SAUL PERSECUTES THE CHRISTIANS CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE- Page 2

RABBI BENJAMIN WAS seated comfortably in his study when Esther entered, waving a letter excitedly. "Look!" she exclaimed with joy. "We have a letter from Joel. He has always left the letter-writing to his mother. Isn't it wonderful that he has decided to write us personally?" With excitement she opened the letter from their one and only grandchild, the pride of their hearts. But as her eyes scanned the page she gave a gasp and turned deathly pale.

Rabbi Benjamin leapt from his chair, and moved to her side, believing she was about to faint. Immediately he saw the cause of her sudden shock. With trembling voice, he read the awful news aloud.

"We must not lose heart, Esther," said Rabbi Benjamin softly. "We believe God will help us if we place our trust in Him. There is too much hate and strife in the world today, and I cannot believe that our own son Saul can forget what the great Hillel taught."

Esther wiped the tears from her eyes, and looked at her husband with admiration. His own heart was undoubtedly broken, but he was such a tower of strength. "We will leave for Jerusalem early in the morning. I will call immediately for a coach to be here at sunrise," Rabbi Benjamin said.

The next morning, as the sun rose over Tarsus, the finest Carruca Dormitoria coach available in Tarsus pulled up to the entrance of the grand stone house of Benjamin. He wanted the most comfort possible for Esther.

"You are so considerate," she said, as the driver helped her in.

"And why not?" said Benjamin with a smile. "Why not order the most beautiful coach, when I have the finest and most beautiful wife?"

As eager as Rabbi Benjamin was to get to Jerusalem, he instructed his driver to drive slowly, especially where the roads were rough or uneven. The journey took several days.

When they were twenty miles from Jerusalem, Rabbi Benjamin looked at Esther and noticed how tired and pale she appeared. "I think we have come far enough for today," he said, sympathetically. "We are approaching the home of Gamaliel, and I know he would welcome us warmly if we were to stop here."

Instructions were given to the driver to turn in to the home of the learned Gamaliel, who was surprised by the unexpected arrival of visitors so late in the day. But, as they expected, he gave them a sincere welcome.

Esther retired immediately, and as soon as Rabbi Benjamin and Gamaliel were alone, the rabbi explained their reason for coming to Jerusalem. "Is the situation really as serious as our grandson intimated in his letter?" asked Rabbi Benjamin.

"I am afraid it is, and growing worse every day," Gamaliel answered. "You have been a teacher of history, both Hebrew and Grecian. You recall telling your classes how the secret of the victories won by Alexander the Great was his manner of attack. It was not always the numbers that determined his success; it was the speed and violence of his attack. Your son Saul seems to follow this same tactic, and there is hardly a home in Jerusalem occupied by one of the followers of Jesus that has not been invaded. But Saul is frustrated because the more he intensifies his attacks, the more the numbers of believers increase, and the farther the movement spreads. I suppose you have not heard about Stephen's death?"

"No," said Rabbi Benjamin anxiously. "Don't tell me Saul was responsible for an actual death."

"I am saddened to tell you," said Gamaliel, "but you are certain to learn about it when you arrive in Jerusalem. It is common knowledge there now. In fact, it is a very explosive issue, to be honest. I would rather you would hear the details from me, than from some who might not know the whole story. Of course you are familiar with the fact that Saul became very active in the synagogue of the Libertines, when he returned to Jerusalem over three years ago. Many of the Jewish people from Cilicia and a number from Tarsus who had moved back to Jerusalem worshipped in that synagogue, along with those from Alexandria and elsewhere. Many of these who met at the synagogue were very poor. Since the crucifixion and rumored resurrection of Jesus, they learned that the followers of Jesus in the synagogue were the most generous in aiding those in need. The disciples appointed a committee of seven men to attend only to the needs of the poor. One of them was a brilliant young man about Saul's own age. His name was Stephen. Apparently he and Saul got into a debate at the synagogue, and Saul met his match for the first time. Stephen's grasp of the law and the prophets, and his ability to explain their writings clearly, so that all of the people could understand, greatly disturbed your son.'

"As Saul and Stephen debated from day to day, the crowds grew in numbers to hear them. What finally infuriated Saul was the fact that Stephen had the stronger arguments in favor of Jesus being the promised One, as the prophets said, and would return at the end of the age to rule a world in peace. But there was also another reason that the crowd favored Stephen. Like Peter and John and Philip, and others of the disciples, Stephen not only cared for the physical needs of the poor in giving them bread, he also had compassion for those who were sick. And many professed to receive healing through faith in Jesus. The high priests saw that the crowd favored Stephen, and Saul was being defeated in his attempt to win the crowd to his point of view."

