Page 41 - Senior Link Magazine Summer 2024 - Online Magazine

MUSIC & ART
The Reckoning
An Overlooked
Turning Point
in History
by Chip Polk
n the years following the
crucifixion and resurrection of
IJesus, a brilliant and ambitious
young student of the Law, Saul
of Tarsus, set out to make a name
for himself among the Jewish
leadership. He launched a brutal
campaign of persecution against
those among the Jews who still
maintained that Jesus of Nazareth
was the promised Messiah, the Son
of God. People were imprisoned,
scourged, and stoned to death under
Saul’s direction.
Then, suddenly, his relentless
persecution ended. Saul of Tarsus
disappeared. There were rumors
from Damascus that he had
experienced a dramatic religious
conversion, but Saul was nowhere to
be found for three years.
Peter and the other Apostles of Jesus
remained in and around Jerusalem
during most of that period and
had managed to avoid capture and
imprisonment. Then, after years of
absence, Saul of Tarsus showed up
at Peter’s door.
The last time Peter had seen the
Pharisee, Saul was standing in
approval as the faithful young
deacon, Stephen, was stoned to
death. It had to be a stunning
moment for Peter to discover the
instigator of such a heartless murder
had come seeking him out. Even
more astonishing was what Saul
came to tell him.
He wanted to see none of the other
apostles. Only Peter, and James,
the Lord’s brother, met with Saul.
Day and night, over the following
fifteen days, the man who would
soon come to be known as Paul the
Apostle conveyed what the Lord
had revealed to him during his
sojourn in Arabia. It was a message
that would fundamentally change
everything. Christianity would
never be the same. The world was
about to change.
Until then, only a tiny percentage
of the world population had any
claim to a connection with God. The
Jews had an exclusive covenant,
literally written in stone. The gates
to the Kingdom of God were about
to be opened to our ancestors and,
thereby, to us, not through the Law
of Moses but rather through a New
Covenant of Grace, written
in the blood of Jesus.
This largely overlooked
event is the inspiration for
The Reckoning, an exciting
new play being presented
this summer at Ragtown
Gospel Theater. Witness
James and Peter’s struggle
with the outrageous
prospect of this man, who
had pursued, imprisoned,
and even killed precious
people Jesus had known
and loved, now being
chosen to be an apostle.
And beyond that, Jews were
expected to accept Gentiles
into the brotherhood of
Christ.
It has always been our hope that the
plays presented at Ragtown would
allow us to see the humanity of
Biblical figures, helping us realize
that they were not the idealized
icons depicted in religious art
through the ages, but rather people,
just like us. It enables us to relate
to the things they faced. We believe
it is central to our mission. Only
one man in the Bible was different
from us, and even He humbled
Himself and took on all our human
vulnerabilities, so that He could
experience being fully man. That
is borne out in Philippians 2:6-7:
“Christ Jesus, who, though He existed
in the form of God, did not count
equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of
a servant, being born in the likeness of
men.”
The Reckoning will be staged
Saturdays, July 13th through August
24th, at Ragtown Gospel Theater
in Post. For more information, visit
RAGTOWN.COM or call
(877) 724-8696.
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