Wednesday of the 3rd Week of Easter
Acts 8:1-8; Psalm 65:1-7; John 6:35-40
Saul the Subjugator swings into action in today’s reading, arresting, imprisoning and killing practitioners of this burgeoning religion called Christianity. The Bible doesn’t go into too many details, but one might be forgiven for comparing Saul to the comic book character known as the Punisher.
The resemblance is…compelling.
Now, we know Frank Castle’s backstory, but what’s in Saul’s history that would cause him to “entirely approve of [Stephen’s] killing” and take an active role in quashing this upstart faith? Many scholars seem to agree on a simple reason…Saul was a devout Pharisee.
It’s hardly a surprise that the Pharisees had no love for Jesus Christ, especially at the frequency with which they and their practices were castigated by Our Lord and Saviour. It must have been a relief for them when Jesus was crucified and confirmed dead; now they could get on with business as usual.
Then word comes that His followers are spreading obvious and ridiculous lies that He’s risen from the dead, yet they still manage to convert thousands of Jews despite their falsehoods. For a zealot like Saul, this must not stand! Hence, his energy and enthusiasm is fully directed towards the destruction of this blasphemous cult.
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Of course, there’s a twist in the tale, one familiar to any of us who has spent countless hours trying to convince close relatives or friends to drop their gambling habit, or drug use, or whatever we feel to be a foolish course of action. For those who haven’t had this particular pleasure, the twist is this: we only do this for those we love.
It should therefore be clear that, despite appearances, Jesus truly loved the Pharisees; he would not have spent so much time and energy on them otherwise. It was an unrequited love, to be sure, but that never stopped Jesus, just as it never stopped us when our loved ones rejected our attempts to save them from themselves.
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Of course, most disciples scattered in the face of Saul’s persecution, but they never stopped spreading the Good News. Likewise, we should never cease to evangelise our faith, despite our personal troubles or difficulties at home, or in the office, or anywhere we may find ourselves amongst non-believers. We might not be able to summon up a stream of Pauline eloquence, but we could certainly perform the deeds we do with love, and in turn reflect our Father’s undying love for the world.
Amen.