Guest Blog by Conor Bell
Acts 9; Galatians 1: 13-23; Acts 13; Acts 15
If you ever visit the city of Rome, you will find that many of the basilicas and other churches there have a set of marble statues of the twelve Apostles. Each figure has an object, either in their hand or nearby to indicate who they represent – e.g., either their trade or the form of martyrdom connected with them. As you walk by these statues, you have a moment of “Hey, hold on! ….. who is the twelfth one?”
Early in Acts, we have mention of Matthias being chosen to replace Judas. Judas’ name has now become synonymous with treachery and being a traitor; yet Judas was the disciple trusted with the group’s money, all the more painful that he became the traitor. After Acts 1, we have no further mention of Matthias. So who is the twelfth Apostle depicted in these Roman statues? It’s not St Matthias, nor St Stephen the first martyr who we hear about in Acts 6 & 7.
Everybody knows the phrase ‘Damascus Road experience’ – a phrase even non-Christians use. St Paul first appears as Saul at the end of Acts Ch 7 going into Ch 8 – the man who holds the cloaks for those who stoned Stephen. Saul, the agent of the Sanhedrin, is sent out to persecute this group of Christians in the early church, and on the way, God intervenes (Acts 9).
Many modern movies depict flawed heroes, who start off mostly good, and after a few knocks in the adventures of the story, they get a little darker, and have more of an edge. In the story of St Paul, as depicted in Acts, once again the normal or expected narrative is turned on its head when God’s plan comes into play. There are very few stories in modern literature or film in which the villain becomes the hero.
It is believed that Paul had a period of reflection after his conversion, in which he went ‘on retreat’ for possibly 3 years (Galatians 1: 13 – 23), before finally meeting up with the disciples in Jerusalem (Acts 15). What must it have been like at that first meeting? The persecutor was now on their side. Was it some elaborate ploy? The twelve disciples who journeyed with Jesus in his 3 year ministry were the first witnesses of what Jesus said and did. But Paul was a different kind of Apostle – called individually by Jesus Christ. He was here for a purpose.
Paul was one of the most well versed in the Jewish faith, and yet he was also a man with feet in two camps – Jewish and a Greek-speaking Roman citizen. This was something he would later use to his advantage to appeal to the emperor himself. How did he prove he was a Roman citizen?
Here was the man who was a devoutly religious Jew, who made his living from tent-making. The man who like so many of the Sanhedrin was so incensed by Stephen’s preaching that he held their cloaks as they stoned him (as recorded in Acts 7) It is apparent that Stephen too was a scholar, given the vast references he makes in his speech. Is this what held Paul back from actually throwing stones? Did he know Stephen? Or did he already have some seeds planted in his head from what Stephen said that day?
This same man, who is turned around into the opposite direction in his Damascus Road experience, becomes one of the most important figures in the New Testament, after Jesus. Of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, Paul is linked definitely to twelve of them, his Epistles, and disputedly to a thirteenth, the letter to the Hebrews. A sizeable chunk of Acts relates to Paul as well. Acts is the bridging narrative to the letters, letters that he wrote to ‘church plants’ that he helped start.
If we look at a map of Paul’s recorded journeys, we see a lot of place names that sound familiar from the list of peoples at the first Pentecost. Perhaps Paul wasn’t the first person that they heard the Good News from, but he was significant. The epistles were likely written before the Gospels, so Paul was a key figure in a number of ways:
- He was the person who hammers out and nails down the doctrine of the Church i.e. He wrote down explanations of what we as Christians believe – who Jesus was and what implications this had for them, as much as for us 2,000 years later.
- Dual identity: – not quite Bruce Wayne/Batman or Clark Kent/Superman – but the idea of having feet in both camps put him in a prime position to speak to others, Jewish and Gentile. He was.a devout Jew, who grew up in an area surrounded by Greco-Roman gods. He was thus familiar, if not immersed in that culture. Thus, when later on in Acts, he sees a devotion to an unknown god, he was able to use this as a springboard to preach the Good News.
- Thirdly, just as Peter’s dream, and the meeting with the centurion Cornelius (Acts 10-11) were important in opening up the new faith to the Gentiles; it was Paul and his various associates and travelling companions who were important in spreading the new faith across Turkey and Greece to Roman Italy, and ultimately to us.
Not every Christian has a Damascus Road experience. Not every Christian has that sort of dramatic intervention in their lives. For many of us who have grown up in the 20th and early 21st centuries, we have grown up in the faith, which has grown on us like osmosis. There are others who can readily relate to that conversion experience of Paul. What each experience has in common is that each experience is unique. God connects with each one of us differently. Yet those of us in Europe must remember to be thankful for Paul, as the prototype of conversion, and the messenger who spread the word.
Here are a few things to think about
1) Damascus Road moment. How has God intervened in your life to turn you around from something? Where were you heading?
2) Paul took time to consider his conversion and reflect on his life and purpose. What occasions have you taken a ‘Time out’ to consider what you believe?
3) Paul had a mixed Jewish and Greco-Roman background, which enabled him to speak to a wider audience, and to encourage individuals. How has God used your past experiences to help you relate to others, to share the faith?
4) What scales need to be lifted from your eyes to help you understand Jesus better?