The Gaps in the Sentences | Disruptive Presence 39

In which John and David consider how Paul's conversion in Luke connects to other things we know about Paul in the New Testament. Sometimes the way we read stories makes it appear that the differing accounts lack resonance. We wonder if sometimes that's more because of how we read rather than anything else.

Episode 96 of the Two Texts Podcast | Disruptive Presence 39

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Transcript

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[00:00:00] David: Well, John, we left Saul being baptized and scales falling from his eyes, and I love this piece of act. It says, scales fell from Saul's eyes. This is , verse 18 of chapter nine. He could see. He got up and was baptized and then it says, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. And so whenever you're at baptism service and there's always a little snack afterwards, it's from the Bible 

[00:01:19] John: Come on. Come on. You can't have a baptism service. Not have food. Come on, David. Let's do that. 

[00:01:25] David: It's, it's, if it's good enough for Paul, he's good enough 

[00:01:29] John: absolutely, of course we should say it's easy to miss the fact he had, the man had been fasting for three days before that, so he was probably ready to eat something. But yes, absolutely. I love that. 

[00:01:38] And I, and again, I love the, the beautiful little simple practical drops. You Luke doesn't need to tell us that. He just should say, skills fell. Obviously he got baptized on, he went, but that just that little humanness. Of the story that just keeps reminding us that these guys were ordinary, they're human, they're frail, and they need all the normal human stuff just to keep them going. 

[00:02:00] And it's a, it's a gorgeous little humanization of that moment. I really like that. 

[00:02:04] David: Yes. Yes. And it is something you see a few times in scripture, actually. I always think it's you. You see it after, some people have been apparently raised from the dead and are raised from, deathly sickness or there's always like, and then they had a little bit of something to eat, and  

[00:02:16] John: Absolutely love 

[00:02:18] David: So, so we often think of Acts chapter nine as the conversion of of, of Saul. 

[00:02:24] And obviously, our listeners will know we spent a bit of time working on that. But before the chapter is done, there's still some other things that Luke wants to tell us about and that's what we're gonna jump into today, isn't it? 

[00:02:36] John: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And, and what we're about to read, to gather and reflect on probably towards the end of of, of this sort of little Saul section is a little pattern that starts to emerge in terms of Saul's experience. And not only does, does he become. Expert and outstandingly skilled in arguing Jesus from TaNaK. 

[00:02:58] But he does tend to then have trouble following him around everywhere he goes. So, so it's a little, a little thing just immediately starts to emerge and, and we see something of this zealous. Passionate missional man that we saw before he was converted on the road to Damascus. This, this zealous, missional man now kicks off again. 

[00:03:19] But this time it's with the revelation of I am Jesus driving the agenda. And and that changes everything. So it's absolutely gorgeous. 

[00:03:28] David: So we're gonna jump into the text Acts chapter nine. 

[00:03:30] John: Yep. 
 

[00:03:31] David: really sort of picking up from verse 19. So why don't you take it away for us, John? 

[00:03:35] John: Okay, so it says there's X nine, and verse 20 says, 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? 

[00:04:00] 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 amongst 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 lured him in a basket through an opening in the wall. 

[00:04:31] When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him not believing that he was really a. 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 high in Damascus. He had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 

[00:04:54] 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 Hellistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarus. Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit. 

[00:05:26] It increased in numbers. 

[00:05:28] David: It's the, the, that line, that line. He argued with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. It's just, it's just indicative of Paul's whole, whole journey, isn't it? Once we sort of follow it all the way through 

[00:05:46] John: It's so true. It's so true. It, it, it literally is a little, it, it feels like almost a little cameo of what is, of what is to come. You get this lovely reference from Ananias when Ananias, finds Saul and tells him, or you're, you're go, God's going to anoint you and you're gonna stand before canes. 

[00:06:07] But then he adds this little sort of closing line where the Lord says, I will show. How much he must suffer for my name. And, and you sort of look at that and think, oh yeah, well that's, that's just gonna be like a bit of hardship every now and again. But then when Saul gets into it, it's right off the bat. 

[00:06:23] I mean, we've got here two death threats on Saul in the space of sort of, are, at least are reading our passage in, in two different cities, Damascus and Jerusalem. He's, he, he seems to be a bit of a target already. And this, this is, it feels slightly PR programmatic, doesn't it? In some ways, David, because when we follow David follow Saul through the Book of Acts, this does reoccur quite often. 

