by Ptr. Art Calaguas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shalom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Book of Acts, which is the integral second volume of the work of the author of the Gospel of Luke, narrates that the Lord Jesus continues to reveal himself with his \u03b5\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 (\u201cI AM\u201d) declaration to his chosen. In a twist of irony and a display of absolute power before his enemies, the Lord, after his ascension to heaven and Pentecost, chose to speak to a certified member of the \u1f38\u03bf\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 (the Jewish authorities and parties opposing our Lord). Later on, after his dramatic conversion and transformation, the Lord continued to speak to this man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saul the Pharisee was an insider; he was present during and approved of the stoning to death of Stephen. This martyrdom event set off the first organized persecution of the growing \u201cJesus movement\u201d of believers in Jerusalem. As a result the disciples in Jerusalem were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria (see Acts 7:54 \u2013 8:3). Not content with this, Saul had asked the high priest to issue letters to the synagogues in Damascus so he could pursue and arrest the followers of our Lord and take them as prisoners to Jerusalem to face the Sanhedrin. The \u201cJesus movement\u201d of disciples is referred to as followers belonging to the \u201cWay\u201d (Greek \u1f49\u03b4\u03bf\u1fe6, \u201cHodou,\u201d from \u1f41\u03b4\u03cc\u03c2, \u201chodos,\u201d literally meaning \u201cway\u201d or \u201cpath\u201d; first used in Acts 9:2). It is the same word used by our Lord in John 14:6 (\u201cI AM the way, and the truth and the life\u201d). Even when the Lord\u2019s followers were called \u201cChristians\u201d in Antioch, Syria (see Acts 11:26), the disciples were still referred to as belonging to the \u201cWay\u201d (see Acts 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As narrated in Acts chapter 9, Saul was near Damascus when a light from heaven flashed around him and his party. Saul fell to the ground and heard a voice speaking to him (Acts 9:4; with my formal translation): <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u03a3\u03b1\u03bf<\/em>\u1f7a<\/em>\u03bb \u03a3\u03b1\u03bf\u03cd\u03bb, \u03c4\u03af \u03bc\u03b5 \u03b4\u03b9\u03ce\u03ba\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The question contained a present continuous form of the verb \u03b4\u03b9\u03ce\u03ba\u03c9 (\u201cdioko\u201d) which our Thayer\u2019s Greek Lexicon defines as putting someone to flight or pursuing someone to catch and by its negative implication, to persecute. This same verb is exactly the same verb form used in the succeeding verse 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Acts 9:5 records Saul\u2019s reaction to the voice from heaven and the reply to Saul (with my formal translation):<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u03b5\u1f36\u03c0\u03b5\u03bd \u03b4\u03ad\u00b7 \u03a4\u03af\u03c2 \u03b5\u1f36, \u03ba\u03cd\u03c1\u03b9\u03b5; \u1f41 \u03b4\u03ad\u00b7 \u1f18\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9<\/mark><\/em> \u1f38\u03b7\u03c3\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c2 \u1f43\u03bd \u03c3\u1f7a \u03b4\u03b9\u03ce\u03ba\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2<\/em>\u00b7<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n And he said: Who are you, Lord? And the (voice): <\/em>I AM<\/mark> Jesus whom you are persecuting;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When the startled Saul respectfully asked: \u201cWho are you, Lord?\u201d to the unseen voice from heaven, his training in Judaism and deep knowledge of the Old Testament (OT) scriptures must have forewarned him that these displays of supernatural phenomena are clear signals of the deity calling his attention. Moses and the burning bush encounter with God in Exodus 3:1-15 comes to mind. The call of Samuel as narrated in 1 Samuel 3:1-21 and his establishment as a prophet of the LORD God is another example. The episode of Elijah\u2019s encounter with the LORD in a cave at Horeb (1 Kings 19:9-13) is another example of an audible yet unseen voice from heaven speaking to a human being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our Lord Jesus emphatically answers Saul that \u201cI truly\/really AM Jesus, whom you are persecuting!