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Thanks for the quotes from John. I'd love to have a discussion with your pastor about the Apostle Paul and Jesus. He, of course, will acknowledge that Paul did meet Jesus on the Road to Damascus, but I know that your pastor's talking about meeting Jesus prior to the crucifixion.

That's why I'd like to discuss with him.

1. Paul was much younger when originally arriving in Jerusalem. Paul says: Acts 22:3 "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.

2. In Acts 23 Paul has his sister's son, who was living in Jerusalem, helped in saving his life. In other words, some of his immediate family was also living in Jerusalem.

3. In Romans he reveals that he had relatives, Adronicus and Junia, who became Christians BEFORE he did. Since his Damascus road experience was probably somewhere around the 7th year following Pentecost, and since the persecution that began with Stephen's death was about 5 years after Pentecost, then it's reasonable to assume these other relatives were also somewhere in or around Judea.

4. Paul was the instigator at the stoning of Stephen, some 5 years after Pentecost. This means that he already had a rage toward Christ and Christianity.

5. Jesus' presence in Jerusalem multiple times over 3 years was most often public.

Summation: Given that Paul was BROUGHT UP in Jerusalem, had a rage toward Christians, and had moved in and about Jerusalem for some time, it is very reasonable to assume that the Apostle Paul had witnessed some aspect of Jesus' ministry.

This is, of course, my opinion, but I think I base it is reasonable when looking at the facts. Paul might well have been one of those Jesus referenced when saying, "Scribes, Pharisees, Hypocrites...."

None of those examples ring a bell with me. I’ll ask him tomorrow. Today is his day off.