Vision – The Bible Story Podcast

Episode NT44 – The Road To Damascus

Story 44 – The Road To Damascus

Based on Acts chapter 9 verses 1 to 31

Had the two of them met before Jesus had been crucified? Had they both been in the Temple together at a Jewish festival or celebration? Had Saul listened to the carpenter from Nazareth as He’d taught the people about the Kingdom of God?

Saul knew about John the Baptist and had certainly heard the reports about all Jesus had done – the miracles, the wonders, the signs! He’d seen the frustration of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Priests and the Teachers of the Law as, time and time again, Jesus had proved that they didn’t understand what the Scriptures said, and were more interested in what people thought about them than in obeying God. Had it made him angry to hear what Jesus was saying and to realise that, deep inside, even though he seemed to be perfect in his obedience to the Law, he couldn’t control his own sin – his envy, his pride?

And the crucifixion of Jesus? What had he made of that? To hear that this teacher and miracle worker had been put to death under the curse of God! For the Scriptures clearly stated that anyone who hung on a tree was under the curse of God and, by being nailed to a wooden cross, Jesus most certainly was ‘hung on a tree’ and therefore came under God’s curse. And yet, within days of His terrible death, to hear rumours and murmurings that Jesus was alive again!

There were other things too. The Temple curtain for one, torn in two at the same time Jesus died, and no doubt hurriedly sewn back up again by the Priests! What did it mean? Then there was that sound, that loud noise of rushing wind during the feast of Pentecost. It seemed that from that moment on the trouble had really started! True, it’d been surprising to see the followers of Jesus worshipping in the Temple so soon after He died and the rumours of His resurrection but, after Pentecost, the number of these followers had seemed to explode across Jerusalem with more and more of them following ‘the Way’, as it was called, every day! (PAUSE)

Surely it had to be a lie? How could this Jesus be the Son of God? But then Saul had also seen Stephen as his face had shone like that of an angel, and he’d listened to his speech accusing them of disbelief – the nerve! And that had been it, this plague of foolish idiots deceived by the nonsense about Jesus being the Messiah had to be stopped! Saul’s blood had boiled with anger at these people, these followers of Jesus, and he’d watched with hate-filled pleasure as Stephen had been dragged to his place of death. (P) True, he hadn’t expected Stephen to forgive them as they stoned him to death. And what to make of his claim of seeing Jesus standing at the right hand of God … surely that was blasphemy, to make Jesus out to be equal with God?

And that had been the trigger, the catalyst, for all that had followed as Saul in his anger, hatred and rage had swept through Jerusalem throwing in prison and sentencing to death everyone he could find who claimed to be a follower of Jesus!

Searching from house to house with the single-minded purpose of destroying the young church, Saul arrested and condemned many, while plenty more slipped through his fingers, escaping from Jerusalem to the towns and cities throughout Israel and beyond.

But not to worry! They wouldn’t last long. They could run, but they couldn’t hide. Because if there was one real weakness about these followers of ‘the Way’ it was this – they just couldn’t keep quiet about that man Jesus. Wherever they went it seemed that the first thing they did was to find a Jewish meeting place, a synagogue, and start telling other Jews about Jesus. They’d be so easy to find! And now, as Saul trudged along the road to the distant city of Damascus, with letters in his hand from the High Priest himself, giving him orders to find, arrest, put in chains and drag back to Jerusalem every follower of ‘the Way’ he found, Saul muttered murderous threats against them, ready to destroy them all. (PAUSE)

But, as he neared Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around Saul and he fell to the ground. Then a voice spoke to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

‘Sir, who are you?’ Saul asked.

‘I am Jesus, the One you’re persecuting,’ came the reply. ‘Now get up and go into the city. When you get there you’ll be told what to do.’

The men travelling with Saul were terrified. They’d heard the voice, but seen no one. But when Saul got up from the ground and opened his eyes, he found he couldn’t see a thing – he was blind! So the other men took him by the hand and carefully led him into the city. (P)

What was going through Saul’s head as he was brought into the city? For so long he’d convinced himself that Jesus wasn’t alive, that everything he’d heard about His followers was evil and wrong, and yet … and yet … now he finally realised that he himself had been unsure and not really known what to make of all he’d seen and heard. And now he knew for certain that he’d been wrong, that the terrible things he’d done to the church, to Jesus’ disciples, was as if he’d done them to Jesus Himself. (P) When he arrived in the city how he must have prayed! Not only for his sight again, but also asking for God’s forgiveness, pleading to be able to understand all that God had done through Jesus. For three days he wouldn’t eat or drink anything. He wouldn’t allow even food to get in the way of his need to speak to his new Saviour. (PAUSE)

After Saul’s attack on the church in Jerusalem, some of the disciples had escaped to Damascus and one of them, named Ananias, received a vision from the Lord in which the Lord called to him, ‘Ananias!’

