THE PLAYWRIGHT AND THE PLAYERS | PART 2

By Jill Roberts and Michael Canalé

 

As Michael said in our last blog, “The Disciples/Apostles were players in a play Jesus was writing.” As to those whom he cast in lead roles, there were many surprises. We read with wonderment that Jesus chose fishermen and a tax collector and then said to them and the others that the expansion of Christianity down the centuries would rise or fall on their shoulders, on their abilities to secure its future favor.

 

If we were amazed last week, we believe that the reactions this week will only increase to complete astonishment at the selection of the man who will be the apostle at the center of Parts 2 and 3 of our blog. Who is this man? He is Paul, the very person whom Jesus, after having ascended to Heaven, looked down and formed in his mind what Michael and I believe was the following scenario and conclusion:

 

“I see on Earth below, a man named Saul (later, Paul). He is a Pharisee, the very people whom I found, while I was on Earth, to be  the most offensive and hypocritical in their heartless legalism, indeed, the ones of whom I was the most critical. They played a pivotal role in enticing Judas to betray me and they went to Pilate and King Herod and pushed hard and successfully for my crucifixion. This Saul, personally held the coats of the men who stoned to death my faithful follower, Stephen. This act by Saul was only the tip of the iceberg of his persecution, jailing and murdering my believers. Today, as I am watching from Glory, Saul is traveling on the road to Damascus to find more Christians whom he plans to harass and kill. I, Jesus, have made my choice. I am choosing this same Saul to become one of my players, some will say casting him in the ultimate lead role. I am going to transform him into an apostle of apostles, change his name and his heart and send him, a Jew, as the messenger to the Gentiles so that they will know and accept me as their Savior. And, while he’s at this, I am going to depend on him to write much of the New Testament, so that my word will exist into perpetuity. Now, to begin, I am leaving Heaven and will appear to Saul, as he travels toward Damascus. His life is just seconds away from a major interruption in all he has ever thought or known. I, Jesus, have made my choice.”

 

We turn from our version of this scene in the play to the actual Scriptural account of this meeting between Jesus and Saul, in relevant part:

 

“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters (arrest warrants) to the synagogues in Damascus, so that, if he found any who belonged to the Way, (Christianity) whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’

‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked.

‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now, get up and go to the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

(Acts 9:1-6) NIV

 

Time does not allow a blog as a vehicle to go into greater detail. Suffice it to say that Saul, as the record establishes, was called to follow Jesus and complied immediately. Though it was a circuitous and extended path to his full power in presenting the Gospel, he never hesitated or longingly looked back to his old life. He had experienced Jesus, first hand, and, thereby, saw the horrific error of his earlier years.

 

We are, at this point, reminded, as in Part 1 of this blog, of 1 Corinthians 1:27, words, interestingly enough,  penned by Paul, himself:

 

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the strong…”

NIV

 

Literally endless volumes have been written with regard to Paul’s theology. This will not be Michael’s and my focus. Instead, we will look closely at his personality and, specifically, after knowing so well who Saul had been, what Jesus saw in him, even at his worst, that gave the Lord the vision of Paul as he could be. As well, we will examine what lesson this brings to us today. Really, who was Paul at his core?

 

First, Michael and I are saying that Paul is truly complex, someone whom many have attempted to explain without plumbing his depths. We imagine that some of the notable masters of this question, many of whom have greatly illuminated Paul, would be mystified that we would even attempt an overview with regard to him, using blogs to do so. That said, there are many important inferences that we may draw in the two blogs we are going to devote to this inquiry.

 

Surely, Jesus, in his omniscience, observed within Saul’s initial hatred of Christianity and drive to eliminate it, an “all-in” capacity to throw himself completely into what he believed. We briefly touched on this in a previous blog, but it deserves greater attention. Paul was a man who did nothing halfway, whether for bad, as Saul, or for greatness, as Paul. What was then, and today remains, repugnant to Jesus is being lukewarm. Jesus is speaking:

 

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other.”

(Revelation 3:15) NIV

 

What a premium Jesus puts on an all-encompassing commitment to what we believe! He seems to be saying that this attribute is one that he can work with, and that this personality trait has to be there as a foundation to serving him.

 

Another aspect of Paul’s personality, and related to his “all-in” attitude, was his unrelenting determination and drive. After his calling on the road to Damascus, Paul was passionate for the cause of evangelizing for Jesus. There was no amount of suffering he would not undergo for him. Second Corinthians, Chapter 11 chronicles some of this and will be a central chapter for us to cite for this as well as other aspects of who Paul was and why he captured the attention of no less than Jesus, the Savior of the world. The following details the passion of Paul as lived out in hardship – all for Jesus:

 

“Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”

(2 Corinthians 11:24-29) NIV

 

It was with this boldness and courage that Paul persevered on numerous missionary journeys, preaching and teaching about Jesus. He was battle tested from all quarters, giving to the cause of Christianity with all the vigor that he, as Saul, attempted to take from it.

 

As Michael says, “In his past and in his future, he was a major player on both teams. You can live one way hard and then the other way hard.”

 

Along with grit, Paul was passionate about the value of his calling by Jesus and about knowing Jesus better than he knew anything else or anyone else. In Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, he writes,

 

“ I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith…I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me…one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

(Philippians 3:7-9,13-14) NIV

 

The transformation of Paul is complete. He was so rough and now is very different when speaking of his faith and devotion to Jesus. Michael says it so well:

 

“A man who had been so crusty had become like velvet.”

 

Despite his extreme persecution of Christians in the past, the moment that he saw Jesus appear to him on the road to Damascus, Saul knew, at that life-changing moment, to do two things:

 

First, he immediately addressed Jesus as Lord. Once having truly experienced who the Savior is, how else can one reasonably refer to the King of Kings but to call him Lord?

 

Secondly, Saul, soon to be Paul, asked the most important question we can pose to Jesus:

 

“Who are you, Lord?”

 

This is the question Michael and I leave with ourselves and with you today: “Who are you, Lord?” Friends, this is the question of a lifetime, the goal of a lifetime and the crown of a lifetime to find. May we ask and answer it well.

 

Postscript:

Next week, Michael and I will continue with another blog on Paul –  Part 3 of “The Playwright and the Players.” To preview, we will look deeper into this Super Apostle as he admits he is weak and explains why this is good, says that, on occasion, he has made a fool of himself, defends his apostleship and writes what are his own life verses, ones that were central in his life and, we believe, should be indispensable in our own.