If he found any who were of the Way: Here, Christianity is referred to as the Way. Maybe Saul thought he was trying to stop a plague of false religion.ĭ. Perhaps he took his example from Phinehas, who in the Book of Numbers killed an immoral man and woman with a spear, and God honored his action by halting a plague. Saul of Tarsus – this highly educated man – thought that Christianity was both wrong and deceptive. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. In Galatians 1:13, Paul added more regarding his background: For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. In Philippians 3, he made mention of this background, saying he was circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews concerning the law, a Pharisee concerning zeal, persecuting the church concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. Still breathing threats and murder: Even after Saul became a Christian, he remembered his days as a persecutor. If true, these are the first physical remains (such as bones or ashes) of a specific person mentioned in the New Testament.Ĭ.
Inside were discovered some of the remains of a 60 year-old man, whom many researchers believe was this same Caiaphas. The ossuary was inscribed with the name of this Caiaphas and positively dated to this period. In December 1990 an ossuary (something like a burial urn essentially a bone box) was discovered in Jerusalem.
The high priest mentioned here was Caiaphas. He asked and received letters from the high priest authorizing his mission. Went to the high priest: Saul did his persecuting work under the direct approval of the highest religious authorities. An old apocryphal book, dating to the end of the first century, described Paul like this: “A man of moderate stature, with crisp hair, crooked legs, blue eyes, large knit brows, and long nose, at times looking like a man, at times like an angel.” (Cited in Gaebelein)ī. Of course, we don’t know what Saul looked like. We might say that Saul was decided against Jesus when Jesus decided for Saul. He wasn’t seeking Jesus when Jesus sought him. Still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord: The picture is of an angry, violent man absolutely convinced of his own righteousness. Here he continued and expanded this work to the city of Damascus (about 130 miles or 210 kilometers northeast of Jerusalem a six-day journey altogether). Then Saul: We last saw Saul in Acts 8:3, where it says that he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.Ī. ( Act 9:1-2) Saul’s purpose in traveling to Damascus.
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