GOD'S NEW WORLD, DAY 5 (every saint has a past...)

“You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me…” (Galatians 1.13-16) 

     As one reads his letter to the Romans, it is easy to forget that Paul was not always a disciple of Jesus.  His understanding of the gospel and his devotion to Christ seem to have always been part and parcel of his thinking and his way of life.  However, as he pointed out to the Galatians at least 5 years before writing to Rome, Saul of Tarsus – prior to his becoming a believer in Jesus – had been a “zealous” persecutor of the church; indeed, he had tried to destroy it.  The tradition of “zeal” for Torah had become prominent during the Maccabean revolt against the Hellenic Seleucids (Syrians) during the 2^nd century B.C.  The Seleucid King, Antiochus IV, had undertaken a repressive campaign of cultural assimilation against the Jews, forbidding them to circumcise their male children, observe the Sabbath or respect the kosher laws.  Finally, in the year 167, things reached a boiling point.  A man named Mattathias, filled with “zeal for the law”, killed a renegade Jew who had submitted to the imperial command to offer sacrifice to a pagan idol.  Mattathias called upon his sons, the oldest of whom was named Judas “Maccabeus” (i.e., The Hammer), to lead a revolution against their pagan overlords and deliver Israel.  The “Maccabees” succeeded, and on 25 December 164 B.C., they rededicated the Jerusalem Temple and inaugurated the Feast of Hanukkah (cf. 1 Maccabees 1—4).  Following the revolt, the Hasmonean dynasty was established in Jerusalem which lasted for nearly a century until internal squabbles led to both sides petitioning Rome to intervene, which they were only too pleased to do…  In the year 63, Pompey marched into Jerusalem at the head of his legions and annexed Judaea to the ever-expanding Roman empire. 

     Memories of the Seleucid persecution (which the Romans never imitated) and the Maccabees’ heroism were alive and well at the time of Jesus of Nazareth and Saul of Tarsus.  There was tremendous passion, especially among certain groups of Pharisees (esp. the Shammaite school; cf. Phil. 3.5-6), to use any means necessary – even violence – to defend the integrity of the Jewish way of life against all, both Jewish and pagan, who would dare to impede its lawful practice.  Therefore, it should come as no surprise that when Stephen, an early Christian preacher in Jerusalem who had dared to question the Temple’s continuing relevance, was condemned to death by the Sanhedrin, Saul of Tarsus was attendant at his execution by stoning (cf. Ac. 7.54-60; 8.1-3).  Saul of Tarsus perceived the followers of Jesus to be dangerous heretics who were devoted to one who had been condemned by the Sanhedrin as a false prophet who had both spoken – and acted – against the Temple (cf. Mk. 11.12-19; 13; 14.53-65).  As Saul undertook his campaign of destruction against the church in Jerusalem, he must have seen himself as acting in a similar fashion to the Maccabees, acting zealously to root out heresy and compromise and disrespect of Judaism’s most sacred symbols.  In the context of pagan domination of the people of God, there was no time to tolerate Jews who dishonoured the Temple and created confusion among the people.  Saul saw himself as serving the cause of Yahweh and Israel.

     Many years later, as he wrote to the Christians in Rome, S/Paul would share his anguish about those Jews who still perceived Jesus and his followers in the way he previously had (cf. Rom. 9.1-5).  But what happened in the interval to transform Saul, the persecutor of the church, into Paul, the intrepid missionary of Jesus?  That is a story for another day…