Rabbi Benjamin interrupted. "This is most painful for me to hear, Gamaliel. I do not think I want Esther to hear it, but you must tell me all."

"You are sure?"

"Yes, I want to know."

"I cannot place all of the blame on the high priests nor the Sanhedrin. Saul certainly was the one chiefly involved in this first confrontation with Stephen. However, I do believe it was the work of Caiaphas who gave some of his servants money to go into the market place, and find any unemployed or lewd fellows who would testify against Stephen for a modest amount of money."
"Saul would stoop to those tactics?" Rabbi Benjamin asked.

"No, Rabbi Benjamin, there is no evidence that Saul was guilty of bribing men to bring lies against Stephen. Caiaphas was able to get one Shallum to do this."

"Shallum?"

""Yes, do you know him?"

"Is he the son of Rabbi Gershon?"

"Yes.

"I am afraid I do know him. Not a savory reputation, I fear."

"Exactly. It is said that Shallum paid a group of rabble-rousers to start a disturbance when Stephen appeared to debate Saul at the synagogue. This drew Roman soldiers, of course, and the ruffians accused Stephen of causing the uproar. Naturally, Stephen was arrested and taken first to Caiaphas, since the riot had developed at a synagogue. This was all according to the high priest's plan.'

"Caiaphas promised the Romans that no trouble would develop for them. He would see that swift judgment was carried out upon Stephen. I was there to hear all of the charges. Any fool could see that they were trumped up by the ruffians Shallum had bribed. Nothing could be proven. All hearsay. In order to keep a semblance of respect for the law, Caiaphas allowed Stephen to speak on his own behalf, not realizing he had set loose a powerful orator, perhaps as powerful as I will ever hear. I looked at his face. I could not take my eyes from his face as he spoke. It was as if an angel were speaking. I can only wish today I had known this young man Stephen as a student."

Gamaliel paused, closing his eyes as if revisiting the scene. "His personal defense at the council was anything but brief. 'Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken,' he said. After this warm introduction, his comments grew stronger. He compared their unjust actions to those of olden times when true prophets were falsely accused and put to death. His delivery was eloquent and powerful, as he unfolded the pages of history familiar to them all. As he neared the climax of his testimony, it was apparent that he showed little if any concern for himself. His voice rang through the place of judgment, and pierced the hypocritical hearts of the Sanhedrin like a lance, 'Which of the prophets,' he shouted, 'have your fathers not persecuted?'

"Perhaps no other words would have had the same effect. He said the thing that everyone thought in their hearts, but never dared utter. The record of scripture was with the young man. At this point, the members of the council who were in alliance with Caiaphas could stand to hear not another word. I believe they reacted violently, not because his words were false, but because his words were true, and they knew it. He spoke entirely from the scriptures. This made his condemnation unbearable to the self important rulers, Caiaphas' and his associates.'

The leaders who were Sadducees were infuriated further by Stephen saying to those who did not believe in angels, "You who have received the law even from angels have not kept it." So intense was their anger some actually gnashed with their teeth. All semblance of order was gone. Had Roman soldiers been present that hour, they might well have moved with force to remove young Stephen from his impending fate. But there were no soldiers of Rome to protect the young man who was being dragged from the temple. The crowds increased as Stephen was taken through the streets to the old stoning pit at Hinnom.

"And did you follow them?" Rabbi Benjamin asked, almost too weak to speak.

"Yes, I followed," replied Gamaliel, looking into the ashen face of his rabbi friend. "The crowd, incited by the leaders who accused Stephen of blasphemy, moved like a wave let loose in a madness too often created by those who foment it even with false accusations. They crowd gathered stones as they went."

"And my son was there?"

"Yes, Rabbi Benjamin. He was not only there, he was with those dragging Stephen to his death. I heard his friend Shallum shout loud enough to be heard above the mob, 'Leave your outer garments with Saul. Saul will take charge of your outer garments!'"

