Could You Be Way Wrong?

Saul of Tarsus, better known as the Apostle Paul, was wrong. It didn’t matter that he was highly educated, deeply religious, multi-lingual, and very intelligent. He was just plain wrong. There is no telling how many hours he spent reading and memorizing the scrolls of the Old Testament, how many days he sat under the tutelage of Gamaliel, one of the preeminent Jewish scholars of his day. Who knows how many seminars, symposiums, debates, and presentation Saul attended or contributed to? But it turned out that he was plain wrong. He was so convinced of the rightness of his theology, of the validity of his Old Testament interpretation that he felt justified to persecute those he deemed heretical in light of it.Saul did not see the Christ the early church proclaimed in any of the Old Testament scriptures and certainly not in the ones they quoted in support of Jesus Christ. They were wrong, dangerously wrong as far as he was concerned. He was so sure of his rightness and their wrongness that he became the chief persecutor of the church in its infancy. Many have followed in his footsteps, and many more have simply dismissed Jesus as having no intellectual, spiritual, cultural, and personal importance.Saul would not have denied that Jesus actually lived, that he was a real person - even a miracle working person, and that he was tried and executed for blasphemy, namely, declaring himself divine. However, no way could Jesus be the Christ, the promised Messiah, the fulfillment of prophecy recorded in the scriptures. Certainly Jesus resurrection was nothing but a myth, a clever lie conceived and perpetuated by church leaders. They were just dead wrong.How did that man, Saul, in the span of a few days, turn into the Apostle Paul, the most ardent defender of Jesus being the Christ, the most preeminent theologian of the early church? He ran into Jesus, literally (Acts 9:1-22), and he had to admit that he was wrong. On his way to advance the rightness of his cause and extend the scope of his persecution of Christians, the living, risen Jesus Christ appeared to him, spoke to him, humbled him, and changed him, his mind, and his heart.Whenever, and wherever, Jesus Christ is reduced to a figure of the past, someone less than divine, a religious figure, a theological argument, as a myth perpetuated by lying church leaders, or simply as someone who can be intellectually dismissed, you will find someone or entire groups, like Saul of Tarsus, being plain wrong.You can’t miss the radical change, how much Saul was blinded by his education, association, and persuasion. “Immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is indeed the Son of God!’ All who heard him were amazed. ‘Isn’t this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem?’ they asked. ‘And didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests?’Saul’s preaching became more and more powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah” Acts 9:20-22 (NLT, emphasis mine).Reading the Apostle Paul’s conversion story again compels me to ask a few questions, some addressed to you and some to myself. Let’s start with you since that is the polite thing to do: What is your verdict concerning Jesus Christ’s identity and importance? Are you as wrong about him as Saul was? Is God interrupting your life so you will confess Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God?It was a long time ago when God spoke to me regarding Jesus and I confessed him as the Christ, as Savior. Since then I have done lot of studying, especially of the Bible, trying to be careful in my interpretations, and convinced I am right about a good number of things (Germans are good at that). But am I as right as I think I am? How many scriptures might I have read over and over, even memorized, but my interpretation is far from spot on, even wrong? How much of my interpretation is flawed because of my education, association, and persuasion?I am certain of this, any education, association, and persuasion that dismisses or even opposes the truth of Jesus Christ, will in the end proof itself to be wrong. He is the living, eternal Son of God, crucified, buried, and risen. He is the only Savior for sinners, able to forgive sin and impart eternal life. He alone will judge the living and the dead. “As the Scriptures tell us, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.’ Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved’” Romans 10:11-13 (NLT).To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans