Kicking Against the Goads

Introduction

Paul Recounts his Conversion

Acts 26:12–13 (ESV)

“In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me.

Here we have Paul continuing his testimony, relating to Agrippa and all those gathered what amounts to the climax of his aggressions against the early followers of Christ.

Note again that he relates the authority and commission of his persecutions to the chief priests.

The wickedness he has committed has been at the behest of his current accusers!

Again notice that Paul would’ve considered his actions righteous when he persecuted the Christ-followers.

I don’t know if this is an intentional bit of symbolism, but I find it so interesting that Paul sees the light from heaven while traveling in the light of midday.

Paul thinks that he is walking in the light on the road to Damascus, he thinks he is doing the Lord’s work!

He even has the blessing of the Religious leadership of his time!

But even while standing in the brightest light of the existence he knew before, the light of Christ IS BLINDING in comparison!

Now, this is the third time that Paul’s conversion has been recounted to us in Acts ( Acts 9/ Acts 22)

and strangely enough, he doesn’t even mention his temporary blindness in this account, instead choosing to focus on the mission given him by Christ.

Let’s read on:

Acts 26:14 (ESV)

And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

Now this one verse introduces such an interesting wrinkle into our story, as you might have guessed from the fact that I’ve titled the message after it.

First off, it makes me think of Johnny Cash.

But Johnny Cash isn’t the only alternative source we have for this great phrase!

The phrase seems to stem from the work of Euripides, a prolific Greek playwright and contemporary of Socrates.

the phrase only appears in most Greek manuscripts at this point in the narrative, but the KJV and the Latin Vulgate also place this phrase back in Acts 9 as well.

To be fair, we don’t really know if it is Luke, Paul, or Jesus himself who initially introduced this idiom, but it is such a powerful phrase and it is so perfect to describe the life of Paul up to this point!

Explain the phrase (sometimes understood as resisting the conscience, more classically understood as resisting the will of the gods).

Paul’s life, especially from the moment that we meet him at the Stoning of Stephen, is characterized by his wrestling against God’s ultimate purpose for him!

Did Paul even know that he was kicking against the goads of God? Of course not! Paul thought he was about the Lord’s business, walking in the light of day, on the right path, etc.

But then Jesus shows up and backhands him off of his horse and says there’s been a slight change of plans!

Can any of you relate to this experience?!

Acts 26:15–18 (ESV)

And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

So there are a couple of things that a worth mentioning from this passage:

Firstly, we should take strong notice of the fact that Jesus identifies Paul’s actions against the Christ-followers of his day as an attack against himself.

We all know the Christianese around Christ’s body, we all understand the symbolism… but how often do we actually understand our actions towards the individuals and the corporate union of the Church as actions towards the body of Christ?

I have not been the best at understanding that in my own time as a Christian.

Paul is appointed as a servant and a witness by Christ (HypEretE kai Martys)

Paul here is being defined as a subordinate or servant to Christ’s body.

Martys (witness) might also sound a bit familiar as it is where we get the word martyr.

This has obvious implications that we all know (and can see occur in the lives of all those who witness the work of Christ), but it also has some interesting implications for the modern believer.

We, as Christians, are to stand as witness to the work of Christ in our lives and in the world today.

Finally, note that just Paul has been surprised by light in the darkness of his life by Christ, he is called to then turn both the Jews and Gentiles from the darkness to the light.

Acts 26:19–23 (ESV)

“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

This passage should let you know that Paul is now really heating up!

It’s as if he is getting caught up in the recollection of his account and he just can’t help but turn this story into a Gospel message!

This is thing I think we should all aspire as servants and witnesses to Christ!

Notice in v. 20 that Paul says repent and turn.

You may or may not remember this, but I’ve previously talked about the complexity of the term repentance.

The Greek term describes a “mind-changing” and the closest Hebrew equivalent is “return”

I find it interesting that Paul here seems to be trying to reconcile both of those aspects of repentance in his speech!

James 2:18 ESV

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Finally, we have this somewhat confusing reference to Moses and the Prophets.

