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Watching the stoning of Stephen was a young “religionist” by the name of Saul. (Acts 7:58) He was well versed in the Jewish Law. He had received his training under the great Jewish scholar, Gamaliel. (Acts 22:3) His knowledge of the Jewish faith elevated him to a “valedictorian” status. (Galatians 1:14) His father must have been a positive influence on his life, for Saul’s educational journey would lead to him becoming a Pharisee, just as his father. (Acts 23:6) As Saul watched the stoning of Stephen, he knew that his time had come to play an active role in opposing this new religious movement that was proving to be a serious challenge to Judaism. Jerusalem became the hub of persecution against this newly formed group of religious heretics. (Acts 8:1) It seems that Saul became the spear head of this “religious cleansing.” He led raids throughout the city arresting those who dared to follow the teachings of Jesus. (Acts 8:3) As the Jesus followers fled the city, Saul pursued them with extradition papers to seize and arrest them, especially in Damascus. (Acts 9:1, 2)
The question is how could such a learned individual as Saul fail to discover the timely application of Scriptures that pointed to the coming of the Messiah? Just in the book of Psalms, there are over 101 verses that point to Jesus as the Christ. Isaiah has 124 verses that specifically speak to whom Jesus really was. In fact, there are over 355 Old Testament verses that apply to Jesus. When the Wise Men came to Jerusalem to enquire about the birth of the King of the Jews, the whole city was troubled. (Matthew 2:3) The Chief Priest and Scribes informed Herod that He was to be born in Bethlehem of Judea, fulfilling Micah 5:2. This should have caused tremendous excitement to the religious community. The Sanhedrin should have appointed a “grand jury” to investigate the merits of the inquiry of the Wise Men. Special committees should have been formed to travel to Bethlehem to gather all the information they could. Scriptures should have been opened that might shed light to a possible arrival of the long awaited Messiah. Instead, Herod the King ordered all children living in Bethlehem and coastal regions under the age of two to be executed. (Matthew 2:16) The religious community dismissed the inquiries of the Wise Men as unfounded speculation. How could one of the most respected Pharisees and a member of the Council, Gamaliel, have missed the significance of the Bethlehem birth? Even after Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophesies the organized Jewish community failed to connect the Scriptures and recognize their Messiah.
The Jewish leaders centered their teachings on restoring the Jewish Kingdom to a place of prominence in the world. Through that process they elevated selected Scriptures to the fore front. They separated themselves from the common believers, by promoting themselves as mediators between man and God. The Oral Law reinforced their agendas. Saul was taught by the biased Jews who pursued their own interest. After his eyes were opened at his conversion, Saul, now known as Paul, could hardly wait to share the real Truth. Today we face similar obstacles to the real truth. Promotions of selective truths penetrate the Christian community. There are many sincere Believers that have been blinded to the real Truth by those who have elevated themselves to a self promoted position of authority. The Bible is not a Lego manual, where man builds his own theology. It is not a book to pick and choose what we think will satisfy our spiritual lives. I believe that the Church is missing God’s intent by listening to teachings that cater to the senses instead of the spirit. The Truth is there, we just need to center on the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. When we discover the whole Truth, we will as Paul did, be eager to share it with others.
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