📖 Wahusika wa Biblia II — Sehemu ya 11: Paulo — Kutoka Mtesaji hadi Mtume wa Neema📖 Bible Characters II — Unit 11: Paul — From Persecutor to Apostle of Grace

Hakuna badiliko la ghafla lenye kushangaza zaidi katika historia yote kuliko kuongoka kwa Sauli wa Tarso. Siku moja alikuwa adui mkali kuliko wote ambao kanisa changa lilikuwa nao, akiwawinda waamini na kuwaburuta gerezani; muda si mrefu baadaye, alikuwa mmisionari mkuu kuliko wote wa kanisa, tayari kupigwa, kupigwa mawe, na hatimaye kuuawa kwa ajili ya jina lile lile alilokuwa amejaribu kuliangamiza. Ni nini kingeweza kueleza mgeuko kama huo? Jambo moja tu: katika njia ya kwenda Dameski, Sauli mtesaji alikutana na Kristo aliyefufuka — na neema iliyomtawala pale ndiyo neema ile ile inayoweza kuyatawala na kuyatuma maisha ya mtu yeyote.There is no more dramatic turnabout in all of history than the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. One day he was the fiercest enemy the young church had, hunting down believers and dragging them to prison; not long after, he was the church's greatest missionary, willing to be beaten, stoned, and finally killed for the very name he had tried to destroy. What could account for such a reversal? Only one thing: on a road to Damascus, Saul the persecutor met the risen Christ — and the grace that mastered him there is the same grace that can master and send any life.

Somo: Paulo — kutoka mtesaji hadi mtume.Subject: Paul — from persecutor to apostle.

Hoja Kuu: Neema ya Kristo aliyefufuka, aliyetokea katika njia ya Dameski, inaweza kuyatawala na kuyatuma maisha ya mtu yeyote.Proposition: The grace of the risen Christ, who appeared on the Damascus road, can master and send any life.

Tutafuatilia hatua tatu katika maisha ya Paulo.We will trace three movements in the life of Paul.

I. Kosa la KufishaI. A Deadly Mistake

Kabla hajawa Paulo mtume, alikuwa Sauli Mfarisayo, naye alikuwa na bidii ya kuua kweli kweli. Alikuwa, kama Luka anavyosema, "akizidi kutisha na kuwachinja wanafunzi wa Bwana." Aliongoza katika kuwakamata Wakristo, na Stefano alipopigwa mawe hadi kufa, mashahidi waliweka mavazi yao miguuni pa kijana mmoja aitwaye Sauli, aliyesimama pale akikubali kifo chake. Paulo hakuwahi kupunguza uzito wa kile alichokuwa amefanya:Before he was Paul the apostle, he was Saul the Pharisee, and he was deadly in earnest. He was, as Luke puts it, "breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord." He led the way in arresting Christians, and when Stephen was stoned to death, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul, who stood there consenting to his death. Paul never softened what he had done:

Hata hivyo, machoni pake mwenyewe, Sauli hakuwa mtu mwovu hata kidogo — alikuwa mtu wa dini. Tumaini lake lilikuwa limesimama kabisa katika mwili, katika ukoo wake na matendo yake. Alikuwa "nalitahiriwa siku ya nane, ni wa taifa la Israeli, wa kabila la Benyamini, Mwebrania wa Waebrania; kwa habari ya sheria, ni Farisayo... kwa habari ya haki ipatikanayo kwa sheria, sikuwa na hatia" (Wafilipi 3:5-6). Huyu alikuwa mtu aliyekuwa na kila kitu ambacho dini ingeweza kutoa, na bado alikuwa amekosea kabisa juu ya jambo muhimu kuliko yote ulimwenguni. Bidii yake ilikuwa ya kweli, lakini ilikuwa bidii bila maarifa, nayo ilikuwa imemfanya kuwa adui wa Mungu huku akidhani anamtumikia. Hilo ndilo kosa la hatari kuliko yote ambalo mtu anaweza kufanya — kukosea kwa moyo mweupe, kwa kidini, na kabisa. Sauli anatukumbusha kwamba mtu anaweza kuwa na maadili mema, mcha Mungu, na mwenye shughuli nyingi za dini na bado akawa amepotea kabisa, akihitaji si kujitahidi zaidi tu bali kukutana na Kristo na kubadilishwa naye.And yet, in his own eyes, Saul was not a wicked man at all — he was a religious one. His confidence rested entirely in the flesh, in his pedigree and his performance. He was "circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee... concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Philippians 3:5-6). Here was a man who had everything religion could give and was still dead wrong about the most important thing in the universe. His zeal was real, but it was zeal without knowledge, and it had made him an enemy of God while he thought he was serving Him. That is the most dangerous mistake a person can make — to be sincerely, religiously, and completely wrong. Saul reminds us that a person can be moral, devout, and busy in religion and still be utterly lost, needing not merely to try harder but to be met and changed by Christ.

