Day 301: 2 Corinthians 11:22–33

I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the open country (v. 26).

After the Grecian Jews tried to kill him in Jerusalem, Saul boarded a boat for Tarsus, his homeland (see Acts 9:29–30). Through Paul’s own testimony in Galatians 1:21, we know that he went to Syria and Cilicia. Five years passed between his departure to Tarsus and his next appearance in Scripture. Many scholars refer to these as the “missing years.” Although we have no details of Saul’s life during this time, we can be sure the inhabitants of the cities he visited didn’t describe him as missing! Probably the reason the events of those five years are missing from the book of Acts is because Luke, the writer, was not an eyewitness.

But consider a few things that might have happened during the interim years. In Acts 9:16, the Lord told Ananias that He would show Saul how much he must suffer for His name. I believe God began fulfilling this prophecy almost immediately. Figuratively speaking, he was thrown into many fires during his ministry, yet few would have been any hotter than those in Tarsus. He was the local hero among the Jewish community in his hometown. Most people probably knew that Saul had left Tarsus years before for the express purpose of dealing with the followers of the Way. Now he returned as one of them. I doubt anyone threw him a homecoming party.

We have no reason to assume his father had died, yet we see no reference to his reaction to Saul’s conversion. His father may have acted as if his son had never been born. Even today when a Jew from an orthodox family turns from Judaism, parents sometimes consider the defector to be dead. Some observe an event akin to a funeral. Others prefer to blot them from their lives and consider them never born. Many families do not react so harshly and permanently, yet remember—Saul’s father was a Pharisee! His son’s defection was a fate worse than death.

God wasn’t kidding when He said Saul would suffer for His name, was He? Yet many of the perils mentioned are not recorded in the book of Acts. The most likely time these sufferings took place was during the interim period not detailed in Acts. As Saul reenters the picture, however, we should assume his life had been anything but uneventful!