The Middleman

The room was filled with a mix of emotions- fear, tension, suspicion, suspense, and hope all at once. The scheduled meeting was about to begin. This meeting brought back memories of what happened last month. Two members of the crew were yet to fully recover from spraining their ankles due to the stampede that ensued when Saul walked into the meeting last month.

What exactly did he want? They were still grieving Stephen. Saul claimed to have become one of them. A brother, really? This was more frightening than a Roman soldier becoming a Pharisee. They had heard about the letter he wrote to the chief priest a while ago, in which he recommended that the best way to preserve Judaism was to kill all followers of Jesus or as he described them in his letter, “Dangerously deluded derailers from the true faith”.

So how were they supposed to suddenly make a three sixty and believe that he had truly become one of them? Some of them believed that Saul was trying to join them to become an inside man, as part of a bigger plot to destroy the growing church. Some believed that he had truly become a follower of Jesus, because Jesus was known to receive sinners of all kinds but this one was a whole new level. He was literally an enemy of Jesus!

Since the stampede that occurred last month, the church had been scared to let him join them, but Joses, who was also known as Bar Nabas, claimed to have become a friend of Saul and asked the apostles to believe him by granting both of them a meeting.

Well the day had come and the apostles had gathered in a room in the home of John. When all the apostles had seated, Peter stood up among them and cleared his throat, “Shall we begin”. Hearing that, everybody sat up and looked towards the back door where Andrew stood, guarding it. Peter gave Andrew a nod to open the door. Immediately the door was opened, Joses led Saul through the door. The room fell silent, with all eyes fixed on Saul. He was a man of average height, but he had broad shoulders, giving him a presence that could not be ignored. Saul and Joses took their seats. Then Peter motioned to Joses to speak. 

Joses stood up and intentionally placed his left hand on Saul’s shoulder before he began to speak, “My dear brothers, it’s good to be back home even though I didn’t miss this heat”. He paused, trying to see if his attempt to lighten the mood was working. A few people chuckled but it was obvious that their attention was fixed on Saul. So he continued “I thank God for my trip to Damascus. It was definitely an eventful trip, as you can see. I must tell you; our God has a sense of humor.” Joses smiled, looked at Saul and then back at the apostles.

 “You see, when my dear friend, Stephen, went to be with Jesus, given the circumstances, I thought taking a break from Jerusalem till things calmed down, was a good idea. So, I requested from Peter and John, to go minister in Damascus for a bit and they obliged me. When I got to Damascus, apparently, there was some commotion. The news was that one of the biggest enemies of the church had become a brother. We went into the synagogues and saw him preach Christ! We were very confused. Was he a spy? Was he using reverse psychology? We did not know. But eventually, when we saw that even he, a notable Jew, had become an enemy of the Jews for the sake of Christ, we believed him. In fact, his coming back to Jerusalem was to escape persecution in Damascus. What an irony!” Joses paused and took a minute to observe the reactions in the room. As he expected, they were amazed that Saul, who was known as a persecutor of the church, had suffered persecution himself.

“Brothers, this is yet another dimension of how there is no limit to the kind of person Christ can save. It is easy to rejoice when he saves the poor or the outcasts, but the grace of God is available for even His enemy! Even the most wicked person, who believes in Christ will not be turned away. So, I urge you not to be afraid, but believe, and more importantly, receive Saul. I also have a letter of testimony here from Ananias, but the man is here himself to share his story. My brothers, please give a warm welcome to our new brother, Saul, or according to the Greeks, Paul”.

It started as a few claps, then the applause grew louder, as though to express how their feelings turned from fear to joy, till it gradually filled the room. The applause eventually died down to allow Saul start speaking.

Ref- Acts 9: 26-27