His name is Saul of Tarsus.
To us, he will forever be memorialized as the celebrated Apostle Paul. Though, as you will hear in this PODCAST, he would reject out of hand that lofty adjective “celebrated.”
We celebrate Paul because we owe to him more than we could ever hope to repay. For starters, thirteen epistles preserved as New Testament Scripture. Which, when taken together, form 23% of NT.
It is true that our old friend Luke was actually the more prolific of the two—Luke wrote slightly more of the New Testament in terms of word count, 27%. (And BTW, in case you are interested, the Apostle John gets the bronze medal—John’s Gospel, 3 epistles, Revelation combine for 20% of the New Testament.)
It is to Luke we owe a huge debt of gratitude for his compelling biography of Jesus and his gripping history of the ancestors in our faith, in whose glow we bask each week as we study this great book of Acts.
But it is really Paul who more than any other biblical writer lays for us theological foundation for our faith.
So while we do indeed, and for good reason, celebrate the vaunted apostle, he would describe himself as the least—ἐλάχιστος (a superlative, “less than the least”)—of all the apostles (1 Cor. 15:9). And Eph 3:8, “less than the least of all God’s people.”
This was not false modesty on Paul’s part. Not at all. This was a guy who was abundantly self-aware. He knew the roots from which he sprang. He knew that his very first mention in the New Testament places him at scene of, and makes him complicit in, the stoning of Stephen. Not Paul’s finest hour by any stretch.
Paul understood that all that he was was do solely and singularly to God’s amazing grace. The chorus of which he sung regularly and repeatedly.
So much for us to learn and know and appreciate and to emulate in this marvelous man. Let’s meet him now.
From now on, don’t let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus. (Galatians 6:17)
These were Paul’s words to the church in Galatia. What scars (stigmata) was he referring to? Well, among others, we also read about these:
First off, this is where we first meet Saul (Paul) in our New Testament:
Then they [the men who killed Stephen] put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him [Stephen] 58 and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. (Acts 7:57-58)
…Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.
A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) 3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison. (Acts 8:1-3)
Paul doesn’t shy away from his atrocities, as he testifies in Acts 22:
“And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison.” (Acts 22:4)
Saul’s life mission was the eradicate the early Church.
But, he didn’t start out that way.
Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today. (Acts 22:3)
I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. (Philippians 3:6)
Something snapped on the day that Stephen was killed and Saul heard his final sermon. Saul just couldn’t come to terms with the truth that Stephen proclaimed. Saul became a religious extremist, to the degree of disregarding one of the easiest commandments to remember: Thou shall not murder.
And it wasn’t just the blood of the martyrs that Saul had on his hands… it was Jesus’ own, as the people who Saul hunted were Jesus’ own. This is why, Jesus said directly to Saul:
“Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4)
And that was the day Saul became Paul and dedicated his life to serving Christ:
…even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. 14 Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 1:13-14)
What was once a point of pride in Saul’s life became a point of shame in the life of Paul.
This is only part of Paul’s story that led him to write to the church in Galatia:
For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus. (Galatians 6:17)
Paul bore the scars… the stigmata… revealing his devotion and belonging to Jesus Christ, as he wrote to the church in Corinth:
Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.
28 Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:24-28)