Monday Morning Music Ministry

2-2-26

These words, this question, “Why do you persecute me?” was famously asked of Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus.

Who asked the question? It was a voice Saul heard as he was knocked to the ground, blinded by a light. He heard the audible voice of Jesus, a direct question from the Man who had preached and ministered, was indeed persecuted – harassed, arrested, tortured, and executed. This encounter of Saul’s was subsequent to Jesus’s resurrection from the dead three days after burial; subsequent to 40 days of appearing to masses of people; subsequent to His bodily ascension to Heaven.

Saul, a distinguished scholar and Pharisee, was a Jew who was also a Roman citizen. He had rights in society, and a degree of power that he exercised to persecute the followers of Jesus… even after Jesus was “gone” the second time. He was zealous in rounding up Believers; it is supposed that he was present, perhaps ordering, the stoning of Stephen, a martyred follower of Christ.

Why did the risen Savior choose Saul to cease his persecutions, to mend his ways, and ultimately, as we know, become the most prominent Christian evangelist, author of more than half of the New Testament, the architect of the Church’s beliefs and practices?

We cannot know the ways of God, but God knew the ways of man, and in Saul He had created someone of obvious powers of… persuasion. And clarity of thought. And patience and purpose. Saul needed to discern the Truth, and to re-purpose his desire to apply himself to vital tasks. After his experience on the road to Damascus, he even changed his name to Paul (no theological significance, but plausibly a sign that he savored a “new life” as a new creation). He might not directly have answered the question “Why do you persecute Me?” – except by radically changing course, renouncing his sins, redeeming his life.

Despite the spread of the Gospel, conversions of many people, and the establishment of churches from India to England before the year 60, we know that a myriad number of Jews still were persecuting new Christians. It was not Jews alone, but Romans too, of course. Rome felt threatened by independent thinkers as they protected their political outposts. Many Jews who should have known better – Christ fulfilled uncountable prophecies they had studied; He was the obvious Messiah they prayed for – also felt threatened. If Paul had not converted, he might have become one of the obstinate Jewish enemies of the Gospel remembered through the centuries.

If there is a lesson inherent in Paul’s life as an evangelist and apologist, it is NOT “what goes around comes around.” Are you tempted to think that? For Paul – despite his legal standing and protections as a Roman citizen of the day – was persecuted himself until his (brutal, sacrificial, martyr’s) death. He was shunned, chased, arrested, imprisoned, and tortured. He also survived shipwrecks and storms. Yet he never asked Jesus, “Why do you persecute me?”

Back to the original question, or the original interlocutor, Jesus Christ. It is still being asked… of us, today. Why do we persecute Jesus?

I don’t mean the world’s form of persecution, because peoples’ rejection of the Son of God who endured shame, gave His life, and overcame death for each of us is a form of ingratitude at best, and a form of persecution at worst. But individually, we must see our lack of reverence… our failure to acknowledge Him in all ways… our choosing not to pray or care for others or share Him… our consigning Jesus to a corner of our lives and not at the center – are all ways in that we persecute Him, bit by bit, again and again.

Taking His name in vain I believe to be no less offensive to the Lord as failing to act in His name when we have that choice.

“Persecution” comes in many forms.

I have friends from many walks of life, and from many backgrounds. The casual persecution of Jesus is rife today. I wonder, sometimes, when I walk down supermarket aisles or listen to soundtracks of movies, whether many Americans invoke the Name of Jesus more as blasphemy than in prayers. I have a Jewish friend, a prominent academic, who lards her social media posts with frequent Jesuses and Christs – believe me, not in reverence or respect. She has “unfriended” me, probably because I asked her to be more polite to my best friend. She pushed back, of course. A TV producer I once worked with began, or ended, almost every sentence of his with a Je-sus Christ similarly. I offended him by inventing oaths in my conversations, like “By the strings of Moses’ moneybags” and such. I could see little difference, but somehow he took mighty exception.

That’s one end of the spectrum. At the other end – I realize not everyone virtually crucifies Him – but we’re talking about the Creator of the universe and the Savior of our souls. If you and I don’t take His name in vain, or persecute Him more intentionally… are we better if we stand by and watch, as Paul did when Stephen was being stoned to death?

Does the Lord need to knock us to the ground and temporarily blind us and virtually shout His truth, in order for us to serve Him the best we can? Paul might say, “Been there; done that,” or “I experienced that so you don’t have to.” And thank God, literally, for that.

But we can go where we can – or where we are – and share the Good News of Jesus Christ. We can even write a few Epistles of our own. Try it!

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Click: From Saul to Paul