Before Paul’s conversion he had a fanatical zeal for doing what he considered to be right. Since the law of which he boasted originated with God, it was holy, just and good. And yet, in his misguided zeal, Paul was opposing God. This seemed to be caused in part by the psychological effect of his schooling as expressed in Gal. 1 :14. Being zealous of the tradition of the elders had caused him to reach the sad state of making the Scriptures of no effect. He became stern, implacable and devoid of the spirit of love.
Is there a message for us here? Is it possible that we may find ourselves in a like condition ? Yes, we may, and happy are we if we remedy it before it is too late. If we analyse our motives, how often we will find that in zealously contending for the Truth, we have become mere contenders about the Truth, and many times about mere words, all to no profit to ourselves or to anybody else. We must all analyse our own hearts and minds, and if we discover ourselves to be in this condition, begin a deep inward spiritual therapy.
In carrying in our minds the letter of the law, let it be balanced by the spirit of its teaching and the reason for which it was given by God. We should be led to love God and to love our brethren and sisters. Let the letter bring forth fruit in our hearts so that the spirit is exhibited in our lives. Then men will know that we are His disciples by the love we have toward all. Had not God intervened in the case of Paul, there is little doubt that he would have reached and remained in the condition described by Jesus in the scathing words of condemnation in Matthew 15:1-9. We do well to ponder this in our hearts.
We now approach the crucial period in the young man Saul’s life. As we do this, let us not consider it a remote and separate experience that happened in the long distant past which cannot be etched upon the screen of our memories. Let it be with the attitude and knowledge that in our own lives we may approach a crucial period, and later, if the lesson is well learned, we will reach a turning point as did Paul that will lead us to the Kingdom of God.
Let us consider the example before we assimilate the lesson. Let our minds go to the final scene in the life of Stephen as recorded in Acts 7. Picture, if we can, the terrible miscarriage of justice which is introduced to us in its violence and horror with the words “and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet whose name was Saul” (Verse 58). Stephen was thrown down into the stoning pit which is surrounded by boulders and rocks. They were large, yet not too large for a man to pick up and hurl down into the pit. They had jagged edges and sides, no doubt many of them with brown stains denoting the awful story of their previous use.
Stephen was on his knees with uplifted eyes. He looked at the place where just prior to this he had stood before the Sanhedrin and spoke the words recorded in Verses 55 and 56, words which they had labelled blasphemy. (Remember the charge. It was not the first time it had been used to take a man’s life in a travesty of justice, nor was it by any means to be the last).
The young man Saul stood at the rim of the pit with the clothes of the witnesses at his feet. his arms folded perhaps, and with a stern, implacable look on his face. He was, no doubt, thinking that the law of God was being carried cut in the death of this blasphemer. The bare arms of the witnesses reach for the stones, and we hear the thud of the first stone as it strikes the kneeling form of Stephen.
Then follows a rain of stones and the cries of the executioners. We are inclined to turn away in horror from this terrible scene, as we are from another dreadful scene on a lonely hill, and the figure of a writhing man who is being crucified. But we dare not refuse to look, for it must be indelibly impressed upon our memories so that we can never forget it. It is done for you and me, and the great love exhibited there should so fashion and change our lives and mental attitude that we, too, may take up our cross and follow Him. (Crosses were made for men to die on).
As with the Master, so with the servant. As in the case of Stephen, so it must be with all of us who are Christ’s followers. If necessary we, too, must be faithful unto death.
The broken and bleeding figure of Stephen rises to its knees, and from the pit there comes a loud voice, “Lay not this sin to their charge.” And so with these words so similar to the words of the One in whose footsteps he had followed, faithful unto death, the first Christian martyr lay down among the stones and blood.
It was finished. But he shall stand again to see that his prayer was answered insofar as Paul was concerned, for God did not lay this sin to the charge of the principal actor in this terrible drama. Paul had done what he did in ignorance, and so it pleased God not to impute it to his charge. Thus we again see the remarkable similarity between Stephen’s words and the words of Jesus, when He, too, said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
What a wonderful impression these words had on the life of Stephen, who had followed his Master into the valley of the shadow of death, so much so that he died with almost the same words on his lips.
Could we rise to such an occasion? It causes a deep heart searching before we can honestly answer that question. In matters of far less importance, how quick we sometimes are to return evil for evil, and railing for railing. Do we realise that it was the forgiving words of the great saint that played so prominent a part in the life of another who was to follow in His steps ?
It would be of interest to examine the many times later on that Paul makes reference to the part he played in the death of Stephen. It was a sobering influence throughout his entire life. He, too, experienced a terrible stoning, but in his case his work was not yet completed, and he arose from the place where he had been dragged without the city and left for dead (Acts 14:19,20).
In passing, let us remember that Stephen and Paul must have been known to each other before this last fatal meeting. No doubt. they were both members of the synagogue attended by those from Cilicia. There were four synagogues in Jerusalem at this time, one each for the people of Asia. Cilicia, Cyrene and Alexandria.
Also, we are led to believe that Paul was a member of the Sanhedrin Council, which brings forth a very interesting study of his marital status. We may benefit by considering for a few moments the chronological order of this narrative. At this period of his life, the apostle was not yet thirty years of age, and quite young to be a member of the Council (Acts 22:19,20). The correct translation is : “When the blood of thy martyr was shed, I cast my pebble against him.” (In the voting of the Sanhedrin Council, a black pebble in the box signified that the prisoner was condemned).
To vote in the Council, it would be necessary for him to be a member. There were two requirements that all must fulfill to become a member of the Sanhedrin Council. One was that the candidate be a married man, the other that he be a resident of Jerusalem. Thus Paul had to be both if he were to be a member of the Council.
He himself states that he was a resident of Jerusalem (Acts 26: 4). There was in the early church an acceptance of the fact that the apostle was married, and that his wife died in childbirth. In fact, one writer states that he had a daughter. If it was true that he was at one time married (and the rabbis married very young, between the ages of fourteen and twenty), then as a widower the advice he gives to the married in the ecclesias does not seem out of place as it would be coming from a man who had never been married.
A close examination of his letter to the Ephesians, and in particular Chapter 5, shows an intimate understanding of the marital problem that could come only from one with first-hand experience. Thus the advice to the unmarried in 1 Corinthians, chap. 7, verse 8, “It is good if they abide even as I.” (We take the liberty of inserting after “I” the words “am now”) becomes clearer if the apostle was a widower.
However, we make no issue of the matter, and if some do not agree we will not be contentious. We call this to your attention purely as a matter of interest, and we believe as a matter of further enlightenment as to the character and life of the one we are to follow as our own particular apostle to the Gentiles.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One