Acts 26:11, commentary and pictures

Saul repeatedly punished the followers of Jesus in every synagogue, tried to force them to deny Christ and speak against His name, and in furious rage hunted them even to distant cities beyond Jerusalem. That fury put men and women in prison, consented to their death and voted for it, and sent him toward Damascus with the high priest's letters to seize any of that way and bring them bound to Jerusalem. He did this while despising Jesus of Nazareth and scorning His followers as a poor fanatical sect, yet honestly believing he was right and doing God service, blinded and deceived in bigoted zeal for a false faith until he himself blasphemed the name he tried to make others blaspheme. His own open telling of it before Agrippa hides nothing and makes no excuse, and the mercy that stopped him on the Damascus road made him a new man whose zeal was purified and consecrated to serve and honor the One he had despised. His course proves a man can be conscientiously wrong while hunting Christians from city to city, because conscience warped by prejudice and not instructed by Thus saith the Lord is no safe guide, and that same misguided persecuting zeal still moves those who war against God's law and those who defend the truth.

Persecution Described in Context

The words are part of Paul's statement of the reasons for his faith before King Agrippa II and other leading men in Caesarea, where the gospel for which he was later imprisoned was brought before princes and nobles. They mean that Saul repeatedly punished the followers of Jesus in every synagogue, tried to force them to blaspheme or deny the faith, and in furious opposition pursued them even to distant cities beyond Jerusalem.

That pursuit included confining saints, both men and women, in prisons and binding them, and seeking letters from the high priest to Damascus to bring any of this way bound to Jerusalem. He approved their deaths and voted for death, preparing the way and giving them into hands that took their lives, though his own hand did not kill, showing that Stephen was not the only believer killed, and he pursued them even to death.

He did this in stubborn unbelief toward Jesus of Nazareth as Redeemer, despising and hating Him. He viewed believers in Christ as an ignorant, poor, fanatical sect with little culture and no moral endowments or special authority, while honestly thinking he was right and truly believing he was doing service to God and engaged in a good work deserving reward.

His own phrase, exceedingly mad against them, describes energetic, conscientiously bigoted zeal in an erroneous faith. He was blinded to the mission and work of Christ, deluded and deceived while ignorantly following the prince of darkness and doing Satan's work in the spirit of Caiaphas and his confederacy. Contempt for the name of Christ filled him, so that he himself was blaspheming it and was using every means in his power to make others blaspheme it. That zeal rested on lies presented to him which he loved and repeated until he believed them to be truth.

Confession and Transformation

The verse is Paul's own full and honest confession and an example of genuine repentance and humiliation that hides nothing. It confesses with no excuse, no apology, and no attempt at self-justification, but paints sin in its darkest hue without lessening guilt. He openly owns that he locked saints in prison and voted for their death, that he repeatedly punished believers in the synagogues and pressed them to renounce Christ and deny the faith, that he raged against them with great anger, and that he hunted them down to harm them even in distant cities. That unsparing confession is joined to his open declaration that he is the chief of sinners whom Christ came to save.

While Saul was on his way to Damascus to persecute the saints, he was full of zeal and furiously hostile against believers in Christ. He was determined to seize both men and women and to punish them with imprisonment and death. Christ as Commander of heaven saw the suffering being brought upon His church and intervened to arrest the bold persecutor with light from heaven and His voice. That intervention proves that all heaven is interested in the believing church and that God will open ways before those who put their trust in Him.

The heavenly vision that stopped him first filled him with unspeakable terror and then proved the greatest consolation. It was a revelation of divine glory with Jesus enthroned in the midst of it. From that hour transforming mercy made him a new man, a sincere and fervent believer in Jesus.

Contempt for Christ's name had filled him, so that he himself was blaspheming it and using every means in his power to make others blaspheme it. He repeatedly punished Jesus' followers in synagogues, forced them to blaspheme, and persecuted them even in other cities, driven by intense anger and hatred yet so deluded that he thought he was serving God while doing Satan's work. While he was doing that work Christ revealed Himself to him. Christ's grace then transformed his proud, passionate nature without removing his zeal, for his zeal remained but was purified and consecrated to Christ's service, and he came to feel sorrow at the thought of causing others pain. From then on he kept one thing steadfastly before him in all his varied labor, to be faithful to Christ, and the one great purpose of his life became to serve and honor Him whose name he had once despised.

Before his conversion Saul had fiercely persecuted those who believed in Jesus, pursuing them even to death and to other cities, imprisoning men and women, punishing them in synagogues, and trying to force them to blaspheme. His later testimony about this persecution made the change in his life and his preaching of Jesus especially striking. His appearance and speech before Agrippa shows the contrast between that past and the dignified courtesy he displayed when speaking before rulers, illustrating that Christianity can transform a persecutor into a courteous and persuasive speaker. He preached repentance toward God, faith in Christ, and a life consistent with that faith in Damascus, Jerusalem, Judea, and among the Gentiles. His testimony about Jesus led the Jews to seize him in the temple and try to kill him, but the Lord delivered him.

Warning About Conscience

Paul's hunting of Christians from city to city while he did not believe in Jesus of Nazareth, truly believing he was doing service to God, proves that a man can be conscientiously wrong as well as conscientiously right. His conscience was biased and warped by preconceived opinions instead of being well instructed by Thus saith the Lord, and therefore conscience alone is not a safe guide. Conscience needs the counsel of God and the searching of the Scriptures with a humble, prayerful spirit, so that the understanding is enlightened to weigh every point of truth and test its fruit. The same account shows Saul persecuting the saints of God at Jerusalem with intense zeal while believing he was doing God service. That zeal rested on lies presented to him which he loved and repeated until he believed them to be truth. The same misguided, persecuting zeal still moves opposers who make a raid against the holy law of God and against those who stand in defense of the truth.