Chapter 7 of acts introduces us to Saul, a young Pharisee who condemned Stephen and led the first crusade against the early church in Jerusalem. He probably witnessed Stephen describing the vision of God’s throne with Jesus standing beside the throne in the Sanhedrin chamber. What Stephen said infuriated all of those Jewish leaders. Their theology would not allow anyone to have a vision of the Almighty that included Jesus. They reacted swiftly and stoned this blasphemer. Saul witnessed the imprisonment of numerous believers who refused to speak a word against Jesus. Day after day Saul repeatedly heard the same name; Jesus of Nazareth. Many Jews were calling him the Christ; the long awaited deliver. I wonder if in a heated argument with one of the believers that he had arrested Saul boldly proclaimed something like “God Almighty would have to speak to me from Heaven before I will believe that Jesus was anything other than a demented rebel.” I’ve heard other people make similar claims in defiance of God’s sovereignty. Of course that conversation occurred in my imagination, but it would fit in nicely with another time when Saul heard the name of Jesus of Nazareth; on the road outside of Damascus.
It took me about 20 minutes to read this passage.
Stuart
No comments:
Post a Comment