II. Mkutano wa AjabuII. A Dramatic Meeting

Kisha ikaja siku iliyoyagawa maisha ya Sauli sehemu mbili. Alikuwa njiani kwenda Dameski, akibeba barua zilizompa mamlaka ya kuwakamata waamini wengine zaidi, ghafla nuru kutoka mbinguni, iliyong'aa kuliko jua la adhuhuri, ikamwangaza pande zote naye akaanguka chini. Kutoka katika nuru ile ikaja sauti:Then came the day that split Saul's life in two. He was on the road to Damascus, carrying letters that authorized him to arrest still more believers, when suddenly a light from heaven, brighter than the noonday sun, flashed around him and he fell to the ground. Out of the light came a voice:

Akitetemeka, Sauli aliuliza, "Wewe u nani, Bwana?" Na jibu likabadilisha kila kitu: "Mimi ni Yesu unayeniudhi wewe." Angalia Bwana alichosema — si "mbona unawaudhi watu wangu," bali "mbona waniudhi." Kuligusa kanisa ni kumgusa Kristo mwenyewe. Wakati ule ule Sauli alijifunza kwamba Yesu aliyedhani amekufa alikuwa hai, na kwamba waamini aliokuwa akiwawinda walikuwa mali ya Bwana aliye hai. Akiwa amepofushwa na utukufu ule, aliongozwa kwa mkono hadi mjini, na siku tatu baadaye, kupitia mwanafunzi aitwaye Anania, alipata kuona tena na akajazwa Roho Mtakatifu. Bwana alipomtuma Anania kwake kwa mara ya kwanza, Anania aliogopa, kwa maana sifa ya Sauli ilikuwa imemtangulia; lakini Bwana alisema, "Enenda tu, kwa kuwa huyu ni chombo kiteule kwangu, alichukue jina langu mbele ya Mataifa, na wafalme, na wana wa Israeli." Mwindaji wa kanisa alikuwa amechaguliwa kuupeleka ujumbe wake ulimwenguni. Mtesaji alikuwa amekuwa mwamini, na swali lake pekee sasa lilikuwa swali sahihi: "Bwana, nifanye nini?"Trembling, Saul asked, "Who are You, Lord?" And the answer changed everything: "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." Notice what the Lord said — not "why are you persecuting My people," but "why are you persecuting Me." To touch the church is to touch Christ Himself. In that moment Saul learned that the Jesus he thought was dead was alive, and that the believers he was hunting belonged to a living Lord. Blinded by the glory, he was led by the hand into the city, and three days later, through a disciple named Ananias, his sight was restored and he was filled with the Spirit. When the Lord first sent Ananias to him, Ananias was afraid, for Saul's reputation had gone before him; but the Lord said, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel." The hunter of the church had been chosen to carry its message to the world. The persecutor had become a believer, and his only question now was the right one: "Lord, what do You want me to do?"

