The Persecutor

Foremost and nearest to His throne,
By perfect robes of triumph known,
And likest Him in look and tone — The holy Stephen kneels.”

Christian Year.

lf w e must now pass over a considerable number of years. The period of Saul’s boyhood was over, and he was entering on manhood at the age of thirty or upwards. He had probably, many years before this, left Gamaliel’s school at Jerusalem, and was once more at Tarsus, pursuing in private, or in the schools there, different branches of knowledge. We may take for granted, that, before leaving the Holy City, he had received the lowest “degree” of learning,” which was known among the Jews by the term “Bab;” and perhaps, too, from being so distinguished among his fellow-students, he may have received the next highest title, viz., that of “Rabbi.” There was only one higher than these, which was reserved for seven individuals who had attained to a great age, as well as to great learning, such as Gamaliel; it was called “Kabbah” or “Rabban” This, also, the young Tarsian scholar might, with confidence, have looked forward to, had he not learned, ere long, to “count all these titles of earthly wisdom as loss,” for the excellency of a higher “knowledge.”

If we have dismissed in silence twenty years of his life, it is not because these years have no interest to us. They were, indeed, the most eventful time in all the 6000 years of this world’s history. The Saviour of mankind had lived in them. He had lived his holy life, and died, on Calvary’s cross, his bitter death. A new dispensation had been ushered in upon the earth — “old things had passed away, and all things were made new.”

We may imagine the future apostle, then at the age of thirty or upwards, once more at his native Tarsus. He never makes mention, in any of his writings, of the public ministry of Christ, or of his miracles and discourses. It is not probable, therefore, that he had continued to reside at Jerusalem after finishing his education. Had he done so, it is reasonable to think he would often have spoken, like John, of what “he had heard, and seen with his eyes, and looked upon” — the mighty works and the holy words of Him who “spake as never man spake.”* If we are correct in supposing that he had once more gone to his native city, many changes, doubtless, had occurred since we last found him there, while yet a boy, climbing the heights of Mount Taurus, or watching the foam as it dashed over the falls of the Cydnus. His sister had now grown to be a

* We follow in this the view adopted by most, although there are other opinions advanced by learned writers as to the reason of Paul’s silence on this subject.

woman, and was probably married — the mother of one we shall find afterwards mentioned towards the close of the apostle’s life. The quiet of his home, too, must have been disturbed, during his absence, by civil war. A Roman historian tells us that Piso, a former governor of Syria, made an attempt to conquer the country for himself — that, for this purpose, he gathered the warlike chiefs of Mount Taurus together, and pitched his hostile camp at the town of Celenderis, not far from the mouth of the Cydnus.* We have reason to believe, however, that, before the return of Gamaliel’s pupil, all was quiet again.

Let us leave him for a little under his father’s roof, busily carrying on his studies in Greek and Hebrew — or, from time to time, making use of his learning in the synagogue — while we glance at the position and prospect of that Church called “Christian,” of which he was ere long to be the great apostle.

The Lord Jesus Christ had risen from the grave, and appeared again and again to his disciples. He had taken them up, after forty days, to the top of the Mount of Olives, and, while talking with them “concerning the kingdom,” and pronouncing a parting blessing, “a cloud received him out of their sight.” The sorrowing eleven were left alone, and returned with sad hearts to Jerusalem. There was no time to be lost. While it was their dear Lord and Master’s last request to preach his Gospel to “every creature,” they were to “begin at Jerusalem.’” They assembled, first of all, in a small upper room. There were but 120 of them. There they began with what all the great and important duties of life should be begun and ended —

* Tacitus prayer to God to help them in their great work, and then they proceeded to proclaim the name and religion of the risen Saviour. Their first sermon was a never-to-be-forgotten one. Peter preached it, and 3000 Jews were converted to the new faith. Many of these had come from far distant parts of the world, to attend the great feast of Pentecost, and, when the festival was finished, they returned back to their several homes, and told all the wondrous things they had seen and heard.

