June 10, 2007

Cawson St. Church of Christ

Hopewell, Virginia

Mural Worthey

 

Letters vs. Light

Introduction: Acts 9

 

Acts 9 is a well-known chapter in the New Testament. It is the record of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Saul is his Jewish name; Paul is his Roman name. But the change in name is an insignificant part of his story. His conversion is one of the most dramatic in Scripture. It could be called the transition from the persecutor to the persecuted; from a stickler for the letter of the Law to the wonderful spirit of grace. Few, if any, have ever made such a successful turn-around from such misplaced, misguided zeal to a devoted Christian missionary to the Gentiles. His legacy changed from being one of the most feared men in Palestine to being one of the most loved and appreciated. In his own words: “I laid waste the Church of God.” But afterwards, he built it up all over the Roman Empire and down to this present day. Some writers have attributed Paul with being the chief promoter of Christianity second only to Jesus Christ. We have more letters from his pen than from any other writer in the New Testament.

 

Letters from the High Priest

 

“And Saul, yet breathing out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord went unto the high priest and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.” (9:1-2.)

 

After the conversion account of Saul in chapter 9, there are two other records of it when Paul recounted it to others. One was rehearsed to a council in Jerusalem (Acts 22) and the other was before Agrippa (Acts 26). In the second account, Paul wrote that “he shut up many saints in prison and when they were put to death, he cast his vote against them.” (26:10.) This may mean that he was a member of the powerful Jewish Sanhedrin. Letters from the High Priest were similar to a warrant for someone’s arrest; in this case all Christians, those who were of that way, were included in the warrant. It was, in effect, a death-warrant. Stephen was not given a trial; he was stoned immediately. Saul was given these warrants from the authority of the High Priest to bring back Christians from Damascus for judgment. Damascus was the capital of Syria; not a part of Palestine. Under Jewish law, Jews everywhere were under the authority of the high priest in Jerusalem. The authorities in Syria recognized the power of the letters from the high priest and allowed Saul to arrest and bind them. Christians were dragged from cities outside Palestine back to Jerusalem to stand trial and punishment.

 

Saul was prepared with all that he needed as he journeyed to Damascus. But as they neared the city, something happened. The record says, “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly there shined around about him a light from heaven and he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 9:3-4.) Instead of riding in the city with power and authority, he was led into the city by the hand, being blinded by the light.

 

After the light stopped them just outside the city, the letters that he had with him are not mentioned again. They lost their importance and power. We do not know if Saul threw them away. But we do know that the light from heaven changed everything. The light from heaven represented life and giving one the ability to see; the letters represented death and spiritual blindness. The letters, the arrest warrants, lost their power in the presence of the light from heaven.

 

The Law of Moses. The Law condemned any among the Jews for disobeying the Law; those guilty were often stoned to death. (Numbers 15:32-36.) Saul did not understand at the time that the Law was a schoolmaster to bring men to Christ. Paul himself later wrote, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the Law.” (Rom. 3:31.) Paul explained to Agrippa, “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers. Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.” (Acts 26:6-7.)

 

No flesh was ever justified by law. (Rom. 3:20, Gal. 3:11.) Paul described the old covenant as the administration of death, but the new was unto life. (2 Cor. 3:1-7.) Paul said that God had made them able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. (2 Cor. 3:6.)

 

Like Saul of Tarsus, Moses came down Mount Sinai with letters under his arm. The letters were carved into tables of stone. It was the administration of death that Paul described to the Corinthians. When Moses reached the bottom of the mount, he found the nation of Israel already worshipping a golden calf that Aaron made for them. They were committing fornication. Moses commanded that they be put to death. Three thousand died that day when the Law was given. In contrast, three thousand were saved when the New Covenant was given. (Exodus 32:28, Acts 2:41.)

 

At the end of the Jewish period, light came from heaven and replaced the old letters in stone. The apostle John used the analogy of light and darkness often in his letters. He wrote, “In Him (Jesus) was life and his life was the light of men. . . that was the true light that lights every man that comes into the world. . . The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (John 1:4, 9, 17.) When the Light came, the old letters of the Law were put aside. They no longer held power over men causing death. “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? God forbid.” (Rom. 6:14-15.)

