FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS, volume 9, number 15, April 17, 2010

Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me, Acts 9:4.

Seeing the Resurrected Christ

Skeptics have long thought Paul’s “Damascus Road” experience was bogus. And if it was, then Christianity’s greatest theologian and writer cannot be trusted. There are only four possible explanations. First, perhaps Paul was a con man. You know—someone who knew he was telling a lie, but foisted it upon people for his own benefit. Second, maybe he was a religious fanatic, much like the Islamic jihadists who encourage young men to blow themselves up for Allah. Third, perhaps Paul was a gullible dupe. That is, maybe he was fooled by his adversaries and carried on as though it were true, through no fault of his own, much like the young men who give themselves up as suicide bombers. Or fourth, maybe he really did see the resurrected Christ.

What do we make of this? Well, first of all Luke, the writer of Acts, who also wrote the gospel named after him, was given to meticulous research before writing both books. He says that there were many eyewitnesses to the life and ministry of Jesus, that he investigated everything carefully from the beginning so that he could write it out for Theophilus, so that he could know the exact truth about the things he had been taught (Luke 1:2-4). He begins his second book, reminding Theophilus that he had written about all Jesus did, all that He taught, until the day that He was taken up into heaven. He goes on to say that Jesus had presented Himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing over a period of forty days and speaking of things concerning the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). Biblical archaeologists, who earlier in their careers doubted the accuracy of Luke’s details in his gospel and Acts, have become impressed by his accuracy, as their research corroborates his testimony.

So, Luke is telling the truth. In Acts 9:1ff he is reporting what Paul told him. Later in Acts (Acts 22:1ff, Acts 26:9ff) Luke records Paul’s testimony before the Jewish mob and King Agrippa. It is quite remarkable in a book the size of Acts to find it three times. There are variations in each account. For example, in Acts 22 Paul tells of his tutelage under the great Jewish teacher Gamaliel, that he was zealous for God. In Acts 26, Jesus speaks to him from heaven saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard to kick against the goads,” (Acts 26:14). James Boice[1] speculates that by this phrase Saul must have been terribly disturbed, that he was questioning his strong adversity to Christianity. Why would this be? Boice wonders if it is because Saul stood by and watched others stone Stephen to death. Saul must have heard Stephen’s cogent, Biblical proclamation of Jesus as the Christ. He must have been impressed by it. Until that point he no doubt was unimpressed by these Christians, but here was a man who spoke powerfully, clearly, persuasively, and Biblically. Furthermore, he had never seen a man die with such faith, joy, and peace. This event unnerved Saul.

So, was Paul a con man? Well, ask yourself this question—what did Paul have to gain by changing sides in the debate? He had everything going for him as a zealous Pharisee. He was loved, highly respected, a young man on the fast track to notoriety. Converting to Christianity meant untold hardship on him. He suffered beatings, imprisonment, rejection, and eventually death for preaching Christ. No man who knows something to be a lie willingly suffers for it to that degree. Maybe he was a religious fanatic. This won’t fly either. Fanatics are irrational, hard to follow, making no sense, given to hyperbole and excess. They always have a dark side to them—something immoral, licentious, or violent. There is no indication of anything like that in Paul. Furthermore, as a Pharisee, he believed in the resurrection, but he thought it was future. So while resurrection certainly was possible, these Christians had fabricated something that only would happen in the future. They must, therefore, be stopped. A cursory look at Paul’s writing also reveals a brilliant, cogent thinker, a sober, sane man, not an unstable revolutionary. Third, maybe he was a gullible dupe. No go here, either! The Christians were terrified of Paul. They would go no where near him. Besides if they would chance an encounter with him, who would trick him? How would they shine a great light from heaven when electricity had yet to be harnessed? How would they have spoken from heaven when sounds systems were yet to be invented?

It is clear, then, that Paul believed he saw the resurrected Christ in heaven? But did he? How can we know? He says that Jesus appeared to Peter, the twelve, over five hundred at one time, James, the rest of the apostles and finally to him, Paul. Luke is writing around sixty A.D., some twenty-five to twenty-eight years after the resurrection event. Many of these so-called witnesses would have remained alive at the time. If they had not seen what was reported, then surely some of them would have exposed the lie. None did. But more importantly—men will not die for a lie. Since ruling out the possibility of Paul being a religious fanatic or dupe, the only faint possibility left is that he was a con man, a liar, making up what he said. The strong, innate desire for self-preservation makes dying for a lie impossible. All the apostles but one, including Paul, died martyrs deaths. If the story of Jesus’ resurrection was a lie, then the disciples would have come forward, told the truth, and walked freely away from execution. None did.

Chuck Colson illustrates[2] this powerfully with the Watergate cover up. When Richard Nixon met with his staff (John Dean, John Mitchell, John Ehrlichman, Bob Haldeman, and Colson) on March 21, 1973, they all agreed to the cover up. But when Judge Sirica of the Grand Jury began cutting deals with them, giving them a lesser sentence for their testimony to indict Nixon, they all bailed on their President. The cover up lasted until April 8, only nineteen days. Why would men who loved and believed in Nixon, who enjoyed power, privilege, and prestige, so quickly turn against their leader? The answer is self-preservation. There was no way they were going to go down for a lie. Nor would the disciples! If they were propagating a lie, then they would never have died martyrs’ deaths. They knew Jesus was raised from the dead. They could not, would not change their story.

What does this mean for you and me? Paul’s testimony, as well as that of Luke, and the apostles and prophets, all point to Jesus being who He said He was. It means all the Bible says about creation, fall, redemption, the eschaton (how it will all end), how to live as parents, married people, workers, and bosses is all true. It means you surrender all to Jesus. It means you submit everything to Him. It means you serve our world in humility, love, and gentleness.

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[1] Commentary on Acts, Boice, pages 150-151.

[2] Loving God, Charles Colson, page 61ff.

FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS is a weekly devotional by Reverend Al Baker, pastor of Christ Community Presbyterian Church in West Hartford, Connecticut.

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