Acts 7 gives the account of the stoning of Stephen, one of the original deacons chosen in the previous chapter. At the end of the chapter, there is a passing reference to a man named Saul, who was present at the stoning. He was holding the coats of those stoning Stephen and watched with approval. Saul then continued to persecute the church, which led him to the high priest to request official authority to persecute Christians (Acts 8-9).
Saul was on the road to Damascus when he encountered Jesus, after which his life changed forever. He immediately began proclaiming Christ in the synagogues, and then Saul began traveling throughout the Mediterranean world preaching Christ and Him crucified. In so doing, he endured countless hardships and dangers along the way. Saul went from being Christianity’s biggest enemy to its biggest envoy, which serves as a powerful apologetic point.
His education in Tarsus and Jerusalem as well as his status as both a Jew and a Roman made him the perfect missionary to carry the message of the Messiah to the world, both to Jews and Gentiles. His influence is still with us to this day because of his contribution of several New Testament epistles as the apostle Paul.