[00:06:51] A few bruises, a few scars, scripts and scratches. The odds stoning, three whippings, shipwrecks, and the like, 

[00:07:00] David: Mm. 
 

[00:07:01] John: And, and who wants to join Saul's group? Put your hand up right now. So, yeah, it's, it's pretty, pretty out there. 

[00:07:08] David: It's interesting as well. Time passes in this story a little more slowly than we might feel in the nature of the reading of it, because if you overlay this story, Galatians one for example, like this, the few, the few verses that you've just read there, could be in and of the region of three years have 

[00:07:31] John: Yep. 
 

[00:07:31] David: So, and I think it's, I mean, maybe you don't think it's worth chatting about just now, but I wonder if it is helpful for the listener to sort of legal Ians one and this part of Acts. 

[00:07:42] John: I, I think it is worth, I, that's why I sort of hesitated. I dunno if you noticed that sort of in the space of an innocent, the passage, because it wasn't in quick, space of time because the, the, the sort of three year gap, but that Galatians one reference certainly seems to be there. And, and that might be worth, I think that's worth leaning into to, to help our listeners who may be quite shocked that there is. 

[00:08:04] Period of time passing in this passage, but yet Luke refers to it almost as a seamless narrative within that. 

[00:08:12] David: Although I mean, I think to be fair, to to be fair to Luke, of course he does, he does allude to it. He, he doesn't obscure it. He just, is a bit maybe vague ,  

[00:08:21] John: yeah. So in, in verse 23, you've got after many days in the Damascus context, and then it says when he came to Jerusalem. But of course there's no There's no actual suggestion that he went to Jerusalem immediately. We probably just read it like that. 

[00:08:36] So our, our assumption would be, oh, he left Damascus and went straight back to Jerusalem. But, but of course Luke is neither sort of affirming or trying to hide that he's just said and, and, and any arrived in Jerusalem sort of thing. And it's Paul at pads out the detail in Galatians one for us a little. 

[00:08:55] David: Yes. Yes, exactly. And you even see it in the translation traditions that some translations kind of go, I think the N I V goes with after many days had gone by. I think the the N R S V, I think is cognizant of the, the challenge around what Galatians is going to do. 

[00:09:13] So you get. after some time had passed. The Greek, the Greek seems to be very vague actually, doesn't it? It sort of feels almost more like after sufficient days had passed or, so I think we want to lean into. Our English translations are looking for precision. And I think Luke is being intentionally vague. 

[00:09:33] Some time has gone by. But then when we get over to Galatians let me, let me read this for everybody. I'm gonna read it a little bit earlier cause it's a beautiful. Text. So Paul is talking about his persecution of the church. We, we read that few episodes ago, but when God, who had sent me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his son in me so that I might proclaim him amongst the Gentiles. 

[00:09:57] I did not confer with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem. Interesting. Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me. But I went to away once, into Arabia and afterwards I returned to Damascus. Then after three years, Did go up to Jerusalem to visit Kfa s and stayed with him for 15 days. 

[00:10:16] So you get this sense that, that, that Paul. . I mean, Paul is doing something in Galatians that he wants to make sure that he's not, just kind of made up the gospel that he's got. But this, this sort of private space that Paul has and he alludes, I think, to some of it in second Corinthians as well. 

[00:10:35] This time in the desert, this time in the. 

[00:10:38] John: hmm. 
 

[00:10:39] David: And it does feel that this is a time of some real shaping by him from the Lord. That, I mean, where I rest in this, John, is that Luke is not with Paul for this part of the journey. So, so he tells this story as, like, listen, Something has clear, I mean, and he even alludes to it. 

[00:10:56] Paul is growing more and more powerful and he's baffling people, so there's is that kind of how you sit with it, that the loop just doesn't really aware of what happened in this time period? There's three 

[00:11:05] John: Yeah. And, and, and also I think it's remembering that there, there are some details that are not necessarily important to the story. Luke is trying to position this story of this incredible. Tipping Point event, this conversion of this fun, amazing zealot for, for, for his faith who's been revolutionized by Jesus. 

[00:11:29] And then this man becomes this incredible. Passionate, missional zealot for Jesus. I'm sold. I, I think Dr. Luke just wants to get on and tell the story, whereas it's Paul who pared some of the detail and it really helps us. And actually, if you think about it, in terms of Galatians and layering that into X chapter nine. 

[00:11:50] It makes total sense cuz Paul's whole world from a TaNaK viewpoint has been completely turned upside down. It's been completely revolutionized and therefore I think there's a sense which Paul PR or Saul probably needs to go away and actually get his head around. Hold on, I've just met Jesus. Where is this in the TaNaK, how do I understand this? 

