Paul why are you persecuting me

The best value in digital Bible study. Try it FREE. Font Size Font Size. Acts Share Print. And he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me [harassing, troubling, and molesting Me]?

And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Why do you keep persecuting me? Why are you so cruel to me? And falling on the ground, he heard a voice saying to him: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Why are you persecuting me? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. Genesis ,11 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am …. Isaiah But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel….

Jeremiah ,9 Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? Matthew Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. Context Crossref Comment Greek. In this question, however, are profound answers for Saul and for us as readers. If Saul is persecuting Christians because he thinks God wants this, this spiritual encounter with Christ, mystical as it is, points to the presence of God in Jesus, the last thing he would expect.

Saul felt God had already spoken to him. Saul responds to the question, though, he listens and does as Jesus tells him, which indicates a genuine change in Saul. As the Apostle Paul, Saul will live this truth out. The Apostle is no less passionate than the Persecutor in his love of God and in his desire to make God known, but in this experience, he learns that God does not demand our obedience; he questions us and thereby challenges us with the truth.

Violence is never the method by which truth is made known. Saul will go from the passionate man who by violence will attempt to convert others, to the passionate man who will accept and suffer violence in his desire to bring the truth to others.

He transforms from the one who causes others to suffer, to the man who will suffer on behalf of others. Saul also learns in this encounter that Jesus is genuinely present amongst the brothers and sisters of the early Church. The flip side of this, of course, is that God is with us, and we must see God present amongst the people, especially those we wish to persecute. People are never just representatives of "bad" decisions or positions with which we disagree, but the represent God in our midst.

Saul, by listening to the words of Jesus, grants Jesus authority. He turns from the authority which was vested in his life, as an educated and devout Pharisee, at the behest of Temple authorities, those who had been established as representatives of the Scripture and its interpretation, and recognizes God present in a new and surprising way. This is a challenge to all of us: when do we turn from an old way to a new way? When do we know God is speaking to us in some new way and that it is not just our own desires or prejudices?

When must we recognize God new among us? When do we hear God's voice and turn so we might be converted? Your source for jobs, books, retreats, and much more. The Good Word.