Scripture; Acts 9:3-9; Acts 26:9-18

What key questions and unusual observations did you note as you read the passage? 

How do we describe Saul’s life before the incident on the Damascus Road?

How did God get Saul’s attention?

What can we learn from Saul’s reply?

What instruction was Saul given?

Did Saul receive the instruction that he was given?

What are their implications for understanding the passage?

How do we describe Saul’s life before the incident on the Damascus Road?

After chapter 13 Saul is called Paul in the book of Acts.  There is no explanation for the change, however the probability is that Saul was his Hebrew name and Paul his Latin name.  Acts 13 is the chapter where he is sent out in missionary work to the Greek and later the Roman world.   So I will use the name appropriate for the part of Acts being discussed. 

Paul (described his mental situation before his conversion in Acts 26:9,  “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.”   This he had done not only in Jerusalem, but he now intended to do so in Damascus as well.  Ananias reported that Saul’s reputation for persecution of the Saints had preceded him to Damascus (Acts 9:13).    He had imprisoned Christians; he stood by and gave assent to Stephen’s martyrdom; and now he is coming to Damascus with written permission from the chief priests to arrest Christians and take them back to Jerusalem.

How did God get Saul’s attention?

According to Paul’s own description as he gave his testimony before King Agrippa, the brilliant light that shone around them on the road to Damascus cause him and those with him to fall to the ground. It physically arrested their progress.  In addition, Saul was personally addressed by Jesus himself. His companions did not hear the voice distinctly, only a sound.  Jesus calls them by name twice and then the question to Saul is simple, “Why do you persecute me?”

What can we learn from Saul’s reply?

I hear in Saul’s reply the confusion of a man who was thinking has just been reoriented by completely new and contradictory information.  If sincerity of belief were all that is required, Saul would not have needed to be corrected. As he testified, he was zealous for his faith (Philippians 3:4-6).   But we also need to be walking in the truth and Paul was not.  He needed new information, and he knew it.   In Paul’s short reply you can hear a brilliant mind starting to recalculate.   He needed only those words of instruction, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting!”  With that information, a transformation began that changed the world.

What instruction was Saul given?

The only instruction recorded in acts is to get up, go into the city, and wait to be told further instructions. However in giving his testimony and Acts 26, Paul gave greater detail about the instructions he was given(Acts 26:15-19).

Did Saul receive the immediate instruction that he was given?

It is evident that Paul did listen to the instruction he was given.  He began by fasting for three days.  Then he associated himself with the disciples in Damascus, he received the ministry of Ananias, and even began preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.  

William Barclay notes that the key change that happened was from a man making his own choices to a man who was willing to receive instruction from God. This is highlighted by Jesus words in the vision, “You will be told what you must do!”  

What is the role/significance of this event/passage in the Gospel story?

Acts 26:16 makes it clear that Jesus was appointing Paul as his servant and his witness.  Many feel that Jesus intended Paul to be the 12th disciples who took Judas Iscariot’s place.    Be that as it may, the role of Acts 9 is to explain the change from the Saul who watched the martyrdom of Stephen, to the Paul of the remainder of the book of Acts who powerfully carried the gospel into Asia Minor and on to Greece and Rome.  How did this transformation happen?

It is also important to note the difference between this appearance of Jesus to Paul, and his appearances to the other disciples.  Paul describes Jesus appearance to him as different.  He termed himself, “one abnormally born” (1 Co. 15:8).  By this he pointed to the fact that Jesus’ appearances to the other disciples after his resurrection were physical, but Jesus’ appearance to Paul was more visionary and spiritual.

What inspirational “take home” impressed me?
How often do we blindly and stubbornly go in one direction, and God has to arrest our progress in order to instruct us?    

Are we willing to receive instruction as Paul did, especially when it is different from our own opinions?

I am always impressed with the description of mission that Jesus gave to Paul as is described in Acts 26:17.  It is at once a summary of the task of evangelism and a description of what happens to us in salvation.    “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” (Acts 26:17-18 NIV). The before-Christ picture given in these verses is dark and inspires us to the work of evangelism.  At the same time, the work of the preacher or evangelist is shown to be absolutely life-changing, which motivates us even more.