Experience: S2 - Day 9

The risk of taking a new path

Acts 9:3 As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”

5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked.

And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! 6 Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

7 The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! 8 Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. 9 He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.
 
This is a story I have thought so much about over the years.  I have so often wondered what Saul thought about those three days he was blind.  But before we get to that, let’s look at the passage from the beginning.

At the start of the story, we know Saul is still charging off to Damascus to arrest and potentially kill men and women who claim to follow the Way (i.e., Jesus the Messiah, and their resurrected Lord). We know his disposition at the start of this chapter is one of intense focus with a side of anger and/or rage. He believed so much in what he was doing that nothing and no one was going to stop him.

Until…

We don’t know exactly how it all happened, but we do know this story became significant enough to the early church and to Luke that he shared it three different times. We know Saul saw a light and heard a voice, a voice that those with him could hear but not see the source. Saul, on the other hand, could see someone, though his eyes probably struggled to focus on the light around him.

Unable to recognize the form, Saul asked who it was and used a term of reverence, “lord.”  It is not a capital “L” Lord, but a lowercase.  He didn’t know who he was talking to yet, but he was about to find out.

It’s such a short interchange, but it was enough to knock Saul off his high horse, metaphorically speaking (he was probably more likely to ride a donkey at this time over a horse).  There must have been something more to this experience that we don’t fully understand for it to affect Saul so dramatically so quickly.  Whatever the case, Saul would have the next three days in darkness to consider it.

So, what did Saul think about during this time?  Maybe he thought about how convinced he had been that Jesus of Nazareth was dead, and yet there he was, standing before him.  Maybe he thought that if Jesus had risen, if that story was true, then there were other things he had gotten wrong about Jesus. Those three days in darkness were spent with the Holy Spirit, helping Saul connect the dots.

Whatever it was, Saul would never be the same again, and the rest of the church over the last 2,000 years said in unison, AMEN!

Questions:

1. Have you ever been confronted by Jesus?
2. Is there something in your life that you used to believe, but now you believe something different?
3. Have you given your life over to Jesus and His way?  If not, and you’re feeling that stirring, please, tell a pastor.  If you have, take some time to think about when you gave your life to Christ and what was meaningful about that experience to you.