#RAD
#ATEND G-d (Christ) #IIC714
Did Paul ever meet Jesus
Recently,
someone through Social Media commented, and queried:
“I know Paul wrote most of the new testament. But is it true he never even meet Jesus.”
“I know Paul wrote most of the new testament. But is it true he never even meet Jesus.”
And
my reply may leave some, perhaps many, of you gasping:
“Yes, and more to the point no, and possibly... confused yet??”
“Yes, and more to the point no, and possibly... confused yet??”
Yes,
I gave him three (3) differing, even seemingly contradictory
* Yes, Paul never met Jesus
* No, that’s not correct that Paul ‘never met
Jesus’, and
* Maybe it’s possible that Paul did meet Jesus
answers a few moments
earlier. So now, before my readers,
anyone, begins to conclude I a doubleminded man, please permit me to explain. And before I get into the explanation, please
bear with me as I refer to something I wrote about approximately a week ago – “Paul the swindler? Or Apostle...” – and here
too, before anyone simply looks at the Blog title, and concludes, ‘heretic’,
please read the Blog!
Let’s
begin with the first – ‘yes, Paul never met Jesus’ – by taking a look at what
Scripture tells us about Saul of Tarsus / Paul, and his conversion encounter, shall
we? In the Book of Acts Chapter 9,
verses 1 through 19, we read of Paul’s miraculous conversion to being a
follower of Christ. Later in Acts,
Chapters 22 and 26 Paul speaks again about his ‘conversion experience’ with
others. In Acts 9:5 we read, Paul
speaking – “Who are you, Lord?” – which lends itself certainly to the idea that
Saul who was also known as Paul, had no idea who he was talking to, as if he had
never met Jesus. - Acts 9 - http://bit.ly/24Xp6QJ,
ESV. See also Acts 22:6 - http://bit.ly/24XpnTC and Acts 26:12 - http://bit.ly/24XpcHY
Next,
let’s look at – ‘no, that’s not correct that Paul ‘never met Jesus’ ’, – and consider
what Paul himself said about his, shall I say, “Internship” as an Apostle, according
to Galatians Chapter One:
Paul said of himself, that he “…did not receive it [the Gospel] from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus…” – Galatians 1:12, ESV, emphasis in square parentheses mine. Paul made a fairly poignant point of highlighting that A) – he was not “taught the Gospel by other humans”, not by the 12 nor by any other man, verse 12, and B) that it was through the simple and very direct revelation of G-d (Christ), also verse 12, that Paul was taught. Ergo, Paul was taught expressly by and directly by the Risen Lord Jesus. In verse 18 Paul reveals that his ‘time of training’ – “…after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas…” – lasted three years, and in verse 19 Paul again reiterates that he was not “Discipled” by any of the other Apostles. – Galatians 1 - http://bit.ly/24Xqp24. Thus the point can be argued that Paul did not meet, or *know* Jesus in His pre-crucifixion, human incarnate form.
And finally, let’s look at – ‘Maybe it’s possible that Paul did meet Jesus’ – and consider some texts, and implications from a little earlier in Scripture, in Acts 6, 7 and 8. The Book of Acts covers a time span of some thirty thirty-five odd years of the early Church. Acts Chapters One through Five covers between one and three years (from the Resurrection), Acts 6, 7 and 8 cover between another two to five years (from the first couple of Chapters). And Acts 9, Saul’s / Paul’s conversion is another five to seven years later again, (so Paul’s conversion would be between five and maybe seven years later still, after the Resurrection of Christ). With that in mind, consider the events of Acts 6:8 through Acts 7:60, which would have happened roughly three possibly four years, post the Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Christ, wherein we read about both the very first martyr for Christ, Stephen, and also a very powerful speech by Stephen, followed by his execution. And consider the words of Acts 7:58 about one particular young man:
“…witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.”, ESV – http://bit.ly/24XwV8M
Paul said of himself, that he “…did not receive it [the Gospel] from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus…” – Galatians 1:12, ESV, emphasis in square parentheses mine. Paul made a fairly poignant point of highlighting that A) – he was not “taught the Gospel by other humans”, not by the 12 nor by any other man, verse 12, and B) that it was through the simple and very direct revelation of G-d (Christ), also verse 12, that Paul was taught. Ergo, Paul was taught expressly by and directly by the Risen Lord Jesus. In verse 18 Paul reveals that his ‘time of training’ – “…after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas…” – lasted three years, and in verse 19 Paul again reiterates that he was not “Discipled” by any of the other Apostles. – Galatians 1 - http://bit.ly/24Xqp24. Thus the point can be argued that Paul did not meet, or *know* Jesus in His pre-crucifixion, human incarnate form.
