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even interested in the eyewitness ac–
counts of the other disciples. He
didn't for a moment believe the
other ten. "The other disciples
therefore said unto him,
We have
seen the Lord.
But he [Thomas) said
unto them, Except 1 shall see in his
hands tbe print of the nails, and put
my finger into the print of the nails,
and thrust my hand into his side,
1
will
not believe.
And after eight days
again his disciples were within, and
Thomas was with them: then carne
Jes us, the doors being shut, and
stood in the midst. ... Then saith he
to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger,
and behold my hands; and reach
hither thy hand, and tbrust it into
my side: and be not faithless, but
believing. And Thomas answered
and said unto him, My Lord and my
God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me, thou hast
believed:
blessed are they that have
not
seen, and yet have believed"
(John 20:25-29).
Look at the long after-dinner con–
versation Christ had with Peter con–
cerning his immediate responsi –
bilities to those who would later be
converted and Peter's natural curi–
osity about John's impending duties
(see John 21 ). Read the last few
chapters of every Gospel account
and you will see clearly that Christ
showed Himself alive to His dis–
ciples in many varied circumstances
and situations.
Al1 are not even recorded for our
benefit today. John wrote: "And
many other signs truly did Jesus in
the presence of his disciples,
which
are not written in this book: But
these are written, that ye might be–
lieve that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of God; and that believing ye might
have life through his name" (John
20:30-31).
The Hostlle Wltness
Paul (formerly called Saul) was
overtly hostile to the teachings of
Christ. In the earliest years of the
Christian Church, be was busy
"breathing out threatenings and
slaughter against the disciples"
(Acts 9: 1). He sought to imprison
more and more members of the
early Church- that is,
until
his to–
tally unexpected meeting with Jesus
Christ on the road to Damascus.
Probably there has been no· compa-
14
rabie turnaround in the history of
the Christian Church: a transforma–
tion from an almost megalomania–
cal, hostile, Hitlerian type of egotist
to a humble, teachable, wi ll ing and
loving type of person in almost an
instant of time.
This doesn't happen every day. It
requires a traumatic experience to
accomplish such an immediate
change. Paul saw and heard some–
thing that turned his life around in a
few moments' time. He never was
the same again- his change was to–
tal and lifelong!
Notice his own personal account
of this life-changing event: " I verily
thought with myself, that I ought to
do many things contrary to the
name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which
thing 1 also did in Jerusalem: and
many of the saints did 1 shut up in
prison ... and when they were put
to death, 1 gave my voice against
them. And I punished them oft in
every synagogue, and compelled
them to blaspheme; and being
ex–
ceedingly mad' against them,
1 per–
secuted them even unto strange
[foreign] cities. Whereupon as 1
went to Damascus with authority
and commission from the chief
priests, at midday, O king,
1
saw in
the way a light from heaven, above
the brightness of the sun, shining
round about me.... And when we
were all fa llen to the earth, I heard a
voice speaking unto me, and saying
in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me? lt is hard
for thee to kick against the pricks
[the goads of his own conscience).
And I said, Who art thou, Lord?
And he said, l am Jesus whom thou
persecutest" (Acts 26:9-15).
Acts 9:6 records Paul's immediate
reaction: "And he trembling and as–
tonished said, Lord, what wilt thou
have me to do?" Jesus then told
Saul to go to the city, and that he
would be shown what he had to do.
There followed three long days and
nights of blindness (Acts 9:9),
coupled with total fasting.
Saul was in a state of deep shock.
He had been struck blind; had
heard a powerful voice; had seen a
light brighter than the sun; had
been reminded about the inner
doubts of his own conscience which
were continually nagging a t him.
(This explains his vehemence in
sorne measure.
lt
seems a lmostO
axiomatic that the more violently
one struggles against sorne issue of
conscience, the more likely that per–
son has been compromised.)
Christ then spoke to Ananias in a
vision and told
him
where to find
Saul of Ta rsus. Saul was spending
his time in deep prayer (verse
11),
and Christ had shown Saul that
Ananias would come to him.
Ananias had heard of Saul and
was afraid of him, but Jesus insisted
he go and lay hands on him and
baptize him. "And Ananias went his
way, and entered into the house;
and putting his hands on him said,
Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus,
that appeared unto thee in the way
as thou camest, hath sent me, that
thou mightest receive thy sight, and
be filled with the Holy Spirit. And
immediately there fell from his eyes
as it had been scales: and he re–
ceived sight forthwith, and arose,
and was baptized" (verses 17-18).
Now, with the total change of the
Holy Spirit to inftuence a brilliant
mind- a mind that really
knew
the
Scriptures (the only Scriptures writ–
ten were those we cal1 the "Old Tes–
tament")- Paul was able to preach
"Christ in the synagogues, that he is
the Son of God" (verse 20).
Quickly Paul's own troubles be–
gan. The Jewish community in Da–
mascus became more and more
enraged at his teaching, and the
news of a plot to
kili
him
became
known to sorne of the disciples, so
they "took him [Paul] by night, and
Jet him down by the wall in a bas–
ket" (verse 25).
There is strong indication Paul
spent up to
3~
years with Jesus
in
person,
Jearning at His feet, in the
deserts of Arabia. That's more time
than the average college education
takes!
In any event, Paul, as one begot–
ten "out of season," began preach–
ing about the truth of the
resurrection. The
Jact
of Chrisl's res–
urrection became the central, domi–
nant
theme
of Paul's message; and
the culmination of such preaching
gave us one of the most inspiring
passages in the Bible: the "resurrec–
tion chapter"
(J
Cor. 15). In that first
letter to the Corinthian church, Paul
summarized the many resurrection
appearances.
The
PLAIN TRUTH July 1977