Finding ourselves in being found by Jesus
Commentary
Socrates' famous dictum, "Know thyself," has been passed down through the ages in philosophy classes and psychology classes as instructors and students struggle with the perennial human question, "Who am I?" A couple of the fundamental keys we have in answering that question are family, name, friends, and work. Our first experience in identity is reflected through our family of up-bringing. We learn who we are by the intimate circle of people around us at the kitchen table, in the bathroom, and under the covers. As we learn our name, it becomes a most important handle with which to get a hold of ourselves; though what it says about our identity other than a label by which others call us, we are hard pressed to say -- until we get into the meaning of names and hope the origin and signification of our name at least catch our fancy. When we are old enough to form a cadre of friends, we begin to learn so much about ourselves, as we play our thoughts and emotions and behaviors against these others who have come into our lives like walking mirrors. Then, too, how we express ourselves through our work becomes an identifier for who we understand ourselves to be, although this is fraught with the dangers of relying too much on external factors to come to grips with an intensely internal personal dynamic.
The Bible directs us to "know the Lord" (see Jeremiah 31:34) and promises us that, as we do, we will know ourselves and ultimately learn the deepest meaning to our lives. This was Paul's experience. He learned his true identity only after his encounter with the risen Jesus. Not only do we learn who we are when we "consider Jesus" (Hebrews 3:1), we also discover what we are to do with our lives. Peter found this out after he ate breakfast with the risen Jesus.
One's fingerprints, Social Security number, driver's license, iris scan, or DNA test will reveal something about identity -- who am I? But, it is only in one's encounter with the risen Jesus that we understand the meaning of this who that I am and the what that I am to do with my life.
Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)
When we first meet Paul, Luke refers to him in his Hebrew nomenclature and describes him as young and consenting to Stephen's death (Acts 7:58; 8:1). Acting as a kind of "coat check," he has so much to learn! At the time, he thinks he has a good idea of who he is. His later comments about his pedigree (Philippians 3:4-6) confirm a rather high opinion of himself. With his identity intact, he proceeds on his mission in life -- to eradicate the sect of the Way. Saul ravages the Christian church (elumaineto; Acts 8:3, imperfect tense indicating a continuing act of destruction and ruination, such that one translator, not erroneously, put deliberate intent into the sense of Saul's actions: "Saul attempted to destroy the church").
Our text begins with a more poetic, though not necessarily euphemistic, description of Saul's activity. He is described as "breathing heavily" (empnew; 9:1) against the faithful in terms of threats (Acts 26:11) and actually following through on his threats (Acts 26:10). Saul is acting with zeal. He has a passion, fueled with a deep sense as to who he himself is. Perhaps the depth of his passion for persecution is revealed reflectively in his converse passion for proclaiming the faith at great risk to himself and also great pain (see 2 Corinthians 11:21b-29). The murderer of the faithful becomes a missionary to and for the faithful, regardless of the cost to himself. This is a radical turn around that is occasioned by his meeting the risen Jesus. How fascinating it would be to know more of the anecdotal moments of Christian encounter and internal dialog that preceded this monumental event and laid the seed for such a fruitful development in his story!
It is interesting to note that on the road to Damascus there is no condemnation of Saul by Jesus. He simply identifies himself and gives instructions for Saul. Reminiscent of Samuel in the temple, Saul responds by doing what is required of him. He goes into Damascus and waits for Ananias to come to restore his sight. Ananias, reminiscent of Moses' hesitancy to go into the court of Pharaoh, follows the instructions of his vision. Saul's sight is restored after three days. In preparation, Saul had undergone a complete fast (three days) and had sat in darkness. It is only in his own darkness that Saul will finally see the true light, as John writes, "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5).
When all is said and done, Saul receives three visions. The first is the one of the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. The second is about Ananias coming in to call on him. The third is when the scales fall from his eyes and he sees that Jesus is indeed the Christ, "the son of God" (Acts 9:20, 22). God's work with Saul has been complete and thorough. These visions changed Saul. The first encouraged him to continue to his original destination, but with a different agenda now. The second prepared him to be beholding to a disciple of the Way, giving him a different paradigm with which to view these previous objects of his scorn. This would be the beginning of a new love in Saul's heart that would find expression in such letters as Philippians, Thessalonians, Timothy, and Philemon. The third led him into a new career. He was baptized and began preaching the name of Jesus, rather than persecuting the name of Jesus.
We can only begin to imagine the consternation of the Jews. They thought they knew and understood Saul. His reputation had preceded him. But, identities have a way of changing to their true character when the risen Jesus is involved. Saul came to know himself so much better, so much fuller, and so much deeper after he met the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. His life took on a new trajectory, as he was inspired by seeing Jesus for who he truly is -- the crucified and risen One. In light of this, he discovered himself, who he had been and who he was destined to be (1 Corinthians 15:9-11).
