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Author
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Topic: He Met Jesus Christ
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Eden
unregistered
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posted
Hi, Carol Swenson, nice post. It must have been difficult after 1500 years from mount Sinai to mount Calvary, that Jesus of Nazareth was He.
John 8:24
I said therefore unto you, that you shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins.
John 8:28
Then said Jesus to them, When you have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father has taught me, I speak these things.
John 13:19
Now I tell you before it happens, that, when it has come to pass, you may believe that I am he.
It cannot have been easy to believe in Jesus "of Nazareth" but many Jews did believe because of the miracles which Jesus did:
John 7:31
And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ comes, will he do more miracles than these which this man has done?
John 12:37
But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him.
love, eden
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Carol Swenson
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Member # 6929
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posted
He Met Jesus Christ (Acts 9:1-9)
When you look at Saul on the road (Acts 9:1-2), you see a very zealous man who actually thought he was doing God a service by persecuting the church. Had you stopped him and asked for his reasons, he might have said something like this:
“Jesus of Nazareth is dead. Do you expect me to believe that a crucified nobody is the promised Messiah? According to our Law, anybody who is hung on a tree is cursed [Deut. 21:23]. Would God take a cursed false prophet and make him the Messiah? No! His followers are preaching that Jesus is both alive and doing miracles through them. But their power comes from Satan, not God. This is a dangerous sect, and I intend to eliminate it before it destroys our historic Jewish faith!”
In spite of his great learning (Acts 26:24), Saul was spiritually blind (2 Cor. 3:12-18) and did not understand what the Old Testament really taught about the Messiah. Like many others of his countrymen, he stumbled over the Cross (1 Cor. 1:23) because he depended on his own righteousness and not on the righteousness of God (Rom. 9:30-10:13; Phil. 3:1-10). Many self-righteous religious people today do not see their need for a Saviour and resent it if you tell them they are sinners.
Saul’s attitude was that of an angry animal whose very breath was dangerous! (see Acts 8:3) Like many other rabbis, he believed that the Law had to be obeyed before Messiah could come; and yet these “heretics” were preaching against the Law, the temple, and the traditions of the fathers (Acts 6:11-13). Saul wasted the churches in Judea (Gal. 1:23) and then got authority from the high priest to go as far as Damascus to hunt down the disciples of Jesus. This was no insignificant enterprise, for the authority of the highest Jewish council was behind him (Acts 22:5).
Damascus had a large Jewish population, and it has been estimated that there could well have been thirty to forty synagogues in the city. The fact that there were already believers there indicates how effective the church had been in getting out the message. Some of the believers may have fled the persecution in Jerusalem, which explains why Saul wanted authority to bring them back. Believers were still identified with the Jewish synagogues, for the break with Judaism would not come for a few years. (See James 2:2, where “assembly” is “synagogue” in the original Greek.)
Saul suddenly found himself on the ground! (Acts 9:4) It was not a heat stroke or an attack of epilepsy that put him there, but a personal meeting with Jesus Christ. At midday (Acts 22:6), he saw a bright light from heaven and heard a voice speaking his name (Acts 22:6-11). The men with him also fell to the earth (Acts 26:14) and heard the sound, but they could not understand the words spoken from heaven. They stood to their feet in bewilderment (Acts 9:7), hearing Saul address someone, but not knowing what was happening.
Saul of Tarsus made some wonderful discoveries that day. To begin with, he discovered to his surprise that Jesus of Nazareth was actually alive! Of course, the believers had been constantly affirming this (Acts 2:32; 3:15; 5:30-32), but Saul had refused to accept their testimony. If Jesus was alive, then Saul had to change his mind about Jesus and His message. He had to repent, a difficult thing for a self-righteous Pharisee to do.
Saul also discovered that he was a lost sinner who was in danger of the judgment of God. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5, NKJV). Saul thought he had been serving God, when in reality he had been persecuting the Messiah! When measured by the holiness of Jesus Christ, Saul’s good works and legalistic self-righteousness looked like filthy rags (Isa. 64:6; Phil. 3:6-8). All of his values changed. He was a new person because he trusted Jesus Christ.
(Wiersbe)
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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