1 KINGS 17:17-24
In those days the son of the mistress of the house fell sick. The illness was so severe that he stopped breathing. Then the woman said to Elijah:
What have you against me, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?
Elijah replied:
Give me your son.
And he took him from her bosom, and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. Then he cried to the Lord:
O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord:
O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.
And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; and the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and delivered him to his mother; and Elijah said:
See, your son lives.
And the woman said to Elijah:
Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.
The two books of Kings (as a continuation of the books of Judges) are often considered the most historical books of the Bible, but it is important to remember some peculiarities. Their foundation is probably historical, and some authors think they were written using texts perhaps written in the time of Solomon. But always with the Hebrew mentality: history serves not only to remember events but above all to show the protection of God when the people fulfill the Law.
Within these books is the cycle of Elijah, perhaps the greatest prophet of Israel, who is faithful to Yahweh while the entire people worship idols, and is persecuted for it. Elijah hides in the houses of poor women, fleeing the reprisals of the kings, and not infrequently rewards his benefactors with prodigies such as the one we read today. It is clear that much of these narratives belongs rather to the legendary genre.
GALATIANS 1:11-19
Brothers and sisters: I want you to know that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.
Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.
Interesting and mysterious. Interesting because it informs us about Paul’s life before he met Jesus: “extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.” Mysterious because it claims that he had no teacher, but came to faith by direct revelation.
In reality, Paul’s conversion does not intellectually imply more than a small change. Paul is a learned Pharisee. To believe in Jesus he only needs to take one step: to recognize in him the Messiah promised by the scriptures. Everything else he can learn in contact with other witnesses, as all those who did not know Jesus directly did.
This text serves us well to remind us that in our own conversion, in our following of Jesus there are many causes: conviction, the example of others… But we must not forget that there is also, and above all, an action of God, the Wind of God, which transmits The Word to us.
José Enrique Galarreta