Acts - Lesson 16

Luke shifts this week from a focus on Philip to a focus on the conversion of Saul who became Paul.

Acts 9:1-2 … But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

These verses show how much Saul was driven by his hatred of Christians. He was so hateful that he was trying to capture Christians who had left Israel and moved to Syria. They were 120 miles away, not in the land of Israel, and he still wanted them captured and returned to Jerusalem for trial. He wasn’t driving for three hours to go get them he was walking for many days and planned to march them back over 1 to 2 weeks for a likely execution. However, while Saul was heading north to Syria, God took Philip from Samaria in the north and leapfrogs over Saul and puts Philip in the South to fire up the Church in Ethiopia. God is hard to fight. In Acts 26, Paul tells us that during his conversion he heard the Lord say, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” What Paul saw in Stephen during his martyrdom and in the lives of other believers was likely working on his mind under the hand of the Holy Spirit before the road to Damascus.

Here the Christian Church is called “The Way”. The Church is also called the Way in Acts at 19:9 & 23; 22:4; and 24:14 & 22. It is a good name because it points back to Jesus’ words to Thomas when Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The name also brings us to a clear focus on the Atonement in relationship to our existence as Christians.

Hebrews 10:19-23 … Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Jesus is that new and living “Way” through the curtain – which is His flesh – into the Holy Places (the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies). We are justified and we make that confession (that we are justified) because He who promised that we are justified is faithful and God the Father confirmed Christ’s work with the resurrection. Our confidence is in Him and in His ability and not in ourselves and our ability. Consider your memory verse from this past week (John 14:2-3). I can doubt myself but Jesus asks me if I think He would have told me that He was going to prepare a place for me if it were not so. I can doubt myself but I can’t find it in my heart to doubt Him.

In the 1700s there were two lawyers named Lord Lyttleton and Gilbert West. They were hardened unbelievers. They were talking one day and agreed that the resurrection of Jesus and the conversion of Saul were two very weak foundations for what they considered to be a “house of cards” known as Christianity. As a result of this discussion, Gilbert West decided to write a book showing that the resurrection was false and Lord Lyttleton said that he would therefore write a book showing that Saul/Paul was not converted as the Bible says he was.

So these two mice went in search of the cat. They met again after working on their books for a while. Both admitted that they were having difficulty and that the evidence was beginning to change their minds but they decided to go back, finish their investigations, and write their books anyway. In the end, Gilbert West wrote “The Resurrection of Jesus Christ” arguing that the resurrection was a fact of history and Lord Lyttleton wrote “The Conversion of St. Paul” arguing that it occurred as the Bible said it occurred.

The reason Paul’s conversion is considered critical to Christianity is because he was used by God in such an exceptional way in Christianity. God used Paul to write most of the didactic (teaching) portions of the New Testament. He wrote our theology. This man who was hunting Christians and killing them wrote our theology. Not only that, but he led the way in preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles.

Like Moses in the Old Testament, Saul/Paul in the New Testament had the best education possible. He was a brilliant scholar and nobody was a better Jew than Saul was. Even his teacher Gamaliel was, and is, famous for the impact and insight in his teachings. Saul viewed the Christian teachings as a plague working its way through Judaism and he was determined to stomp it out.

Luke has Saul’s conversion in three places in the Book of Acts. We’ll eventually get to the other two as Paul gives his testimony but the version here is placed in historical context and is given to us as history.

Acts 9:3-9 … Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

He would have been close to death in Damascus after 3 days without food or water. That would be the case even if you consider a shortened timeline with the use of days to mean any portion of a 24 hour period. The “theophany” of Jesus immediately destroyed Saul’s plans and motives. He knew he was wrong in what he had been doing and guilty of killing the followers of Jesus (who he now knew to be God). Jesus makes it clear that to persecute His followers was the same as persecuting Him. Saul had a carefully constructed view of his own righteousness and even a zeal for things of God. In a moment of revelation, he lost his bearings and his foundations. Hehad to be filled to the core with fear and dread for his eternal condition. He thought he was like Phinehas in Numbers 25 who stopped a plague by killing those who were sinning in the face of God. Instead, he sees that he was killing those whom God had blessed. He was not just standing before God while adorned with filthy clothes of his own construction. That would be a sufficiently terrible revelation to put fear and dread in his heart. However, Saul found that he was standing before God adorned with the blood of God’s beloved. Imagine what you would think of your eternal state if you were to find that you were guilty of the blood of Christians. Saul was blinded and likely led to the place he expected to die. I’d say he was expecting eternal punishment. He spent three days fasting both food and water and praying. As an intelligent man, I’d also guess that Saul knew enough of the Gospel he was trying to suppress that he would have spent part of the three days considering the facts of the Gospel. He was an enemy of the Gospel taken captive by the Lord like a prisoner of war.

