Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, …
Summary: Telling a story is an art form. Telling a truth in story form is a different kind of art. God, the ultimate Author, can do both.
Thank God for the Galatians!
If they hadn’t done what they did to tick Paul off, we wouldn’t have this amazing record of Paul’s life. In recounting his credentials, Paul gives us a wonderful picture of what he did and where he went after he met Jesus.
He begins with the story of going to Arabia after his conversion, and then “after three years” (Galatians 1:18), he traveled to Jerusalem. Now, he tells us that fourteen years later, he “went up again to Jerusalem.”
Somehow, the detail that Paul gives here changes how I see him. Reading the Book of Acts gives me a different impression of Paul’s history. It reminds me of the end of John’s Gospel.
”Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (John 21:25)
Have you ever tried to write down a description of your life? How about one day? Memories don’t always come back in chronological order. Sometimes, we remember the most recent things first. Then, we remember something else that happened before, out of order.
For Luke to research all the history of the early church is an incredible feat. If it is true that he didn’t meet up with Paul until Acts 16:10, then all that happened before was what he could piece together from the stories he heard about Paul’s travels.
One thing I’ll say about God the Author, he knows his audience. The Bible is written so that it engages our minds completely. Before we can even begin to understand the treasure room of knowledge stored in those pages, we have to accept the truth of God as the Creator of all things, including the Bible. When we accept that truth, we are invited into the world’s most fascinating mystery. In that way, the Bible itself acts as a kind of “key” to what is inside (Isaiah 33:6). Unless we believe in the key, the Bible cannot open up to us.
Application: Believe that God is able to create the Bible just the way he wanted it.
Food for Thought: What would you like to ask Paul about his life that is not in the Bible?
Interesting question. I guess I would like to know more about his rabbinical training under Gamaliel. The Bible tells us it happened, but does not give us details. I’d like to know how God used his training to prepare him for his calling.
Thanks, Rich!
That is a great point because Gamaliel was, in my view, an independent thinker. He was not caught up in all the hysteria about Jesus being Christ. Acts 5:34-40 tells us how Gamaliel saved the day when the Sanhedrin had turned into a rabid mob wanting to kill Peter and the apostles.
Standing up to the crowd shows courage, and what he said showed he could think on his feet. He had integrity, and that is what we seen in Paul, too.