The different sects in Jerusalem were alarmed at the progress the “Nazarenes” (as they called them in mockery) were making. They resolved, if they could, to crush the infant Church. The Sadducees had now the greatest influence. To their party the high priest belonged. And as the apostles of Jesus dwelt, in their discourses, more especially on His resurrection, this sect were more violent in their opposition than any others; for you are aware that the Sadducees denied altogether the doctrine of a resurrection. They saw that, in young Saul of Tarsus, with his energy, and zeal, and learning, they had one in every way qualified to carry out their purposes of vengeance against the followers of Jesus. He was willing enough to listen to the call. His proud spirit could not for a moment believe that that meek “Man of sorrows” — whose only birthright seemed poverty — who had lately expired, like a common felon, on the cross, could be the Messiah whom he and his fathers had looked for. Would the great Shiloh, of whom the patriarch Jacob spake — the “Prince of Peace,” of whom Isaiah sung — have none but twelve peasants of Galilee for his companions, and make these the teachers of the world?

No, no; the manger of Bethlehem, the carpenter’s shop at Nazareth, the cross of Calvary, the fishermen disciples — all shocked the pride of the young Pharisee. The very thought of a Messiah so lowly seemed an insult to God and to the whole Jewish nation. He had thought, at first, that the new religion of this “one Jesus” would soon be forgotten — that, after this death of shame and humiliation, all his other followers would, like his apostles, have forsaken him and fled. But when he saw the sect growing daily in strength, he resolved to do God service, by entering with his whole soul on the work of persecution.

There was a holy man who rose into note at this time among the disciples of Jesus; his name was Stephen, one of the seven deacons of the infant Church, chosen to take charge of the money collected for the relief of the poor. He is described by Jerome, and some of the early fathers, as a person of great learning and eloquence. In Scripture he is spoken of as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost.” He was bold in the cause of his crucified but now exalted Lord. He went day after day into the synagogue, disputing with the learned men and doctors, and trying to shew them, from their own Old Testament scriptures, that Jesus was the true Messiah. We are told (in Acts vi. 9, 10) that among these synagogues into which he entered was that of “the Cilicians;” and we have reason to believe, that among those whom this “devout man” addressed, was one who had again left his native Tarsus and come up to Jerusalem.

It is more than likely that the “young man Saul”* (who is now again brought before our notice) often

* Acts vii. 58.

and again disputed with Stephen; that all the powers of argument he had learned so well under Gamaliel’s teaching were put in force; but that he, like the other Jews, “were not able to resist the wisdom and spirit” with which the holy deacon spake.* Their malice was excited, and they resolved to have him condemned. How can they best succeed? False witnesses are hired to convict him of speaking blasphemous words against the law and the temple, “against Moses, and against God.” No charge could more certainly rouse the passions of the Jews against the accused than this. ““What! this Nazarene to assert that all we love as most sacred is to be destroyed! — the law, which our great father Moses received from God himself on Sinai, to be abolished! — the great temple of Solomon, the wonder and glory of the world, whither for ages on ages ’ the tribes have gone up, even the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel,’ was all its magnificence now to pass away! — were they to see no more their high priests in their splendid robes! — the smoke of their morning and evening sacrifices! — to hear no more the music of the timbrel, and harp, and stringed instruments at their sacred feasts, or the silver trumpet of jubilee pealing over the land! It is the height of blasphemy! No sentence can be too severe, no death too terrible for such a scoffer as this.” These, doubtless, would be the feelings alike of Pharisees and Sadducees; and we can readily calculate what the result will be when Stephen is dragged before the Sanhedrim — the great Jewish court of law — to answer to the charges thus preferred against him.

A great meeting is called of this tribunal. The

* Acts vi. 10.

place in which they were wont to assemble was a hall called “Gazith” or the “stone chamber,” situated close by the wall of the temple, with the rocky side of Mount Moriah immediately beneath. Before this time, indeed, the Jews were forbidden to meet here. They had religious scruples about Gentiles crossing the sacred enclosures; and the Romans, not unreasonably, dreaded lest the holding of assemblies, in a place they were not permitted to enter, might become a dangerous privilege.* In the present instance, however, the prohibition had been winked at, and the “stone chamber” was the place of meeting.

