The Conversion of Saul

The Conversion of Saul (Acts 9:1-19).

¹ But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest

² and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

³ Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

⁴ And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"

⁵ And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

⁶ But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."

⁷ The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

⁸ Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

⁹ And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

 

¹⁰ Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord."

¹¹ And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,

¹² and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight."

¹³ But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem.

¹⁴ And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name."

¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

¹⁶ For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

¹⁸ And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;

¹⁹ and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.

The Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd.  One of Jesus' tenderest self-declarations, “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11, 14), contrasts with the lurking presence of false shepherds—unexpected predators in this very pastoral setting. In the same utterance that exposes the false shepherds in his audience (John 10:1-18), Jesus draws many parallels with false shepherds in Judah’s past (Ezek. 34:1-24).

In John 10, Jesus identifies a false shepherd as a leader who is a disguised intruder with hostile intent. “He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber” (vs. 1).  “A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers” (vs. 5).

When his audience fails to grasp the significance of the dangerous reality of illegitimate leaders preying upon God’s people, Jesus brings forward a historical perspective. “All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them” (vs. 8). Likely referring to Ezekiel 34, the Good Shepherd has nothing good to say about wicked leaders, factiously called shepherds. “Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?” (Ezek. 34:2). “The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them” (Ezek. 34:4). “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep” (Ezek. 34:10). The word play is sharp and somewhat cannibalistic, instead of feeding the flock, they are feeding themselves upon the flock.

What the Lord said in Ezekiel 34, he repeats in John 10! “Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out” (Ezek. 34:11). “I will feed them with good pasture … there they shall lie down in good grazing land” (Ezek. 34:14). “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down” (Ezek. 34:15). “I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd” (Ezek. 34:22-23). “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep” (John 10:11). “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:14-15). “So there will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16). Jesus, Son of David, is the one Shepherd whose goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life (Psa. 23:6).

Eat With Him and Him With Me

 

Eat With Him and Him With Me.  The act of sharing a meal with someone else is far more significant than the food served, the etiquette preserved, or the venue reserved for the occasion. Even as simple as, “Hey, I’m going to take a break, would you like to split my Doritos®?” marks a milestone in any relationship. Yes, I would like that, takes the relationship one direction. No, not this time, takes the relationship another direction. Eating together (or not eating together) is the metaphor for fellowship that the whole world understands and uses. Friends make meals; meals make friends.

The Bible is peppered with many symbolic meals that convey deeply meaningful moments, especially between God and humankind. In the Old Testament, Abraham “entertained angels unawares” (Heb. 13:2), including the Lord himself, sharing with them cakes, curds and milk, and a roasted calf (Gen. 18:8). Moses and all the elders of Israel were invited up the slopes of Mt. Sinai to share a meal with God immediately after the nation of Israel agreed to enter into covenant with God. “They beheld God, and ate and drank” (Exo. 24:11). The Lord spoke of a future feast with restored Israel that will also include regenerated Gentiles, “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined” (Isa. 25:6).

In the New Testament, Jesus saved a marriage feast from disaster by turning water into wine, but only the servants knew it (John 2:9). Jesus commandeered the Passover meal, expanding its meaning around his imminent death and resurrection (Matt. 26:28). Using highly figurative language, Jesus promised to the repentant remnant of the church in Laodicea, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20). Jesus is first guest, then host.

The final meal of the Bible, open to all who repent and believe, reverses the first forbidden meal of the Bible which became a curse to all (Gen. 3:6). “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:9). Sharing a meal marks a relational milestone with God; our full restoration is accomplished by God.

Keep a Close Watch on Yourself

Keep a Close Watch on Yourself.  Self-care has become fashionable in recent years. Taking a mental health break would have been unthinkable in the 1990s, but in the 2020s it is commonly written into workplace policy. Unless someone had a fever over 100º and a doctor’s note, workers were expected to show up at work on time, every time, and work the whole time! Certainly, that ideal is still enshrined in the business sector, but there is much more recent levity given to mental load and emotional balance, largely because it yields greater productivity in the long run. Mental load and emotional balance are important factors in overall health but terrible goals for overall health; excellent servants but terrible masters.

