case I
advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go!
For if their purpose or activity is of human
origin, it will fail. But if it from God, you
will not be able to stop these men; you will only
find yourself fighting against God. (Acts
5:34-39)
The wisdom of Gamaliel is
legendary for good reason. No wonder Saul wanted
to sit at his feet. The words and influence of
Gamaliel during the meeting brings up a very
important point. Consider this: For centuries,
Christians have viewed the Pharisees with a
certain amount of contempt. This contempt rises
from the New Testament. Christians believe that
Jesus is God in the flesh. They find
the Pharisees and the Sadducees to be so blinded
by their religious dogma that they cannot even
see that Jesus is the Messiah. Consequently, a
certain amount of contempt has been held down
through the centuries for those who participated
in Christs death. But is this Christian
contempt for the Jews appropriately placed?
Consider this:
Confrontation
Jesus came to Earth at
Gods appointed time. His birth was not a
random event. The timing of Jesus birth and
ministry on Earth was predetermined to
that Jesus could challenge the finest religious
system that man could produce. (Galatians
4:4) God wanted to demonstrate the reaction and
behavior of the worlds best religious
system when confronted with truth. In other
words, the contest between Jesus and the
Pharisees is a parallel of Jesus versus any
religious system! This is an end time
parallel that everyone should consider. Some of
the Pharisees, like Gamaliel, were sincere and
devout. The Jewish people respected them because
they were dedicated to selfless sacrifice for the
service of God. The Pharisee party was horribly
misguided, but Gamaliel was not an evil man. He
was a spiritual man, a good man in a religious
system that commingled the doctrines of men with
the truth of God. (Mark 7:7) As a Pharisee,
Gamaliel had a good heart but a
wrong head when it came to
understanding the fulfillment of Scripture. His
comments prove that he wondered in his heart if
Jesus might be the Messiah.
A Christian cannot
appreciate the contest between Jesus and the
Pharisees until he/she also discovers that he/she
actually suffers from the same problems that
afflicted the Pharisees. A blind man cannot see.
A blind man cannot see what he should see unless,
(a) there is someone to open his eyes, and (b) he
is willing to open his eyes. When people are
blinded by the certainty of their own religious
dogma, they cannot see or understand their own
blindness! This is a problem that every human
being must wrestle with. The Pharisees were
convinced they were right and everyone else was
wrong. Jesus came into their world and spoke
truth. The result was a deadly confrontation.
Here is a profound thought: Our ability to
understand truth is proportional to our
willingness to consider truth. We cannot mature
in an understanding of truth unless we are
willing to submit to what we have learned. We
cannot enjoy the freedom and the joy of truth
until we come to a place in life where we decide
to follow truth no matter what it is, or
what it costs.
The
Pharisee Test
There are some
pharisaical ways in every human being. Here is a
short test that demonstrates this. The Pharisees
hated Jesus for three reasons: First, Jesus did
not show reverence for the ideas they respected.
Jesus insulted their piety, their culture, their
ideas about salvation and their overall view of
God. (If Jesus came into your church and
did this to you, how would you react?)
Second, Jesus embarrassed the Pharisees by
condemning them with their own words. Jesus
caused people to have less respect for the
Pharisees with each episode of embarrassment.
Jesus continually demonstrated how the religion
of the Pharisees was driven by vanity. (If Jesus
embarrassed your church leaders every time they
made a religious statement, how would you feel?)
Third, Jesus performed miracles every day to back
up His outrageous claims. Since the Pharisees
could not perform miracles, Jesus actions
further humiliated the Pharisees in the eyes of
the people by proving they were spiritually
devoid of Gods power. (What would your
church leaders do with a miracle working person
in their midst who taught a strange and different
doctrine?) To be confronted with God and His
truth is not a causal experience. During the
Great Tribulation, the confronting presence of
truth will push every person into either defiant
rebellion or complete submission. There will be
no middle ground. Jesus told His disciples,
For whoever is not against us is for
us. (Mark 9:40)
The
Way
This bold new Christian
belief system threatened the culture and
traditional way of the Jews, so the Pharisees and
Sadducees united against a common enemy called
The Way. The Christian movement was
initially called The Way because
Jesus said,
I am the way and the
truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me. (John 14:6, italics
mine) As time passed, members of The
Way became known as Christians.
(Acts 11:26)
During the first four
years of Christian growth in Jerusalem, Saul was
a graduate student in the school of the
Pharisees. As tensions mounted between Jews and
Christians, young Saul, a zealous ideologue, came
to despise Christians because their actions were
tearing down the very institution to which he had
dedicated his life. By the end of A.D. 33, the
Sanhedrin was forced to ignore Gamaliels
words. The Sanhedrin finally concluded that the
death penalty must be administered to all
dissidents belonging to The Way or
chaos would ultimately bring the wrath of Rome
down upon Jerusalem.
Note: The Romans
required tribal nations to keep peace in their
cities. If a civil disturbance required the
presence and services of the Roman army, the
Romans would destroy the entire city. Total
destruction was Romes way. This action
prevented many problems from reappearing in the
future. Of course, loot from the city was used to
pay Romes mercenary soldiers.
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