[00:12:16] Remembering that he didn't have the benefit of the 40 day download post resurrection pre ascension. He, he hasn't been partied to those conversations that many of that first wave of believers were. And so there's a sense in which I think Saul is processing and working through, and, and, and I would, I would. 

[00:12:36] Assume he's, he's connecting to Christian communities in that region, but he just doesn't go straight to Jerusalem. So the impression that we're given is he goes from Damascus, straight to Jerusalem in the book of X. But of course, when Paul layers his version onto it, there is a gap and it's just recognizing that that gap is quite significant and probably quite necess. 

[00:12:59] David: And do you think it's, it's possible like, and, and you have alluded to this, but. If we now jump over to second Corinthians 11, you have this, this narrative leading into verse 12 where Paul lists through the horrendous things that have happened to him. He firstly states his standard, like, listen, that, I've got a lot going for me. 

[00:13:21] And then, and then he tells all of the bad things that have happened to him. 

[00:13:26] John: Hmm. 
 

[00:13:27] David: But then now pick this up because I think this might be helpful as well for people trying to plot Paul's history cuz this is gonna sound really familiar. Verse 30 of chapter 11. If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 

[00:13:39] The God and Father of the Lord Jesus blessed me. He forever knows that I do not lie. In dam in Damascus, the governor under King Reas guarded the city of Damascus in order to seize me. But I was let down in a basket, through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands. Right? So we're seeing this, this, this kind of, this kind of basketing thing going on. 

[00:14:00] Once, once again, so again, I mean, depending on how either this happens to Paul twice in Damascus or this group who are out to get him are, are bringing in some heavyweight government to try and thing. But then he says this verse 12 chapter sorry, chapter 12 verse one. It is. 

[00:14:17] Necessary to boast. Nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a person in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven, where whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know, God knows. , I know that such a person, whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know, God knows, was caught up into paradise and heard things that are not to be told that no mortal is permitted to repeat. 

[00:14:45] Now, most scholars think that Paul's talking about himself here. Th this is just a very classic sort of, self-deprecating way to not be overly boast. 

[00:14:54] John: yep, 
 

[00:14:55] David: think it's interesting that Paul's narrative in Second Corinthians runs from being let down out of the, in a basket, through a hole in the wall, to immediately him thinking about incredible visions and revelations that you know, he has had. 

[00:15:09] When you overlay that with Galatians and with Acts chapter nine, , I think, and I hope this is okay for our listeners, but I think that Paul is spending this time studying, but I don't want to rule out that he's also having some sort of mysterious encounter with God that he definitely wants to say is not happening every day for him, but something different. 

[00:15:35] He is caught up in some revelation and, and, and, and I think the argument in Galatians is Paul. Pointing out that, I received this from the Lord. Think about what he says in First Corinthians. And we say it most weeks in church. For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you on the night. 

[00:15:52] He was betrayed. He doesn't say, I learned this from the apostles. He says, I received this from the Lord. And I don't know. I mean, well, I've said too much John, but, but I mean, are you comfortable with that? That there's a kind of study process, but also there's something mystical happening here to Paul that's changing. 

[00:16:10] John: Yeah, totally. And, and I think it, it again, when we go back to the, the words, well, when we go back to the nature of his confrontation and conversion with Jesus, that's quite dramatic. I mean, that's, that's quite outstanding, really. I mean, even today there isn't our language. People will use the language, not just of religious ideas, but when they have a sort of a, an incredible encounter, they, they say we had a Damascus road experience. 

[00:16:38] So, so Paul's, Paul's experience is dramatic. and then, and then you get this season away in silence, obscurity out of the limelight. And I am absolutely comfortable with the idea that he's not only studying TaNaK and absolutely working out word Jesus, the son of God is inter knock. So that he can then, as we've seen him do in our passage, argue and confound. 

[00:17:10] His opponents that Jesus is the son of God and the Messiah from the very scriptures that they, they read and worship, but, but the idea that he also has profound spiritual supernatural experiences within that. And if you think about what he's about to become, if you think about the journeys going to make. 

[00:17:30] The, the, the lands he's going to cross the, the suffering that will be part and parcel of his experience and the fact that he will end up eventually at the heart of Rome and give his very life for this gospel. Then, then you do realize, oh, there's a weightiness to this. This is not just sort of routine Christianity. 

