The Conversion of Saul
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1 Now Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest 2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. 4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul said. “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus. 9 He was unable to see for three days and did not eat or drink.
Today we come to a story that should be pretty familiar to most people who grew up in the church. This is one of those stories that you hear over and over again through the years, but even though it’s familiar, we’re not going to skip over it. What we’re talking about today is Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus and what happened to him immediately following his conversion. So let’s start reading with verse 1 of chapter 9.
1 Now Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest 2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. 4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul said. “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus. 9 He was unable to see for three days and did not eat or drink.
So here we have this man who we’ve already seen a few times. He was there when Stephen was stoned, he didn’t actively participate in the stoning, but the Bible tells us that he agreed with the decision to put him to death. And then the Bible tells us that Saul began “ravaging the church.” He would enter houses where Christians were meeting for worship and he would drag them off to prison. And now since his persecution of the church has caused the Christians to scatter outside of Jerusalem, he’s bringing the persecution to them where they are now. He’s gotten this letter from the high priest and he’s taking it to the leaders of the synagogue in Damascus with the plan to do there just what he had been doing in Jerusalem. But then, as we just read, a light from heaven flashed around him and he falls to the ground and hears this voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
Can you imagine being in his place? Saul is certain that he is doing what God wants him to do. These upstarts who believe in Jesus as the Messiah are harming the faith as it was handed down to the Jews by God through Moses. He sees himself as being on a mission from God. But then, the light, and the voice, and God himself, in the form of Jesus, speaks to Saul and says, “why are you persecuting me?” Saul has the same reaction that I suspect all of us would have. He asks, “Who are you?”
Unfortunately that’s too often our response when God calls us to do something. Too many people who claim to be Christians, and claim to be doing what God wants them to do don’t actually recognize the sound of his voice, so when he speaks to them they dismiss it, or they question if it’s really coming from God. But Saul has some pretty convincing proof that it’s God speaking. The lights flash, he’s knocked to the ground, hears the voice, and when he gets up, he’s blind. So his men he was travelling with, who heard the voice, but didn’t see anything, lead him on into the city of Damascus and it says he was blind for 3 days and neither ate nor drank anything during that time.
Now let’s pick up reading in verse 10 to see what happens next.
10 There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.”
“Here I am, Lord,” he replied.
11 “Get up and go to the street called Straight,” the Lord said to him, “to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so that he may regain his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Ananias went and entered the house. He placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
18 At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.
Acts 9:10-
Here again we see someone getting a word from God and questioning if it’s really from him. God tells Ananias to go to Saul and lay his hands on him to heal him. He has already given Saul a vision that this will happen. But Ananias’s initial reaction is something along the lines of, “Are you sure about this God? I’ve heard about this guy and he’s definitely not a friend of Christians.” Now I’m sure in each of these cases there’s a little more back and forth than what Luke records here. From what we have written it looks like God speaks, the listener initially balks, God replies and that’s the end of it. When we read these verses it makes it sound like Saul was on his way to Damascus, the lights flash and he hears the voice, he questions who it is, Jesus replies and he’s instantly a Christian. It also makes it sound like Ananias gets word from God to go to Saul, he questions Saul’s belief, God answers and he’s instantly like, “Oh, OK, cool then.” But we’re all human, so we know that it probably took more than just one reply by God to change their minds, because we humans tend to be stubborn. We don’t like to change our minds, especially when it comes to religious beliefs. When Saul got into the city he spent a lot of time in prayer. In verse 11 when God initially tells Ananias to go to him the verse ends by saying, “since he is praying there.” Saul spent those 3 days praying and asking God, “Was that really you?” “Is Jesus really the Messiah that we’ve been waiting for?” Remember, Saul was one of the religious leaders who would have had large sections of the scriptures committed to memory. Some of them had the entire Old Testament as we know it memorized. So even though he was blind, and couldn’t read through the scriptures during those days, he still likely spent time pouring over the passages that he had memorized and comparing them with what he had heard the Christians in Jerusalem saying about Jesus. Was it true? Could he really be the one?
And then there’s Ananias. God tells him to go heal Saul. This is the guy who has been doing his best to destroy the church. He’s thrown people in prison, he’s likely brought many Christians to their deaths. For us it would be like God calling us to go heal Osama bin Laden. We would probably have a few questions about that. Really? Him? You sure about that God? I think you might have this one mixed up a little bit? But of course, God didn’t have it mixed up. And anytime we think that, we can be assured that we’re the ones that have things mixed up.
