Saul’s Conversion & the Body of Christ

Saul was a zealous persecutor of Messianic believers, but I don’t think he persecuted the Church for more than six or seven months, or from the mid 7th month of 34 CE to cir. 1^st month of 35 CE. Therefore, the reigning high priest would have been Caiaphas and from him Saul would have sought papers of extradition (Acts 9:1-2) in order to arrest Messianic believers at Damascus and bring them before the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem for judgment.

 

The Ethiopian Eunuch and the Body of Christ

Luke has Philip joining an Ethiopian on a road near Gaza, south of Jerusalem. The man was returning from worshiping at Jerusalem, probably after one of its Holy Day seasons, which, in this case, would probably be Passover of 35 CE. (accounting for a six-month ministry for Philip in Samaria).

 

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

The Angel of the Lord appeared to Philip in the Samaritan village as he was ending his ministry there and told him to go south toward Gaza (Acts 8:26). The Apostles had returned to Jerusalem, but Philip was a hunted man, perhaps not by name but because of his faith and how he interpreted that faith. He was more liberal in his faith than the Apostles, who had adopted a more conservative stance of preaching the Gospel. Both expressions of the Messianic faith were used by Jesus to spread the Gospel. Philip could no longer preach openly in Jerusalem during the Holy Days when pilgrims from all over the Empire visited Jerusalem, but the Apostles were still able to do so.