Week 50 Day 5

November 11, 2022

Jesus Appears to Saul (Paul)

Scripture: Acts 9:1-19; 22:1-21; 26:8-18(NIV)

Acts 9:1-19
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. In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Acts 22:1-21
“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. “ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked. “ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me. “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him. “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’ “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance and saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.’ “‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”

Acts 26:8-18
Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead? “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities. “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Devotional

A man with the Gentile name of Paul (Jewish name of Saul) became the central figure in much of the remainder of the New Testament. He helped spread the Gospel into what is now Syria, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. His missionary journeys recorded in the book of Acts, along with more than a dozen letters which became Epistles in the New Testament, helped launch Christianity around the world.

But he did not begin as Paul the Proclaimer of Christ. Rather, he started off as Saul the Persecutor of all who followed the Way of Jesus. These passages tell the story of how the resurrected and ascended Jesus appeared to him, changed his heart, and commissioned him for his ministry to the non-Jewish Gentiles. Peter and others would continue to reach the Jews for Jesus.

Aren’t you grateful that Jesus continues to speak to us even after He ascended back to heaven? Without His voice, Christianity would have remained a small sect of Judaism among Jewish people. While Jesus barely ventured beyond the borders of Israel during His three years of ministry on earth, He had a much grander vision for the movement He had inaugurated. As He said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the WORLD…”

And Jesus still speaks. He continues to change hearts. He has never stopped commissioning those who are ready and willing to go and spread the good news of His salvation. He spoke to Paul, who took the gospel into the teeth of the Roman Empire. He spoke to leaders in the first centuries of Christianity, such as Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus of Lyons, and Augustine of Hippo. He spoke to Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, and other great church reformers. He spoke to Mother Teresa, who ministered to the poorest of Calcutta. He spoke to Billy Graham, whose evangelistic ministry changed the hearts of thousands.

And Jesus speaks to you and me. Our times of prayer should include intentional listening, with an expectation that Jesus still speaks. He still longs to change hearts. He still desires to commission us for ministry work, both great and small. Enter your prayer time with an open heart, a pen in hand, and a willing spirit. Remember, we are never alone!

Poem

Surrounded

My mind sought just for knowledge
I studied years real hard
Yeshiva’s finest student
My rabbi, herald bard
My brain was vast expanded
My head grew bigger too
My passion had full fervor
Dark breathing, death threats grew

How little did I realize
My own vain ignorance
My blind spots were all hidden
By pride’s own arrogance
Until God’s great love knocked me
Right off of my high horse
Surrounded by Christ’s true Light
Damascus changed my course

Though physically blinded
I finally could see
The path of my wrong stepping
My foolish willful deeds
Instead, I’m called to service
Submitted now to God
“I’m here, LORD” this my answer
“I’ll go where you have trod.”

Pressed hard but never all crushed
Bewildered, no despair
Oft smitten, but God’s presence
Struck down, but grace repaired
We live for only Jesus
Our Master and our Friend
Though life on earth has perils
Our witness will not end