deadly threat

Acts 9:1&2

"1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem."

Epic Fails—God Prevails: Saul of Tarsus

(An apparent “huge success”… until God intervenes)

Saul was the total package:

○ Born a Jew with rare Roman citizenship

○ From the tribe of Benjamin—a “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Phil 3:5)

○ Trained in Jerusalem under the renowned Rabbi Gamaliel, mastering the Law

He excelled at one thing: persecuting Christians. Believers were already fleeing Jerusalem to escape him, yet Saul wasn’t finished. He secured official letters from the high priest authorizing him to hunt down followers of “the Way” (the earliest name for Christians) in Damascus—150 miles away. Men or women, it didn’t matter; he planned to drag them back to Jerusalem in chains for trial.

Driven by fierce zeal, Saul saw Jesus’ followers as a deadly threat to Jewish law and tradition. Armed with Sanhedrin authority, he extended the persecution far beyond Jerusalem, confident he was doing God’s work.