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Acts 9:1-9
Saul’s Conversion
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 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. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 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. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
Today’s reading relates one of the most important events in the early history of the church – the conversion of Saul of Tarsus from the leading persecutor of the church into its leading missionary. It might be true that only the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was more important. Both events changed the trajectory of the church in a profound way.
As you might remember, Saul of Tarsus would eventually come to be known as the apostle Paul. Some commentaries say that Saul ‘changed his name’ to Paul when he became a follower of Jesus, that’s not exactly the case. Paul is just the Greek form of the Hebrew name Saul. His mission activity took place mostly in the Greek world, so the great apostle became known as Paul.
You might also remember that in a Reflection a few days ago, we read that Saul was present at the stoning of Stephen – the first of the church leaders to be martyred for his faith. The account in Acts says that Saul looked on approvingly and watched the coats of those who stoned Stephen to death. After that, Saul became one of the most committed enemies of the new Christian movement. In fact, he led the effort to root it out. It’s worth taking a minute to remember that in the early church, most of the followers of Jesus were Jews. So from the perspective of the Jewish leaders, they were heretics rather than members of another religion. As such, they could be punished under the laws of Moses.
Luke, who was the author of the Acts of the Apostles, writes that Saul had been “breathing out murderous threats” against the followers of Jesus, and aggressively hunting them down. As the story is told, Saul is on his way to Damascus with letters from the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem, authorizing him to find and arrest any of the Jews in that city who had become followers of Jesus.
But on the road to Damascus, Jesus confronts Saul in a bright light and demands to know why Saul is persecuting him. Jesus then commands the blinded and traumatized Saul to continue on his way to Damascus, and to wait there for further instructions. Those instructions, when they came, would inform Saul that he would be God’s “chosen instrument” to tell the story of Jesus to Gentiles and Jews alike. Saul – by then known as Paul – would be the lead missionary of the new church.
You could say that Saul was the perfect choice for the role God had in mind for him. Saul was one of the most educated Jewish leaders of his time. His teacher had been the Rabbi Gamaliel, maybe the most respected teacher in the Hebrew world. (We talked about Gamaliel’s famous wisdom in a Reflection last week, you might recall.) Saul was also a member of the Pharisees, a group of Jews who were most deeply committed to the strict observance of God’s laws. So Saul knew the Hebrew scriptures and traditions inside and out.
And Saul was also well educated in Greco-Roman philosophy and rhetoric, and apparently in the Greek and Latin languages, as well. So he was perfectly equipped to tell the story of Jesus to the gentile world, and to tell that story in a way that was clear and persuasive.
And if all that weren’t enough, Saul had also been born a citizen of the Roman Empire, which most Jews were not. That gave him certain rights and privileges under Roman law. That meant he couldn’t just be silenced or railroaded by a Jewish mob the way most of the first followers of Jesus could.
So you see why I say that Saul was the perfect choice for the job.
Actually, I can’t help thinking that even Saul’s track record as a persecutor of the church made him a great choice to help l lead it. Again and again throughout history, God has chosen extremely unlikely people to speak for him into the life of the world. In this case, God chose someone who was known to be the fiercest enemy of the Christian movement to become its lead missionary. Why do you think God did that?
For one thing, it would certainly electrify the mission of the church. Word that the church’s leading enemy had become one of its most committed leaders would certainly have been startling news. It would have presented a powerful testament to the way God was using the Holy Spirit to transform lives.
And maybe God sees more potential for transformation in the hearts of his vigorous enemies than of his lukewarm friends. You might remember that in the Revelation God says that lukewarm believers make him want to vomit. I once heard an evangelist observe that people who are “vaccinated with a weak strain of the Christian faith seem unlikely to really catch it later.”
In fact, modern research on church life seems to confirm that. Studies show that the longer people practice a lukewarm version of faith, showing up once in a while but never really committing themselves, the less likely they are ever to make a real and genuine commitment to following and serving Jesus.
When God wanted someone to lead his Son’s followers in carrying the faith out into the ancient world, he went out and recruited a passionate enemy, not a lukewarm friend. That probably ought to cause all of us to pray that God would renew our passion for Jesus, and protect us against being lukewarm in our own walk of faith.
Let’s pray. Lord, we can’t help being moved by the powerful way you worked in the life of Saul to transform your church’s enemy into your great servant. We thank you for his ministry, and the way it still touches our lives today. And we pray that you would pour your Spirit freshly into our hearts, and let it burn brightly within us so that our faith never becomes lukewarm and half-hearted. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
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