[00:17:51] There is, there is a weightiness to the particular experience of this man, and there is something quite unique in this man's world. And, and even in that same passage you refer to, he, he goes on to talk about this thorn in his flesh. That's, and he pleads with the Lord three times to have this thing taken away and. 

[00:18:13] We, we have this gorgeous response of the Lord. Well, my, my grace is enough for you. My grace is sufficient for you. My power's made perfect in your weakness. Now, now, so often, a, as we've all done, and it's not a problem in one sense, we've, we've taken those words out of context. To speak about God's provision to his all in moments of suffering. 

[00:18:33] And of course we would absolutely say amen to that. But if, but it's interesting that that then thorn is in the context of these moments of revelation, and there is a weightiness and also a suffering that seem to be going hand in hand with Paul. And it's almost as if the Lord's saying, actually this tension of suffer. 

[00:18:55] That comes with the weariness won't be taken away from you. I, I'll be your sustenance and I will sustain you. So you, when, when we end up seeing his contribution to the New Testament. 12 documents he contributes and see what he achieves with his team and friends over his lifetime. Actually, it adds weight to this, this unusual period where he is learning, receiving by revelation and, and suffering at the same time. 

[00:19:27] Is suffering's not just external, what men are doing to him? I think there's. There's a suffering that he is enduring in the midst of his own journey. So, so it's a, it's a, when you layer them all together, second Corinthians installations one and, and X nine, there is a beautiful tapestry there. It takes a wee bit of detective work, but if you're willing to do it, I think there's a beautiful tapestry of dynamic. 

[00:19:52] And can I say from my point of view, like slightly. Slightly nerve-wracking and scary spirituality within that, I meet, lots of people wanna be like in Paul's team, but nobody, nobody wants to sign up for the hammering that Paul took or, or for the thorn and the flesh type stuff, whatever that is. 

[00:20:09] We love the idea of the visions, but not so much of the suffering. So Paul is open about all of that in the context of this, this magnificent transitional season in his life. 

[00:20:20] David: That, that there's even, there's even a part of me that wants to point out that if visions mean blinding lights that knock you off your horse and blindness, I'm not even sure we want to sign up for the visions 

[00:20:32] John: Absolutely. 

[00:20:34] David: But, but you get a as as well. This this, this sort of process that you've got here in, in Galatians I think is interesting just to sort of, to, just to tie a knot on that, the, the. 

[00:20:47] Paul talks about, so I returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I, I went up to Jerusalem to visit KFA s So, we've got, in Acts 9 23, there's this kind of, after some time has passed, then in Acts 29, 26, it's like when he came to Jerusalem, the, there's, there's this big gap between coming down through a basket and coming to Jerusalem. 

[00:21:07] Luke doesn't speak to that, but you notice that we're clearly. In we're tracking their two stories, cuz when you get to the end of Galatians chapter one, it says he was unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard it said. And I love this. It's just a beautiful line. 

[00:21:26] And then Paul gives us a quote of exactly what they heard. The one who formally was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy. And then this key pain, and I love this, you see this consistently in Paul, and they glorified God because of me. Not they glorified me because of God. 

[00:21:45] they glorified God. Paul is pointing people even at this part of his story towards worshiping God. So John, I'm just I, I probably should loop our listeners in the fact that just before we press record, we were like, we were like, oh yeah, we could definitely get through this section of chapter nine in one podcast. 

[00:22:04] And, and now we've spent the whole the whole episode so far talking about the gaps in between the sentences and how much time they might have taken 

[00:22:14] John: True. Yes, absolutely. I, I was with someone at the weekend, they said, oh, we're so enjoying your, your podcast. And I tried to explain, we don't script this. We literally, we know the passage we're gonna reflect on, we turn record on and we just start talking and we never actually know where it's really gonna go. 

[00:22:31] And there's an example right there. So, so that's all stuff that we're aware of. And then it catches light a little bit. But again, I think that's, I. I think Luke has given us an overview of the story, but there sometimes are gaps within the story, and there are details within the story that, that sometimes the New Testament pads out for us and sometimes it doesn't. 

[00:22:51] And we shouldn't worry about that. It, the bits that aren't in the Book of Acts tax, don't worry about it. Luke is, is actually made a, a decision led by the Holy Spirit to sort of not include that detail. But what we're left with is still enough. Salient detail to understand the trajectory of the story and perhaps the main issues at the heart of the story, and certainly what is There is this sense that we we're picking up in Saul. 

