“Acts 9: The Conversion of Saul”

Monday, January 09, 2017

Acts 9 gives us an up-close look at a character we have only briefly met so far. Saul, a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, is a strict Pharisee who is completely convinced that Jesus was a false Messiah. He is extremely zealous for what he believes to be right and is determined to wipe out any traces of faith in Jesus. What he doesn’t realize yet is that Jesus really is the Christ, the Son of the living God, but he is soon to find out.

Saul decides that he needs to extend his persecution against Christians beyond the walls of Jerusalem. So he receives authority (“letters” from the high priest) to go to Damascus and arrest those who are of the Way to return them to Jerusalem for trial.

We haven’t read of any Christians in Damascus yet. There are at least three possibilities for where they might have come from. First, they might have been in Jerusalem on Pentecost in Acts 2 and converted as part of the original 3000 or shortly after that. Second, they might have been some of the Christians who were scattered from Jerusalem in Acts 8:1. Or, thirdly, those scattered disciples might have preached in Damascus and converted some.

Saul must have had reason to believe there were several Christians there, enough to justify his going there to persecute them.

And then the miracles come. As Saul approaches Damascus, a bright light shines around him and he sees and hears the resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ. The Savior instructs him to go into the city and wait. A disciple named Ananias (the only Christian there whose name we know) comes to Saul, preaches the gospel to him and baptizes him into Christ for the remission of his sins.

Saul immediately begins preaching in the synagogue that Jesus is the Son of God. When he is opposed by the Jews, he escapes and ultimately makes his way back to Jerusalem where Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement, convinces the others that Saul’s conversion was legitimate and that he should be welcomed into the church. “Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied” (Acts 9:31).

--Roger Hillis

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