Gtcotr/ss052310
During the height of the Roman Empire’s rule in much
of the known world, it was considered a great privilege to be a Roman citizen.
Citizens of Rome carried a status that afforded many meaningful social and
legal benefits which others in the Empire did not enjoy.
There were three basic
ways in which people could become citizens: First a person could be born from
the legal union of two Roman citizens; Also, to be the legitimate child of a
Roman soldier who was honorably discharged after serving his 20 years military
service qualified one as a citizen; And three,one could purchase citizenship from the Empire at
great costs. From Biblical records we understand that in about the year 10AD, a
son was born to a couple living in what is now South Central Turkey, about 12 miles
north of the Mediterranean Sea, in the city of Tarsus which still exists today.
During the Roman era, Tarsus was an important commercial center and history
tells us it is the place where Mark Anthony first met Cleopatra.
At any rate, Tarsus of that day was known as a city of culture, wealth and
education, and it also contained a large and influential Jewish community.
Perhaps one of the soldiers sent by Rome, honorably
rose in the ranks while stationed in Tarsus and after completing his military
duty, married a Jewish girl. This would explain how Saul, a man of Jewish
heritage, could be born a citizen of Rome in the city or Tarsus.
Acts 22:3 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.
As was the custom for influential families of that day, young boys were sent to
study abroad. Saul, due to his Jewish roots, was sent to Jerusalem to study under
the great teacher, Gamaliel. He excelled in his
studies and became zealous for the law of God.
It is reasonable to assume that young Saul was in Jerusalem, at about age 17 or
18, when a man named Jesus was arrested, tried and convicted of proclaiming Himself to be the Son of God. This Jesus was crucified and
three days later His followers claimed that He was raised from the dead. Rumors
persisted and the follower’s numbers grew until only after a few months the
assembly of believers in Jesus as Messiah reached over 8000 converts.
This was not only alarming to the Jewish hierarchy in Jerusalem but served as a
threat to all Jewish communities everywhere. These Believers became more and
more organized and confident. They established a secondary level of leaders to
help distribute some of the workload brought on by the benevolent efforts of
this group. These leaders they called deacons, and one of these deacons was
quite a nuisance to the established Jewish religious leaders of that day. His
name was Stephen.
One day – well, let me read it to you:
Acts 6 NKJV
8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did
great wonders and signs among the people.
9 Then there arose some
from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen(Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia),
disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able
to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.
11 Then they secretly
induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against
Moses and God."
Well, you can imagine, or perhaps you’ve read, what happened.
Acts 7
54
When they heard these things they were
cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory
of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
56 and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing
at the right hand of God!"
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him
with one accord;
58 and they cast him out
of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the
feet of a young man named Saul.
59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit."
60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not
charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Sometime after this event, this young man Saul completed his studies, came of
age and decided to stay on in Jerusalem to help fight against these converts
and all who followed Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah. And, Saul was pretty good at
what he set out to do:
Acts 8:3 As for Saul,
he made havoc of the church, entering every house,and
dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. At some point Saul
decided to approach the High Priest seeking to be deputized and given letters
authorizing him to search out and arrest any Jew who was found to be a Believer
in Jesus. His requests were met and he was given letters authorizing him to
investigate and bring back captive any who were found to be of that way.
Acts 9
3 As
he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from
heaven.
4 Then he fell to the
ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul,why are you persecuting Me?"
5 And he said, "Who
are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are
persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads."
6 So he, trembling and
astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to
do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you
will be told what you must do."
Saul immediately obeyed and was led blind into the city awaiting further
instructions. After three days a Believer named Ananias reluctantly came and
laid his hands on Saul, prayed, and Saul’s sight was restored and he was filled
with the Holy Spirit. Saul, who is also called Paul, was baptized as a Believer
in Jesus as Messiah and the rest is history. Can you imagine what peace, what
confidence, what boldness, what joy it was to Paul when he found that the
journey he had been on all of his life was actually not his journey, but God’s. He loved God and wanted to help. God was involved
every step of the way, even before Paul was born, deciding and directing where
he would be born, when he would be born, who his parents would be and where
they would be from. Although God did not make everychoice
for Paul, He nonetheless orchestrated every event to turn out to the benefit of
His plan both for Paul and for all mankind. Paul later declared, God works all things together for good. Paul continued his
journey on to Damascus but now he was going for God and not for himself. His
journey became God’s journey. This reminds me of the story of Jacob told at the
end of Genesis 45 and into chapter 46. Jacob was 130 years when he found out
that his favorite son,Joseph,
was still alive. Jacob had not seen Joseph for more than 20 years.He
believed that Joseph had been killed by wild beasts. How deeply Jacob had
grieved and mourned over the loss of his son Joseph. Now, all of the sudden, he
hears that Joseph his beloved son is alive and a ruler in Egypt. Jacob says
with a firm resolve:
Genesis 45:28 Then Israel
said, "It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him
before I die."
Then, with abandon he set out on a long walk to go to Egypt. After a day’s
journey, Jacob stopped in Beersheba where he had once dug a well and built and
altar. Jacob stopped to offer a sacrifice to God. It was at the altar, in the
night, that Jacob had a vision and heard the voice of God.
Genesis 46
2 Then God spoke to Israel
in the visions of the night, and said, "Jacob,Jacob!" And he said, "Here I am."
3 So He said, "I am
God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make
of you a great nation there.
4 "I will go down
with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will
put his hand on your eyes."
It was here, at the altar, where Jacob’s journey became God’s journey. Jacob
continued on to Egypt and lived with his son Joseph for another 17 years
without fear. Why, because he knew it was not his journey, but God’s.
Much like both Saul, stopped on the road to Damascus, and Jacob who stopped on
the road to Egypt, we too need to stop and check in with God about our journey.
It may not mean a new destination but rather a new reason, a new value, a new
vision for the journey you are already on.
You are most likely more in the will of God for your life right now than you
give yourself credit for. You may be afraid, lack confidence, have anger
issues, doing it for the wrong reasons, have no direction, no joy, no peace, and
no connection with God - perhaps you only know your own journey. Stop, check in
with God, and you may be amazed that you have been on God’s journey all along.
Turn your journey into God’s journey and find the peace you have been missing.
Turn your journey over to Him! And remember: The journey is your friend!