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Acts
  
4. Paul’s defense before his countrymen (Acts 22:1-29)
1“Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now.”2And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he said:3“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.4I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women,5as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.6Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me.7And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’8So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’”


Paul called his would-be killers brothers and fathers. He did not judge them for their hatred and fanaticism, but loved them and forgave their ignorance. According to the New Testament, Jewish people are not members of the family of God, who have been born of the Holy Spirit. He gave them these titles, however, in accordance with the promises stated in the Old Testament. The apostle of the Gentiles addressed the silent multitudes in their mother tongue, and esteemed them for the sake of their fathers’ honor. He spoke with his clothes torn, his wounds bleeding, and his chains clanking at every movement of his body.
Paul called his speech a defense. What, then, was the Jews’ complaint against him? The apostle did not go down to the level of superficial accusation, which claimed that he had defiled the holy temple by bringing a Gentile into it. This was a stupid assertion, which did not deserve a reply. The apostle came directly to the reason for the persecution that was falling on him. They claimed he taught people to fall away from Judaism, and admitted uncircumcised Gentiles into the covenant with God. In his reply, Paul explained to his hearers that he did not invent the gospel of grace, nor did he in himself wish to preach to the Gentiles. The living Lord Himself had appeared to him personally, and commanded him to arise and testify to Him before all men. Thus, the new doctrine did not originate with Paul, but from the risen Lord. Christ’s breakthrough in Paul’s life brought a revelation of the Gospel of grace, and a commission to preach to the Gentiles.
In the first part of his speech, Paul focused on his zealous, Jewish childhood. He had been born in Tarsus, a fair and reputable city of Greek origin. More importantly, however, he had been brought up and educated in Jerusalem, in surroundings which enabled him to acquire Jewish spirit and culture.
The crowning development came in his submitting himself to study under Gamaliel, the eminent doctor of Jewish law, who was the foremost legal expert for many years. The ardent, young Saul not only kept the details of the law in his heart, but also in vigorous practice. He was self-disciplined, strict in observing Jewish religious practices, and zealous towards God. He was willing to serve, honor, and magnify the Holy One through his own diligence and weak human abilities.
He hated Christians with a mortal enmity, for they relied on grace, rejected the law as a way to God, and laid their hope completely on the love of the Holy One. This Holy One had appeared in Christ and proclaimed Himself to be the only way to the Father. Paul, in his zeal for God and his law, persecuted the Christians. In his boiling hatred he was not satisfied with only destroying men. He also killed women, which was then impermissible. If the Jews coming from Asia and those who complained against him did not believe him, let them ask the high priest and all the elders about the truth of his words.
The Jewish council had commissioned this zealous, young man to go to Damascus to exterminate Jesus’ believers. But on his way Jesus of Nazareth had manifested Himself to him in the midst of the barren desert. The glorious and living Jesus, whose body Paul supposed to have corrupted and decayed away in the grave following his crucifixion, tore down all the foundations, titles, honor and pride that Paul had built his life upon. In the light of the glorious face of Christ, the godly zeal for the law of this legal professor and enemy of God appeared of no avail.
The Most High, in the fullness of His mercy, did not destroy this ignorant, zealous enemy, but forgave him freely. He declared to him His love for the church, and that He is one with her in the Holy Spirit. With this revelation, a new world and a new truth came into Paul’s life. Without delay, he submitted himself to his new Lord, and asked Him what he would have him to do. Has the Lord come to you with His word? Has the splendor of His glorious Person appeared to you in the New Testament? Have you abandoned yourself to him unconditionally, and become established in His church?

Prayer
O Lord Jesus Christ, we worship You, for You appeared to Saul, Your persecutor, and changed him into a servant of Your love. Change us too, and transform many of God’s seekers into Your image, that we may live for Your love.
Question
What is the significance of the Lord’s appearing to Saul, who had been so zealous for the law?