The Bible doesn’t teach much about mental and emotional health as entities separate from relational and spiritual health. A biblical view of the human is simpler and more holistic than its component parts. Solomon writes insightfully of the necessary understanding that health flows from inside to outside. “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Prov. 4:23). “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (Prov. 17:22). Perhaps Solomon channeled similar wisdom heard from his father, David—“For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long” (Psa. 32:3)—into what he wrote later in life. “I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live” (Eccles. 3:12). But the Bible remains mostly silent on the modern view of physical/mental balance, except for one key New Testament passage.

Paul was concerned as he installed his protégé, Timothy, into a contentious spiritual leadership position at Ephesus. So, Paul reminded Timothy of the objective of his appointment and gave some timely leadership advice. “Remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine” (1 Tim. 1:3). Prayer (ch. 2) and the careful selection of leaders (ch. 3) started the advice. Then in rapid succession, Paul gave Timothy a clustered To-Do List (ch. 4): “command and teach” sound doctrine (vs. 11), “set the believers an example” (vs. 12), “devote yourself to … teaching” (vs. 13), use “the gift you have” (vs. 14), “practice these things, immerse yourself in them” (vs. 15).

The last two instructions in Paul’s quick list greatly parallel our modern preoccupation with mental and emotional health. They were personal to Timothy, but they were not to remain private for Timothy alone, since they formed an important function in the group. “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:16). Timothy’s health was vital because it impacted others. Health was not his goal but the means to his goal. Sound teachers will teach soundly!

You Are a Mist

You Are a Mist.  The Bible, often in concert with our own hearts, assigns humanity a full spectrum of names, stretching from debasement to exaltation. “I am a worm” (Psa. 22:6). “Wretched man that I am” (Rom. 7:24). “You have … crowned him with glory and honor” (Psa. 8:5). “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1).

Yet, somewhere in the middle zone of those extremely negative or positive names rests another description that could be negative and positive at the same time. “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:13-14). You are a mist, is hardly the punchline in any valedictorian’s speech or slick advertisement campaign. It is the advice of wisdom to youth: Don’t blink! It’s gone before you know it!

Smoke, vapor, breath, mist—the imagery is vivid. Whichever translation is used, the point is clear: transience. Saying to humankind, You are a mist, is a great equalizer. Men, women, rich, poor, high, low, You are more than nothing yet less than something. A brief fog rolled off the river yesterday morning at dawn, filling the low-lying areas with a wispy veil. It was beautiful. It gave the thirsty forest a taste of moisture. It caused motorists to turn on their low beam headlights and ease off the accelerator. A few minutes later, the sun burned through the fog and the temperature started rising through the 70s and 80s into the 90s by 2:00 pm. The mist was not nothing, but it was not something. It was briefly undeniable and unavoidable, but inconsequential outside the narrow task that God designed it to complete, whether it was meant for brief beauty, slight alleviation of drought, or forcing hurried people to slow down and pay closer attention at the junction where Pecan Road meets Arrington Bridge Road.

James makes a solid point for all humans considering the transience of all humans, but he wasn’t the first. Job knew it, “My life is a breath” (Job 7:7). Moses knew it, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psa. 90:12). David knew it, “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!” (Psa. 39:4). Jesus knew it, “One's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. (Luke 12:15). James gleans practical advice from accepting his limits. Instead of making firm plans as if the future depended solely upon a master plan or work ethic, wisdom should leave margin for what is unknown. “Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that’” (James 4:15). This instruction is not meant to be a mantra, that if we say these words formulaically, then we are in the clear. This instruction is meant to be a worldview that makes plans with baked-in reverence and pre-planned flexibility to defer to God’s pleasure.

The Sum of Your Word Is Truth

The Sum of Your Word Is Truth.  The Bible was in world news again this week. The media intake of the 21^st century is dominated by tweets, swipes, memes, and watching other people play video games, yet this ancient Book, originally written in foreign languages, is still making news. That is remarkable, especially considering the centuries of opposition to the Bible.

