A LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE:

Saul of Tarsus on the Road to Damascus

Victor M. Eskew

 

            The account begins with a Mistaken Man.  This man’s name was Saul.  His hometown was Tarsus of Cilicia.  His father was a Pharisee in the Jewish religion.  His father was also a Roman citizen.  Therefore, Saul was a citizen of Rome as well.  He received his religious instruction in the city of Jerusalem at the feet of Gamaliel, a highly respected Jewish rabbi.  When Paul came of age, he was a zealous Jew.  After the establishment of the church on the day of Pentecost, Saul became a bitter enemy of Christians.  He was present at the stoning of Stephen.  His intent was to completely annihilate those of “the way.” 

            Saul was mistaken, but he did not know it.  He was sincere, but he was sincerely wrong.  He was religious, but his religion was not one that would bring him salvation.  Acts 9:1-2, presents a picture of this mistaken man as he wars against the disciples of the Lord.  “And, Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men of women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” 

            This man was destined to see a Lucent Light.  His journey from Jerusalem to Damascus was over 200 miles in length.  As he drew near to the ancient city, something unexpected happened.  “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus:  and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven” (Acts 9:3).  In Acts 22:6, the light is described as “a great light.”  In Acts 26:13, the light from heaven was said to have been “above the brightness of the sun.”  The light was focused solely upon Saul and the company that travelled with him.  This light immediately stopped their forward progress.  Too, it caught the attention of Saul and his companions.

            Saul and companions fell to the ground.  While lying in the dirt, Saul received a Remarkable Revelation.  The persecutor “heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 9:4).  Saul had no clue as to the speaker’s identity.  Thus, he asked:  “Who art thou, Lord?” (Acts 9:5a).  The answer was not one for which he was prepared.  “And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest” (Acts 9:5b).  Jesus?  This could not be true.  Jesus was dead.  The disciples of Jesus had stolen the body from the tomb of Joseph and had disposed of it.  Surely, this could not be the deceiver and the blasphemer.  Yet, Saul both saw Him and spoke to Him.  He was not dead.  He was alive just as the apostles had taught in the city of Jerusalem.  He was alive just as the Christians whom Saul had persecuted proclaimed.

            Saul did not deny the revelation.  He simply asked the Lord what he was to do.  Jesus directed him to go into the city of Damascus, and there he would receive further instructions.  The next three days involved a very Dark Detention.  When Saul opened his eyes, he was blind and had to be led into the city of Damascus (Acts 9:8).  “And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink” (Acts 9:9).  It would be interesting to know the thoughts Paul had to process during those seventy-two hours.  He had to come to grips with the fact that he was wrong.  He had to accept that Jesus was the Messiah.  He had to grieve over the fact that he had been guilty of killing the people of God.  Yes, those three days were dark indeed.

            In Acts 9:10-16, the Lord appeared to one of His disciples named Ananias.  He commissioned him to go to Saul and tell him the things required of him by Jesus.  At first Ananias was a Squeamish Servant.  He had heard about the evil Saul had done to the saints at Jerusalem.  He also knew that he was in Damascus with authority from the high priest to bind all that called upon the name of the Lord.  The Lord informed Ananias of the plans He had for Saul.  “And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house…” (Acts 9:17a).

            The Man of God’s Message involved several points.  First, he restored Saul’s sight (Acts 9:18; 22:13).  Second, he confirmed that Saul had seen the risen Christ (Acts 9:17; 22:14).  Third, he informed him that he would be filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts 9:17).  Fourth, he set forth Paul’s mission:  “For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard” (Acts 22:15).  Fifth, he revealed to him what he needed to do in order to receive the remission of his sins.  “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). 

Saul was a Submissive Sinner.  He did not hesitate to do exactly what was commanded of him.  “…and he received his sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized” (Acts 9:18).  When he came up out of the waters of baptism, he was a different man.  What happened to Saul on the road to Damascus and in the city three days thereafter was life-changing.

Saul was converted from an unbeliever into a believer and from a sinner into a saint.  He was changed from being a rabbi into an apostle.  He was no longer the persecutor.  He would soon become the persecuted.  He did not deny the resurrection of Christ.  Instead, it became one of the foundational elements of his preaching (Acts 13:30, 34; 17:31; Rom. 4:24; 6:4, 9; 7:4; 8:11; 10:9; Gal. 1:1; Eph. 1:20; Col. 2:12).  The power of the resurrection of Christ was something he yearned to understand and appreciate fully.  He knew that one day He could be raised from the dead because Jesus came forth from the tomb.  “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:  for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:  that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead” (Phil. 3:8-11). 

Paul experienced the resurrection.  Have you?  Do you live your life knowing the power of the resurrected Lord?  My friends, there is no other event like the resurrection in the history of man.  The Son of God who died on the cross of Calvary is alive.  His resurrection proves with power that He is the Son of God (Rom. 1:4).  It fuels the Christian with courage since this is the only religion that declares a living Lord as its head.  Too, it gives the child of God hope.  Since Jesus lives, the Christian can be certain that he, too, will come forth from the grave victorious over death, the final enemy (I Cor. 15:22-26, 55-57).