Kila kitu ambacho Sauli alikuwa amekihesabu kuwa faida sasa alikiona kwa nuru mpya:Everything Saul had once counted as gain he now saw in a new light:

Ukoo wake, utii wake wa sheria, rekodi yake isiyo na hatia — yote hayo sasa aliyahesabu kuwa hasara, hata kuwa mavi, ukilinganisha na kumjua Kristo. Kwa maana alikuwa amegundua kiini cha injili: kwamba mtu haokolewi kwa haki yake mwenyewe, anayoipata kwa kushika sheria, bali kwa haki anayoipokea kwa imani katika Kristo. Mshika-sheria mwenye kiburi kuliko wote wa kizazi chake akawa mhubiri mkuu wa neema.His pedigree, his law-keeping, his blameless record — all of it he now counted as loss, even as rubbish, compared with knowing Christ. For he had discovered the heart of the gospel: that a man is not saved by a righteousness of his own, earned by keeping the law, but by a righteousness received through faith in Christ. The proudest law-keeper of his generation became the great preacher of grace.

III. Utume wa DhatiIII. A Determined Mission

Badiliko hilo halikuwa la maneno tu; liliyafanya upya maisha yake yote. Nguvu ile ile iliyokuwa imemsukuma Sauli kuzunguka Uyahudi kuwatesa Wakristo sasa ilimsukuma Paulo kuzunguka ulimwengu uliojulikana kumhubiri Kristo. Mji baada ya mji, aliipeleka injili — kwa Wayahudi na kwa Mataifa, kwa watu wa kawaida na kwa wafalme — akipanda makanisa kila mahali alipokwenda. Kutoka Antiokia alisafiri kuvuka Asia Ndogo na kuingia Uyunani, hatimaye akafika katika kiini kabisa cha milki huko Rumi. Alihojiana katika masinagogi, akasimama mbele ya maliwali na Mfalme Agripa, na hatimaye akakata rufaa kwa Kaisari mwenyewe; na hata vifungo vyake vilikuwa mimbari, kwa maana kutoka katika vyumba vyake vya gereza aliandika nyaraka ambazo bado zinalilisha kanisa leo. Na jambo hilo lilimgharimu kila kitu. Alipigwa kwa fimbo, akachapwa mijeledi thelathini na tisa tena na tena, akapigwa mawe na kuachwa kana kwamba amekufa, akavunjikiwa na merikebu, akaona njaa, baridi, na kufungwa gerezani. Hata hivyo katika yote hayo hakurudi nyuma kamwe, kwa maana alikuwa mtu chini ya amri:The change was not in word only; it remade his whole life. The very energy that had driven Saul across Judea to persecute Christians now drove Paul across the known world to preach Christ. City after city, he carried the gospel — to Jews and Gentiles, to common people and kings — planting churches everywhere he went. From Antioch he sailed across Asia Minor and into Greece, reaching at last the very heart of the empire in Rome. He reasoned in synagogues, stood before governors and King Agrippa, and finally appealed to Caesar himself; and even his imprisonments became pulpits, for from his prison cells he wrote letters that still feed the church today. And it cost him everything. He was beaten with rods, whipped with thirty-nine lashes again and again, stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked, hungry, cold, and imprisoned. Yet through it all he never flinched, for he was a man under orders:

Hangeweza kuacha kuhubiri kama vile asingeweza kuacha kupumua; upendo wa Kristo ulimbidisha. Na hatimaye alipofika mwisho, akisubiri kuuawa katika gereza la Kirumi, hakutazama nyuma kwa majuto bali mbele kwa ushindi:He could no more stop preaching than he could stop breathing; the love of Christ compelled him. And when at last he came to the end, awaiting execution in a Roman prison, he did not look back with regret but forward with triumph:

Ni njia ya ajabu kama nini ya kumaliza — mtu aliyeanza kwa kujaribu kuiangamiza imani alimaliza kwa kuilinda hadi kufa.What a way to finish — the man who began by trying to destroy the faith ended by keeping it to the death.

