“If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Corinthians 15:14)
On Monday we took a look at the embarrassing evidence in the testimony of the women and on Wednesday we unpacked the “enemy” evidence that came from the religious leaders. Today, in our final installment, we will look at the Pharisee Saul, a true enemy of Jesus.
Saul of Tarsus
For over two thousand years, no skeptic has ever been able to explain away in any reasonable and plausible fashion Saul, the persecutor of the church, becoming Paul the pastor, preacher, and disciple of Jesus who penned much of the New Testament.
Saul of Tarsus was feared among the first-century church. He was relentless in his persecution of the followers of Jesus, and he testifies to that truth in a variety of places (1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:13; 1 Timothy 1:13), “as for zeal, persecuting the church” (Philippians 3:5). Along with his epistles, the book of Acts testifies to Saul being a staunch persecutor of the church. Then something happened on the road to Damascus.
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9:1-6).
Perhaps there was no greater enemy of the early church than Saul of Tarsus. It is said he even held the coats of those who stoned Stephen to death (Acts 7). Saul was blinded by his self-righteous, false religion and did everything in his power to extinguish the light of the gospel. But to no avail. The resurrected Jesus showed up and transformed Saul the persecutor into Paul the preacher. How do explain this historical truth? There is only one way – it happened just like the Scriptures say it happened.
Oh, one more thing. It is beyond contestation that Paul was martyred under the emperor Nero for his faith in Jesus. Early church fathers, Polycarp, Tertullian, and Clement of Rome, all testify to this truth. The only way anyone could go from killing Christians’ to being killed for being a Christian is because the risen and resurrected Jesus showed up. From embarrassing testimony to enemy attestation, what we have is a powerful proof for the resurrection of Jesus. So, the question is, “Do you believe?” He is risen! He is risen indeed! HAPPY RESURRECTION SUNDAY!
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 