[00:00:00] Hello listeners, welcome to my podcast. We will continue from yesterday, Acts, a Commentary, by Prof. E.M. Blaiklock, M.A. A few details of biographical interest may be culled from the New Testament. The possession of Roman citizenship, for example, presupposes a family of some wealth and position.
[00:00:22] So too does Paul's nephew's inside knowledge of the priestly plot, and the quite evident respect which the senior Roman officer in Jerusalem paid to the young man, 23.16-22. Paul's sister must have had the best of connections in Jerusalem. A strong suggestion of poverty, on the other hand, argues a deep rilt with his family, 2 Corinthians 11.8.9,
[00:00:50] Philippians 3.8.4.15, 1 Thessalonians 2.9, Acts 9.1.2. Perhaps words like those in Ephesians 6.4 and Colossians 3.21 point back to a searing memory of parental repudiation. A few hints only in the narrative enable us to picture Paul. We can visualize his orator's gesture of the hands,
[00:01:19] of the congregation in the Capernaum synagogue, Luke 4.20. The word is used in Ephesians 13.9.6.20, 34.21.40.26.I. There is also a suggestion of an intense gaze, though it must be admitted that the expression is used also of Peter. See 13.9.14.9.23.1 of Peter 3.4 of the congregation in the Capernaum synagogue, Luke 4.20.
[00:01:48] The word attenizo implies a sharp, intent gaze. Ramsey remarks, The theory which makes Paul a permanent sufferer in his eyes, unable to see persons quite near to him, repulsive to strangers, is hopelessly at variance with the facts. He argues very convincingly that the thorn in the flesh was Asiatic malaria.
[00:02:12] Of Paul's mind we know the logic, Romans, the poetry, 1 Corinthians 13, the ardor, Ephesians, the exquisite tact, Philippians, the eloquence and sheer power. It has been plausibly suggested that the zeal Paul showed at the time of Stephen's death led to his election to the Sanhedrin, and that he therefore had a judicial part to play in the later stages of the persecution.
[00:02:42] Perhaps it was from a desire to justify his role that Paul sought to be appointed chief inquisitor at Damascus. From Acts 26.10 we learn that before the journey he had been armed with considerable authority in Jerusalem, and that his vote was active in condemnation of the Sanhedrin's victims. Outwardly, at any rate, he still stood where he stood on the day of Stephen's death. The high priest had no authority over the Damascus synagogues,
[00:03:11] but armed with his prestige, Paul, or Saul as he should still be called in this context, could instigate the local rabbis to exercise a discipline, and to hand suspects over to the mercies of the Sanhedrin. It seems clear that the Damascus Christians had not broken with the synagogue. They were dubbed the People of the Way, a name which reflects their preaching of a way of salvation, and their quoting of a saying of the Lord, John 14.6.
[00:03:42] Thanks for listening. We will continue tomorrow.