And finally, let’s look at – ‘Maybe it’s possible that Paul did meet Jesus’ – and consider some texts, and implications from a little earlier in Scripture, in Acts 6, 7 and 8. The Book of Acts covers a time span of some thirty thirty-five odd years of the early Church. Acts Chapters One through Five covers between one and three years (from the Resurrection), Acts 6, 7 and 8 cover between another two to five years (from the first couple of Chapters). And Acts 9, Saul’s / Paul’s conversion is another five to seven years later again, (so Paul’s conversion would be between five and maybe seven years later still, after the Resurrection of Christ). With that in mind, consider the events of Acts 6:8 through Acts 7:60, which would have happened roughly three possibly four years, post the Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Christ, wherein we read about both the very first martyr for Christ, Stephen, and also a very powerful speech by Stephen, followed by his execution. And consider the words of Acts 7:58 about one particular young man:
“…witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.”, ESV – http://bit.ly/24XwV8M
“A young
man named Saul”, was an onlooker at Stephen’s martyrdom, and a guarder
of cloaks. The text tells us Paul (Saul)
was a young man, 17 or 18, perhaps 20 or 21, maybe? A young man entrusted with guarding the
cloaks of those who were about to execute (stone to death) Stephen. And based upon the timelines of Acts Chapters
One through Nine, we have between an eight and 15 year passing of time. So let’s just run with 12 years, (this is a
guess, could be longer, could be fewer), passing when Saul had his conversion
experience. Let’s use about five years
(post Resurrection) for when Saul, witnessed Stephen’s execution and let’s also
use 21-years-of-age for Saul’s age also when he saw Stephen’s execution, and
guarded the cloaks of his peers (these are both guesses, of course, and as such
they both could be longer, or fewer in years).
If, and yes, I get it, this is an “IF” Saul was 21 years old when
Stephen was martyred, and Stephen’s martyring took place c. ~ five years following
the Resurrection of Christ, this would place Saul at approximately 15 years of
age at the time of the Crucifixion.
Why would Saul’s age, at the time of the Crucifixion matter, or be relevant? Perhaps no reason. But, perhaps a 15-year-old Saul was one of many Pharisees-in-training, standing in the crowd the day Jesus was Crucified. Perhaps, going back over the roughly three years of Jesus Earthly Ministry, a 12 to 15 years old, up-and-coming, Pharisee in training named Saul, had occasion to hear, and initially reject, Jesus personal first hand preaching? Once more, this is speculation, as Scripture is silent on the specifics, therefore they are not points of vital significance. Nonetheless, it is within reason to conclude at least the possibility of Saul being a first-hand witness to the pre-Crucifixion Jesus, and His exploits.
Thus, the clear answer to – “Did Paul ever meet Jesus?” – is, in my humble opinion, a resounding YES! Yes, Paul met Jesus, and I think it more than fair to surmise that Paul met (at least saw, and knew of) both the pre-Crucified incarnate Jesus, and as well as the post Resurrection, Risen Lord, Jesus.
Why would Saul’s age, at the time of the Crucifixion matter, or be relevant? Perhaps no reason. But, perhaps a 15-year-old Saul was one of many Pharisees-in-training, standing in the crowd the day Jesus was Crucified. Perhaps, going back over the roughly three years of Jesus Earthly Ministry, a 12 to 15 years old, up-and-coming, Pharisee in training named Saul, had occasion to hear, and initially reject, Jesus personal first hand preaching? Once more, this is speculation, as Scripture is silent on the specifics, therefore they are not points of vital significance. Nonetheless, it is within reason to conclude at least the possibility of Saul being a first-hand witness to the pre-Crucifixion Jesus, and His exploits.
Thus, the clear answer to – “Did Paul ever meet Jesus?” – is, in my humble opinion, a resounding YES! Yes, Paul met Jesus, and I think it more than fair to surmise that Paul met (at least saw, and knew of) both the pre-Crucified incarnate Jesus, and as well as the post Resurrection, Risen Lord, Jesus.
“No
Jesus, NO peace” and yet, “Know Jesus, KNOW peace”
How
does one get to “know” Jesus? Simple,
invite Him into your heart, as Jesus says: “Here I am! I stand at the door and
knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with
him, and he with me.” [Revelation
3:20 NIV] How can be assured that this Jesus stuff means
anything? Well because the Bible tells
us so, as the Apostle Paul wrote:
“If
you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart
that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess
your faith and are saved.” [Romans
10:9-10 NIV]
And
for those of you who say to me, I can’t be bothered reading the Bible, “it’s
confusing” or “it’s a waste of my time”, may I draw your attention to what the
Bible says about wisdom: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and
knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” [Proverbs 9:10 NIV]
If
nothing else, PLEASE read two chapters from the Bible – (don’t own one, sorry
NO excuse, if you’re reading this, you can access this: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%203:16&version=NIV) John 3 and John
14!
John
3:16 says: “For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.”
And
John 14:6 says: “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me.”
Well
that’s it, that’s Da Bauz’s take on the question, “Did Paul ever meet Jesus”, this
17th day of May, 2016 © 2016, All Rights Reserved. wr (Da Bauz,
Christian Zionist “creationist” too!)
Just
sayin’...
What is
#RAD? #RAD is:
R epent
of rejecting Christ
A ccept
Christ as your Lord
D
evelop your relationship with G-d
#RAD
your relationship with the Living Almighty God Himself as your personal Lord
and Saviour depends on it!
What is
#ATEND G-d (Christ)? Ask me!
#IIC714
II 2nd
C
hronicles
7:14
John
3:16, Revelation 3:20, Romans 10:9 -10, Revelation 21:27, II Corinthians 5:21
and I John 5:13 / John 20:31!
Shalom!
Cited or consulted sources and resources
http://bit.ly/1kliLwA - “Bible Hub”
http://bit.ly/1kliTMD - “BibleGateway”
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