Τhe city of Tarsus lay in a fertile plain in the Roman province of Cilicia (in modern-day Turkey), some 10 miles inland from the northeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It was into a Jewish Benjamite family in that city that at least two children were born, a daughter whose name is unknown (Act 23:16) and a son called Saul. He was possibly born around A.D. 5 and would go on to be known as Paul the Apostle, the penman of thirteen named books, covering almost 30% of the New Testament. He is mentioned in all but seven of the 28 chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. He lived to around A.D. 64/67, when he was martyred (beheaded) in Rome.
The present focus is on his early life, tracing the path from Tarsus to his remarkable conversion to Christ on the Damascus Road as a young man (Act 9). This will involve looking at Saul in the following ways.
The Pedigree
Saul was born a Jew, a Benjamite. Though there is no Scripture stating it, some have suggested that he may well have been named after another prominent Old Testament character, Saul of the same tribe, who became the first king of the nation of Israel. It is worth mentioning that there are a number of comparisons and contrasts between them that will not be considered further here.
While Saul’s parents were Jews, they were also Roman citizens, so he was born with a much-coveted and cherished privilege of being a Roman citizen as well, something he would later refer to when he was about to be examined by scourging. He claimed the protection of his citizenship, which was not bought (as the chief captain who was about to scourge him), but acquired by birthright (Act 22:24-28).
He likely spent much of his early life in Jerusalem, as he was there when he stated, “I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city” (v3).1 Saul learned that religion and valuable earthly citizenship were insufficient to give him entitlement to heavenly citizenship. He would later write, “For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Php 3:20).
The Prodigy
Many intellectuals in Israel also had a trade, and for Saul it was in the skill of tent making (Act 18:3), but it is clear he was also an able scholar. He was a student under the tutelage of the renowned Rabbi Gamaliel, and was able to speak not only in his native Greek but also in Hebrew, the majority language of the Old Testament. He became highly proficient in those Scriptures and the Mosaic Law in particular. It is well worth noting that an astute mind, intellect and an understanding of Scripture are not in themselves sufficient for obtaining salvation nor continuing in service subsequent to it. What Saul needed was to know the Lord for salvation and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit for his subsequent service.
The Pharisee
Saul was not only marked by intellect and an understanding of Scripture, but, as he writes in Galatians 1:14, he profited, or advanced, in the Jews’ religion above many of his equals within the nation, being exceedingly zealous of the traditions of the fathers. He later writes of his past, “[As] touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless” (Php 3:6).
As a Pharisee, a separated one, Saul would have accepted the OT as the inspired Word of God. That sect was known for adding to that Word many oral traditions evolving throughout Israel’s history, and saying that those traditions were comparable to the authority of Scripture. This practice has not changed. Today there are many who are enslaved in a religion that adds to the Word of God and blinds them to the wonderful simplicity of God’s plan of salvation. This was the lesson that Saul subsequently learned, and, indeed, spent the rest of his life preaching and teaching against.
The Persecutor
Saul’s religious zeal, despite sincerely believing that he was serving God, was truly devastating. He later, looking back, described himself as “a persecutor, and injurious” and “in unbelief” (1Ti 1:13), and the chief of sinners (v15). He may not have been present when the Sanhedrin decided to stone Stephen in Acts 7, but he certainly was there at the stoning of the young martyr, “consenting unto his death” (Act 8:1).
Following that dreadful event, he seemed to intensify his hatred of those who belonged to Christ, “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord” (9:1). It was with this conviction and emotion that he sought and obtained official sanction from the highest religious authority in the nation, the high priests, Annas and Caiaphas, to further vent his anger against the Christians, extending the purge from Jerusalem up to Damascus, 120 miles north. He describes his actions: “And many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities” (26:10-11). The tragedy of the destruction an individual can cause, even though they are convinced that it is God’s will, is evidenced in the trail of destruction left by Saul the persecutor, and many others since.
The Prostrate Sinner
As we read the life story of Saul up to Acts 9:2, we could conclude that he was a hopeless case, that he was no better than any other of the Pharisees and leaders in the nation who had rejected and crucified Christ, and who sought the imprisonment and death of all who owned His name. Yet, within a few verses we find him lying prostrate on the dust of the Damascus Road. What happened to bring about such a change? The light of the glory of a risen Christ had struck him down blind, and that same Christ, the Lord of Glory, had spoken to him by name. The light that shone round about was brighter than the noonday sun. Those accompanying Saul saw the light, but Saul saw Christ; those with him heard the noise, but Saul heard the words of Christ. Thus commenced an encounter that would change not only his life but his eternal destiny.
On that Damascus Road, Saul learned that the person he thought was dead, Jesus of Nazareth, the one whose name he was seeking to stamp out (26:9), was, in fact, alive. He learned that his persecution of the Christians was, in fact, persecution of Christ: “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest” (22:8). What a revelation dawned on his stricken soul – “that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (2:36). The Messiah whom he, a Jew, should have anticipated as the coming deliverer was Jesus, crucified, raised from the dead, ascended to glory, and now speaking to him as he lay in the dust near Damascus. Bowing in submission to the risen Jesus, he cried, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (9:6). Thus, the persecuting Pharisee became the prostrate, penitent sinner in acceptance of his Lord and Saviour.
The Prologue
What would become of Saul of Tarsus now? Would he fade into oblivion? Would he disappear from the pages of history? No, quite the opposite! He would, as Paul the Apostle, a chosen vessel, serve his Lord and Master and do that which Israel should have done – be an instrument of blessing to a world of sinners. He, as one of the seed of Abraham (2Co 11:22), would fulfil in a particular measure the promise of God to Abraham, “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen 22:18).
The Pharisee would become the preacher, the persecutor would become the persecuted, the imprisoner would himself become the prisoner, and the letter carrier would become the letter writer. He would become an example for anyone who would follow Christ, as he himself stated: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1Co 11:1).
Was it all worthwhile? His own assessment was this: “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Php 3:7-8).
As he ended his earthly journey in martyrdom for Christ on the Ostian Way three miles outside the city of Rome, some 40 years after that first meeting with Christ on the Damascus Road, he could well have sung the words written by Herbert H.H. Booth many years later:
I have given up all for Jesus:
This vain world is naught to me;
All its pleasures are forgotten
In remembering Calvary.
Though my friends despise, forsake me,
And on me the world looks cold,
I’ve a Friend that will stand by me
When the pearly gates unfold.
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
2 Herbert H.H. Booth (1862–1926)