 

Letter vs spirit

 

The one who once carried letters from the high priest to arrest and kill Christians later wrote about the difference between letter and spirit. He denounced his kinsmen after the flesh who preached physical circumcision to the neglect of the real circumcision of the heart. He said that one is not a Jew who is one outward in the flesh, but one who is a Jew after the heart, not in the letter, but in the spirit; whose praise is not of men but of God. (Rom. 2:27-29.) Paul went further applying this principle. He wrote that the Gentiles, who had not been circumcised physically, could be counted as circumcised if they kept the righteousness of the law. If the Jew, who had been circumcised, did not keep the righteousness of the law, would be counted as uncircumcised. I am sure that the Jews would be in a rage over these statements, denying even the possibility of such a thing!

The distinction between letter and spirit is not a contrast between Scripture (graphe) and letter (gramma), but it is the difference between outward and inward. The distinction is between letter (gramma) and spirit (pneuma).  David wrote that the sacrifices of God are not burnt offerings, but a broken and contrite heart. (Psalm 51:17.) Today, Christians can fail in the same way that Saul and the Pharisees did. We may have been immersed in water, yet be mean-spirited and unconverted. We may faithfully break the bread and drink of the cup, yet trust in ourselves that we are righteous rather than trusting in Jesus Christ. Some of the meanest people I know are “Christians” who carry letters from the high priest under their arms! They are bearers of the law intent on killing everyone who disagrees with them. They know not the Christ; they have not seen the light. Let us delight in the Law of God after the inward man.

 

The High Priests: Caiaphas and Jesus. The arrest warrants were written by the highest Jewish religious authority in the land. There are two high priests who served during the period of Jesus’ life and immediately afterwards. They are Caiaphas and Ananias. Caiaphas’ role as high priest was 18-36 AD; Ananias served from 47 to 59 AD. Paul and Ananias had a confrontation in Acts 23 in Jerusalem. The high priest has Paul stroke on the mouth; Paul called him a whited-wall; that is, a hypocrite. (Acts 23:3.) Ananias was crooked and unjust; he was later killed by Jewish Zealots. The name of the high priest on the arrest warrants given to Saul was probably Joseph Caiaphas, the same one before whom Jesus stood on trial. (Matt. 26:57f.)

 

But the light shined from another High Priest from heaven. Jesus ascended to heaven to begin his work as our great High Priest. He ascended to sit on the throne of his Father in heaven. The high priest under the Law had no power to give life; his role was temporary. His work was over when Jesus came down to establish his kingdom. Caiaphas was a cruel and brutal man; Jesus was pure and sinless. The high priest conducted an illegal trial against Jesus. By the testimony of false witnesses, Caiaphas said, What need have we of further witnesses? We have heard his blasphemy. (Matt. 26:65.) Jesus and Caiaphas meet again. This time it was on the Damascus Road. The papers held by Saul were signed by Caiaphas. But Jesus, our High Priest, made them null and void when he appeared to Saul.

 

The Hebrew writer described Jesus this way: “For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens.” (Heb. 7:25-26.) The writer said that the law makes priests who have infirmities, but Jesus did not have to make a sacrifice for his own sins and then ours. He was sinless and undefiled. We have a greater high priest than those of the Law. He gives light from heaven.

 

The Light Meant Jesus Arose. When the light shone around Saul, he heard a voice from heaven. It was the voice of the resurrected Jesus. Saul and his Jewish friends had rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Pharisees believed that a resurrection from the dead was possible, but they did not accept that Jesus was the promised Messiah. (Acts 23:8.) Jesus appearing to Saul was not to give him special opportunities that others did not have in becoming a Christian. His appearance was to establish the truthfulness of his resurrection and thus qualify Saul (if he obeyed the Gospel in Damascus) to become an apostle. This is an important distinction. Saul had to decide what he would do with the new information and proof that Jesus arose from the dead. He could decide to still reject it. Saul was not saved on the Damascus Road, but he obeyed the Gospel at the hands of Ananias in the city.

 

This account and the repetitions of it in Acts 22 and 26 are for our benefit too. This is one of the most powerful accounts to establish the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Saul changed the direction of life because he was convinced that Jesus arose from the dead; thus He was the Son of God as He said. We believe in the resurrection of Jesus today based upon the testimony of these who saw him.

 

Letters from the high priest and Paul’s Letters

 

In contrast to those letters that Saul carried from the high priest, later Paul the apostle would also write many letters. They would be addressed to churches all over the Roman Empire encouraging and instructing them. Paul gave his life to the work of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. His letters are powerful to this day giving hope and faith to millions who believe. Paul’s letters have long since replaced the old letters written by the Jewish high priest, Joseph Caiaphas. The one among the Jews who condemned Jesus now stands judged by one who once carried his letters.