So Ananias eventually goes to Saul, and things go just like God had said they would. He goes in, lays his hands on Saul, and Sual regains his sight. And it says the first thing Saul did after regaining his sight was to be baptized.
But of course, God didn’t have it mixed up. And anytime we think that, we can be assured that we’re the ones that have things mixed up.
Now we don’t know exactly when during that three day period Saul came to believe. Maybe it WAS immediately when Jesus spoke to him. Maybe it was with this final proof when Ananias healed him. Or maybe it was at some other point when he was pouring over the scriptural evidence in his mind. But regardless of when it happened, Saul came to believe the gospel and the first thing he wanted to do when he regained his sight was to make that public profession of his faith that we’ve talked about by being baptized.
Now let’s continue reading with verse 19
Acts 9:19-
19 And after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul was with the disciples in Damascus for some time. 20 Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues: “He is the Son of God.”
21 All who heard him were astounded and said, “Isn’t this the man in Jerusalem who was causing havoc for those who called on this name and came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests?”
22 But Saul grew stronger and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
23 After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plot. So they were watching the gates day and night intending to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the wall.
So after Saul was baptized the Bible tells us that he spent time with the disciples in Damascus. Saul knew the scriptures. He knew what they said about the Messiah. And now he believed that Jesus was that Messiah, but still he spent time with the disciples learning more. He spent time with the people who had first hand knowledge of Christ, the people who had seen him while he was still here on earth. Saul knew that he needed to learn, he needed that eye witness knowledge from those who had been there. But that’s not all he did. Yes he spent time learning, but verse 20 tells us that, “Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues: “He is the Son of God.”” Notice that first word, immediately. He didn’t wait until he had learned more. He didn’t wait until he could take an evangelism class. He didn’t have to learn some outline, or some series of verses that could prove to his listeners that the gospel was true. No, it says he immediately began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues saying “He is the Son of God.”
That’s something that we need to do a better job of as Christians today. Too often we are the ones saying the we need to take a class on evangelism, or we need to learn the proper outline or set of verses. But the truth is if we say that we can’t share the gospel until we learn more we’ll never share the gospel, because we’ll never feel like we’ve learned enough. There’s always more to learn and the more you learn the more you realize that you don’t know. Now I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with taking a class on evangelism. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with learning an outline to help you present the gospel to someone in a coherent way, but we shouldn’t make those things an obstacle to sharing. All we have to do to share the gospel is to share our personal experience.
That’s what Saul did. He immediately began telling people about what had happened to him. And just like we saw with Peter and John in Jerusalem, the religious leaders didn’t like it. They especially didn’t like it now because Saul had been one of them so him switching to the other side made them look bad. So as we’ve seen before, they decide to kill him. But Saul finds out about the plot and he escapes by being lowered in a basket through an opening in the wall around the city.
Now let’s read our last section of scripture this morning, beginning with verse 26.
26 When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple. 27 Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He conversed and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the brothers found out, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
31 So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
Saul goes back to Jerusalem but the disciples there don’t want to believe that he has changed. And probably for very good reasons. Remember, Jerusalem is where his persecution of the church had started. Most of the disciples that remained there probably had friends or family that had been imprisoned by Saul. So you can imagine that it would be hard for them to believe him. But one man, Barnabus, takes Saul under his wing and vouches for him in front of the apostles and he spends time again learning from them. But once again the Jewish leaders try to kill Saul so the believers send him back to his home city of Tarsus.
And then we close with what to me is kind of a strange verse. We started off with Saul ravaging the church, heading to Damascus to spread the persecution there. We see Saul converted along the journey, but then twice he escapes the Jewish leaders trying to kill him. And then we read this,
31 So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
Does that strike anyone else as a little odd? The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace. I guess it’s somewhat to be expected since the main leader of the persecution was Saul, but it still seems a little quick to see things go from people trying to kill the Christians, to the church having peace. But that’s what we have. And that’s where we’ll leave things this week. Saul has been converted, he’s been sent back home to Tarsus to spend more time in study, and the church enjoys a time of peace and growth.
So what does this mean for us? Well, like I already said earlier, we need to follow the example given to us by Saul here. We need to be proclaiming Jeusus as the Son of God, we need to be sharing the gospel. We can’t keep giving the excuses that we need to learn more, or take a class, or whatever excuses we tend to fall back on. We just need to share our story with those around us, and leave the results up to God. We see from the story of Saul that anyone can be saved, even the most adamant, most violent, anti-Christian out there can be saved. All it takes is for someone to be willing to share the gospel with them.
Would you join me in prayer?