How Did He Get There?

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles (Eph 3:1).

There's a reason we are where we are.  Maybe you're on a trip that you planned carefully.  Maybe you drove to work just like you do every day.  Maybe you're at a friend's house because he invited you over.  There's a reason we are where we are.  Well, our good friend Paul lets us know the reason he is where he is.  "For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles" (v1).  Where is he?  He's in the joint.  He's in the slammer.  Why is he there?  Because of the Gentiles.  Because of he's gone around the world telling non-Jews that Jesus has invited them to the party as well.

"For this reason" (v1).  Paul connects what he has just written with where he is now.  These three words point back to what he has just said.  And what was that?  Take a quick run through Eph 2:11-22.  Once and for all, Jesus has knocked down the walls of hostility that separated Jews and Gentiles.  For centuries, non-Jews have been on the outside looking in.  Way back when, God handpicked Abe and his family to be His chosen people.  They were the insiders.  Instead of shining a light of God's love and grace to a lost and dying world (Is 49:6), Jews hated Gentiles with a white-hot burning passion.  

Gentiles returned the favor.  It's hard for us to wrap around this racial and religious hatred and tension 2,000 years later.  Jews shut out Gentiles.  Gave them the Heisman.  They were outsiders.  Aliens.  Strangers.  Without God.  But Jesus has now included them in His God's kingdom.  As a matter of fact, the radical Rabbi from Nazareth didn't just bring two different races and bring them together.  He's created an entirely new people in Himself.  Jesus came with Good News for both insiders and outsiders: access to God through Him.  The Carpenter is constructing an incredible new building.  He's not just the Builder, He's the Cornerstone.  And He's crafting a custom home for His Spirit out of His followers.  That's what Paul's been telling the world.  That's the reason he's where he is today.

Before we go any further, let's take a moment to think about your racial and religious background.  How did you get here?  If you're Jewish, you can trace your heritage back to God's handpicked people.  But most of us who are Jesus' followers are Gentiles.  Outsiders without Jesus.  Aliens without Jesus.  God didn't have to do what He did and include us in His kingdom.  But He did.  And you can thank Jesus for that.  And you can thank Paul for dedicating his life to spreading the word.

As he writes to his friends in Ephesus, the apostle sits in a Roman prison cell.  How did he get here?  If you would've known Paul just a few years ago, you would've never seen it coming.  In the days following Jesus crucifixion, Paul was known as Saul.  He was no evangelist.  He was a terrorist.  A terrorist dedicated to wiping the Way off the face of the earth.  Saul may have grown up in Tarsus, but he was a rising superstar among the Jews.  Mentored by the great rabbi Gamaliel.  A member of the Pharisees, the Jewish major leagues.  Once the Sanhedrin had that crazy Carpenter out of the way, Saul volunteered to take care of the pesky "Jesus problem."  He worked coat check at the stoning of Stephen.  He dedicated his life to hunting down and killing Christ's followers wherever they were.  Sorry, Mike Tyson.  Saul was easily the Baddest Man on the Planet.

But something happened during a certain black ops mission to Damascus.  Or should I say Someone happened.  Saul and his covert team were on their way to take out another cell of Jesus' disciples.  Until Jesus Himself showed up.  The resurrected Christ jumps Saul out of nowhere and knocks him off his horse.  Jesus has new marching orders for His enemy.  Saul will be His "chosen instrument" to take His Gospel to the Gentiles.  Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor.  He selects the Jew of Jews to be His handpicked spokesman to Gentiles.  Let that madness sink in for just a moment.

Later Jesus changes Saul's name to Paul and sends His newest apostle on a series of expeditions across the Roman empire telling folks the Good News. Christ is throwing the doors open to both insiders and outsiders.  One of the key places Paul visits is Ephesus, a critical center of commerce and trade on the western coast of modern day Turkey.  He stays there for three years spreading the Word.  But as you might imagine, Jewish leaders aren't all that keen on opening their synagogue doors to unclean Gentiles.  So they give Paul the boot.  As a result, the gracious Gospel spreads like wildfire throughout the entire region.  

So just how did Paul become "a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles" (v1)?  How did he get here?  Dr. Luke wrote all about it in Acts, the sequel to his Gospel.  Word gets back to the Jewish home office in Jerusalem that the apostle is reaching out to filthy non-Jews.  Before you know it, Paul's under arrest and headed to Rome.  This is the first of two prison bids.  He waits for his appellate hearing before Caesar, certain he'll get out once the emperor hears the trumped up charges against him.  A few years later, he'll be back in the joint one last time.  And once again, it's because of his obedience to Jesus' call on his life as His agent to non-Jews.

And THAT'S how he got there.