Rabbi Benjamin closed his eyes, and with only a motion of his hand he bade Gamaliel to continue. Gamaliel waited for the rabbi to brush tears from his eyes before saying, "After placing their clothes in Saul's care, they surrounded Stephen who was kneeling in the pit before them. But just before the first stones were hurled, they saw the young man look up to heaven as though he was seeing afresh the vision he had seen before in the judgement hall when he witnessed the heavens opened, and declared he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And, it was not my imagination, Rabbi, others too witnessed an expression of joy on Stephen's face, which seemed to shine like that of an angel. Then, above the clamor of the crowd, his voice echoed strong and clear, 'Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.' And as he fell, not to rise again, we heard him say, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' "When the last stone completely covered his lifeless form, the assassins returned to Saul to reclaim their clothes, and then slipped away silently to their homes. Saul seemed pleased. He said that he had seen the proper judgment of God restored in Jerusalem at last. I say, your son suffers a terrible blindness, Rabbi. Stephen was never given a fair trial. According to our laws the whole thing was a travesty. Saul walked away without ever looking back. I could not rest that evening, and called for some of those that I knew had been sympathetic to Stephen. I asked them to meet me at the scene of the stoning. Under darkness we took the body of and brought it to my villa."

"You did what?" Rabbi Benjamin's voice rose in amazement.

"We brought his broken body here, bathed it, and prepared it for proper burial."

"And where did you place it?" the rabbi asked.

"Here, in a sepulcher next to my own. Would you care to see his grave?"

Rabbi Benjamin nodded. The two men walked in silence from the house to the sepulcher of Stephen, a tomb that Gamaliel had prepared for members of his own family. Rabbi Benjamin stood for a long moment going over in his mind all that Gamaliel had just told him.

"I think," Gamaliel said, "from what I have read in The Wisdom of Ben-Lemuel, your father would have done much the same as I have done. My grandfather Hillel would have, too. But something has been lost between the generations, I fear."

"How could our high hopes for Saul come to this?" Benjamin lamented. "He has imprisoned his own sister and her husband for supporting Jesus." Rabbi Benjamin could bear no more. He buried his head in his hands, and sobbed with grief. "Saul! Saul!" he cried, as he continued to weep. "Why? Why?" He turned to Gamaliel, his eyes burning through the shameless tears. "Did you not teach him, did I not teach him David's cry for God's mercy? Twenty six times in twenty six verses of the Psalms David says, 'His mercy endureth forever.' And where has the wisdom of the Proverbs gone to? 'Let not mercy and truth forsake me; bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thy heart: so hast thou find favor with God.' But nothing can bring back Stephen."

"Perhaps," said Gamaliel, "Stephen would not want you to bring him back. I cannot forget the moment of reality as he was being killed. He looked into the heavens of God and saw something that I pray will await me, too. He saw the One who stood to greet him at the door to eternity. Oh, to leave this world that way! It has created a hunger in my soul that shall never go away."

They turned and walked back to the darkened house. "Perhaps," Rabbi Benjamin said, "I can help gain release from prison those whom Saul has made captive. I do not know what I can do, but I will try."

With those words the two men decided they both needed rest. In the morning, Rabbi Benjamin and Esther would go to Jerusalem to meet with Saul.


AS THEY NEARED the North Gate the following morning, they were just passing the wood market on their right when suddenly the elegant Carruca Dormitoria coach veered to the side of the road and stopped abruptly. Rabbi Benjamin called to the driver to ask why the sudden stop, and was told that a company of horsemen approached at high speed.

"Is it Roman Cavalry?"

"No," replied the driver. "It appears more like a company of Temple Guards."

Hearing the pounding of the horses' hoofs on the road, Esther straightened herself in the cushions. Drawing back the curtain she peered out from the window of the coach just as the men rode past with a clatter of shod hooves. Then her frail voice cried out, "Saul! It is Saul! Stop him! Saul is riding in the lead. I know it is Saul! I am not mistaken. It is our son!"

Rabbi Benjamin tried to hurry from the door of the coach but age had slowed him greatly. "Saul!" he shouted, but the thundering hooves of the mounted company drowned his thin voice like a gale force wind. He looked helplessly back at Miriam. "I too, believe it was our son."

"Is there no way to overtake them?" Esther knew better than to ask. The company of riders was already well on the way north.

The driver began to turn the coach back onto the road. "No, no, we are too late. He has already gone. We must go into Jerusalem and find Miriam, and her husband Esrom and Joel. They are the ones who need us most of all."

The driver assisted him into the coach and they entered Jerusalem by the North Gate.