Revelation 5:11-14
These few verses are the concluding descriptor of the heavenly worship that is reported in chapters four and five of Revelation. After introducing himself as the seer and Jesus as the seen in chapter one, and after sounding the seven messages to the seven churches (No batch e-mail here! Each a personal word!), John is transported to the heavenly throne room through an open door. Worship should always be an open door through which the glory of God is manifest!
God is seated on the throne, surrounded by majestic color. Surrounding the throne are 24 thrones on which the elders are seated. There are also four sleepless, living creatures, who "never cease to sing, 'Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty' " (Revelation 4:8). The 24 elders take their cues from them and join in a heavenly chorus of praise. Looking carefully, one can see a Lamb in the midst of this wonderful scene -- at once slain, yet very much alive and worthy to take the judgment scroll from the hand of God. The praise of the elders turns now to the Lamb, whose exploits on earth are rehearsed with a melody from Calvary (Revelation 5:9).
This is the context in which the angels appear and join the song of praise to the Lamb, who continues to be the center of attention in this sound-bite of heavenly worship. To the Lamb is ascribed a plentitude of benediction: to the Lamb belong power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing. There is a mouthful! No wonder it took "myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands" to get it all expressed! Even the creatures of earth chime in with concurring verse.
There is a totality of worship pictured here. Heaven and earth resound with it. The creatures from above and from below cannot keep silent. At the heart of the worship, coursing with truth and life-giving joy, is the acknowledgment of Jesus, who is worthy of such adoration because of his work on the cross. He was slain and his blood was shed (like the sacrificial lambs of Old Testament times), so that a people could be ransomed from sin and death, given identity as citizens of God (kingdom) and purpose to serve God (priests). See Revelation 5:10.
With such a vision of heaven and earth united in adoration of Jesus, the worshiper can withstand the judgment of God which will be unleashed from his hands as he breaks open the seals on the scroll. Thank God that the judgment scroll is held by such hands, for it was those same hands which were pierced out of mercy for the fallen! Not unlike Job, then, the believer will hold fast in faith, even when threatened to be trampled under the thundering hooves of the four horsemen and all that is to follow.
John 21:1-19
The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus are important in the Gospel account to verify the nature of the resurrection itself. The mere physicality of the descriptions is a blatant clue informing the reader how to perceive this portion of the narrative. Rather than psychologizing or mythologizing the resurrection, John takes care to construct the story with tangible elements, so as to convince the reader/would-be-believer that Jesus truly overcame death bodily. Indeed, Paul talks about a dramatic new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17; see also Romans 6:5 and Hebrews 10:20). Claims for new life are grounded in the radical nature of the resurrection.
Like a second ending to revisit this phenomenal event before letting it go with the final stroke of the pen, John reports the seaside experience. Previous to the fishing and breakfast escapade on the beach, Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene by the tomb and to the disciples twice in Jerusalem (John 20). Now, seven of the disciples have a spicy encounter with Jesus, seasoned with angling advice, a shared breakfast, and conversation about demonstrating love.
We find the disciples no longer huddled together behind closed doors for fear, but rather out and about under the sun, moon and stars. Maybe they were trying to get back into the routine of their lives before their three years with Jesus. Maybe they were simply hungry. Maybe they were still waiting around for guidance as to what to do with all that they had experienced -- like John's version of a Pentecost event. Men do not wait well, so they get busy doing what they do best -- before football, baseball, basketball, and racquetball were invented. They go fishing!
It is curious that in the boat at 100 yards off shore, the disciple John could identify the man on the beach as Jesus. It was not that his eyesight was better than 20/20. He was able to read the signs. The catch of fish upon his instruction pointed to the man as Jesus himself. Of course, Peter was all too ready to believe that. Remember, he had seen Jesus in the closed room twice already. So, he eagerly and whimsically threw himself into the sea to arrive first on the shore to greet Jesus. The others came in their laden boat. Who knows what the purpose is for mentioning that exactly 153 fish were caught, other than being a simple way of underscoring the record, the material content of all who are involved, the risen Jesus included. He is, after all, the one who invited the disciples to prepare their fish on a fire that he apparently had already started.
Perhaps at a distance it is easier to believe things. One can simply make up one's mind just what is to be imagined and accepted and then simply assert that it is so; offer a few proofs and not worry too much about the details. Hence, the confidence at 100 yards. But, when eye to eye in the very matrix of the stuff of life, it is harder to come to claims other than the material description of what simply is verifiable in a scientific, pragmatic way. Hence, the odd comment that once on shore, shoulder to shoulder with Jesus "none of the disciples dared ask him, 'Who are you?' " (21:12). As if they had some doubt somewhere in the recesses of their common sense brains; really, now, when was the last time the Romans let a condemned, crucified individual who had been placed in a sealed tomb slip through their hands?