Our young readers may fancy to themselves the scene. The president of the assembly, the high priest (Theophilus the Sadducee, one of the sons of Annas) occupies a raised seat at the upper end of the room; other seventy-one members are ranged in a half-circle around him, consisting of the heads of the twenty-four courses of priests, twenty-four elders, and twenty-four scribes. Stephen stands in front of his judges; but he is not afraid — his God and Saviour is with him. Indeed, at that moment, while the eye of Saul, along with the others, is fixed with rage on the prisoner, the young Tarsian sees what he never afterwards could forget — a bright heavenly light or glory resting on the face of Stephen, as if the flame of truth in his inner soul was seen reflected on his countenance. Saul looks on the faces of the judges; he sees them, as his own was, flashing with fire and indignation; but the eye of the first martyr is directed up to heaven; with him, all is peace!

The great charge, as we have said, brought against

* Lewin.

him was, that he had foretold the destruction of the temple, and “the change of the customs which Moses had formerly delivered to them.” * The president hears the false witnesses first; after they state their charges, he turns towards Stephen and puts the usual question, whether he pleads “guilty, or not guilty.” “Are these things so?” The prisoner, unmoved, with a calm and clear voice enters on his defence. He begins by minutely rehearsing the leading events in the history of their nation, from the calling of Abraham and the Exodus from Egypt, to the building of the temple during the reign of Solomon; he declares that he was no enemy to the Old Testament rites — these he loved in common with all Jews; but, at the same time, shewed that Moses himself had spoken of a time when his law would be displaced by a better dispensation, quoting the very words of the great lawgiver — “A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me; Him shall ye hear.” He charged his hearers with trusting too much to outward privileges, and sinfully resisting the grace and Holy Spirit of God, as their fathers did. The whole assembly are roused into fury! Like wild beasts springing upon their prey, “they gnashed upon him with their teeth.” % As their rage, however, increases, so also does his calm composure; a holier brightness gathers over his countenance. We cannot wonder at it; for we are told that then “he looked up into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.“§ He looked far above the cruel assembly gathered in the earthly Jerusalem. He was gazing upon” the gene-

* Acts vi. 14. t Acts vii. 37.

% Acts vii. 54. § Acts vii. 55.

ral assembly and church of the first-born in heaven.” The veil of the skies had been drawn aside. He saw holy angels smiling upon him; and, better than all, that blessed Saviour he had probably last seen expiring in agony on the cross, “standing on the right hand of God.” As an early father says, “not ’ seated,’ but ‘standing,’ as if he rose from his glorious throne to welcome his first apostle and martyr.” Beautifully does a Christian poet say —

“Well might you guess what vision bright
Was present to his raptured sight,
Even as reflected streams of light
Their solar source betray;
“The glory which our God surrounds,
The Son of man — th’ atoning wounds — He sees them all, — and earth’s dull bounds
Are melting fast away.”

But he can expect no mercy from the hands of men; they saw no such bright heavenly vision! The seventy - two are all against him. “They cried with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord.” In that loud voice there mingled, doubtless, the shout of the young rabbi of Tarsus. If there was one event in his life more than another Saul afterwards bitterly wept over, surely it was that mad rush he made on an innocent and holy saint, and when he helped to urge him, unresisting along, from the place of trial to the place of death. It was contrary to the Jewish law to commit murder inside the walls of the city; they must therefore for some moments repress their rage till they are outside the sacred enclosures. They drag their victim through the gate, which still bears his name, and by which, in ages long after, the brave and victorious Godfrey of Bouillon conducted his armies with loud acclamations in entering Jerusalem.

