Saul in Jerusalem
The
Passage: Acts 9:23-31
Structure:
a. 9:23-25, the Jews conspired to kill him
b. 9:26, they
were all afraid of him
c. 9:27, his
report about the road to Damascus
b’. 9:28, he
moved freely with them
a’. 9:29-30, they tried to kill him
Conclusion:
v.31 – the church grew
Historical
and geographical context: Geography – from now on Saul (later Paul) will not be able to stay in
one place for “too long”. Either because of danger or due to the Gospel call,
he will travel allover Mediterranean region. From Damascus to Jerusalem, from
Jerusalem to Caesarea etc. Therefore, from the locality of Jerusalem narrative
we are shifting to a travel log of Saul, Peter and Paul.
Also, note
how the narrative intertwines historically – we saw St. Peter as a “spokesman”
of the church on multiple occasions. Then the attention shifts to Stephen, then
Philip, now to Saul. Next block will introduce Peter again and, after the death
of king Herod, St. Luke will be mostly concerned with the travels and preaching
of St. Paul. At the same time, it is Barnabas (who was a faithful financial
supporter of the church, ch. 4 [cp. lesson “the Believers share their
possessions”]) who is introducing/vouching for the discipleship status of
Saul.
Last but not
least, from Caesaria Saul is sent to Tarsus (his hometown). Later (11:25)
Barnabas will take a trip there to bring him to Antioch. Some believe that this
time lag took as long as eight years (Lenski, Acts, p. 377). The length of this
period is debatable, and we’ll discuss it at more length later. Yet, it is
important to say that it was appointed for Saul to spend some lengthy time
outside of Jerusalem, Galilee or, even Samaria, to work through his own
convictions and theological presuppositions prior to his active immersion into
mission.
Theology: Jerusalem as a center of
apostolic ministry. So far, the life of the church still revolves around
the Jerusalem headquarters. Later on, when Paul will get into a dispute about
the place of Gentiles in the church, the only place where it could have been
solved was Jerusalem – which was the reason and the background for the
Jerusalem council (Acts 15).
Fear
separates. It is the
first time when the disciples in Jerusalem are afraid of a person. The only
fear they used to have been the fear of the LORD (and they will restore the
balance by the end of the story, cp. 9:31). The immediate effect of this fear
is separation – the disciples want to stay away from Saul. They needed an
intervention of Bar-Nabas (cp. 4:36), namely “Son of Encouragement” who told
them the story of Saul’s conversion – his experience on the road to Damascus
and his subsequent preaching of Jesus the Messiah in the city.
The enemy
of my enemy is my friend. Same as unlikely “friends” gathered around Jesus during His trial, Saul
attracts equal wrath from both High-Priestly partly and the Hellenists – two
groups that would not be in union. Trial of Jesus attracted Herod and Pontius
Pilate – king of the Jews and appointee of Rome over the Judea. And the same
time – Herod (civil ruler, and a Jew by blood) and High Priests – Annas and
Caiaphas (who did their best to maintain the authority of the Temple over the
people).
Short
dispute with the Hellenists. Hellenists were the Jews who were born and raised in Diaspora.
Therefore, their prime language was Greek and the Bible they read was LXX (not
MT). It is possible to imagine that Saul engaged in discussions with them here
and there based on his diaspora background. We don’t know what exactly
triggered their disapproval, but the result was very close to the similar
discussion St. Stephen got into (cp. 6:9).
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