Supercilious Saul - Jan Darnell

Saul’s supercilious feelings of superiority and pride were based in his heritage, education and accomplishments. I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, just as you all are today. And I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons…Acts 22:4-5

A zealous Pharisee, Saul persecuted the Way or the early Church of Christ. This sect was called the Way because they believed Jesus to be the way back to God. Jesus said, I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. Jn. 14:6

Obviously, Saul considered his actions against the Way to be appropriate and, in fact, necessary. His convictions compelled him to exterminate those of the Way and purge Judea of her heretics. In effect, Saul was defending his own faith in God, even to the point of physically restraining and murdering the resistance.

Differences in opinions as to how we should approach and worship God can be traced back to Adam’s sons, Cain and Abel. God accepted Abel’s sacrifice but not Cain’s. So, Cain killed Abel. Gen. 4:8 From that point forward, history provides an endless list of wars over divergent belief systems. Cain initiated the bloody trail. Saul was just picking up the stick that has been passed down by zealots to beat down their opposition. My sacrifice is better than yours.

Jesus, however, wasn’t claiming that He had a better sacrifice to offer than another. He asserted that He was the sacrifice. Religions across the world offer us spiritual, meditative, and ritualistic, parochial sacraments as paths back to God. Those of the Way simply follow Jesus. Why? Because Jesus Christ is the sinless Lamb slain by God on the altar for our sins. His unblemished righteousness covers our prideful wickedness. Hallelujah!

Supercilious Saul, on his blood thirsty journey to Damascus, met the humble Jesus of the Way. Saul’s intentions were to inflict more pain, do more stick beating and bring to justice followers of the Way. And it came about that as I was on my way approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”Acts 22:6-7

Saul, blinded by the light, fell prostrate to the ground. With no other options than to engage in conversation, he answered, “Who are Thou, Lord?” (This was a question Saul should have asked when he witnessed the stoning of Stephen and heard him pray for his tormentors to be forgiven. Acts 8:58-60) Jesus replied, “I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.” Acts 22:7-8 Wow. Saul thought he was defending God. Turns out, his supercilious pride blinded him to the truth of the Way. He was actually persecuting the God he thought he was serving. How critical it is to be sure we are following the Way and not our way.

The world is full of religious zealots who claim to know and serve God. These are willing to die for Him, sacrifice comforts and deny themselves pleasures for the sake of kingdom membership. However, followers of the Way do not persecute those who follow other paths. We cannot build the Kingdom of God upon the blood of religious dissenters. The Kingdom of God is built upon the blood of our Redeemer and cornerstone of our faith, Jesus Christ.

After his encounter with Jesus, Saul changed his name to Paul, which is a Latin word meaning “small” or “little.” Saul gained humility when he met the Way that day. His murderous zeal yielded to the sweet love and satisfaction of Christ. Whatever Gamaliel taught Saul regarding the laws of God, Jesus perfected through the revelation of His grace as the…the way, the Truth and the Life of God.

Paul became a zealous advocate of the Way, preaching the “good news” of forgiveness, rather than persecuting the followers. Nearly a fourth of the New Testament canon was written by Paul to the early churches and believers he brought into the Kingdom of Christ. When we humble ourselves before the Way…when we recognize our supercilious tendencies as hindrances to the realization of truth, then God will reveal the glory of His Son to us. God is for us, not against us. Let us be for Him and not against His Way as well. Ro. 8:31-33