Ufufuo Uliondoa Ujinga WakeThe Resurrection Took Away His Ignorance

Tunaelezaje mgeuko kamili namna hii? Sauli hakupata chochote katika ulimwengu huu kwa sababu yake — hakuna mali, hakuna starehe, hakuna usalama, ila taabu tu na hatimaye kifo cha mfiadini. Hakuna hoja ya werevu wala thawabu ya kidunia iliyomgeuza. Jambo pekee linaloeleza hilo ni kwamba alikutana kweli na Bwana aliyefufuka:How do we explain a transformation so complete? Saul gained nothing in this world by it — no wealth, no comfort, no safety, only hardship and finally a martyr's death. No clever argument and no earthly reward turned him. The only thing that accounts for it is that he truly met the risen Lord:

Hapo ndipo — "kwa neema ya Mungu nimekuwa hivi nilivyo." Paulo hakuacha kamwe kulistaajabia jambo hilo. Mtu aliyekuwa amewahi kutumainia kutokuwa na hatia kwake mwenyewe sasa alijiita mkuu wa wenye dhambi na akaielekeza neema peke yake:There it is — "by the grace of God I am what I am." Paul never got over it. The man who had once trusted in his own blamelessness now called himself the chief of sinners and pointed only to grace:

Baada ya Bwana Yesu mwenyewe, huenda Paulo ndiye mtu mwenye ushawishi mkubwa kuliko wote katika historia yote ya Kikristo — mwandishi wa sehemu kubwa ya Agano Jipya, mtume kwa mataifa. Na yote hayo yanarudi nyuma hadi dakika chache katika njia ya Dameski wakati Kristo aliye hai alipomsimamisha mtesaji aliyekuwa akighadhibika pale pale alipokuwa. Alikutana na Bwana aliyefufuka, na hakuna kitu kilichobaki kama kilivyokuwa.Next to the Lord Jesus Himself, Paul may be the most influential person in all of Christian history — the writer of much of the New Testament, the apostle to the nations. And the whole of it traces back to a few moments on the Damascus road when a living Christ stopped a raging persecutor in his tracks. He met the risen Lord, and nothing was ever the same.

Neema Peke YakeGrace Alone

Hili ndilo somo la maisha ya Paulo: neema peke yake. Kile ambacho Sauli hangeweza kamwe kukipata kwa utii wake wote wa sheria na bidii yake yote, Kristo aliyefufuka alimpa bure. Mkuu wa wenye dhambi akawa mtume wa neema, si kwa sababu alijirekebisha mwenyewe, bali kwa sababu neema ilimshika. Na neema ile ile tunatolewa sisi pia. Ikiwa Kristo aliyefufuka aliweza kumsimamisha Sauli wa Tarso njiani, kuitawala chuki yake, na kumtuma hadi miisho ya dunia, basi hakuna mtu aliye nje ya uwezo wake wa kumfikia na hakuna maisha yaliyopotea mno hata asiweze kuyatumia. Bado anakutana na watu katika njia zao wenyewe za Dameski, na kwa wote wanaojibu, "Bwana, nifanye nini?" huwapa neema ile ile iliyomfanya mtesaji kuwa mtume. Hakuna wasifu unaotufanya tukubalike kwake, wala hakuna rekodi inayotuzuia kumfikia; neema peke yake ndiyo inayoleta tofauti, tangu mwanzo hadi mwisho.This is the lesson of Paul's life: grace alone. What Saul could never earn by all his law-keeping and all his zeal, the risen Christ gave him freely. The chief of sinners became the apostle of grace, not because he reformed himself, but because grace laid hold of him. And the same grace is offered to us. If the risen Christ could stop Saul of Tarsus on the road, master his hatred, and send him to the ends of the earth, then no one is beyond His reach and no life is too far gone for Him to use. He is still meeting people on their own Damascus roads, and to all who answer, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" He gives the same grace that made a persecutor into an apostle. No résumé recommends us to Him, and no record disqualifies us from Him; grace alone makes the difference, from first to last.