\u201d At this time, Saul and everyone in Jerusalem knew that Jesus the Nazarene who claimed to be the Jewish Messiah had been crucified but his body was missing. His disciples said he was resurrected. Furthermore, the Lord\u2019s disciples testified that he had not only bodily resurrected but bodily ascended to heaven as well! Pentecost had already occurred on the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot). Now, this was a few years after the crucifixion and the growing body of the Way had to be persecuted and stopped by the \u1f38\u03bf\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 and their henchman, Saul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So when the Lord answered Saul, he made an unequivocal self-identification and because of the supernatural events, the Lord Jesus also made a clear identification with the God of the OT – Paul\u2019s Lord and God. Saul got blinded, temporarily after his encounter. After 3 days and with the help of a disciple named Ananias, Saul received his sight back and was radically changed from an \u1f38\u03bf\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 persecutor of the Way to become the Apostle to the Gentiles and author of about half the books of the New Testament (NT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later on after more than 10 years (ca 49-51 A.D.), Saul, now called Paul made his 2nd<\/sup> missionary journey that revisited those places in Asia Minor where he first preached and shared the Word about the Jesus as the Messiah, Lord and God. This trip took him and his companions also to Thrace, Macedonia and Achaia (Greece). It is in Greece, particularly in Corinth, where Luke records another use by the Lord of his \u03b5\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 (\u201cI AM\u201d) expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Acts 18:1-11 is the immediate context of this next \u201cI AM\u201d statement by our Lord Jesus. After Paul left Athens and went to Corinth, he preached and converted many Corinthians, both Jews and Gentiles. It was at this time that the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision to encourage his apostle in verse 9. The Lord Jesus continues the encouragement with an assurance of succor and protection in Acts 18:10 (with my formal translation):<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u03b4\u03b9\u03cc\u03c4\u03b9 <\/mark>\u1f10\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9<\/mark> \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u1f70 \u03c3\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03bf\u1f50\u03b4\u03b5\u1f76\u03c2 \u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03b8\u03ae\u03c3\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03af \u03c3\u03bf\u03b9 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03ba\u03b1\u03ba\u1ff6\u03c3\u03b1\u03af \u03c3\u03b5, \u03b4\u03b9\u03cc\u03c4\u03b9 \u03bb\u03b1\u03cc\u03c2 \u1f10\u03c3\u03c4\u03af \u03bc\u03bf\u03b9 \u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u1f7a\u03c2 \u1f10\u03bd \u03c4\u1fc7 \u03c0\u03cc\u03bb\u03b5\u03b9 \u03c4\u03b1\u03cd\u03c4\u1fc3.<\/mark><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026because <\/em>I AM<\/mark> with you and no one will attack you to harm you because many people are mine in this city.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Lord Jesus emphatically encourages Paul to be strong and courageous and continue with his mission of spreading the Word of salvation. Earlier on, he revealed himself as the One whom Paul was persecuting. Now, in the Lord\u2019s service, Paul is graciously given a mighty word of encouragement and reassurance to even build up his confidence more in his task of evangelism. The words echo the LORD\u2019s words to Joshua in the OT (see Joshua 1:1-9) to strengthen his resolve to conquer and possess the Promised Land of Canaan for Israel. In the Apostle Paul\u2019s context in Corinth, the Lord Jesus gives the blessed assurance that indeed, the I AM is with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will continue next week with the \u201cI AM\u201d declarations of our Lord Jesus in the Book of the Revelation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God bless us all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Ptr. Art Calaguas Shalom. The Book of Acts, which is the integral second volume of the work of the author of the Gospel of Luke, narrates that the Lord Jesus continues to reveal himself with his \u03b5\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 (\u201cI AM\u201d) declaration to his chosen. In a twist of irony and a display of absolute…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[6,7,16,18,9,8,5],"class_list":["post-190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ptr-art-calaguas","tag-church-of-the-risen-lord","tag-crl","tag-i-am","tag-jesus","tag-spiritual-refreshment-of-the-day","tag-upcemi","tag-upcrl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":191,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions\/191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}