Reading… and Thinking

But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

— Acts 8:3 (ESV)

What a picture is conjured by a few words! A door crashes down, soldiers (temple guards) burst in, young and old are roughly grabbed. Saul the Pharisee looks on with aristocratic aloofness, a sneering smile of satisfaction on his lips. Anything that looks valuable and portable is taken, the Pharisee taking no notice. Hauled before a kangaroo court, convicted, thrown in prison.

Most of these brothers and sisters were new in the faith. Were they terrified? Were they staunchly faithful? In most cases, probably both at once!

What happened to their children? How long did they sit in prison? We never hear. These are “minor” characters in the story – played by extras in the movie version, right? But every one of them was a real person, one of our fellow believers. Each one had a personal story of a journey toward conversion. Each one had a full life, which was utterly shattered along with the door as it was broken down. Each one felt the physical pain of being dragged away, the emotional pain of being separated from loved ones, the spiritual pain of wondering if they had made a terrible mistake, or if God had abandoned them.

We don’t know how the story ended for any of them. From hints elsewhere, some of them were put to death, but many were probably released eventually. And then a new trial began: no job, no home. No wonder the Jerusalem church needed help from outside! (See Gal 2:10, Rom 15:25-26, 1 Cor 16:1-3.)

We can’t say for sure how these brothers and sisters reacted. But we do have many records of believers in later persecutions. If these are any guide, then we can conclude that some of those arrested recanted their faith – as Jesus foretold. But most did not. Most, even if fearful, clung to the certainty that a resurrected Christ had saved them, and would give them eternal life if they remained steadfast. They did not doubt, at least not for very long, that the living God was their defender still. Hadn’t Jesus warned them that persecutions would come? Here was proof, yet again, that he was a true prophet! If he knew in advance, then he was surely aware right then of what they were going through. “I am with you always, to the end of the age,” he had said. (Matt 28:20) They knew they were not abandoned.

Verses like this are so easy to read right over. We have to stop and savor each sentence sometimes, to realize what it’s really saying. There are lessons of faith to be found everywhere!