However, in the shared meal (just like with the disciples who were on their way to Emmaus), Jesus is revealed as risen. The meal becomes the occasion for the disciples to have their eyes opened wider to the grand reality of the resurrection of the crucified one. John does not hesitate to tag this as "the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead" (21:14).
Having been so identified, Jesus turns to Peter for a lesson in consequences. If he loves Jesus, then he will serve his bidding. Once we have clear who Jesus is, our identity is also shaped and our purpose is exposed. We are "fishers of men" or followers of Jesus or disciples or Christians or believers in the Way. The descriptors are many. The point is that our identity is locked up in his identity. This is why the New Testament writers so often exhort the Christian to imitate Christ, live worthy of the gospel, do as Jesus would do, be an ambassador for him, find gain in him. This being the case, our purpose becomes clear. We are to serve him. This is expressed by Jesus' threefold questioning of Peter about his love. If he loves Jesus, then he will feed his sheep. This is a metaphor for caring for the church, the believers, any who would claim Jesus as Lord and Savior and those who need to claim him as Lord and Savior.
It would be hard to miss the parallel here from the foot-
washing lesson in the upper room on the Thursday before his trial. There, he clearly said that he gave them an example to follow. Foot-washing is a sign of servanthood, which is the quality that best characterizes the followers of Jesus. They are to be servants one of another, as well as servants to the needs of all of God's hurting creation. Now, on the beach, the lesson is the same, although it comes through the aroma and flavor of grilled fish. Just as Jesus provided his disciples with breakfast, so too are they to provide for the needs of others in any and all ways through which the love of God may shine and be manifest in tangible ways.
Application
The two most defining questions for humans to answer are Who am I? and What am I to do? Christians find the answers to these questions in the encounter with Jesus, crucified and risen. Just as Saul was confronted with himself when he met the Lord on the road to Damascus, so are we exposed to ourselves in the presence of the One who is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). Pursued by the risen Jesus, Saul discovered himself to be the very one who was persecuting the Savior of the world, as he attacked his body, the church, in the world.
Fortunately, Jesus had other plans for Saul and led him in a new way, so that he himself could be a proclaimer of the Way. Saul would be known to the world as Paul, the author of such identity quotes as "Wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 7:24) and "Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's" (Romans 14:8b). He also had a clear sense of his purpose, as expressed in 2 Corinthians 5:20, "We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us." Also, "Of this gospel I was made a minister ... to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:7-8).
With these two fundamental questions answered, the where and the how of life are secondarily important. It is telling to observe that Saul continued on his way to Damascus. In a similar way, Christians today should keep alert to where they are actually living and working, rather than dream about far off places or even flock to different locales than the one God has already put them in. God did not change Saul's geography radically that day. He simply led Saul to do things radically differently in the very place he was going, because of his encounter with the risen Savior. So, too, Christians today need to discover how to see the mission field in their own backyard. This is especially true as our nation moves deeper into being a post-Christian society with post-modern sensitivities that make us a field ripe unto harvest.
One of the great challenges the church faces today is proclaiming the relevance of Jesus in a relative world. Deconstructionist temptations abound to sap the essence out of the gospel. The unique, final, universal, efficacious, and sufficient quality of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection stand over against all tendencies to relegate him to the ranks of the many prophets who populate history, or to recognize him as important only insofar as the Christian community mythologizes his story toward parochial and selective ends pertinent but to its own perspective, or to judge him simply as a misguided religionist in what would be better as a religionless world. The hymn of Revelation echoes the sense of what C. S. Lewis meant when he wrote in Mere Christianity that Jesus either was who he said he was, namely the Son of God, or he is no better off than a man who thinks of himself as a poached egg -- or worse, he is the very devil from hell!
There is a t-shirt with this written on it: "Hey, Doood! If you are going to take up space on this congested li'l planet, then shouldn't you at least have a point?!" As Peter learned his point to "Feed my sheep," we learn that we are to serve the Lord in ways that make use of our talents, interests, opportunities, and resources. Then, our lives have a point! Faith in Jesus is acted out in tangible, practical ways that serve our neighbor by proclaiming the gospel of Jesus clearly and boldly and by caring for the many needs of the neighbor. In this way we are the voice, hands, and feet of our Lord in the world today, an expression and extension of his resurrected body.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achemeier
Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)
What happens to a person when he or she is converted to the Christian faith? There is a multiplicity of answers to that question. Some persons tell us that they came to believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior after they heard a particular sermon or testimony or prayer and were prompted to go forward at the altar call. Others say they believed after they were rescued from some danger or delivered from some illness. And often, persons who have such conversion experiences can tell us the exact date on which they came to Christ. Indeed, some evangelicals have made such conversion experiences necessary for true faith. But for those people raised in a Christian home, faith in Christ Jesus has come gradually as they have matured in the life of the church. Or often, persons from Christian families will say, "I cannot remember a time when I did not believe in Jesus," and of course that too is valid faith. Sadly, for others in the church who profess to be Christians, their claim bears no relation to the actual commitment of their hearts and makes no change in the way they live their lives.
