Wanted Dead and Alive

Acts 9:23–25 (NKJV)

23 Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him. 24 But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him. 25 Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket.

In our last study we discovered that Saul immediately went into the synagogues preaching Jesus as the Messiah. We also went over how Saul was strengthened among the Damascus believers, and how we should make the effort to do the same. As believers, and especially if you are a new believer, our greatest need is to be built up in the unity of the faith. The world, the flesh, and the devil are now a common enemy for believers, and the church is the rest haven for those broken by its three-fold power. The world, as Saul now sees it, is the enemy of the cross who once held him captive to its slavery and principles. Just as Saul sought refuge in the church from the battle ground called the world, we must seek refuge, rest, and strength in a healthy local body of Christ. The flesh is our enemy, because, as Saul experienced it, we can become weary in practicing righteousness. Saul needed to feast more and more on Christ as he was continually being rejected for preaching Him. The church’s greatest need is Christ and therefore needs more of the life giving means to increase in Him. And finally, as we will discover in this study, the devil is our enemy who seeks to destroy the church of God.

23 Now after many days were past, . . .

Verse 23 is in logical connection and contrast to the previous verse, in that, as Saul was going into the synagogues over the course of many days, the Jews began a plot to kill him. Some commentators want to make the ‘many days’ into three years to coincide with Paul’s account in Galatians 1:17, but that doesn’t hold true. Paul is defending his apostleship and authority on behalf of the gospel to the Galatian church and mentions how he was commissioned by the Lord, but is referencing to the time before Ananias came to pray for him to receive his sight; for his commission did not come from man nor was he sent through man.

Galatians 1:11–12 (NKJV)

11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Paul’s purpose was to reveal the origin of his commission; and therefore we need to heed his context in correlation to Luke’s. Luke’s purpose is to give a general historical account of Saul’s conversion, but Paul brings out greater detail of it in his letters to the churches. Still some commentators contradict Luke’s time line with their interpretation of Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

Galatians 1:15–17 (NKJV)

15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Paul is bringing out the Lord’s predestination and commission of his calling to the Gentiles, and testifies that he did not ‘immediately’ confer with flesh and blood. This is where the commentators stumble. Paul is referring to the time between his encounter with the glorified Christ and his encounter with Ananias. In other words, by stating that he did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, he is saying he received a revelation of his commission during the three days praying to the Lord (Acts 9:9,12,17). Therefore there is no contradiction to Luke’s account. In other words he did not receive his official commission through the disciples until after he received revelation from the Lord Himself, then as we will learn in this study, he left the threat of persecution in Damascus to flee to Arabia. Therefore ‘the many days’ can only be referring to the time that he spent in Damascus before being left down through the widow under the cover of night to escape the threat of death.

Saul spends the next three years in hiding and then returns back to Damascus to Ananias and Barnabas. Remember that Ananias was being groomed to be the elder in the Damascus church, and Barnabas was the one who sold his possessions for the sake of the gospel, and was most likely dwelling in Damascus as a result of Saul's initial persecution of the saints in Jerusalem, and also to be an encourager to Ananias. Later in our study we will discover that Barnabas witnessed Saul’s preaching among the Jews, as Saul tries to link up with the apostles in Jerusalem, and Barnabas was the key for Saul to enter among them (vs.26, 27). Therefore it would have been necessary for Saul to return to the Damascus church after the threat of the death warrant began to die down.

. . . the Jews plotted to kill him.

When bullying and mocking doesn’t work to stop the disciples from exalting Christ as the King of the Jews, “Kill them,” was the attitude of the Jews. Do you have this kind of attitude? Would it be easier to just get rid of someone that is a nuisance to you, like a fly on the wall, than to labor carefully to hear what the other feels you need to hear? Do you have the attitude to just get rid of someone who refuses to see the world the way you do? Are you pro-death to those who may hinder you from advancing your agenda? This was the attitude of the Jews with the Christians in this culture. The problem was that the Jews claimed to represent the One True God who created the heavens and the earth. However, to advance their agenda they bullied and stomped out anyone who would get in their way. That kind of attitude is contrary to Christianity. This was a ‘serious’ threat to Saul and the other Christians who dwelt in Damascus. The mocking escalated to the threat of murder in the first degree.

What was the responsibility of this new sect called ‘the Way’ to do about this? They were to continue to preach a cross to those would follow the way of Jesus Christ. This meant to die if necessary for a message of pro-life. Saul put down his sword to carry the words of Christ, and so must we, to maintain and uphold life in the days of death. Saul’s message was a message of life and freedom to those who would believe in the fulfillment and new Way to God. No longer would Israel have to observe the bloody burdens of the death of animals, if they would observe the death of Christ as the sufficient, complete, and only payment for the Father’s satisfaction of Justice. The only sword that the church used was prayer and the Word.