‘Yes, Lord,’ Ananias replied.

‘Ananias, I want you to go to Straight Street and find the house of Judas. When you get there, I want you to ask for a man from the city of Tarsus named Saul who’s praying. In a vision he’s seen a man called Ananias come to him and place his hands upon him to restore his sight.’

‘Erm, err, but Lord,’ Ananias replied, ‘I’ve heard all sorts of reports about this man and all the harm he’s done to the church in Jerusalem, and how he’s come here to arrest everyone who calls on your name!’

‘Go, Ananias,’ the Lord replied. ‘This man is my chosen instrument to take the message of my name to those who aren’t Jews and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. And I will show him how much he has to suffer for my name.’

So Ananias did as the Lord asked. Going to the house of Judas on Straight Street, he found Saul, placed his hands on him and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me to you so that you can see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ At once, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes and he could see again. After that, he got up and was baptised. And only after that did he take something to eat and regain his strength. (PAUSE)

The change in Saul was nothing less than miraculous. The man who’d tried with all his might to destroy the church, having met with Jesus, began at once to preach about Jesus in the Jewish meeting places, the synagogues, saying, ‘Jesus is the Son of God.’

The people who heard him were staggered. ‘Isn’t this the man who devastated the church in Jerusalem?’ they asked. ‘And we were led to believe that he’d come here to arrest the followers of Jesus and take them back to Jerusalem in chains!’ And yet, Saul grew more and more powerful and the Jews couldn’t stand up against his teaching as he proved that Jesus is the Christ, the long awaited Messiah!

Then, leaving Damascus for a while, Saul spent the best part of three years in Arabia before returning to Damascus again. What he did there I don’t really know, but the Lord was with him, helping him understand the Good News that salvation isn’t just for the Jews, but for everyone.

Eventually, after his return to Damascus, his teaching about Jesus being the Christ and salvation being for everyone caused the Jews to decide that Saul wasn’t worthy of life and they planned to kill him at the first opportunity. Day and night his enemies watched the gates of the city, waiting to strike should Saul pass their way. But the Lord was merciful to Saul and some of the believers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the city wall.

From there, Saul travelled to Jerusalem. But the disciples in Jerusalem, who hadn’t heard the news about this man who’d caused them so many problems, were very suspicious of him and refused to let him join them, thinking it was some kind of deception. But, thankfully, Barnabas, the son of encouragement, took Saul to Peter and James, the brother of Jesus. Barnabas told them what had happened to Saul on the road to Damascus and all that had followed, and how he fearlessly preached in the name of Jesus. And so Saul stayed with them for fifteen days, moving about freely in Jerusalem and boldly speaking in the name of the Lord. (P)

In fact, so bold was his preaching that, once again, it led to danger as he debated with some Jews and they tried to kill him! But, when the brothers learned about it, they took Saul down to Caesarea and sent him to his home town of Tarsus. (P)

And, after that, the church had peace throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria and it grew in strength and numbers as the believers walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

Episode NT42 – Stephen

Story 42 – Stephen – (told by Philip)

Based on Acts chapter 6, verse 8 to Acts chapter 8, verse 4.

We’d been prayed for and commissioned to look after believers who were in need so that the apostles could concentrate on teaching the people about Jesus and on prayer. But that didn’t mean that the likes of Stephen and me, Philip, gave up telling people about Jesus ourselves! We got on with what we’d been called to do, making sure everyone was treated fairly and had what they needed. But, when we had the time and opportunity, we also told people about Jesus, the Messiah, the risen Lord, ascended and seated at the right hand of God.