Certainly for the Apostle Paul, his conversion totally altered his actions and made him a new and different person. It even changed his name. Originally, Paul was known as Saul, of the Cilician city Tarsus on the southeastern coast of Asia Minor. The son of a Jewish family in the Hellenistic dispersion of the Jews, Saul became a Pharisee, one of those upright, learned, and careful students of the Jewish law who insisted on strict obedience to it. After the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, when Jesus' followers began spreading the good news of the resurrection throughout the Mediterranean world, Saul became enraged over the Christian proclamation that the long-awaited Messiah had been crucified and enraged over the apparent heedlessness of Christians toward the law. After all, the law stated in Deuteronomy 21:23 that anyone who hung on a tree was accursed by God. And Saul was sure that the law had been given to the Jews as their path to salvation.
So Saul, along with other Jews, began persecuting those who claimed the name of Christ as Christians. Our text for the morning tells us that Saul asked the high priest of the temple for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that he might arrest Christians and deliver them to Jerusalem to be jailed or killed (vv. 1-2). That statement betrays one of the prejudices of Luke, who is also the author of Acts. Luke maintains that Jerusalem is the center of the Jewish and Christian world, and so everything must originate from or flow back to Jerusalem. We know from historical records, however, that the high priest had no jurisdiction over synagogues in Damascus and probably in his persecuting, Saul simply had Christians arrested, flogged, and expelled from the synagogue, as was Paul himself later on (2 Corinthians 11:24). But however that may be, Saul fiercely opposed the Christian movement and persecuted its adherents, as he himself mentions three times in his letters (1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:23; Philippians 3:6).
As he was traveling to Damascus, however, Saul the Pharisee and persecutor met his Lord, and that confrontation changed his name to Paul and his life forever. Our text from Acts tells us that a light from heaven flashed about him, Saul fell to the ground, and both Saul and his travel companions heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" In terror, Saul asked, "Who are you, Lord?" for surely it was a divine voice speaking to him. And the Lord replied, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." Saul was therefore directed to go to Damascus, where he would be told what to do, but he was blinded by his encounter with the Lord and had to be led by a companion. In the meantime, a man named Ananias was directed by God to go the house of one Judas on a street called Straight. There Ananias laid his hands on Saul and told him that he had been met by the Lord Jesus. With that laying on of hands, Saul received the Holy Spirit, was baptized as a Christian, and was given the Christian name Paul.
How are we to interpret this conversion of the one whom we have come to regard as the greatest Christian missionary? There are several accounts of his conversion, besides this one in Acts 9 (cf. Acts 22:6-16; 26:12-18), one from Paul himself (Galatians 1:11-16). And in two passages, Paul tells us that on the road to Damascus, he actually saw the risen Lord with his own eyes (1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:8-9), a fact which Acts omits. Paul believes that is what made him an apostle: He saw the risen Lord and was sent by the Lord to preach to the Gentile world. That is what made him an apostle. Luke does not share that view. He thinks only the twelve in Jerusalem who were with Jesus during his ministry are apostles, because the Jerusalem church is the center of everything. But few of us here this morning would doubt Paul's own words. He saw Christ, raised from the dead, and that changed his life, his name, and his calling.
Some interpreters have erroneously believed that Paul became a Christian because he found it impossible to obey the Jewish law and so turned to the grace of Christ for salvation instead. (As a result, they apply Paul's words in Romans 7:13-25 to Paul himself, but Paul is speaking there of the state of the old humanity as a whole.) No. Paul is quite sure that he has obeyed the law. He writes that he is "as to righteousness under the law blameless" (Philippians 3:6). He was a very good Pharisee. What he learned, however, was that reliance on one's own works does not bring life and salvation. That is given only by reliance on Christ -- only by trust, only by faith, which too is a gift of God.
What Paul came to realize with his conversion was that he had been wrong, that the one who had been crucified and condemned under the law had been raised to forgive the sins not only of those who were righteous but also those who were unrighteous (cf. Mark 2:17 and parallels) -- those who never followed the law, those who were not Jews but Gentiles. God in his Son came to rescue from sin and death even the unworthy, and he would continue to do so by visiting even those outside of Israel. The barriers between Jews and Gentiles were broken down. The boundaries of the people of God burst all nationality. And the glad news of the gospel, the news of salvation for all people, spread like wild fire throughout the Mediterranean world, as it continues even now to spread in our world.