The church understood that life and death are in the hands of God, and that if death comes to them it was dealt justly by God. The message of the cross that Saul preached was a warning to make ourselves ready for death, that we might have life in the name of Jesus. But Jesus was a lunatic and a liar in the eyes of the Jews, a mad man even. But the inscription upon His cross gave Him a good name! No matter how ‘the world’ perceives it (Jn.19:19). This inscription was Saul’s life and is a name that gave Saul a new name that is written down in glory (Rev.3:5). The church never defended themselves through the carnal means of men, but through the supernatural means of the Spirit, that the result would bring light and life to men who live in darkness.

But the Jews would not hear Saul’s speech. Was Saul to continue to preach Christ to such a hostile and antagonistic people who hated the name of God’s Son? Was it Saul’s time to die for the name of Christ in the will of God? If we remember back, the Lord told Saul that he would be His messenger to the Gentiles. Therefore it was not in the will of God that Saul should perish at the hand of the Jews, but escape to return at another time (Gal.1:17).

24 But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him.

We know how serious a threat this was to Saul; because the Jews got the governor of Damascus, who was under the king of Arabia, to set up a garrison to watch for Saul at the gates of the city, to kill him. But this plot became known to Saul and to the church. Imagine having to hide under tremendous threat, and to look over your shoulder at every corner, to retrace your steps to keep someone from following you and expose the vulnerability of innocent believers for their safety, knowing you have a target on your back. Saul was well known and would have easily been spotted and followed if he did not take measures to cloak his identity.

How would it have been made known to Saul that there was a plot to kill him? My assumption is that there were some converts, like Nicodemus, who were still members of the synagogues that spied out the plots of the Jews for the safety of the Damascus church. These men were always at risk to be exposed as Christians, and were ready to give an answer for the hope that dwelt within them. But this form of spying was to protect new and poorer believers from the threats of the Jews, and to protect the shepherds that led them into the worship of Christ and the counsel of the Word. These men were real men who gave their bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord. They continually put themselves in harm’s way on the frontlines of the battle. Most likely they only attended the meetings to gather information and collect news about the Jews’ intentions towards the Christians. They most likely did not participate in any corruption that would have taken place in the synagogues. They would have kept their interaction to a minimum and swallowed their tongue regarding any sins that they may have witnessed being plotted or performed.

How would this apply to us today in a free country like our own without the imminent and serious threats of murder? Are you willing to work hard for the sake of the gospel in a workplace that opposes the righteousness of Christ? When someone is mocked or ridiculed for the sake of the gospel, would you be willing to come to their aid and comfort? Would you be willing to lose your own job and reputation for the witness and reputation of Christ? Are you willing to risk personal comfort to pray and come alongside another, so that they can be given the opportunity to be sent out as a laborer or harvester of those lost in darkness? Are you willing to sacrifice a higher standard of living, as Barnabas did, so that your pastor can minister full time to the brethren and be separated unto the Word and prayer, as Saul the persecutor was taken out of sin and into the sufferings of public ministry before kings, rulers, and demonic principalities (Gal.1:11-17)? Are you willing to supply the needs of widows and orphans throughout the world who qualify as servants of the church (1Tim.5)? These are just a few of the ways we can look to carry a cross in a culture that rejects Christ, but always remember that there are those who may lose their lives simply for identifying with the name of Jesus Christ and His message.

25 Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket.

The ESV translators’ narration of this event depict the disciples being learners of Saul which doesn’t do the reader justice for the author’s original intent. . . . 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. (ESV) The disciples were not learners under Saul but learners alongside of Saul. Therefore we should disregard the ESV translation of this particular portion of the text. As the soldiers of the king of Arabia were watching the gates, the disciples deceptively stole Saul under the protection of the night, and lowered him through a window in the wall outside the city in a large basket. The Greek verb, lambano (took), means to obtain through deception (2Cor.11:20). In other words the disciples stole Saul away in the night from the death warrant commissioned by the governor of Damascus. It was better to obey God rather than man under the circumstance that the disciples were subjected to, for Saul was the possession of the King of kings and was specially commissioned for the future of the gospel. The disciples had no choice but to disregard the orders of the law of land and usurp the authority of men. This form of deception was not to deceive others into thinking something immoral or for the purpose of covering a crime, but to protect the innocent from destructive predators in a time of extreme measures to fulfill a greater command. God is not condoning deception or theft, but rather willing that righteousness would remain in the church of Damascus. This was to preserve life, not to take it. Are you for life? And not just any kind of life, but life in name of Christ? Are you living for self and for sin or are you living for Christ who died that you might live to Him? The very life that was preserved through this act this day later coined the phrase:

2 Corinthians 5:13–21 (NKJV)

13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. 16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Saul and the disciples were living for the King of kings, as new creations in His name, calling those who are dead in sin, to life and reconciliation; in the Father of lights, the Son who died and rose again, and the Holy Spirit who now abides in the souls of those who believe and call upon the name of the Lord for salvation. Will you be among these learners of the Way to God? Examine yourself and call upon the Lord today! Though Satan stand at the gates of sin and death to imprison you in his kingdom, you can still plan your escape beneath the cross of the one who preached to the spirits in prison (1Pet.3:19).