Saul
did not persecute Christ. But he did persecute the followers of Christ. Christ
and His people are one (John 15:1-6). To persecute the saints, therefore, is to
persecute Christ Himself (Matthew 25:40; 45).
How
did Christ love the church? He loved her so much that He died for her
(Ephesians 5:25). He wants husbands to love their wives in the same manner He
loves the church. A husband who loves his wife is hurt when his wife is hurt;
he feels the same way she feels. Christ did not ask Saul: “Why are you
persecuting my disciples?” He asked: “”Why are you persecuting Me?” Therefore,
those who persecute the saints persecute Christ Himself. Christ feels every
blow that the saints feel. When a saint is in pain, He is also in pain like
him.
Christ
did not create a lightning to strike Saul dead. That would have stopped Saul’s
persecutions. But someone else would take over and do the same. Christ knew
Saul that he could change when he knew what he was doing was wrong. And He was
right; Saul did change from a great persecutor to a great preacher. It is said:
“Hate cannot overcome hate; only love can.” And, Christ shows us how His love
changed a great persecutor.
Saul’s
persecution is the persecution of Jesus, whom he does not even recognize. What
a perplexing question he asked: “Who art thou, Lord?” (Acts 22:8). Saul
was persecuting “someone” he did not even know.
I
will like to draw just two lessons from the questions of Jesus and Paul.
1.
Christ’s question: “Why persecutest thou me?” Christ did not
demand Saul that he stopped his persecutions, but He asked him, why?
Have
you been “persecuting” a brother? What do I mean? Have you been slandering a
brother, hating him, giving him problems, making his life difficult and
miserable, criticising his work instead of helping him and etc? Christ will ask
you the same question: “Why are you doing this to Me?” He said: “Verily I
say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40).
When
you persecute a brother, you are persecuting Christ. The scripture says: “He
who loves God, loves his brother also” (1 John 4:21). Conversely, he who
hates his brother, hates also Christ. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth
his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath
seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 John 4:20).
2.
Paul’s question: “Who art thou, Lord?” Saul was persecuting someone he
didn’t even know. But, when he knew Christ, he changed. His life was
transformed. He was transformed from the one who caused others to suffer, to
the man who suffered on behalf of others.
Why
does a Christian hate a brother? There is only one reason: it is because he
does not know God. “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love”
(1 John 4:8). If he had known that God is love, he would want to love like God.
He would heed the commandment to love one another (John 13:34-35).
Let
this sink into our minds: Anything that we do to another Christian brother or
sister, we are doing it to Christ (Matthew 25:40). If we love Christ, we must
love those whom Christ loves (1 John 4:21). Therefore, let us know the Lord and
do His commandments.
Jimmy Lau
Psa
119:97 Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.
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