Persecuting
As he made his way to Damascus to arrest, jail, and intimidate Christians, Paul (then called Saul) suddenly encountered a light that blinded him, and a voice that confronted him with a penetrating question: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4). Paul asked who was speaking to him and the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting” (v. 5).
The word translated persecuting, which Jesus spoke twice in his words to Paul on the Damascus road (vv. 4-5), is a word that can either mean to follow after with hostile intent (this is where the idea of persecuting comes in), or to follow after without hostile intent (to follow after or to pursue with passion).
First, let’s consider examples in the New Testament in which the word is used to convey the idea of persecuting. In Matthew 5:10-12, Jesus said, “Those who are persecuted for righteousness are blessed, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. You are blessed when they insult and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of Me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Then in verses 43-44 Jesus declared, “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” The Greek word conveys a similar meaning in numerous other places, including John 5:16; 15:20 (twice); Galatians 1:13; Philippians 3:6.
In other contexts, as we have indicated, the word means to follow after. Consider Paul’s words in Romans 14:19: “So then, we must pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another.” We can find similar uses of this same word in various other places, including 1 Corinthians 14:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:15; 1 Timothy 6:11; Hebrews 12:14.
It is interesting that Paul pursued Christ before he became a Christian as well as after. In his pre-Christian days he pursued the Lord with malicious and hostile intentions. After he actually met Jesus, however, He pursued Him with love and passion, desiring to please and honor Him, not to earn salvation, but because Christ had given him salvation already as a free gift.
