V — Saul’s Withdrawal to Tarsus
Our last meditation closed on the thought that Saul spent fifteen happy days at Jerusalem, in close fellowship with Peter. Truly he did, but there was more than fellowship for Saul to look back upon; there was active work for the Lord Jesus in the capital city; there was growing opposition from one-time friends, now sworn enemies; and, finally, there was the discipline of having to bow before the fury of that storm, in obedience to the Divine will. These are the three points which constitute the subject-matter of our present meditation. The narrative basis we find in Acts, chapter 9, verses 29 and 30; The personal references we find in Acts, chapter 22, verses 17 to 21, and, possibly, in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 15.
Let us, then, think for a little together on these three points:
(a) Saul preaches Christ at Jerusalem also.
(b) Saul bows before the fury of the storm.
(c) Saul withdraws to his native city.
Saul preaches Christ at Jerusalem also.
The great work which he had begun at Damascus, Saul now continues at Jerusalem. It is to be his life work henceforth — to preach Christ, and Him Crucified, to his fellow-sinners everywhere. If it was a miracle to see Saul at Damascus, preaching that Jesus is the Christ, how much more of a miracle to see him doing the same at Jerusalem! Here he was at the very heart of Judaism, the very centre from which he himself, not so long ago, had gone forth to persecute the followers of the Nazarene. Who can ever tell what strength was needed by this noble servant of the master, as he rose up to tackle this great task to which he had been committed by the risen Lord Himself? One thing is certain — never in his own strength could Saul have gone out to speak boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 9: 29), for Saul was one who was made to learn deeply, all his days, that ‘without me, ye can do nothing‘, a word that must be graven, as with a pen of iron, on the table of the hearts of all God’s people. Saul lived to prove, as he says elsewhere, “when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor. xii, 10).
The same zeal, the same knowledge; the same dedication and the same earnestness which, we have seen, had characterised his Damascus preaching, would also characterise his first efforts in the ‘city of the great King’. Christ was becoming more and more precious each day to Saul and he longed to impart to others also the great blessing, which he himself had come to enjoy: may it be ours, too, to follow him in this, whether as preachers or people: to commend to others the suitability of the Redeemer and Saviour of sinners!
As was his custom, wherever he went, Saul not only declared the whole counsel of God: he also entered into discussion with those to whom he declared these things, and, in the nature of the case, these discussions usually became prolonged and bitter. It was so now; we read: “And disputed against the Grecians” — This followed on from speaking boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus. He ‘disputed’ with them and against them: for the word itself began with the simple meaning of ‘seeking or examining together’ some point or points perhaps, and then came to be used, as here, in the sense of disputing, discussing or debating on these points, with varying degrees of intensity, according to the context. From the sequel here, it is evident that, even if Saul had chosen to begin by ‘searching out’ the points at issue, from the Scriptures, as to the relationship between Jesus and the Messiah, in a spirit of mutual interest and discussion, very soon such discussion would have degenerated into acrimonious dispute. As Saul, trained so well for such a task at Gamaliel’s feet, endowed now with the Spirit from on high, waxed bolder and bolder in the discussion, his adversaries found refuge in the only course, which appealed to them, in such circumstances. They lost complete control of themselves — their enmity now knew no bounds; if they could not silence him in argument, they could try some other method and this they now proceeded to do. We read: “they went about to slay him“. The carnal mind of man is enmity against God indeed, wherever it rears its ugly head, whether in the individual bosom or in society. The storm clouds were soon gathering round the head of ‘the young man, called Saul’, and the question now to be faced, both by himself and by the church at Jerusalem, was, Shall he weather the storm by resisting, or allow it to pass, by retreating before it? Much would depend upon the answer: much for himself, and for the church.
Let none of us be surprised, then, if we ever find ourselves facing a similar question. If we would truly follow the Lord, follow Him fully as Caleb of old was enabled to do, we too may expect to encounter difficulties in the way, our problems may not take the form which Saul’s did, yet, nevertheless, their nature will be essentially the same. The arch-enemy of Truth is always the same and his work is always the same. Saul was to prove, as you, too, will have to prove, dear friend that ‘if they have hated me, they will also hate you‘.
Saul bows before the fury of the storm.
As at Damascus, so now at Jerusalem, the witness of Saul did not produce the desired effect. Instead of receiving the Word gladly, with meekness, men were only filled with enmity and rose up to slay the preacher of the unsearchable riches of Christ. The only answer to the situation, as it appeared to the brethren then in Jerusalem, was to bow before the rising fury of the storm. Discretion was to be the better part of valour: so they arranged to have Saul taken away from the scene and carried safely to his native place. They seem to have realised that this was the will of God: to this Divine will they would now submit: in His holy hands they would leave the issue. “When the brethren knew” (of this plot to slay Saul) “they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus” (v. 30).