[00:23:16] In this passage, my goodness, he is good at arguing Jesus from TaNaK. He's good at arguing Jesus from the Old Testament. He seems to be able to prove that Jesus is the son of God and that Jesus is the Messiah from the Old Testament scriptures. And that as a result of that, he's, he's not only potentially creating the opportunity for people to become followers of Jesus, but he seems to be creating some. 

[00:23:43] Enemies in the process as well. And that, that comes across both across Damascus and Jerusalem. 

[00:23:49] David: So let's look at, let's look at a couple of pieces of the text a little more closely. Cause I'd love to hear your thoughts on verse 21 and verse 22. So, I love, the question that's being asked. Isn't this the man that raised havoc in Jerusalem? Amongst those who call on this name, right? 

[00:24:08] I think beautiful, beautiful phraseology. Yet Paul groom more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah. Let's say the Niv v references that, I mean, curious just what, what jumps out to you on that text, John? Cuz I, I think it's a beautiful little piece of text. 

[00:24:25] John: Yeah, it, and to me, it, it really does. Show the sort of the dramatic change in, in Saul's life. First of all, I, I think, I think. , everyone in Damascus knows what he's done in Jerusalem. And of course, what's gorgeous because of the symmetry of the way Luke tells this story, everyone in Jerusalem knows what he did in Damascus. 

[00:24:46] So, so you're getting this lovely flip over. Let's sit side by side. So, so you've got a man that's clearly made a dynamic. Missional impact on behalf of Judaism and his cause to try and eradicate these people who call on the name. But then having met with Jesus, that radicalness now kicks in again. And, and I love the fact that we're told he grew more and more powerful. 

[00:25:12] It, it's not just something that happened. He hasn't just become an expert overnight in this, but he's clearly learning, developing, growing, growing perhaps in the, in the knowledge of the scriptures, but also growing in the power of the Holy Spirit in terms of being able to argue. And this pattern goes all through the book of Acts, where Paul will go into synagogues and argue from the text that Jesus is the son of God. 

[00:25:38] And so he's sharpening these skills to be able to. Prove who Jesus is in the context of this. So I think you're seeing a, a dramatic shift within those phrases that, that show Paul's own story in some ways. 

[00:25:52] David: Absolutely. And and I think that there's, I I, I love the way you phrased that cuz that's exactly what I was taking the, at the start of this chapter, Paul is heading from Damascus. to Jerusalem. Sorry, , let me try that again more accurately. Paul is heading from Jerusalem to Damascus to arrest people and bring them back to Jerusalem, 

[00:26:12] And now, and now there's these people in Damascus are, are going now, wait a minute, , it's just like we, this is not what we expected him to do. There. There's this, I love the way Luke represents it as its, its gamekeeper has turned poacher and the, actually the one. The one who was here to cause trouble is causing trouble, but not the trouble that he expected to come and cause. 

[00:26:34] And I, I just, I think that there's just gorgeous gorgeous residencies in that. . And I think, I love to quote from Jenning's comment during this. He says this, Saul has become a storyteller in league with Stephen and the Apostles and with all the disciples who sing a new song of Israel, and 

[00:26:54] John: That's beautiful. Absolutely 

[00:26:56] David: and 
 

[00:26:57] John: And, and it, it must have been, it must have been pretty dramatically good in the sense that you certainly the n I b text language, like powerful and baffling, it baffles people because verse 23 does then show the sinister side to this. 

[00:27:14] After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy to kill. 

[00:27:18] And somehow Saul learned of that plan. So, so, it's, it's, it's, we're we're getting an echo of Steven, so you, you coded Jennings there on Steven. We're getting an echo of Steven, aren't we? That something so powerful. In the way Saul is presenting Jesus is, is pushing certain sections of the community in Damascus to come to the conclusion, the only way we can win this or the only way we can shut this up, is to literally shut it down and shut this man down and try and destroy him and kill him and, and again. 

[00:27:51] You, you, you get the sense that we are in an explosive moment. You get this, this sense that Saul almost comes to a place of acceptance. That suffering for the name of Jesus, suffering for the sake of this kingdom is probably going to be part and parcel of his journey. I, I, I think in the 21st century, We as followers of Jesus get surprised if we suffer for following Jesus, at least in the, maybe the western context of our world. 

[00:28:21] But I think in the first century they, they were probably shocked if they didn't suffer for following Jesus. And, and, and I, and I think there's a, there's almost not a, I I wouldn't say in saw a death wish, but I think there's a, a almost Saul just is taking this as part and parcel of his world, that if, if I go into my world and, and present an alternative interpretation of TaNaK, There, there's gonna be some who run the this, and there's gonna be some who explosively try to shut this idea down. 