Acts 9:10-14 … Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”

Ananias is obedient but he wants to make sure that the Lord is fully informed. We do that in prayer sometimes too. God must smile when we work at making sure He has all the facts straight. However, Ananias understandably mentions that Saul is a bad guy and by implication could take him captive. In a way, Ananias is asking God if he is supposed to turn himself over to Saul to be taken as a criminal to Jerusalem.

Acts 9:15-19a … But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened.

Jesus tells Ananias that He will use Saul to preach His name before Gentiles, kings, and Jews. Without further questioning, Ananias goes to talk to the man who, from the Church’s point of view, is the most destructive and dangerous individual alive. Ananias was quite a man.

This portion of Scripture gives us Saul’s salvation experience as Ananias lays hands on him and prays. I think he was probably well prepared by the Holy Spirit over the three days of his blindness. He would have had plenty of time to meditate on what Christians were teaching, what he had seen, and what Scripture clearly taught. So he had the facts, he learned they were true, and here under the ministry of Ananias he put his faith in Christ and was healed. Ananias is convinced of Saul’s salvation and calls him “brother.” Dr. Luke notes that something like scales fell from his eyes and he was baptized.

In Lyttleton’s book he proposes that there are only three general ways for this story to be false. Paul could be a liar, or virtually out of his mind, or deceived by other people.

If Paul was a liar then Luke would have been relating that lies that Paul had told him. What motive would Paul have had to lie? He had a promising future in Judaism and he traded it all away for nothing but poverty and suffering. The idea that Saul was lying is irrational.  

If Paul was virtually out of his mind and got carried away with the experience then he would not have exhibited the brilliance that he had before salvation again after salvation with his brilliance sanctified by God. He shows a fidelity to Scripture both before and after salvation but a revelation in his understanding after salvation. His reluctance to believe in a resurrection before the Damascus Road experience speaks of someone who is very well grounded in this world and not subject to getting carried away.  He was not someone who was easily led astray and shows no evidence that he was out of touch with reality and in particular the reality of his situation. In the remainder of his life and death he shows no evidence that he was carried away and instead gives a great steadfast testimony to the power of God in his life.

If Paul was deceived by others then who was it and how did they do it? Even if I had access to Lowes, Home Depot, and Best Buy I’d have a hard time pulling off something like that and I couldn’t blind Paul and leave the others with him fine. Or speak to him so he understood while the others didn’t, or make him well in 3 days if I blinded him. There is no reasonable way to think he was deceived.

Lyttleton says, “It follows that what he related to have been the cause of his conversion and to have happened in consequence of it, did all really happen, and therefore the Christian religion is a divine revelation … it must be … accounted for by the power of God.” Lyttleton concluded that it was irrational to believe that the Church was established, and Paul was converted, without any miracle. The Holy Spirit did a work in Lyttleton and his friend West similar to the work He did in the heart of Paul. It was quieter and gentler but it was no less miraculous. We each need to remember the miracle of our salvation and glorify God for the grace He has shown in our life which is the same grace He gave to Paul.

Acts 9:19b-22 …For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?”

We need to watch the timeline here. Luke is stitching some things together and we know that there is a break of 3 years. So I’m breaking at the end of verse 21 and then we have a three year span before verse 22 picks up Saul’s story. Saul immediately proclaims Jesus as the Son of God or Messiah and amazes all who heard him. I imagine he made Ananias both amazed and relieved. Saul’s life was totally rearranged by God. It would have been amazing beyond description to see a man like Saul get saved and live out his life in the Church in Damascus as a tent maker but God has even more amazing things in mind.

Galatians 1:15-19 … But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.

Paul was not discipled in Jerusalem but went to the desert for a long time (perhaps most of three years), returned to Damascus, resumed preaching there and then after a total of three years went to Jerusalem.

Acts 9:22-25 … But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

Ironically, much like Stephen, Saul was able to reason from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ that the Jews had been waiting for. And, much like Stephen, Saul was the target of an assassination attempt. But he escaped and headed for Jerusalem.

Acts 9:26-30 … And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

In Galatians, Paul tells us that he only met with Peter and James. It is unclear why. Perhaps they were ministering elsewhere. I think I would be ministering elsewhere if someone with Paul’s credentials showed up and wanted to chat. Barnabas, the “son of encouragement” takes Paul in. That is a start of a long relationship. Paul is still explaining his conversion. Note that Paul didn’t have a dream or vision. Paul physically saw the Lord and of course it was the last thing he saw for 3 days. It was a theophany and not a dream or vision.

Paul was being used by God in preaching and, once again, he is the target of a murder plot so he is sent off to his home town of Tarsus.

Acts 9:31 … So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

I’ll briefly cover the history after Acts up through the Great Persecution and the Emperor Constantine when the organized persecution ended. However, you can see here that the persecution of the Church early in our history was an on again and off again affair. It was bad sometimes and not so bad at other times all in the sovereignty of God.