These years, it has become my routine to meditate on a particular book, or books, of the Bible as a Lenten exercise to drill my soul and, hopefully, to be able to soften my heart and come closer to God. Sometimes, I may not be able to finish one whole book. Like last year, I chose Deuteronomy and could not finish it. This year, I will not be that ambitious. I decide to meditate on the Pauline epistles which I am not very familiar with. I will start with the Romans. I will use KJV because it is more faithful to the Greek. May God enlighten me with this epistle.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God (Romans 1:1).
This is the greeting portion of a letter. It identifies who the author of the letter is.
Paul calls himself "a servant". Does it suggest that Paul was humble in front of the Romans? Not necessarily. Such a title could be an honour, depending on whom Paul was serving.
If Paul was serving the Roman Church, he was the least among them and was humble.
If Paul was serving Caesar, he would exercise jurisdiction over his readers. Calling himself a servant was an honour and demanded reverence.
Now, he called himself "a servant of Jesus Christ". It depended on how the Romans saw Jesus. Did the Roman believers accept Jesus as their Lord, their God? If yes, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, should command awe among them. Paul had the authority from God to teach them or even punish them if needed.
Well, we should be glad to know that Jesus does not treat us like servants, but friends (John 15:15). I am not trying to contradict Paul. The contexts are different.
Paul was writing to the Church in Rome. There were problems to handle. Paul had to distance himself a bit from his readers. He could not afford to be too friendly to the Romans. On the other hand, Jesus was speaking to his apostles at the Last Supper. The apostles had been living and preaching with Jesus for about three years. Their relationship, even though one of master and his disciples, was more intimate than between Paul and members of the Roman Church.
Paul was called to be ... Naturally, we would ask who called him. Was it the "traumatic" experience on the way to Damascus? So, it was Jesus who not only called the Twelve, but also called Paul, perhaps to make up the number twelve. Perhaps Jesus wanted to extend the meaning of "apostle" beyond the Twelve by calling Paul who did not satisfy the criteria set up by Peter in the election of Matthias (Acts 1:21-22). These are just speculations. In fact, according to Luke's report, Jesus found Paul to be the most appropriate candidate to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15-16). Again, unlike the Twelve who were able to stay with Jesus, to see him, hear him, eat with him and touch him, Paul was not so lucky. He could only meet Jesus in visions. To a certain extent, his experience was deficient. Some essentially physical, empirical experiences were missing. Paul had to rely on his Pharisaic background to make up the loss.
On the other hand, it is important that Paul, or any other clergy, should not be self-appointed. They have to be called by God to serve His people. Otherwise, many harms will be done to the Church. Paul's experience was clear-cut. Others may have to take a longer period of time to discern their true calling.
All of us are called to fill up different capacities, to build up the Church, the Mystic Body of Christ. Some are called to be apostles, others prophets, some others teachers and yet others deacons. Paul was called to be an apostle. From the beginning, people questioned his claim of apostleship. This is understandable when the meaning of "apostle" was not yet extended beyond the Twelve. That is why Paul had to deal with people who challenged his apostleship.
How is the role of an apostle different from the other offices?
Here, Paul simply says "separated unto the gospel of God". Thus an apostle is like a priest, separated from the laity to serve the gospel. To be more specific, an apostle both preaches and teaches. It is the job of an apostle and his successors to preach the gospel of Jesus to the whole world. But the most important of all, an apostle and his successors have the final say on the meaning of the gospel. He has to defend the teachings of the Church. This is the most distinct role of an apostle because they had the first hand experience of Jesus. Even their successors lack such experience. Indeed, all Christians should preach, but not all of them are able to defend the teachings of the Church, not even the prophets, teachers and deacons.
Jesus has set a precedence in choosing Paul. After the death of the last first-generation Christian, nobody would have any more first-hand Jesus experience. All new Christians ever since the second generation have to rely on and trust the testimony of "older" Christians. If Jesus had not chosen someone without first-hand experience to be an apostle, the Church would not have had anybody to defend her teachings because nobody would have had any first-hand experience. Praise be the Lord. However, not everyone could enjoy the clear-cut experience of Paul. Without such dramatic first-hand experiences, many have to struggle for years before they are sure about the will of God and submit to God's call.
Dear Lord, shine forth Your will so that we, your humble servant, may follow. Amen.
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