''Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves (Matthew 23:15).''
One of the head Pharisees in the New Testament era was Gamaliel. A man who was cautiously concerned about the movement known as the Way. He wasn't a fan of Jesus, but he wasn't going to lay his hands on Jesus' followers without reason. He himself said, "Keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to over throw them. You might even be found opposing God" (Acts 5:38-39).
One of Gamaliel's prize students was Saul of Tarsus. A man who would become the greatest and most ruthless opponent of the Christian faith. He took Gamaliel's teachings to heart, but he lived them out with such zeal that the whole Church was afraid of him. He had become "twice as much as child of hell as" Gamaliel.
But God had great plans for Saul. His zeal would make him a great preacher and teacher for the Church as he travelled around the world, preaching the Gospel as the Apostle Paul. Amen.
