Acts 9:1-9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
P. In today's focus, we see Saul, an important young rabbi, with murder in his heart. The same murderous spirit that the teachers of the law and the elite Pharisees had in their hearts when they confronted Jesus with questions and accusations, attempting to prove that He was not the Messiah. Jesus castigated his accusers, labeling them as the devil’s sons and not Abraham’s sons as they claimed. He knew their hearts contained thoughts of murdering him, a violation of the sixth commandment: You shall not murder. (Matthew 19:18) Their hearts were so defiled by wickedness that they would force the Roman government to put Jesus on the cross, killing an innocent man. Jesus’ religious foes’ hearts were corrupt, envious of Jesus’ large following. Jesus discerned the content of their hearts, designating them as the devil’s children. He knew his enemies were in the household of the devil, not in the household of God. If they were were true followers of God, they would have recognized Jesus’ divinity, knowing by the miracles Jesus performed that He came from their Father, from God’s household. Now in the above verses, Saul, possessing this same murderous spirit that his leaders' possessed, chased down believers even in foreign countries to persecute or kill them. He carried his father, Satan’s, hatred, breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He was willing to touch God’s anointed ones, who were now, because of God’s work inside of them, part of the body of Christ. Saul was confronting the very heart of God, trying to destroy God’s salvation plan for all humans. His frontal attack to the redeeming act of salvation was very bold and direct, with much violence. He was shaking his fist in the face of God by attacking the body of Christ. Saul, now Paul, later acknowledges this frontal attack on the plan of redemption by revealing the truth about believers. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. (1 Corinthians 12:27-31) He persecuted and killed people who God had placed intricately into the body of Christ. Saul's visceral hatred of Christians was damaging the effectiveness of Christ’s body on earth. Therefore, we see Jesus interrupting this mission of his foe: Saul. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Saul as Daniel before him when confronted directly by the Lord fell to the ground, limp as a rag doll. Only I, Daniel, saw this vision. The men with me saw nothing, but they were suddenly terrified and ran away to hide. So I was left there all alone to see this amazing vision. My strength left me, my face grew deathly pale, and I felt very weak. Then I heard the man speak, and when I heard the sound of his voice, I fainted and lay there with my face to the ground. (Daniel 10:4-9) Daniel was God’s servant, his instrument to elucidate God’s plan of future events. In the above focus, we see the Lord drafting Saul into his army to carry out the plans of the Lord.
th Saul, the murderous foe of God becomes Paul, a messenger of God, carrying out the will of God to redeem man from his sinful state. As he grows in the knowledge of the Lord, he starts to realize who the believer is in the kingdom of God. He now knows they are a precious group of people who God has placed in his household. Peter tells us they are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10) Paul calls himself chief of sinners for he had once tried to destroy God’s plan for all creation. If God would save an arch enemy of his plan of redemption, then all men and women are called to the salvation message. Paul was not only saved, but he became a leader in proclaiming the Good News to a dark, violent world, captivated by the devil’s wicked spirit. His desire was to go to parts of the world where the name of Jesus was not known. He would push Christianity out into areas that were completely dark, where demons ruled. God gave Paul so much grace and goodness that he was able to persuade many to come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord in their lives. He suffered in these lands where he was stoned, beaten with rods, stripped naked, abused physically and emotionally. He was the point man in spreading the gospel. As in the Vietnam War, a soldier was selected to be a point man, the first to step into enemy territory. Paul was a point man for the army of Christ. This truth of being God’s point man in the land of the Gentiles was told to him by Ananias in Damascus. Ananias tells Paul, he will suffer much in fulfilling God’s mission for him. Paul states this theme of suffering to the Colossians. Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. (Colossians 1:24-26) That which he intended to destroy, the body of Christ, we now see Paul, no longer the murderous Saul, giving his life to spread the Good News.
Gabriel told Daniel that he was a cherished servant of God, greatly loved by God. You are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong!” (Daniel 10:19) After Daniel saw the Lord, he lay as a limp doll. For God’s presence is so overwhelming, so full of light, that mankind cannot be in the presence of this holy God without being overcome by such a holy presence. Saul also fell down and became immediately blinded, the presence of the mighty God was too much for his fleshly self to endure. Saul, unlike Daniel, was functioning in his unholy intentions, trying to destroy the body of Christ. Daniel did not go blind even though he was in a state of trembling and fear, but Saul did go sightless for three days. God imprinted the seriousness of his dealing with Saul by blinding him, letting Saul consider the wickedness of his life, the futility of fighting God. But the same message Gabriel gave to Daniel became Paul’s daily mantra: You are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong! Paul had to believe that God was with him in power and authority or he could not put his life on the line in every Gentile community that he entered. He had to know that God was with him and that his mission was commissioned by the Lord himself. If not, he would wither under the attacks of the devil. Paul understood God’s presence in him came through and in the Holy Spirit. The origin of his words and actions were God’s work in him. In Athens when speaking to the learned elite of that community, he tells how he and all believers live. For in him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17: 28) He was once lost in blindness of God’s purpose for the human race. He lived by works, trying to prove that he was worthy of God’s blessings and maybe eternal life if he completely satisfied God’s law. However, God destroyed Saul’s concept of life. He gave him when converted a new understanding of how to be right with God and how to know that eternal life with God was his inheritance. For God himself was his inheritance. With the presence of God in his life and at his lips, he need not seek for God’s comfort and power, regardless of where he ministered. God was always with him in strength and power. "Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:6-9) Dear friends around the breakfast table, do you understand that you no longer have to live in the blindness of your works? Saul was a man who was trying to prove to God that he belonged in the household of God. He was trying to get rid of apostasy in the Jewish religion for the sake of God. Only when he came into true faith in Jesus Christ could he live and abide in that household. Live by faith in God. You are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong! For you are greatly loved and cherished by the Everlasting God.
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