September 4, 2010 – Acts 25:13 - 26:18

I think this is the third time we are hearing Paul’s conversion story.  But what got me thinking was his introduction.  He was talking about being in Jerusalem for a while.  Talks about growing up with his people and in Jerusalem.  Do we know how old Paul was.  Different things I looked at say Paul was born between 2 and 10 AD.  So, he might have been a little young to be in the crowd condemning Jesus, but you would imagine he was in the city at the time because of the feast.  You don’t hear it mentioned, but what if he was one of Jesus actual persecutors, not just a persecutor of His followers.  I have always just thought of Paul as someone coming after Jesus.  You have to think about them not being too far apart in age and Paul must have known something of what happened if not aided in it somehow, whether one of the many crowd or a student of one of the leaders. 

Take that a step further, Jesus knowing Paul was in the crowd and knowing what He was going to have him do in the future.  Imagine Paul one of the crowd screaming “Crucify Him” and Jesus looking at him with those eyes (I think I could write pages about what it must have been like to look into those Eyes) with all of His love and knowing what a tool he was going to be.  Just a thought that I had never pictured before.