Soon they reach the scene of violence. It is supposed to be a lonely spot, low down in the valley of Jehoshaphat, not far off from where Stephen’s Saviour had suffered far more terrible agonies in the garden of Gethsemane.* The brook Kedron is murmuring in his ear. He could not fail to remember that Jesus too listened to its sound in that darkest night the world ever saw. What a “mixed multitude,” we may imagine, are present! There are the idle mob from the city, who are ever hanging on, ready to take part in any tumult, and to be witnesses of savage deeds. There are priests and scribes, by their words and gestures stirring up the passions of the rabble, and hurrying them to execute with all speed the act of cruelty. While, lurking in the crowd, afraid to utter a word which might bring down on themselves similar vengeance, are the trembling disciples of the same Master whose cross Stephen so meekly bears. Who is to begin the bloody work 1 A number of stones lying in the channel of the Kedron, or that have Mien from the rocky ridges of Jehoshaphat, are the weapons of death. According to the Jewish law, it is the witnesses in the trial who must cast the first. And these seem resolved to effect their purpose thoroughly; for their upper loose garments are cast aside, that their arms may be able to dash the stones with sufficient force. There is one close by, who is ready enough to assist. They lay down their coats at his feet to take charge of them. It is a young man, described by early writers as being “short in stature, of a fair complexion, and with expressive eyes.” His name is Saul! The dreadful tragedy is soon over — stone after stone is

* See the picture at the beginning of the chapter.

hurled upon that bruised and tortured body. The green turf is dyed with the first martyr’s blood. But he utters not one revengeful word — a new spirit has been introduced into the world. Like his Lord before him, he prays with his dying lips for his murderers, and then “falls asleep.”

“With such a Friend and Witness near,
No form of death could make him fear;
Calm amid showers of stones he kneels,
And only for his murderers feels!” *

That prayer was heard for one at least of those who were in that crowd. — There is a cave or grotto still pointed out in the valley of Jehoshaphat, where it is said the murderers dragged the mangled body of the martyr when life was extinct.t

“The shades oj.’ evening closed around that guilty city, which had that day added another sin to her catalogue of crimes, and maintained her ancient character as a murderer of God’s messengers. The multitude had dispersed to their homes. The priests were recounting with joy the events of the day, and the disciples were weeping in secret the loss of one so honoured and beloved. But everywhere was heard the name of one who had stood prominent in these fearful scenes. Among the groups who lingered at the corners of the streets, and talked over these transactions — at the fireside, where Jewish mothers heard with glistening eyes of this new triumph of their faith — in that mourning assembly, where the Nazarenes blended their tears and prayers, the deeds of the youthful Saul were canvassed with joy on the one hand, and terror on the other. It seemed a sad day for the religion that had lost her eloquent and earnest preacher, and not less bright and

■; John Newton, f Maundrell.

promising for that ancient, system which had called forth a champion worthy of her happiest times. The rich and poor, the Pharisee and Sadducee, were lond in praise of the rising zealot, and everything seemed to augur for him a career of high distinction. The path was already open for Saul to the most exalted honours which a Jew could receive from the rulers of his pepple.”*

The Bible tells us nothing as to how Saul himself must have really felt at Stephen’s death. I doubt not, though he concealed it, there were other feelings that mingled with rage and bigotry, as the dead body lay at his feet, and he heard the sound of the “sore lamentation” made by sorrowing friends over their “loved and lost” one. He must have thought to himself — Can all that peace, and calmness, and prayer, and forgiveness, and love have been that of a hypocrite 1 Meanwhile, however, we know that he did go away from the place a furious zealot as before. Perhaps he thought he saw in that tranquil death only the power of the evil one at work on a naturally pure and holy mind, tempting him to desert the faith of his fathers for a miserable heresy. This would only give him the greater desire to extinguish it, and prevent others from falling into the same snare. But there were thoughts and impressions, notwithstanding, made on his heart, which he never could forget, and which he never did forget, when he came afterwards to follow in Stephen’s steps, and to pant for Stephen’s crown, t

* TJie Apostle Paul: a Biography. 1854.
t See Acts xxii. 19.