[00:28:51] And, and, and I think this not just from Saul, but the apostles, this expectation that suffering is part of the Jesus story. If we present Jesus. In a truly dynamic way, it is going to split rooms. It is going to create controversy, and it is going at some level, even if we don't want to, to create antagonism towards us. 

[00:29:14] And that seems to be certainly not a, just a soul pattern, but a book of X pattern as well. 

[00:29:19] David: Speaking of patterns, and this is perhaps like just us descending into extreme detail for a moment. And so there's, there's maybe one person out there that's writing a sermon this weekend on act, this part of Acts chapter nine, and therefore they will appreciate this. But for the rest of you, buckle in and just hold on. 

[00:29:37] But and I'm being sarcastic, maybe, maybe everybody finds this interesting. And this is, this is just an observation from the Greek text that, that I, I just. I just think it struck me as I was reading it and I'm curious to what you see, John, but verse 20, right? 

[00:29:51] So I'm just gonna read this from how the Greek grinders it, right? That, that immediately in the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus. Right. So a lot of the English translations have something like and at once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the son of God. Right? But, but what the Greek text reads is, and immediately in the synagogues, he proclaimed Jesus, right? 

[00:30:13] And then it, and then the Greek says that this one. is the son of God. But what's fascinating is right the way down now to verse to verse 23, right? Jesus doesn't get mentioned by name again, right? What you get is immediately in this synagogue, he proclaims that. This one, sorry. He, he proclaims Jesus that this one is the son of. 

[00:30:36] right? And then they say, then people say, isn't this the one that was in, in Jerusalem? Isn't this the one who is persecuting those who call on this name? Right. And then it continues and they have, we know the text, Paul Grim Moore, more powerful and baffled, the Jews living in Damascus, proving that this. 

[00:30:56] Is the Christ, right? where, and most of the English translations that you know, they have something like proving that Jesus is the Messiah and all that. And it strikes me that you have this resonance of this one is the Son of God, this name and this one is the Christ. It creates this sense to me of Luke almost drawing a very. 

[00:31:15] This is what I think is going on, but help me out if you think there's something better going on here. That he's drawing the comparative. We started this story with Paul breathing out threats against the church, and Luke wants to keep repeating this. This one, this one. It's like a big arrow. This one. Not that one. 

[00:31:33] Not the other one. Not the other thing that I, I just wonder if Luke's been beautiful in his use of language here. To not just say the name of Jesus, you know that, that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus is the son of God, but to actually choose the comparative that this one and not any other one, that this one is the name, this one is the son of God, this one is the Christ. 

[00:31:54] And it just . I have no other reason to share it, John, than it just really blessed me when I was reading it that I loved this notion of Luke just almost drawing big highlighters and arrows in these texts going, this one, no. Can you, do you see what I'm scratching at there? 

[00:32:08] John: Oh yeah. Yeah, it's beautiful. I would certainly be very comfortable running, running with that idea. And I think it's, I think it's very beautiful and, and I think it does again, present this sort of focus on the preeminence of Jesus. In the message, as when we eventually get towards the end of chapter nine, we, we'll see Peter involved in two outstanding miracles and it's easy then to be caught up with the personalities, the Pauls, the Peters, the Johns, these outstanding people, these men and women who are serving God dynamically and, and be, be a little bit, allow them to eclipse the. and, and, and perhaps, perhaps Luke in the way that he rates deliberately tries to draw us back. That this, okay. We've just seen a dramatic moment for Saul, but it's actually, this is not about Saul. This is about the one. This is about him. This is a, and we've, and, and I think that's a lesson to us constantly. 

[00:33:07] We've gotta keep coming back to him and, and try not to allow us to eclipse. I know that's super difficult and especially in the world in which we live and social media, et cetera, et cetera, and the way we tend to promote ourselves or promote our churches and ministries, I know that is very, very difficult. 

[00:33:27] But if we can keep coming back to him in our message, keep coming back to him in our behavior. In, in our testimonies as well, in, Paul's story is told, his conversion story is told three times and Jesus is at the center of all three stories. So no detailed inversions, slightly change in the sense of little bits added in to help us. 

[00:33:46] Actually the, the fundamental one stays at the center of the three accounts, and I think that's the most important thing for us, that we must not move away from him. And I think that's central in the book of Acts. Beautiful.