You know, Stephen was a man filled to the brim with God’s grace and power. In fact, it wasn’t only the apostles who performed healings and miracles. Filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom, Stephen performed amazing and miraculous signs and great wonders. (P) Maybe that’s where the trouble started? I don’t know! But, as Stephen travelled around the various synagogues, the meeting places for Jews from various different areas of the world when they arrived in Jerusalem, he talked to them about Jesus, the Messiah. However, when he started to talk to one particular group in a synagogue called ‘The Synagogue of the Freedmen’, some of them started to argue with him. At first, it seemed good-natured as they talked about God and what the Bible meant, but then a group of them got a bit hot under the collar in their discussions, which soon turned nasty! But, as I said before, Stephen was filled with wisdom and the Holy Spirit and, because of that, they couldn’t argue against him – the Holy Spirit helped him to show them where they’d got it wrong. But they were proud men and, instead of admitting they were wrong, they started to think of Stephen as their enemy and tried to find ways they could make it look like he was wrong – even if that meant resorting to lies!

That’s when things got out of control, as Stephen’s enemies persuaded some men to tell tales about him. ‘We heard that man Stephen say lies and evil things about what Moses taught and about God!’ they whispered to the people.

The more the lies were uttered, the more stirred up the people became. And, in no time at all, the lies were whispered to the elders and the teachers of the Law. (P) Almost immediately, Stephen was arrested and brought before a meeting of the high council – the same high council that had arrested and punished the apostles. But this time, even though God was still in control, the outcome wasn’t going to be what we’d hoped for. (PAUSE)

Stephen’s enemies wanted him out the way, they wanted to stir up hatred against him, and so, as the council started, the liars were called forward to give their ‘evidence’.

For the Jews, everything to do with God is sacred. So, as the false witnesses stood to speak, they looked at the leaders and deliberately lied to get Stephen into maximum trouble. ‘This man never stops speaking against the Temple and against the Law!

They said this because Stephen taught the same things Jesus had, that both the Temple and the Law were really signposts that pointed to Him. (P) The Temple in the heart of the capital city was a symbol that God was with His people. But, now that Jesus was in heaven and had sent the Holy Spirit, no matter where God’s people went, Jesus would always be with them through the Holy Spirit, and there was no need for the Temple any more. And the Law? God is perfect, and if we want to see Him, we must obey His Law and be perfect too – something none of us can do! But Jesus came and obeyed the whole Law and opened a new way for us to see God, not by obeying all the rules, but by loving and trusting Him. Jesus met all the requirements of the Law when He died on the cross as a sacrifice to God to take the punishment we deserve for our sins. And, because of this, the sacrificial and the ceremonial requirements of the Law had been satisfied in Jesus.

The charges against Stephen were serious. And yet, I think Stephen understood that, no matter what he said, most of the people in the room hated Jesus and would never accept the truth that he was telling them – that the Temple and the Law both pointed to Jesus. I think he also understood that these people would stop at nothing to silence him.

As he stood to speak in his defence against these serious charges, God showed the people that what Stephen taught was the truth. For, as they looked at him, his face shone like that of an angel or, maybe, like the face of Moses after he came back from receiving the Law of God on Mount Sinai? Whatever it was, they should’ve taken notice. Yet their hatred for Jesus and anyone who followed Him made them ignore this miracle. So, Stephen answered these charges, although he didn’t speak to save himself. (PAUSE)

He spoke of Abraham – who was called by God when he lived in another land that wasn’t Israel! Of the people of Israel loved by God when they lived in Egypt. He then reminded them of Moses who was spoken to from a burning bush – which God Himself called ‘holy ground’ – but, again, not in Israel but in another country. He pointed out how the Lord had travelled with the people of Israel in the wilderness. And then how He’d come with them into the Promised Land, living with His people in a tent! Stephen finished this section by pointing out that, even though a Temple had been built for Him in Jerusalem, nothing can hold God, for He is the creator of all things. (P) They thought of their Temple in Jerusalem as evidence that God was with them, but Stephen showed them that God was always with His people, no matter where they were.

And then, having shown them that God is Lord of all the earth and goes with His people wherever they may be, Stephen spoke the words that sealed his fate. They were words that needed to be said, words that confronted the leaders of Israel with their own sin of forever listening to what God wants, but never doing it. ‘You stubborn people!’ he exclaimed. ‘Even though you say you’re good, you’re evil inside and refuse to listen to the truth! Must you keep on ignoring what the Holy Spirit is showing you forever? Was there a single prophet that your ancestors didn’t mistreat? They even killed the prophets who predicted the coming of the Righteous One! And, just like them, now you have killed the Messiah, you have betrayed and murdered Him. You have deliberately disobeyed God’s Law, even though you received it from the hands of angels!’