For instance, during the height of the Enlightenment era, French philosopher and humanist, Voltaire (1694-1778), who might have been remembered for his excellent fiction, such as Candide (1759), became more known for his disbelief in Christianity, calling it “infamous superstition.” Voltaire vehemently opposed the Scriptures in his writings. “The Bible,” he wrote in his Philosophical Dictionary (1764), “that is what fools have written, what imbeciles commend, what rogues teach and young children are made to learn by heart.” Two years before his death, Voltaire made a foolish prediction, “A hundred years from my death the Bible will be a museum piece.” However, God in his providence, within fifty years after Voltaire’s death, made Voltaire a museum piece, his house used by the Evangelical Society of Geneva, his own printing press used to print the Bible and gospel tracts. “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever” (Psa. 119:160).

By itself, the new news that the Bible made this week is miniscule. Even still, if a pebble adds to the mountain of evidence that biblical archeology provides, then it is another net increase. A New Testament manuscript from the 6^th century, known as Codex H, was “lost to history when it was disassembled … in the 13^th century. Its pages were re-inked and reused as binding material and flyleaves for multiple other manuscripts” (biblearcheology.org). Like a sophisticated version of using Silly Putty® to pick up a reverse image of the Sunday funnies, researchers from Glasgow University used multispectral imagining to recover 42 pages of “ghost text” of Paul’s letters under layers of ink and dye of other old books.

Nothing new was gleaned about the biblical text from Codex H, but that is the most remarkable part of biblical archeology. Each new archeological finding continues to confirm and affirm what we already have is credible and complete. At Glasgow, the “ghost text” mainly showed how the biblical text has been divided into chapters and verses over the years by the scholars, functionally scribal notes in the margins of the manuscript evidence. “The recovered text provides the earliest known examples of chapters for Paul’s epistles, which differ from modern chapter divisions.” No other book has yielded such bounty while enduring such scrutiny; even its margins further marginalize its scoffers.

Like a Weaned Child with its Mother

 

Like a Weaned Child with its Mother.  Mother’s Day is the second Sunday in May, a national holiday since 1914 (five full years before the 19^th Amendment to the US Constitution gave women the right to vote in 1919). Father’s Day is the third Sunday in June, a national holiday since 1972. The establishments of these two holidays curiously follow the date that Hallmark® opened for business, January 10, 1910, fueling speculation that businesses caused a sympathetic itch in the American psyche which they then offered to scratch for a fee. Regardless of the endless loop of conspiracy theories, motherhood (and fatherhood) is sacred. Long before Hallmark® cards and federal holidays, God fundamentally shocked the ancient world when he wrote with his own finger (Exo. 31:18) the fourth commandment which demanded: “Honor your father and your mother” (Exo. 20:12). Fathers were ever esteemed, but God afforded equal status to mothers in the institution of family. This was nothing less than scandalous in an otherwise overtly patriarchal world.

But appreciating the softer side of motherhood does not require a rule etched in stone. Children usually, naturally, reach for Mommy long before they call out for Daddy. God, of course, is the supreme example for both genders being the direct Creator of each. While he intentionally and consistently assigns himself with the masculine pronoun and squarely takes the Father role in Scripture, he nevertheless exhibits all the tenderness we normally associate with motherhood, too. It is theologically imprecise and morally unwise to say that gender doesn’t matter to God since it was he who established the genders as distinct yet harmonious in his ideal created order, “Male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27). This fact Jesus reaffirmed by quoting Genesis 1:27 in Matthew 19:4 and Mark 10:6. Even when Paul instructed that gender, social class, economic status, and ethnicity no longer apply to acceptance into the kingdom or unity with one another, “There is neither male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28), gender distinction was never unilaterally scrubbed from God’s ideal plan. Paul in the same passage continued to refer directly to distinctly female roles: “woman” (Gal. 4:4), “women” (Gal. 4:24), “mother,” (Gal. 4:26), and “wife” (Gal. 4:27).

However, David draws upon the honorable ministry of motherhood in instructing Israel to be content in the Lord. “O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore” (Psa. 131:1-3). Notably, within David’s image, he calms and quiets his own soul as an expression of spiritual maturity and self-control. In life, the mother usually calms and quiets the weaned child, not through feeding but through relational bonding. The child does not want anything more than to be with Mommy, mirroring the mother’s calm and quiet temperament. The Lord is happy and unhurried; when we are content in the Lord, we resemble and reflect his nature in our nature.