Today let’s look at 3 aspects of making Jesus Christ the back bone of our life.
I. Being earnest toward God（vs．1-5）
When Paul was in Jerusalem taking part in purification rites in regard for the Jewish Christians, he was arrested. As he was about to be taken to the Roman military barracks, Paul asked the commander for permission to speak to the crowds. He was given permission and his speech is recorded in 22:1-21.
First he tells about his birth. He was a Jew born in Tarsus in Cilicia. In other words, he was of the same Jewish background as the people who were knocking him down.
Next Paul tells us about his up bringing. He learned under the scholar of the law, Gamaliel. He received thorough training in the law. He was extremely zealous for the Lord. If we look at verses 4 and 5, we can see how zealous he was. He persecuted the Christians by throwing both men and women into prison, and put them to death. He was so approved of that even “the high priests and all the Council can testify” to it. (5) There was no one who didn’t know about his zealousness.
Why did Paul share about his past?
1. By defending himself, he is able to find common areas with the other people, contacts that could pull their hearts together with his heart. Therefore, Paul avoided using the public languages of Latin and Greek and spoke Aramaic or possibly Hebrew. Aramaic was the most commonly used language among Palestinian Jews. By using Aramaic the other person’s heart was opened and that opened the door for them to accept the Savior. This is an example of “becoming a Jew to the Jews.”
2. By sharing about his background and how zealous he was before he was converted, when he shares in verse 6 and on about he was converted, the story will burn in the hearer’s heart and will leave an impression in their hears. In other words, his zealousness towards God to the point of persecuting the Christians is the same as theirs. However, zealousness is not everything. His zealousness was destroyed. That happened on the way to Damascus to persecute the Christians. There he met the risen Jesus. Then he realized that what he thought was right up until now was actually wrong. It was an experience like a sand castle being washed away in the waves.
Jews in comparison with other people are very deeply religious and very zealous. They do not do things half way. Therefore, what they achieve is so great that it is hard to believe that it was obtain humanly. However, just being serious, enthusiastic, having a deep faith isn’t necessarily enough. The important thing is what you believe in. If what you believe in is wrong, then you will be going completely in the wrong direction. The Jews were enthusiastic towards what they believed in, but it was not what God desired or willed.
A missionary who came to Japan commented, “I was surprised that Japanese are such an extremely industrious, and highly motivated people.” According to a survey that was conducted, the majority of the people responded, “Extremely busy” to the question,”Now do you feel that your everyday life is extremely busy?” Japanese are an extremely busy people. To the question, “Then if you had a free day, would you like to spend it resting or would you feel that you had to be doing something?”, 60% to 70% of the respondents said “I would have to be doing something.” I would have probably answered the same way too. That means that we are making ourselves busy. This type of person is often seen as industrious, enthusiastic, and as putting things into action. However in reality he doesn’t know the reason but is just having a hectic time from time pressure. If his enthusiasm isn’t based upon real wisdom, then his enthusiasm is missing the mark. We shouldn’t live the life we want, but live a Christ centered life and then we will have enthusiasm for the right things, and have a reason for living.
II. The will of God, Jesus Christ (6-15)
Paul thought that Christianity was the most blasphemous religion. That was because Jesus claimed that he was the Son of God, the Savior. Paul though that Jesus was just a regular man. To say that he was God or the Messiah was blasphemy. Something had to be done about it. He was very serious. Therefore, Paul was going to go to Damascus and bring the Christians there “as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.” (5)
However, when they neared Damascus, a bright light flashed around him and he heard a voice, “Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?” (7) Paul asked, “Who are you, Lord?” (8) The voice answered, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.” (8)
This showed that Paul and the Jews premises were decisively wrong. They thought that Jesus of Nazareth could never be the Son of God, the Messiah, and the Savior. Anyone that says such a thing must be a blasphemer. However the Jesus that Paul was persecuting was in reality, the Lord Himself.
Paul who studied the law of the Old Testament under Gamaliel so enthusiastically did not know this. Romans 10:4 says, “Christ is the end of the law…” This “end” means the fulfillment or the goal. In other words, the goal of God’s law was Christ. When He came, Christ would fulfill the law, end it. Even so they didn’t know Jesus who fulfilled the law, and was the goal of the law. It’s like looking at one tree and missing the forest. Ananias’ words point this out in verse 14, “The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.”
Paul thought that he had been “thoroughly trained in the law” (3) but “The God of our fathers has chosen” to show Paul his will and for then Paul will “see the Righteous One and… hear words from his mouth.” (14) This “Righteous One” is Christ, the will of God. If you don’t know this then you can’t see Him.