Everything Stephen said was true. But these men had no interest in truth, only in trying to make everyone else think they were holy and wonderful! So, on hearing Stephen’s words, the leaders became furious beyond reason. Grinding their teeth in wordless rage they seemed more like wild animals than men, like wolves circling their prey, intent only on killing it. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed up, and God gave him a wonderful vision of heaven – where he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right-hand side of God. Unable to hold back the joy of what he saw, Stephen shouted out, ‘Look! I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’

This was probably the worst thing, humanly speaking, that Stephen could ever have said. And yet it was the right and proper thing to say. The leaders of Israel had thought they’d brought Stephen to the council to condemn and judge him. However, through Stephen, the Holy Spirit had turned the tables on these so-called judges. It was now Stephen who condemned them as people who refused to believe what God had said and as people who were condemned by God for what they’d done to Jesus. For it was to these same people that Jesus had said, ‘You will see the Son of Man seated at the right-hand side of the Father in glory’. Words for which they’d condemned and executed him! And now, here was Stephen, proving that what Jesus had told them was true, as he shared his vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father, no doubt standing to welcome His faithful servant Stephen home.

The leaders could take no more. Their refusal to believe both Jesus and Stephen boiled over as they covered their ears and, screaming as loudly as they could to stop themselves hearing another word, they all rushed at him and violently dragged him out of the city. Then, leaving him a little distance away, they started to hurl stones at him in their rage, intending to do away with him and the message about Jesus once and for all.

Meanwhile, those who were doing the stoning were so keen not to let anything hold back their rage that they took off their coats and left them with a young man named Saul for safekeeping. This ‘Saul’ had probably been part of the ‘Synagogue of the Freedmen’ who’d argued with Stephen. Now, he watched the stoning of Stephen, giving his full approval to what was happening to this follower of Jesus!

It was only a matter of time as the rocks and stones found their mark again and again. But, even as he stood there being battered by the rocks, Stephen prayed. In this time of immense danger and imminent death, Stephen prayed, just like Jesus had prayed to His Father when He was on the cross. ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,’ Stephen asked. While Jesus had prayed, ‘Father, into Your Hands I entrust My Spirit’. And then, falling to his knees he cried out, ‘Lord, don’t hold them guilty of this sin.’ Again, just like Jesus had prayed, ‘Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.’ And then … and then … Stephen went to be with Jesus, because this was the time Jesus wanted to call him home. For Jesus was going to use Stephen’s death, the death of a dearly loved child, to continue what He had called His people to do – to take the good news of Jesus to all peoples everywhere.

Of course, us disciples, we didn’t understand any of that. Because, to us, it seemed that everything was falling apart. Stephen had been killed! And that very day, a terrible persecution of the disciples – of the new and young church – spread like wildfire right across Jerusalem and nearly all of us ended up fleeing for our lives! I found myself no longer with all my friends and the other believers, but running away to the north of Israel.

It seemed like Satan had won a great victory. That young man Saul – the one who’d looked after the coats – steamed with hatred and did all he could to devastate the church, to ruin it, to destroy it once and for all. He even went from house to house arresting and dragging away both men and women to throw them in jail – and even to face death! Of the whole church, a massive number of people, only the apostles managed to stay in Jerusalem! The rest of us ran, thinking at first that it was a failure and only slowly realising that this was God’s plan to build His church. (PAUSE)

Godly men buried the broken body of Stephen at great personal risk and mourned deeply for him. But even though it looked like all was lost and that Satan had won, we were to discover that God was still fully in control. For, as we ran from Jerusalem, just like Stephen had said about God always being with His people, Jesus went with us! And, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we preached the Good News of Jesus everywhere we went. After all, hadn’t Jesus said that we’d be His witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria until the ends of the earth? (P) Jesus had allowed this attack of Satan to happen. And, in His love and grace, He was using it – using it as if it was the trigger of a massive cannon, firing His disciples out from Jerusalem and into the world. And as we were fired out of Jerusalem, we took the Good News about Jesus, unable to stop talking about all the wonderful things God had done through Him. The end result was that many more, who wouldn’t otherwise have had the chance to learn about Jesus, heard the Good News that Jesus saves sinners, just like you and me.