Paul presents his Christological approach to understanding the work of Moses and the prophets in a way that doesn’t directly cite any scripture.

This might seem initially confusing (it certainly did to me), as none of the hyperlinks in the text refer us to the Pentateuch or the work of the Prophets.

But already, we can see a sort of assumption of the Christological nature of scripture being formed from Paul and Peter’s previous sermons! (Peter - 2:24-36;3:17-26 and Paul (13:32-39)

This tradition began with Jesus’ instruction of his disciples in the upper room (Luke 24:44-49)

Paul, it seems to me, is subtly reinforcing this image of walking in darkness until the light is revealed.

The Hebrew people had preserved and revered the scriptures for centuries without truly grasping the deepest and most fundamental thread of the story of the world!

Isaiah 42:6–7 (ESV)

“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you;

I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

Isaiah 49:6 (ESV)

he says:

“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel;

I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Now that we’ve seen Paul really lay down some testimony, let’s observe the reactions of some of the notable figures in view here!

Acts 26:24 (ESV)

And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.”

ain’t Festus so sweet?!

This totally sounds like a dig at Paul (and it halfway is), but there is also a sort of respect given by Festus.

He doesn’t understand the Jewish customs, teachings, or religion at all, but he is acknowledging that Paul is deeply versed in this realm.

He is also citing a common perception (then and now) that too much learning detaches one from the experience of reality.

And so this context should help us to understand Paul’s response when he says:

Acts 26:25–26 (ESV)

But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.

Paul is asserting that he is not detached from reality at all!

Acts 26:27–29 (ESV)

King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”

Isn’t Paul just the best?!?

This little exchange has so much packed into it that it would be hard to cover all of the nuance, but I’ll try!

First off, notice how Paul’s confidence has increased as he’s moved to this point, so much so that he is now pressing the King to make a definitive statement on his own belief in the issue at hand!

He’s also put the king in a very awkward position, as Agrippa II can’t openly deny belief in the prophets and come out looking good to a Jewish audience.

He probably also isn’t super comfortable with the idea of converting to Christianity!

In a meaningful and interesting way, Paul has forced Agrippa to share in the tension between the Jewish faith and Christ-followers.

Agrippa tries to play off Paul’s remark in this quintessential politician’s fashion, with a sort of ingratiating non-answer.

And, Paul, undaunted, does this amazing job of playfully responding in his own way, without giving an inch on his goal in this conversation.

Paul makes it crystal clear that his whole goal in speaking is always, always that anyone hearing would turn to the Gospel!

Agrippa, however, apparently remains unconvinced. Tragically, this to is a distillation of all the events of history through the entire library of scripture up to this point: God’s chosen speakers may make a case for faith so strong so as to render kings uncomfortable on their thrones, but many will not hear.

This is apparently true of Agrippa II and Bernice

This is apparently true of Festus

This is apparently true of many of Paul’s accusers, a portion of God’s own chosen people, who reject the messiah.

Acts 26:30–32 (ESV)

Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

Conclusions

And so we see the ministry of Jesus echoed yet again. Both Governor and King declared Paul innocent, and yet he is still to be sent to Rome in chains.

It seems that both Agrippa and Festus realized that there was no easy way to backtrack on the process they’d begun.

If Festus really intended to send Paul back to Jerusalem to allow his assassination, had he now been swayed after seeing Paul speak to Agrippa?

What would have happened if Agrippa knew that Paul’s appeal was sort of forced out of him by Festus’ attempt to hand him over to the Jews?

There are so many questions we could ask and so many what-ifs that begin to race through my mind at reading this scene.

What is most apparent, however, is that God intended that Paul should go to Rome, and that no human hands could change that part of God’s plan.

We can change things in our lives, obviously!

We are in fact encouraged to repent, to change our minds and change our paths so that we might better live as servants and witnesses to the power of God.

But when it comes to being living lights in the darkness of the world around us, it seems that we do best when we don’t resist the will of God in our lives (when we don’t kick against the goads)