That's good news for us too here this morning, is it not -- for us Gentiles, for us unworthy, for us unrighteous, who have no claim whatsoever on God? Christ Jesus is risen from the dead. The Apostle Paul was confronted by him on that road to Damascus. And the risen Christ still comes to us in his Holy Spirit, offering us forgiveness of our sins and life eternal beyond any bounds of nationality or circumstance, of merit or deserving. And if we accept our Lord, and trust him with our lives, as did the Apostle Paul, we too will be given a new life and a new name -- Christian.
The Bible directs us to "know the Lord" (see Jeremiah 31:34) and promises us that, as we do, we will know ourselves and ultimately learn the deepest meaning to our lives. This was Paul's experience. He learned his true identity only after his encounter with the risen Jesus. Not only do we learn who we are when we "consider Jesus" (Hebrews 3:1), we also discover what we are to do with our lives. Peter found this out after he ate breakfast with the risen Jesus.
One's fingerprints, Social Security number, driver's license, iris scan, or DNA test will reveal something about identity -- who am I? But, it is only in one's encounter with the risen Jesus that we understand the meaning of this who that I am and the what that I am to do with my life.
Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)
When we first meet Paul, Luke refers to him in his Hebrew nomenclature and describes him as young and consenting to Stephen's death (Acts 7:58; 8:1). Acting as a kind of "coat check," he has so much to learn! At the time, he thinks he has a good idea of who he is. His later comments about his pedigree (Philippians 3:4-6) confirm a rather high opinion of himself. With his identity intact, he proceeds on his mission in life -- to eradicate the sect of the Way. Saul ravages the Christian church (elumaineto; Acts 8:3, imperfect tense indicating a continuing act of destruction and ruination, such that one translator, not erroneously, put deliberate intent into the sense of Saul's actions: "Saul attempted to destroy the church").
Our text begins with a more poetic, though not necessarily euphemistic, description of Saul's activity. He is described as "breathing heavily" (empnew; 9:1) against the faithful in terms of threats (Acts 26:11) and actually following through on his threats (Acts 26:10). Saul is acting with zeal. He has a passion, fueled with a deep sense as to who he himself is. Perhaps the depth of his passion for persecution is revealed reflectively in his converse passion for proclaiming the faith at great risk to himself and also great pain (see 2 Corinthians 11:21b-29). The murderer of the faithful becomes a missionary to and for the faithful, regardless of the cost to himself. This is a radical turn around that is occasioned by his meeting the risen Jesus. How fascinating it would be to know more of the anecdotal moments of Christian encounter and internal dialog that preceded this monumental event and laid the seed for such a fruitful development in his story!
It is interesting to note that on the road to Damascus there is no condemnation of Saul by Jesus. He simply identifies himself and gives instructions for Saul. Reminiscent of Samuel in the temple, Saul responds by doing what is required of him. He goes into Damascus and waits for Ananias to come to restore his sight. Ananias, reminiscent of Moses' hesitancy to go into the court of Pharaoh, follows the instructions of his vision. Saul's sight is restored after three days. In preparation, Saul had undergone a complete fast (three days) and had sat in darkness. It is only in his own darkness that Saul will finally see the true light, as John writes, "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5).
When all is said and done, Saul receives three visions. The first is the one of the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. The second is about Ananias coming in to call on him. The third is when the scales fall from his eyes and he sees that Jesus is indeed the Christ, "the son of God" (Acts 9:20, 22). God's work with Saul has been complete and thorough. These visions changed Saul. The first encouraged him to continue to his original destination, but with a different agenda now. The second prepared him to be beholding to a disciple of the Way, giving him a different paradigm with which to view these previous objects of his scorn. This would be the beginning of a new love in Saul's heart that would find expression in such letters as Philippians, Thessalonians, Timothy, and Philemon. The third led him into a new career. He was baptized and began preaching the name of Jesus, rather than persecuting the name of Jesus.
We can only begin to imagine the consternation of the Jews. They thought they knew and understood Saul. His reputation had preceded him. But, identities have a way of changing to their true character when the risen Jesus is involved. Saul came to know himself so much better, so much fuller, and so much deeper after he met the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. His life took on a new trajectory, as he was inspired by seeing Jesus for who he truly is -- the crucified and risen One. In light of this, he discovered himself, who he had been and who he was destined to be (1 Corinthians 15:9-11).
Revelation 5:11-14
These few verses are the concluding descriptor of the heavenly worship that is reported in chapters four and five of Revelation. After introducing himself as the seer and Jesus as the seen in chapter one, and after sounding the seven messages to the seven churches (No batch e-mail here! Each a personal word!), John is transported to the heavenly throne room through an open door. Worship should always be an open door through which the glory of God is manifest!
