Why Did Jesus Choose Paul To Be the Thirteenth Apostle “out of Season”?
Posted: Tuesday, April 27, 2010
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
Most people who aren't Christian or even if they are, and are not avid students of the bible and early church history, know very little about why he was chosen. We must remember, Jesus chose twelve men to be his original apostles. One of these, Judas Iscariot, betrayed Jesus and then hanged himself. Leaving only eleven.
Luke, who was not an apostle, nor even a Jew, the only New Testament writer who was not Jewish, in his first chapter of the book of Acts, records for us the details of the eleven apostles choosing another whose name was Matthias. They were gathered in Jerusalem as instructed by Jesus, waiting for the power from on high to descend upon them. So now they were back to twelve as before. And then, of course, the next chapter records the fact that the Holy Spirit descended upon them and the Lord's kingdom, or church, was established on that day. These first two chapters of Acts are extremely important to understand in order to be able to truly understand the remainder of the book of Acts, and even the rest of the New Testament.
The Jews, who became converted to Christ, did not understand that they were supposed to let go of the Jewish Law and only follow Jesus, so even the apostles did not fully understand at the beginning and felt that any Gentile who wished to become a follower of Christ would have to first become a proselyte Jew.
Stephen, not an apostle but a convert who had the gift of prophecy or preaching, seemed to understand this better than did the apostles at that time. His preaching so factually and strongly resulted in his being stoned to death. And holding the coats of those who stoned him was Saul, of Tarsus.
And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. (Acts 8:1-4)
It was actually about ten years after the beginning of the church in Jerusalem before there were any Gentiles added to it or even that the apostles understood it. You an see by the fact that God caused Peter to see a vision and that he then was taken to Cornelius home, a Gentile, and he was to witness the Holy Spirit being descended upon them as it had upon the apostles in Acts 2. Then, they realized that the Gentiles were as welcome in the Lord's kingdom as were they.
But those who were not converted, still persecuted the church. Saul, did not live in Jerusalem, was not privy to the real teachings and miracles of Jesus but only thought of him as an imposter who had led many astray. He was a sincere and diligent worker for God, doing everything he could to stop the "heretics". He was an outstanding member of the Jewish people, highly educated and even had the status of being a Roman citizen which was very important and of much value to him later in his ministry for Jesus. He had never met, or even seen Jesus.
But Jesus appeared to him in a vision on the road to Damascus where he was headed to persecute more Christians. this is recorded in Acts chapter 9 and told again in Acts 26.
It is obvious why Jesus chose him to be another apostle, for after seeing and learning of Jesus, no other person worked so diligently and hard for the Lord's church than did Saul (he now became known as Paul). He was capable of speaking with confidence even unto Kings and others of high estate. He was tireless and unyielding in his efforts.
His strong religious background plus his dynamic personality, caused him to be, perhaps the strongest of all individuals in establishing the church in the then known world. He made three lengthy missionary journeys and established a number of congregations of the Lord's church and nourished others.
After he had spread the church's influence throughout the Mediterranean world, he told Timothy, "I have finished my course." and then a little later willingly offered his neck to the Roman soldier's sword. He was beheaded. But he had said earlier that he yearned to go and be with the Lord, which is far better. His eternity with Him was assured.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Thank you for writing and sharing this article. I agree with you about Paul being a diligent man. I think what made him such a great man, was his ability to met people where they were.Thank you Jenn, I suppose you could just about say anything good about the man and be correct. I just wish I could be more like him. Thanks for reading and your comment
Thanks once again for your insights - appreciate your sharing what you have studied with your readers!Thank you Marijo, for reading my articles and your nice comments
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