This is like a map. When we open up a map it is for the purpose of finding out how to get to the place we want to get to. However, if we think about each individual place on the map, we’ll forget about where we wanted to go and there will be no purpose in having opened the map. If we think, “Ah, there’s a 7-11 here!” “Oh, here’s a bakery! When I have a chance I want to see what they sale!” “Oh, here’s the park that everyone is always talking about. I wonder what the park is like.” “Oh, I forgot where I was going to go.” Then the map has no purpose. The Law was supposed to be a map that man was supposed to follow. It was good that man did consider the map very important, but they were concerned with each individual thing on the map and forgot about where they were going. There were supposed to arrive at Jesus. When Paul met Ananias in Damascus and heard the words of Ananias, he understood clearly those words. Jesus of Nazareth whom he had been persecuting was the Son of God, the will of God. Also his calling was to be a witness and witness to all people.
Since Japanese don’t have the Old Testament, we tend to think that this is for Jews only. However in reality that is not so. If we are separated from the “Righteous One” and “Going my way” then we have no different from Paul who forgot where he was going because he was so busy looking at the map.
“Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do no know the requirements of the LORD.
How can you say ’We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD,’ when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?
The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what kind of wisdom do they have?”
Jeremiah 8:7-9
This passage is saying that the birds know when it is time to return home. This is because it is part of their nature. In the same way, man too has such instinct. For example, in the natural law that would be the ability to determine right and wrong, our consciences, etc. Man’s actions are kept fixed because there are such laws. As long as man is man, such laws are part of the instincts of man. Even so if they say that they don’t know what God’s will is and live a self centered life, “what kind of wisdom do they have?” (Jeremiah 8:9) They have no wisdom. They are foolish. In other words, this is not just Jews, but true of us Japanese too. Man who was made my God. Man was made in the image of God. He was made so that he could know God, to please God, to pray to God, to fellowship with God, but man doesn’t make God God, and lives a self centered life. That is no different from the Jews who had lost the purpose of the law. It is enthusiasm without wisdom, a meaningless walk.
When David became king, Saul, the previous king whom David served, died in battle. One of the servants of Saul saw that Saul was injured. The servant killed Saul. Then he “took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm” and brought them to David. (10) Then David said to the man, “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” (14)
This servant took action by human laws of thinking and thought that he was doing something good and enthusiastically took action. However he failed to see who was “the LORD’s anointed” and to see his relationship with God, and lost the central point of action.
We too think that other religions are good, other people are no different from Christians, maybe even better, and admire them. If we allow the Messiah to be removed from the center, no matter how enthusiastic we become according to human laws, it won’t do any good. Jesus Christ is the center of the law, the goal of worship to God. By knowing Him, man’s actions, and the focal point of all laws of life are put together.
III. Jesus as our backbone (vs. 16-21)
Ananias said to Paul who had missed Jesus and had lived according to his own thinking, being completely out of focus, “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.” (16) Sin in its original meaning means “missing the mark”. If you are living with the law as the center, and have missed the mark of Christ, you must call on his name and “be baptized and wash your sins away”.(16) We have to rebuild our unfocused life by putting Jesus Christ who came from heaven to die for our sins at the center of our thinking and our actions. How can we live a life of not missing the mark if we don’t make Jesus our backbone?
What we thought was good, actually was a completely wrong aim. In reality, Paul too, was very enthusiastic toward God, but because his zealousness was leaving out Christ it was completely wrong aim. Instead, we need to make Christ our backbone, the center of our lives. Verse 17 is a concrete example of this.
When Paul returned to Jerusalem, he entered the temples and prayed. He “fell into a trance and saw the Lord speaking.” (17,18) The Lord said to him, “Quick!” “Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.” (18) Paul who realized through Ananias’ words that he had been wrong, openly accepted what Ananias said and repented, witnessed about Christ. If he did so, he thought the Jews would all be like himself and realize their mistake. However in reality it didn’t happen that way. The Lord’s thinking was different. The Lord’s will was to “Leave Jerusalem.” (18) The Jews weren’t going to change their thinking so easily. Instead God’s will was that Paul go to the Gentiles.
We should not decide things by our own thinking. Before Paul was like this, but he repented and made Jesus the backbone of his life, he chose to live his life not by his own thinking but live a life of being led by the Lord Jesus Christ. What we need to do is live with Jesus as our backbone. Then we will be filled far more than we can ever imagine with God’s glory.
How about you? Are you living for yourself, for your own thinking? Even though humanly speaking it may seem right, in reality the focus is off. “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.” (16) Rebuild your out of focus life. Put the Lord Jesus Christ as the center of your thoughts and actions. Let’s listen to the Lord’s voice and walk according to his leading. This is the enthusiasm that the Lord is happy about.