God is seated on the throne, surrounded by majestic color. Surrounding the throne are 24 thrones on which the elders are seated. There are also four sleepless, living creatures, who "never cease to sing, 'Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty' " (Revelation 4:8). The 24 elders take their cues from them and join in a heavenly chorus of praise. Looking carefully, one can see a Lamb in the midst of this wonderful scene -- at once slain, yet very much alive and worthy to take the judgment scroll from the hand of God. The praise of the elders turns now to the Lamb, whose exploits on earth are rehearsed with a melody from Calvary (Revelation 5:9).
This is the context in which the angels appear and join the song of praise to the Lamb, who continues to be the center of attention in this sound-bite of heavenly worship. To the Lamb is ascribed a plentitude of benediction: to the Lamb belong power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing. There is a mouthful! No wonder it took "myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands" to get it all expressed! Even the creatures of earth chime in with concurring verse.
There is a totality of worship pictured here. Heaven and earth resound with it. The creatures from above and from below cannot keep silent. At the heart of the worship, coursing with truth and life-giving joy, is the acknowledgment of Jesus, who is worthy of such adoration because of his work on the cross. He was slain and his blood was shed (like the sacrificial lambs of Old Testament times), so that a people could be ransomed from sin and death, given identity as citizens of God (kingdom) and purpose to serve God (priests). See Revelation 5:10.
With such a vision of heaven and earth united in adoration of Jesus, the worshiper can withstand the judgment of God which will be unleashed from his hands as he breaks open the seals on the scroll. Thank God that the judgment scroll is held by such hands, for it was those same hands which were pierced out of mercy for the fallen! Not unlike Job, then, the believer will hold fast in faith, even when threatened to be trampled under the thundering hooves of the four horsemen and all that is to follow.
John 21:1-19
The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus are important in the Gospel account to verify the nature of the resurrection itself. The mere physicality of the descriptions is a blatant clue informing the reader how to perceive this portion of the narrative. Rather than psychologizing or mythologizing the resurrection, John takes care to construct the story with tangible elements, so as to convince the reader/would-be-believer that Jesus truly overcame death bodily. Indeed, Paul talks about a dramatic new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17; see also Romans 6:5 and Hebrews 10:20). Claims for new life are grounded in the radical nature of the resurrection.
Like a second ending to revisit this phenomenal event before letting it go with the final stroke of the pen, John reports the seaside experience. Previous to the fishing and breakfast escapade on the beach, Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene by the tomb and to the disciples twice in Jerusalem (John 20). Now, seven of the disciples have a spicy encounter with Jesus, seasoned with angling advice, a shared breakfast, and conversation about demonstrating love.
We find the disciples no longer huddled together behind closed doors for fear, but rather out and about under the sun, moon and stars. Maybe they were trying to get back into the routine of their lives before their three years with Jesus. Maybe they were simply hungry. Maybe they were still waiting around for guidance as to what to do with all that they had experienced -- like John's version of a Pentecost event. Men do not wait well, so they get busy doing what they do best -- before football, baseball, basketball, and racquetball were invented. They go fishing!
It is curious that in the boat at 100 yards off shore, the disciple John could identify the man on the beach as Jesus. It was not that his eyesight was better than 20/20. He was able to read the signs. The catch of fish upon his instruction pointed to the man as Jesus himself. Of course, Peter was all too ready to believe that. Remember, he had seen Jesus in the closed room twice already. So, he eagerly and whimsically threw himself into the sea to arrive first on the shore to greet Jesus. The others came in their laden boat. Who knows what the purpose is for mentioning that exactly 153 fish were caught, other than being a simple way of underscoring the record, the material content of all who are involved, the risen Jesus included. He is, after all, the one who invited the disciples to prepare their fish on a fire that he apparently had already started.
Perhaps at a distance it is easier to believe things. One can simply make up one's mind just what is to be imagined and accepted and then simply assert that it is so; offer a few proofs and not worry too much about the details. Hence, the confidence at 100 yards. But, when eye to eye in the very matrix of the stuff of life, it is harder to come to claims other than the material description of what simply is verifiable in a scientific, pragmatic way. Hence, the odd comment that once on shore, shoulder to shoulder with Jesus "none of the disciples dared ask him, 'Who are you?' " (21:12). As if they had some doubt somewhere in the recesses of their common sense brains; really, now, when was the last time the Romans let a condemned, crucified individual who had been placed in a sealed tomb slip through their hands?
However, in the shared meal (just like with the disciples who were on their way to Emmaus), Jesus is revealed as risen. The meal becomes the occasion for the disciples to have their eyes opened wider to the grand reality of the resurrection of the crucified one. John does not hesitate to tag this as "the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead" (21:14).
