Communion With the Christ:: A Very, Very Brief History of the Church: Part 3

"I Will Build My Church"

With the Conversion of Saul of Tarsus, a New Dynamic Was Released Within the Life of the Jesus Movement, Which Hinted at Even Greater Changes That Awaited the Followers of Jesus that Would Transform the Movement for the Ages to Come.

The Early Jewish Church thought that there would

be a Jewish Messiah for a Jewish Church.

Who Are You Lord?

Saul of Tarsus who had made it his mission to zealously persecute the followers of Jesus now would have the encounter with the very living Jesus. This encounter would transform his life for all time and eternity and redirect his zeal so as to become one of the prime movers of the Christian movement shaping its future forever.

As Saul made his way to the city Syrian city of Damascus for the express purpose of stemming the growth of the followers of Jesus, Saul encountered the very Jesus, toward whom all his rage had been directed. Jesus appears to Saul in bright light which knocked Saul off his horse to the dust below. There upon the Damascus Road Jesus addressed Saul and redirects his whole life.

"Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Acts: 9:1-4

Saul, stunned and uncertain as to who it is that has met him, and was waylaying him in his mission to arrest the followers of Jesus. Saul asked the question that it is not hard to imagine that he feared the answer to.

"Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked"(5).

Then the answer came which might have filled him with uncertainty as to what would become of him as a result of this supernatural encounter with the living Jesus.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (5b-6)

Saul, now knowing that very one, Jesus, who's name he had come to revile was now here before him calling him into a new life with a new direction.

This encounter with Jesus who was calling Saul and giving him a new direction of life leaves Saul temporarily blinded until a believer in Jesus named Ananias is sent by Jesus himself to Saul. After telling Ananias that Saul is called for a unique mission, Ananias then comes to Saul to anoint him with oil and prays for him after which Saul's sight is restored and he straightway begins to tell others about his encounter with Jesus. Saul is now a witness of the resurrected Lord.

Saul's preaching was so compiling and powerful that it ultimately drew the anger of the Jewish leaders in Damascus. These leaders decided to kill Saul and to silence his preaching, so they devised a plot against Saul, but the other believers helped Saul escape the city.

"Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall".(19b-25)

To Jerusalem

Saul, this new and powerful voice in the Jesus movement makes his way to the city of Jerusalem to seek out other followers of Jesus and the movements leadership.

At first, there was uncertainty in the minds of some believers as to the genuineness of the presences of Saul and his motivation as he attempted to associate with them, and his motive for speaking the name of Jesus.

It was not until a Cyprian Jew named Joseph, called Barnabas, discerned that Saul's intent and conversion was genuine and that he should be accepted among them as one of them.

Barnabas even introduced Saul to the Apostles telling them Saul's story gaining entrance as part of the Church until his preaching angered many of the Hellenistic Jews making it necessary for Saul to return to his home in Tarsus for a season.

"When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus."(26-30)

The First Gentiles

About ten years had elapsed from that day of Pentecost when St. Peter stood and boldly proclaimed the Gospel message. The Jesus movement had grown in number and communities called Churches had begun to be established throughout Palestine.

At this point the followers of Jesus were all Jews, but all of that was about to change, and for a moment in the life of the Church, there was uncertainty about the direction they were all headed.

St. Peter, while traveling and ministering to the Churches preaching the name of Jesus and preforming healings in the name of Jesus. The Apostle came to the town of Joppa which was by the sea shore. There St. Peter stayed with a fellow believers named Simon the Tanner. This in its self-hinted at the coming changes, for Simon the tanner would be habitually considered ceremoniously "unclean" due to his constant contact with blood from the animals who's skins he worked with, yet, St. Peter met and stayed with him on his preach tour.

While St. Peter was at Joppa there was in the Caesarea an officer in the Roman Legion, a Centurion named Cornelius who was stationed as a leader of a regiment of the army called the Italian Regiment. This man had been gracious and kind to the Jewish people and believed in the God of Israel. Cornelius was known to give monies to charitable causes and Jewish people in need and was regarded by the Jews as a good gentile.

As Cornelius prayed one day he saw a vision given by God, in which God instructed him to send for the Apostle St. Peter who was staying in Joppa at the house of Simon the tanner and have him brought to his home. The Apostle St. Peter would then preach the Gospel to Cornelius and his house hold.

As the vision faded Cornelius dispatched three men to Joppa and asked St. Peter to come to his home and tell him and his whole household about the faith that he proclaimed.

"At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.

The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa" (1-8)

God then prepares St. Peter for his encounter with Cornelius through the vision of unclean animals as now fit to eat. The real point of the vision was not the animals themselves but Gentiles who would now begin to enter the Church. After the vision passes St. Peter is uncertain to its meaning.

"About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven" (9-16)

As the Apostle considers the vision's intent the messengers from Cornelius arrive at that moment the Holy Spirit speaks to St. Peter telling him to go with the men who have inquired about him. St. Peter came to them and asked them about their purpose in coming for him. They explain who has sent them and why they request that St. Peter come to meet their master at Caesarea.

The three men tell St. Peter of the vision that Cornelius was shown instructing him to send for the Apostle. St. Peter, knowing that his Lord has a purpose agrees to accompany them to Cornelius home. (Acts: 10:22-23)

Once there, St. Peter then realizes the intent of the vision of the unclean animals, he recognizes that God is calling all peoples to himself not just the Jewish people, but all, regardless of what nation they come, that salvation is now open to any and to all who will come to believe in Jesus. (Acts: 10:23-33)

"Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all”. (34-36)

The Holy Spirit

As St. Peter explains the message about Jesus the Holy Spirit confirms St. Peters realization that salvation, through Jesus, is for all peoples everywhere; by manifesting Himself in a similar way as he did upon the believers a decade earlier on that day of Pentecost in the form of speaking in "tongues" and in the praises of the household members of Cornelius. St. Peter then orders all to be baptized to confirm what the Apostle sees as being true.

"While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days”. (44-48)

A Change

This moment of the entrance of Gentiles into the fellowship of the Church would set off many discussions within the Fellowship of the Church which would cause the Jewish members, at first, some uncertainty, and alter the culture of the Church forever. ..... .to be continued

Benediction: May we each and all, praise our Lord and Savior for the work which he has done throughout the ages, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen .