Conversion? Repentance? Or...?

The next chapter tells the stunning story of Saul’s transformation. If you remember, we were introduced to Saul in the story of Stephen as he held the coats and oversaw the execution. We are reminded of his intense pursuit of the church in the next chapter as the movement was scattered because of the persecution he was leading.

And then, all of a sudden, Jesus enters Saul’s story and everything radically changes. Saul is on his way to Damascus with letters in hand from the high priest himself to find and arrest any of Jesus’s followers. (Please note, the letters are intended for “synagogues”; apparently this early church is still very much Jewish and a part of the world of Judaism.) As he gets closer to Damascus, a bright light sends him to the ground as he hears the voice of Jesus asking why Saul is trying to persecute him. When Saul asks who is speaking to him, Jesus responds that it is he whom Saul is persecuting.

I find it interesting to note that Jesus claims — twice — it is he whom Saul is persecuting. He doesn’t say, “Hey Saul! Why are you persecuting my followers?” But Jesus claims Saul is actually persecuting Jesus. I find that to be quite the commentary on what it means to partner with God and be a part of the “body of Christ.” But I digress.

Saul is struck blind and sent to the house of Ananias (who isn’t too pleased with the idea of helping out the man who is notorious for trying to destroy them) and he regains his sight. He also enters into a time of deep commitment and training. After all, Saul — who has been trained by Gamaliel the Elder — has a lot to learn (and unlearn) in his Judaism. This isn’t a statement we should read past. Saul was the disciple of one of the greatest names of first-century Judaism. Saul’s pedigree is incredible; it’s the equivalent of being a Ph.D. from Harvard. Saul would be able to walk into any Jewish setting and demand respect simply by being a student of Gamaliel’s. 

But in this Jesus reality, much of what he has learned is still incomplete.

Now, I want to end this post with a question. I want to pose a question I don’t intend to resolve until the end of our time in Acts.

The subtitle in most Bibles for this section is going to read: “The Conversion of Saul”

Is that an accurate subtitle? Is Saul “converted”? On some level, this is a matter of semantics and what we mean technically by “conversion.” But if we mean that Saul changes religious affiliation, I would like to ask you to reconsider. You see, this is why semantics matter, because I believe most of us as Jesus followers tend to take a similar stance toward Judaism.

God worked through Judaism in the Old Testament, then God sent Jesus and God changed stories. He abandoned Judaism and started at square one. If Jews want to be saved, they have to accept Jesus as the Messiah and be converted. They need to switch teams from an old abandoned Judaism to “the new thing” God is doing in Jesus.

Right?

But this betrays the story we have been studying. I have been trying to show that this story of God is one narrative from front to back. God doesn’t change game plans; Jesus is the fulfillment and the demonstration of the game plan that has been true all along. And while we aren’t in the book of Romans yet, I think the position we typically hold in the evangelical community runs directly contrary to the teaching of Romans 11. We have been grafted into the Jewish story. We have been grafted into their tree. God didn’t plant a brand new tree and invite everybody to jump on board. No, God pruned and continued to cultivate the original tree and grafted Gentiles into that.

While I will admit that Saul was certainly misguided in his persecution of Christians, his intentions come from a zealous pursuit of the God of the Bible. The same Jewish God Jesus came to show us.

So I will ask again, was this a conversion?

Or was this a repentance? Was Saul following the right story and simply had some wires crossed? Once he realized his error, did he switch teams or simply start following the same God and the same faith with a new understanding of what God was up to in the world?

Or was this something else entirely?

We will talk much more about Saul and his education. We’ll talk much more about this new “Christian” faith and how it fits into Judaism in the time to come. For now, I simply want to let that question upset the apple cart before we move on.