Jesus & that Fellow Jew from Tarsus

(Edited. Originally published as part of "Jesus & the Jews" but revised here)

The man from Tarsus may well have walked (?) that road

Apart from Jesus himself, the most prominent person we know about in the spreading of the message of Jesus was Paul. (He was originally introduced as the Jew, “Saul of Tarsus”). He presents as formerly furiously antagonistic, miraculously changed into a representative of Jesus. (Below I am thinking about Paul’s “CV” - I do not plan to make this exhaustive.)

Saul first enters the Acts record here, as a participant in the Jerusalem death of Stephen, a Jesus-follower:

Jesus: Himself

Am    are    is    will    my    has   - significant words in the account of Jesus. What did Jesus disclose about himself? How much does it matter?

How are you building? Crash, or continue? See below.

On an August Saturday at the Coburg Mall a team of men were handing out copies of the Koran and promoting Islam. I had a conversation with Yusuf, who quoted a lot of the Gospels - especially the words of Jesus from the “Red Letter Bible” - it surprised me. He had so much. It matters a great deal indeed..
So I reflected: How really remarkable and telling were the things Jesus said of himself? What did he say and what weight did he put on what he said? Is it clear? Does it affect me and you?

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The river crashed against it, and immediately it collapsed. And the destruction of that house was great.” (Luke 6:46-49, CSB).