Having been so identified, Jesus turns to Peter for a lesson in consequences. If he loves Jesus, then he will serve his bidding. Once we have clear who Jesus is, our identity is also shaped and our purpose is exposed. We are "fishers of men" or followers of Jesus or disciples or Christians or believers in the Way. The descriptors are many. The point is that our identity is locked up in his identity. This is why the New Testament writers so often exhort the Christian to imitate Christ, live worthy of the gospel, do as Jesus would do, be an ambassador for him, find gain in him. This being the case, our purpose becomes clear. We are to serve him. This is expressed by Jesus' threefold questioning of Peter about his love. If he loves Jesus, then he will feed his sheep. This is a metaphor for caring for the church, the believers, any who would claim Jesus as Lord and Savior and those who need to claim him as Lord and Savior.
It would be hard to miss the parallel here from the foot-
washing lesson in the upper room on the Thursday before his trial. There, he clearly said that he gave them an example to follow. Foot-washing is a sign of servanthood, which is the quality that best characterizes the followers of Jesus. They are to be servants one of another, as well as servants to the needs of all of God's hurting creation. Now, on the beach, the lesson is the same, although it comes through the aroma and flavor of grilled fish. Just as Jesus provided his disciples with breakfast, so too are they to provide for the needs of others in any and all ways through which the love of God may shine and be manifest in tangible ways.
Application
The two most defining questions for humans to answer are Who am I? and What am I to do? Christians find the answers to these questions in the encounter with Jesus, crucified and risen. Just as Saul was confronted with himself when he met the Lord on the road to Damascus, so are we exposed to ourselves in the presence of the One who is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). Pursued by the risen Jesus, Saul discovered himself to be the very one who was persecuting the Savior of the world, as he attacked his body, the church, in the world.
Fortunately, Jesus had other plans for Saul and led him in a new way, so that he himself could be a proclaimer of the Way. Saul would be known to the world as Paul, the author of such identity quotes as "Wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 7:24) and "Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's" (Romans 14:8b). He also had a clear sense of his purpose, as expressed in 2 Corinthians 5:20, "We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us." Also, "Of this gospel I was made a minister ... to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:7-8).
With these two fundamental questions answered, the where and the how of life are secondarily important. It is telling to observe that Saul continued on his way to Damascus. In a similar way, Christians today should keep alert to where they are actually living and working, rather than dream about far off places or even flock to different locales than the one God has already put them in. God did not change Saul's geography radically that day. He simply led Saul to do things radically differently in the very place he was going, because of his encounter with the risen Savior. So, too, Christians today need to discover how to see the mission field in their own backyard. This is especially true as our nation moves deeper into being a post-Christian society with post-modern sensitivities that make us a field ripe unto harvest.
One of the great challenges the church faces today is proclaiming the relevance of Jesus in a relative world. Deconstructionist temptations abound to sap the essence out of the gospel. The unique, final, universal, efficacious, and sufficient quality of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection stand over against all tendencies to relegate him to the ranks of the many prophets who populate history, or to recognize him as important only insofar as the Christian community mythologizes his story toward parochial and selective ends pertinent but to its own perspective, or to judge him simply as a misguided religionist in what would be better as a religionless world. The hymn of Revelation echoes the sense of what C. S. Lewis meant when he wrote in Mere Christianity that Jesus either was who he said he was, namely the Son of God, or he is no better off than a man who thinks of himself as a poached egg -- or worse, he is the very devil from hell!
There is a t-shirt with this written on it: "Hey, Doood! If you are going to take up space on this congested li'l planet, then shouldn't you at least have a point?!" As Peter learned his point to "Feed my sheep," we learn that we are to serve the Lord in ways that make use of our talents, interests, opportunities, and resources. Then, our lives have a point! Faith in Jesus is acted out in tangible, practical ways that serve our neighbor by proclaiming the gospel of Jesus clearly and boldly and by caring for the many needs of the neighbor. In this way we are the voice, hands, and feet of our Lord in the world today, an expression and extension of his resurrected body.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achemeier
Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)
What happens to a person when he or she is converted to the Christian faith? There is a multiplicity of answers to that question. Some persons tell us that they came to believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior after they heard a particular sermon or testimony or prayer and were prompted to go forward at the altar call. Others say they believed after they were rescued from some danger or delivered from some illness. And often, persons who have such conversion experiences can tell us the exact date on which they came to Christ. Indeed, some evangelicals have made such conversion experiences necessary for true faith. But for those people raised in a Christian home, faith in Christ Jesus has come gradually as they have matured in the life of the church. Or often, persons from Christian families will say, "I cannot remember a time when I did not believe in Jesus," and of course that too is valid faith. Sadly, for others in the church who profess to be Christians, their claim bears no relation to the actual commitment of their hearts and makes no change in the way they live their lives.