As for Saul himself, how did he answer the question above? It would appear that he too realised, for himself, the need to retire from the scene, for the time being at least. Yet he cannot but express his disappointment: it was a bitter blow, when he had perhaps looked for so much. It was going to be hard for him to accept the situation, much later, when writing to the Thessalonian believers, he refers to something, which is usually taken to mean that he is thinking of this period in his life, when he says, “For ye also have suffered . . . even as they . . . of the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus . . . and have persecuted us” (1 Thess. ii, 14, 15). The last words are the important words in this context: the verb means, literally, ‘drove us out’, ‘pursued us out’, or ‘chased us out’, by implication ‘through persecution’. In other words, we were compelled to leave: we were left with little alternative. As he looks back, is there any bitterness? Knowing Paul, we can truly say — no, not bitterness; disappointment, perhaps, or sorrow, but not rebellion. He was beginning to learn in those early days, what he afterwards so aptly writes of to his friends in the faith at Philippi — in whatsoever state, to be content. It was, for him, then, another lesson in the school of Christ.
Yet that is not all. He was enabled to bow before the rising storm, with quiet resignation to the will of God, not so much because the brethren constrained him so to do, nor because circumstances left him little alternative, but rather, because the Lord Himself commanded him to go. He received the word to retire from God Himself, and this made the path clear for him. When His Word came, then Saul could, despite all, take up his staff again and make for Tarsus and its solitude, as he had before made for Arabia and its solitude. In his speech to the multitude from the castle stairs, he declares that while he prayed, in the temple at Jerusalem, he was in a trance and saw the Lord saying unto him, “make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me” (Acts xxii, 18). This was, for him, the sign to leave: it was a mysterious and holy Providence, yet one which was destined, in the end, to work out for the good of the infant church and the world at large. The Lord had one other word for him then too — “Depart for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles” (Acts xxii, 21).
As Saul set out for Tarsus, then, he set out on the road that was to lead him ‘far hence unto the Gentiles’, to set the pattern for his future life and ministry, to carry the message of redeeming love to the corners of the world. Any regrets he might have had in leaving Jerusalem would soon be forgotten as he discerned the hand of his Lord and Master in it all.
May it be ours to realise that all our lives are in God’s hands; our going out and coming in, our rising up and sitting down. If we are His, much more are our lives then subject to His guidance, His superintendence and His over-ruling Providence. May we learn, from Saul’s experience here, to discern the steps of majesty of our God in Providence, to acquiesce in His Will, even when, at times, we understand it not, and above all, to receive what Saul received, a personal guiding word for every step and every circumstance, that so we might indeed rejoice to do God’s will and follow Jesus in the way.
Saul withdraws to his native city.
Saul had endeavoured to carry the Gospel message to his fellow-countrymen. Greek-speaking Jews, who were then dwelling in Jerusalem, the Grecians of our text, as distinct from the Greeks of other passages, who were Greek-speaking Gentiles. His work had now been cut short and he arrived back in Tarsus once more, to spend another period of his life in comparative obscurity. The details of his journey thither from Jerusalem via Caesarea need not detain us, although there are some interesting points raised by some scholars concerning his mode of travel from Caesarea to Tarsus: was it by land or sea? Did he, at that time, visit the ‘regions of Syria and Cilicia’ to which he refers in Galatians i, 21? And did he engage in some missionary work thereabouts, as well as in his native city, by means of which, by the blessing of God, the Holy Spirit, some of those kinsmen and friends of his, of whom he makes mention in Romans xvi, were brought into the Kingdom?
Whatever be the case, we may rest assured that Saul returned to Tarsus in a very different frame of mind from that in which he had once left it to travel south to Jerusalem to enter Gamaliel’s school and so pursue his formal Jewish education. He had, in the interval, been enrolled in a better school, and sat at better feet, and learned of a better Master. Now he was to know again the need for learning a new obedience and a new discipline. Buried in the obscurity of Tarsus, Saul was to find new strength for the years ahead. The time spent there, as in Arabia, was time well spent. He had time to reflect; to examine his own heart; to search the Scriptures; and to wait upon the Lord. It was a time of preparation for future usefulness in greater fields of vision than among the synagogues of Damascus or even Jerusalem itself.
May we also learn in the same spiritual class, and at the same school, the same precious lessons for life and life’s journey, from the same glorious Teacher in Israel! Then, truly, we would not learn in vain. How slow to learn, how ready to forget, how impatient until the lesson is over!
Let our prayer then be
“Teach me, O Lord, the perfect way,
of Thy precepts divine,
And to observe it to the end
I shall my heart incline.” (Ps. cxix. 33)
One final point before we close. When Saul withdrew to the safety and solitude of Tarsus, this was, for him, a second withdrawal from the scenes of labour and activity in service for the Lord. Is there any connecting link between the two withdrawals? Are there points in which they coincide, and points in which they differ?
At God’s command, Saul left his post at Damascus, and retired to Arabia: at His Command again, he left his post at Jerusalem, and retired to Tarsus. At his first withdrawal from service, it would appear that he conferred not with flesh and blood; at his second, the brethren had a hand in constraining him to go. His first retirement would appear to have been more for some edification than anything else; his second would appear to have been due more to pressure of external circumstances than anything else. Yet the Lord was, in both, leading in His wondrous love and mercy, both Saul and the church of the first born, into all truth, for His own glory. We shall see, the Lord willing, that the Lord’s hand was to be seen in the manner in which he was brought forth from his present retirement, in as wonderful a way as it was to be seen already in respect of his first. Truly, Saul could say of both, what David had said of his own life, long ago,
“Unto me happily the lines
in pleasant places fell;
Yea, the inheritance I got
in beauty doth excel.” (Ps. xvi. 6)