During the height of the Roman Empire’s rule in much of the known world, it was considered a great privilege to be a Roman citizen. Citizens of Rome carried a status that afforded many meaningful social and legal benefits which others in the Empire did not enjoy.
- A Roman citizen was not subject to many of taxes which were levied upon other non-citizens in the Empire
- A Roman citizen could legally marry another Roman citizen and theirchildren would also be Roman citizens
- Vote and hold public office
- Bring law suits
- Had the right of appeal to a higher court
- The rights of paterfamilias (fatherhood equaled ownership)
- Rights of travel and preserved rights of citizenship relocation
- Could not be tortured, whipped or receive the death penalty exceptfor treason
- No Roman citizen could die on a cross. (Both the Apostles Paul andPeter were convicted of basically the same crime but died in differing ways;Paul was beheaded while Peter was crucified because Peter was not a citizenof Rome.)
At any rate, Tarsus of that day was known as a city of culture, wealth and education, and it also contained a large and influential Jewish community. Perhaps one of the soldiers sent by Rome, honorably rose in the ranks while stationed in Tarsus and after completing his military duty, married a Jewish girl. This would explain how Saul, a man of Jewish heritage, could be born a citizen of Rome in the city or Tarsus.
Acts 22:3 I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.
As was the custom for influential families of that day, young boys were sent to study abroad. Saul, due to his Jewish roots, was sent to Jerusalem to study under the great teacher, Gamaliel. He excelled in his studies and became zealous for the law of God.
It is reasonable to assume that young Saul was in Jerusalem, at about age 17 or 18, when a man named Jesus was arrested, tried and convicted of proclaiming Himself to be the Son of God. This Jesus was crucified and three days later His followers claimed that He was raised from the dead. Rumors persisted and the follower’s numbers grew until only after a few months the assembly of believers in Jesus as Messiah reached over 8000 converts.
This was not only alarming to the Jewish hierarchy in Jerusalem but served as a threat to all Jewish communities everywhere. These Believers became more and more organized and confident. They established a secondary level of leaders to help distribute some of the workload brought on by the benevolent efforts of this group. These leaders they called deacons, and one of these deacons was quite a nuisance to the established Jewish religious leaders of that day. His name was Stephen.
One day – well, let me read it to you:
Acts 6 NKJV
8 ¶ And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.
9 Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen(Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.
11 Then they secretly induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God."
Well, you can imagine, or perhaps you’ve read, what happened.
Acts 7
54
¶ When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
56 and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;
58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Sometime after this event, this young man Saul completed his studies, came of age and decided to stay on in Jerusalem to help fight against these converts and all who followed Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah. And, Saul was pretty good at what he set out to do:
Acts 8:3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house,and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
At some point Saul decided to approach the High Priest seeking to be deputized and given letters authorizing him to search out and arrest any Jew who was found to be a Believer in Jesus. His requests were met and he was given letters authorizing him to investigate and bring back captive any who were found to be of that way.
Acts 9
3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul,why are you persecuting Me?"
5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads."
6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
Saul immediately obeyed and was led blind into the city awaiting further instructions. After three days a Believer named Ananias reluctantly came and laid his hands on Saul, prayed, and Saul’s sight was restored and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Saul, who is also called Paul, was baptized as a Believer in Jesus as Messiah and the rest is history. Can you imagine what peace, what confidence, what boldness, what joy it was to Paul when he found that the journey he had been on all of his life was actually not his journey, but God’s. He loved God and wanted to help. God was involved every step of the way, even before Paul was born, deciding and directing where he would be born, when he would be born, who his parents would be and where they would be from. Although God did not make everychoice for Paul, He nonetheless orchestrated every event to turn out to the benefit of His plan both for Paul and for all mankind. Paul later declared, God works all things together for good. Paul continued his journey on to Damascus but now he was going for God and not for himself. His journey became God’s journey. This reminds me of the story of Jacob told at the end of Genesis 45 and into chapter 46. Jacob was 130 years when he found out that his favorite son,Joseph, was still alive. Jacob had not seen Joseph for more than 20 years.He believed that Joseph had been killed by wild beasts. How deeply Jacob had grieved and mourned over the loss of his son Joseph. Now, all of the sudden, he hears that Joseph his beloved son is alive and a ruler in Egypt. Jacob says with a firm resolve:
Genesis 45:28 Then Israel said, "It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die."
Then, with abandon he set out on a long walk to go to Egypt. After a day’s journey, Jacob stopped in Beersheba where he had once dug a well and built and altar. Jacob stopped to offer a sacrifice to God. It was at the altar, in the night, that Jacob had a vision and heard the voice of God.
Genesis 46
2 Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, "Jacob,Jacob!" And he said, "Here I am."
3 So He said, "I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there.
4 "I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes."
It was here, at the altar, where Jacob’s journey became God’s journey. Jacob continued on to Egypt and lived with his son Joseph for another 17 years without fear. Why, because he knew it was not his journey, but God’s.
Much like both Saul, stopped on the road to Damascus, and Jacob who stopped on the road to Egypt, we too need to stop and check in with God about our journey. It may not mean a new destination but rather a new reason, a new value, a new vision for the journey you are already on.
You are most likely more in the will of God for your life right now than you give yourself credit for. You may be afraid, lack confidence, have anger issues, doing it for the wrong reasons, have no direction, no joy, no peace, and no connection with God - perhaps you only know your own journey. Stop, check in with God, and you may be amazed that you have been on God’s journey all along. Turn your journey into God’s journey and find the peace you have been missing. Turn your journey over to Him! And remember: The journey is your friend!