Certainly for the Apostle Paul, his conversion totally altered his actions and made him a new and different person. It even changed his name. Originally, Paul was known as Saul, of the Cilician city Tarsus on the southeastern coast of Asia Minor. The son of a Jewish family in the Hellenistic dispersion of the Jews, Saul became a Pharisee, one of those upright, learned, and careful students of the Jewish law who insisted on strict obedience to it. After the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, when Jesus' followers began spreading the good news of the resurrection throughout the Mediterranean world, Saul became enraged over the Christian proclamation that the long-awaited Messiah had been crucified and enraged over the apparent heedlessness of Christians toward the law. After all, the law stated in Deuteronomy 21:23 that anyone who hung on a tree was accursed by God. And Saul was sure that the law had been given to the Jews as their path to salvation.
So Saul, along with other Jews, began persecuting those who claimed the name of Christ as Christians. Our text for the morning tells us that Saul asked the high priest of the temple for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that he might arrest Christians and deliver them to Jerusalem to be jailed or killed (vv. 1-2). That statement betrays one of the prejudices of Luke, who is also the author of Acts. Luke maintains that Jerusalem is the center of the Jewish and Christian world, and so everything must originate from or flow back to Jerusalem. We know from historical records, however, that the high priest had no jurisdiction over synagogues in Damascus and probably in his persecuting, Saul simply had Christians arrested, flogged, and expelled from the synagogue, as was Paul himself later on (2 Corinthians 11:24). But however that may be, Saul fiercely opposed the Christian movement and persecuted its adherents, as he himself mentions three times in his letters (1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:23; Philippians 3:6).
As he was traveling to Damascus, however, Saul the Pharisee and persecutor met his Lord, and that confrontation changed his name to Paul and his life forever. Our text from Acts tells us that a light from heaven flashed about him, Saul fell to the ground, and both Saul and his travel companions heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" In terror, Saul asked, "Who are you, Lord?" for surely it was a divine voice speaking to him. And the Lord replied, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." Saul was therefore directed to go to Damascus, where he would be told what to do, but he was blinded by his encounter with the Lord and had to be led by a companion. In the meantime, a man named Ananias was directed by God to go the house of one Judas on a street called Straight. There Ananias laid his hands on Saul and told him that he had been met by the Lord Jesus. With that laying on of hands, Saul received the Holy Spirit, was baptized as a Christian, and was given the Christian name Paul.
How are we to interpret this conversion of the one whom we have come to regard as the greatest Christian missionary? There are several accounts of his conversion, besides this one in Acts 9 (cf. Acts 22:6-16; 26:12-18), one from Paul himself (Galatians 1:11-16). And in two passages, Paul tells us that on the road to Damascus, he actually saw the risen Lord with his own eyes (1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:8-9), a fact which Acts omits. Paul believes that is what made him an apostle: He saw the risen Lord and was sent by the Lord to preach to the Gentile world. That is what made him an apostle. Luke does not share that view. He thinks only the twelve in Jerusalem who were with Jesus during his ministry are apostles, because the Jerusalem church is the center of everything. But few of us here this morning would doubt Paul's own words. He saw Christ, raised from the dead, and that changed his life, his name, and his calling.
Some interpreters have erroneously believed that Paul became a Christian because he found it impossible to obey the Jewish law and so turned to the grace of Christ for salvation instead. (As a result, they apply Paul's words in Romans 7:13-25 to Paul himself, but Paul is speaking there of the state of the old humanity as a whole.) No. Paul is quite sure that he has obeyed the law. He writes that he is "as to righteousness under the law blameless" (Philippians 3:6). He was a very good Pharisee. What he learned, however, was that reliance on one's own works does not bring life and salvation. That is given only by reliance on Christ -- only by trust, only by faith, which too is a gift of God.
What Paul came to realize with his conversion was that he had been wrong, that the one who had been crucified and condemned under the law had been raised to forgive the sins not only of those who were righteous but also those who were unrighteous (cf. Mark 2:17 and parallels) -- those who never followed the law, those who were not Jews but Gentiles. God in his Son came to rescue from sin and death even the unworthy, and he would continue to do so by visiting even those outside of Israel. The barriers between Jews and Gentiles were broken down. The boundaries of the people of God burst all nationality. And the glad news of the gospel, the news of salvation for all people, spread like wild fire throughout the Mediterranean world, as it continues even now to spread in our world.
That's good news for us too here this morning, is it not -- for us Gentiles, for us unworthy, for us unrighteous, who have no claim whatsoever on God? Christ Jesus is risen from the dead. The Apostle Paul was confronted by him on that road to Damascus. And the risen Christ still comes to us in his Holy Spirit, offering us forgiveness of our sins and life eternal beyond any bounds of nationality or circumstance, of merit or deserving. And if we accept our Lord, and trust him with our lives, as did the Apostle Paul, we too will be given a new life and a new name -- Christian.
