Day 46 — Escape and Acceptance (Acts 9:23-31) | June 10

After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill. But Saul learned of their plot. So they were watching the gates day and night intending to kill him, but his disciples took him by night and lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the water. And when they arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of the people. Since they did not believe he was a disciple. Barnabas, however, took him, brought him to the apostles,

and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road, and that the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He conversed and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. When the brothers found out, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened, living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. All right, so Luke tells us that after many days. Uh, the plot to kill Saul finally developed. We know from Galatians 1, 17 and 18, that between his conversion and his first visit to Jerusalem, Saul spent some time in Arabia and then he returned to Damascus, with the total period being about three years.

And so during this time, he was rethinking his entire, you know, theological framework in light of this encounter that he had with the risen Christ. And when he returned to Damascus, his powerful preaching made him a marked man. And the irony is so thick here, like Saul had had come to Damascus with authority to arrest Christians, and now he's escaping that same city under the cover of darkness, lowered through a wall in a basket like a smuggled fugitive. the the hunter had become the hunted.

And his undignified exit foreshadows a pattern uh that would show up in his future ministry, where danger and narrow escapes, plots against his life would become routine. In fact, in second Corinthians eleven, Paul recalls this humiliating escape as part of his credentials as a servant of Christ. Suffering and weakness are Not impressive displays of power but

would mark his claim to apostleship. So when Saul finally arrived in Jerusalem, he faced another obstacle that the disciples wouldn't accept him. And who could blame them? Like this was the man who had approved Stephen's execution. This is the man who had dragged their friends from their homes. And the wounds were still fresh. That the trauma was still real.

Saul's conversion might have been genuine, but that didn't automatically erase the memory of what he had done. Trust takes time to rebuild, as we know, especially when the damage has been severe. Enter Barnabas. His name means son of encouragement, and he lives up to it. Barnabas took a risk that no one else would take. He vouched for suffering.

He brought Saul to the apostles, he told the story, the Damascus Road encounter, the Lord speaking to him, his bold preaching in Jesus' name. Barnabas saw what the others couldn't see. He believed in Saul's transformation when everyone else was still afraid of him. You know, behind many well known servants of God are lesser known believers who played crucial supporting roles. Barnabas didn't minister in the

Without Barnabas, Saul might have never been received by the Jerusalem Church. Without Barnabas, the most prolific missionary in church history might have been sidelined by suspicion. Now, once he's accepted by the apostles, Saul immediately begins speaking boldly in Jerusalem, particularly debating with the Greek speaking Jews, the same group Stephen had engaged before his martyrdom.

And history nearly repeats itself, like they tried to kill Saul too. The pattern is becoming clear. Wherever Saul preaches, opposition follows, and eventually the brothers would send him away to his hometown and And then we hear almost nothing about him for the next several years until Barnabas retrieves him for the work in Antioch.

The chapter here closes with a summary statement about the church. Peace, strengthening, fear of the Lord, encouragement by the Holy Spirit. And numerical growth. This is what health looks like in a church reverence for God combined with the Spirit's comfort, resulting in both depth. And expansion. The scattering that began with Stephen's death had done its work. The gospel had spread through Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and now with Saul temporarily off the

A season of consolidation begins, but it's not going to last long. The Spirit has much bigger plans, and Saul will be right at the center. Well m what might a step of ordinary obedience look like today? Let me issue a challenge. Is there someone in your life who needs a barnabase?

Someone whose past makes people hesitate, someone whose reputation precedes them in all the wrong ways. What would it look like to be the one who vouches for them, introduces them, speaks up for them, opens a door that they can't open?