Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends on this Friday,
We’ve probably all experienced being someplace where we did NOT feel welcome. In fact, the sooner we could get out of there the better! Do you remember that feeling? Join me again in Damascus, Syria, about 2000 years ago. By the way, YES, this is the very same city as today’s Damascus, Syria.
Saul had come to arrest the Jesus followers in Damascus, but instead of arresting them, he went to meet with them and learn from them about Jesus! And the Jews in the synagogues expected Saul to come to their meetings to rally support to join him in arresting and persecuting the Jesus followers, but instead Saul proclaimed in those synagogues that he was a radically changed man and now he was confident Jesus was in fact the Son of God and the Jewish Messiah! It’s safe to say Damascus was turned upside down like Jerusalem had experienced with Pentecost!
It didn’t take long and the Jews turned against Saul. The record says: “After many days had gone by there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill Saul, but Saul learned of their plan…his followers took Saul by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.” (Acts 9:23-25) What? Can we wrap our heads around the dramatic turnaround in Damascus? Within a few days Saul has gone from being the anticipated hero among the Jews for cleansing Damascus from Jesus followers, to being hunted by the Jews looking to kill Saul, and Saul being rescued by the Jesus followers?! Did you notice the phrase “his followers took Saul by night”? What? Who are they?
Well, I presume these people Dr Luke calls Saul’s “followers” are Jesus followers who had been spending time with Saul telling him about their experience of being changed by the work of the Holy Spirit in them after they trusted the Gospel of Jesus, which had been shared with them. But who had shared the Gospel in Damascus? We have no record Jesus ever went there, nor do we have any report that any of the apostles had gone to Damascus. That leads me to believe it was some of two groups of excited new followers of Jesus who had gone to Damascus and shared what they knew.
First…it was Jews who had gone to Jerusalem for Shavuot/Pentecost and heard Peter’s sermon and trusted in Jesus and been baptized!
Some of those 3000 evidently were Jews from Damascus who had returned home after Shavuot/Pentecost and shared their experience and what they had learned about Jesus from the apostles in Jerusalem, who we recall were teaching about Jesus every day in the temple courts! (Acts 2:42-47) As they shared, I presume some of their family and friends trusted in Jesus also.
The second group may have been those who needed to flee Jerusalem as the persecution broke out after the killing of Stephen.
Perhaps some of them fled to Damascus and found lodging with Damascus Jesus followers and they too shared what they had learned in their new relationship with Jesus. If true, Damascus was being turned upside down by a spiritual movement very similar to what had happened in Jerusalem, in the days following Shavuot/Pentecost.
May I call these Jewish followers of Jesus “Messianic” Jews? That’s a term used today in many parts of the world as Jews trust Jesus to be their Messiah and are authentically saved and filled with the Holy Spirit! Damascus was being shaken by a Messianic movement, and Saul the Christian killer, was caught up right in the middle of it! WOW, that’s a remarkable example of the nearly out of control, miraculous work of God, would you agree?!
But if Damascus was a crazy environment for Saul the Pharisee suddenly turned Saul the Messianic Jesus follower, can we even begin to imagine how crazy it was for Saul to return to Jerusalem where he had been the overseer of Stephen’s execution which launched the persecution of Jesus followers? The record says: “When Saul came to Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing Saul was really a disciple of Jesus. But Barnabas took Saul to the apostles.” (Acts 9:26,27) Pause.
It should not be hard for us to imagine the chaos in Jerusalem as Saul the fiery Pharisee returned. A few weeks before he’d been commissioned to Damascus to arrest and persecute Jesus followers. Now this very same man, Saul, returns to Jerusalem as a passionate preacher, proclaiming that Jesus is in fact the Jewish Messiah and Son of God!? Of course no one believed him. I’m sure many thought he’d lost his mind! It causes us to consider if there’s anyone you and I know who sometimes we might think is beyond the transforming power of Jesus?
Do you remember Barnabas, the Levite from Cyprus, who had also become a follower of Jesus? He had sold some land and brought the proceeds to the apostles for distribution to help the needy? (Acts 4:32-37) Evidently, Barnabas was still in Jerusalem, probably busy up to his eyebrows, in helping the apostles to manage the spiritual tsunami which was still happening in Jerusalem. You’ll remember Stephen had been killed and Philip and others of those ‘selected seven’ had fled the persecution looking for safety in other towns? While everyone was suspicious of Saul the Pharisee, Barnabas found a God given courage to find Saul and hear Saul’s story. How many hours did they spend with each other, with Saul sharing about the Damascus Road and Ananias and being lowered over the Damascus city wall in a basket in the middle of the night?
The Holy Spirit convinced Barnabas it was all true, and emboldened Barnabas to bring Saul to meet some of the apostles. Barnabas convinced them to take a risk, to believe it was all true, Saul the angry Pharisee was now Saul a devoted disciple of Jesus! (Acts 9:27) “So Saul stayed with the apostles and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!” (Acts 9:28)
I’ve had the privilege of visiting Jerusalem a few times and each time I walk those narrow streets I imagine Saul arguing with Jews in those streets as Saul proclaimed Jesus! Sadly, Acts 9:29, 30 tell us Jews in Jerusalem also tried to kill Saul, so Jesus followers took Saul south to Caesarea and got him safely onto a ship heading to his home town of Tarsus, where, hopefully, Saul could spend some time in safety, trying to sort out his conversion and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in his life!
With Saul gone, evidently things quieted down in Jerusalem and the persecution paused. In fact, Luke writes: “The church [Messianic followers of Jesus] throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord Jesus and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, the church increased in numbers.” (Acts 9:31) Oh my what a season of time that must have been!
Let’s pause here and just imagine what these Jesus followers were experiencing. I hope that’s your experience this weekend too my friends, wherever you live in the world. As always, the “lessons learned’ notes are ready to help you further study and maybe teach others; and a Messianic worship song will lift your heart, and I’ll meet you here tomorrow.
Today’s Scripture: Acts 9:23-32.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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