Two-Edged Axe

Learning and living the Acts of the Apostles

01/25/2021

Acts 22:3-16 Paul addressed the people in these words: “On that journey as I drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ I replied, ‘Who are you, sir?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.’ A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law, and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me and stood there and said, ‘Saul, my brother, regain your sight.’ And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him. Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice; for you will be his witness before all to what you have seen and heard. Now, why delay? Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away, calling upon his name.’”

I am almost finished with a new bible study on the Acts of the Apostles, called “Axe of the Apostles.” The word “Acts” in the title is spelled “Axe.” Why? Well, because the title is kinda catchy and hopefully grabs your attention. But that is not the main reason. Axe carries a twofold meaning because axes are tools we use to chop with, and we chop two different things. On the one hand, the axes are the apostles themselves, principally, Peter and Paul. These two mighty men are the great axes the Holy Spirit used to clear the ground and chop down the trees of indifference and idolatry in the first century, so the foundations of the Church could be laid. Before you build a house, you must clear the ground.

Thus we see Peter the axe at work in the first 12 chapters of Acts, and then the Holy Spirit wields the axe of St. Paul from chapters 13 to 28. Acts 28 culminates with Paul preaching in Rome, the imperial capital. St. John the Baptist had prophesied in Mt. 3:10, “Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees.” In other words, the Roman Empire would be one of the trees cut down by the Axes of the Apostles so the Roman Catholic Church could be built.

On the other hand, the axe must also be laid in our hearts, to cut out the sins that grow there, like a thick forest. The Holy Spirit wields the axe not only outward to convert others, but also inward to chop the sins that sprout in us. Indeed, I am convinced this is the aim of the axe first and foremost. We see how the Holy Spirit first had to chop down Paul’s pride and arrogance in the first reading from Acts 22:3-16. Paul is recounting the story of his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus when he was knocked off his high horse.

What was the first step of his conversion? Ananias explained: “Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away, calling up on his name” (Acts 22:16). Before Paul could lay the axe at the root of the tree of the Roman Empire, the axe had to be laid at the towering tree of his own pride, what Paul would later call “kicking against the goad” in Acts 26:14. That is why the title of this new bible study is called “Axe of the Apostles.” The Apostles Peter and Paul are the axes used by the Holy Spirit to clear the ground and convert others, but they have also personally felt how the axe is laid to the root of their own trees of sin and obstinance. This axe, therefore, cuts both ways. It is a two-edged axe.

I hope you can already see the practical application of this title “Axe of the Apostles” to our own lives. After all, you and I are also called to be apostles today like Peter and Paul were in the first century. But as we wield this axe of the apostles, don’t forget that it cuts both ways. How easy it is to chop away at the sins and struggles of other people. We see so clearly the faults and failings of the Democrats and Republicans, the liberals and the conservatives, the neighbor next door and the person in the pew in front of us. We are convinced their conversion, their change of heart, will be a great step in building the Kingdom. C. S. Lewis wrote a great essay in this regard called “The Trouble with X.” He said other people’s sins are like “halitosis,” or bad breath. We are disgusted by their halitosis, while we are oblivious to our own.

The primary and principal use of the axe of the apostles, therefore, is to turn its sharp edge toward ourselves. Like Ananias said to Paul, we, too, must “be baptized, have our sins washed away, and call on the name of the Lord.” And nowhere do we feel the cutting edge of this axe more sharply than in sacramental confession. Every time we go to confession, the Holy Spirit lays the axe at the root of the trees of our own sins, so that the ground of our souls can be cleared for the Kingdom of God.

On this feast of the conversion of St. Paul, we praise God for one of the two great axes of the apostles. As we meditate and marvel at his conversion, let us ask the Holy Spirit to lay the axe at the root of our own trees, so we may be his apostles today. Remember: it is a two-edged axe.

Praised be Jesus Christ!