Acts 26:9-11 9Therefore, I convinced myself that I ought to do many things to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10This thing I also did in Jerusalem, and even I locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11And punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
In the next phase of Paul’s apology (defense, explanation) of his faith was to describe his zeal as a Pharisee. He recounts how he persecuted Christians and voted for their death. This is the fourth time Paul’s activity as a persecutor has been mentioned in Acts (8:1; 9:1.; 22:4). Paul was once like those who opposed him now. He understood where they were coming from in their zeal to stamp out believers in Jesus. He had convinced himself, meaning, he had come to his conclusions through human reason. God had to break through Paul’s hardened heart, just as God needed to penetrate the rock-hard hearts of the Jewish leaders. The name of Jesus represented the person of Jesus and all he represents, especially his followers. The saints (“holy ones,”hagiōn) was one of Paul used in his writings to describe believers.
Paul got his authority from the chief priests, which indicates he was once part of the very group that was now trying to condemn and kill him. He cast his vote along with others when Stephen was condemned. Agrippa may have recognized how the younger Saul was once in a position of significant influence and authority within the Jewish leadership of Jerusalem. Paul was no stranger to the inner workings of Judaism. As he wrote in Philippians 3, he was one of the elite Jews of his day. His zeal was evident in the stoning of Stephen, which he only alludes to in these verses.
His zeal even took him on the road to synagogues, which were the local representation of the temple in the capital of Jerusalem. Jews met together weekly or more often in the local synagogue. A significant enough number of Jews became believers in Jesus, which prompted Paul to seek them out, even going to foreign cities. The last statement in verse 11 prepares for the next stage of Paul’s account as he traveled far to Damascus. No time frame is given for any of this, but possibly many months or even years could have been involved in this persecution.
The big issue for him was what these heretics said about Jesus of Nazareth. From the perspective of the young Saul, they were blasphemers. From the perspective of the mature and transformed Paul standing before Agrippa, Festus, and the elite of Caesarea, he was the one who was trying to get the believers to blaspheme against Jesus. Blaspheme (blashēmein) can mean curse, defame, or say something not fitting of the honor due a person. In this context, it has the sense of forsaking one’s faith in Jesus. Paul was not successful at causing the earliest believers to do that because he ended up arresting many. They stayed faithful to their confession of faith, even when it cost them their lives. Luke highlights the story of Stephen in chapters 6–7 as the prime example of this. Believers can look to Stephen, the early believers, and Paul for examples of how to stand up to persecution and temptation to forsake their faith in Jesus.