The Apostle Paul is standing before King Agrippa and Queen Bernice in the courtroom of Governor Festus at Caesarea. In his testimony yesterday we found Paul telling Agrippa that the reason some of his own countrymen hate him so much is because he preaches about the resurrection. He preaches about the eventual resurrection of every person and he preaches that the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth has already taken place. This is not some strange doctrine, for the prophet Isaiah foresaw and described the crucifixion about seven hundred years before it happened, and this is what God said to Isaiah about the crucified One: "After He has suffered, He will see the light of life and be satisfied; by His knowledge My righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give Him a portion among the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He poured out His life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:11-12)
How can the One who poured out His life unto death see the light of life again? Because He has risen from the dead. How can God honor a dead man so richly? Because He isn't dead; He is seated in the highest place of honor at the Father's right hand. The prophet Isaiah may not have fully understood the vision he was given, but he believed it. In Paul's day the vision has become clear because it has come true, so he believes it.
Paul confesses to the king that he was once a persecutor of Christians. "I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord's people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities." (Acts 26:9-11) He says, "I was once just like the men who currently want me dead. I traveled to other cities in order to persecute the followers of Jesus. I had them arrested and tried to force them to renounce their faith and speak terrible things against the name of Jesus. Whenever the council took a vote to determine whether a Christian was worthy of death, my vote was 'yes'. I have never killed anyone with my own hands, but I'm just as guilty of murder as if I had. I used my position of authority to condemn men and women to death. I could have spoken out against what was happening, but instead I gave it my full approval."
The man giving his testimony before King Agrippa used to be very wicked, obsessed with wiping from the earth those who believed something different than he believed. He would still be that kind of man, but one day he came face to face with the resurrected Christ. "On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' Then I asked, 'Who are You, Lord?' 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied." (Acts 26:12-15)
Paul gives an extra detail of his conversation with Christ that we haven't previously heard, and in tomorrow's passage we will learn more about the things Jesus had to say to him when calling him to be an apostle. It's likely Paul has given these details before in his various sermons and courtroom appearances, but this is the first time Luke records them for us. Jesus told Paul, "It is hard for you to kick against the goads." This is a Gentile proverb, but a proverb that was well known to the Jews and to anyone from an ancient agricultural society.
For a clearer explanation of what the Lord means by this proverb, we have to take a look at a training implement for farm animals. A goad was a long stick with a pointed piece of metal attached to the end. When a farmer first started training a young ox to pull a plow, he would secure the ox to the yoke and place his hands on the yoke handles while also holding the goad in his dominant hand. The young ox wasn't used to being yoked or pulling a plow. It would try to rebel against being placed in the yoke and against pulling a plow in a straight line. Whenever it tried to veer to one side or the other, the farmer would reach out with the goad and poke it lightly with the metal tip. The intent was not to cause injury but to cause just enough discomfort to correct the ox. Sometimes an ox was rebellious against performing the work it was called to do, and it would kick back against the goad, causing a puncture to the skin. After doing this a few times the ox would usually learn that kicking was making the situation worse, not better, and it would settle down and learn its job. Jesus is in the role of the farmer when He says to Paul, "I have chosen you to perform a work for Me. Stop rebelling against your calling. In refusing to accept the gospel message you are rebelling against God Himself. In persecuting the Christians you are persecuting the Anointed One of God. I'm trying to guide you into a new and better life, so stop kicking against the goad. You are only causing yourself more hurt."
I think the Holy Spirit had for a long time been working with Paul's heart to soften it toward the gospel of Christ, but he was kicking against the truth. He was clinging fiercely to his prejudices. He was frightened and threatened by the possibility that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God. In order to block these thoughts from his mind, he gave himself over to obsessively persecuting the Christians. I think he tossed and turned and spent many a sleepless night during those years. I think he was tormented all the way to his soul. Then one day everything changed. Paul surrendered his life to Christ. He became a new man with a new purpose in life. His hate-filled heart was transformed, which is why he so joyfully states to the church at Corinth, "Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature." (2 Corinthians 5:17) Paul says, "I'm not who I was! Christ changed me. If He can change a man like me with the blood of the saints on his hands, He can change you too!"
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