QUESTION #49 Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

   QUESTIONS JESUS ASKED BIBLE STUDY 

 

    Read Acts 7, 8, 9 KJV: 

 

  Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? (Acts 9:4)

 

THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS

Reference: Acts 7, 8, 9

 

Few Bible stories are as thrilling as Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus. Through the power of Christ, a man who had been a Christian-hating villain became a love-filled hero. By submitting himself completely to Jesus, Paul was able to spread the gospel throughout the known world.

 

Paul came to faith in Christ after Jesus had already ascended back into heaven, when the Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus. Paul describes himself as “one born out of due time.” Paul is a prototype of the modern-day believer: one who learns of Christ through the resurrection, looking back, as opposed to the other apostles, who learned of Christ before the resurrection.

 

Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 15:4-8, that Jesus was buried, and rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve, after that seen of more than five hundred at once, after that he was seen of James, then all the apostles, and last of all he was seen of Paul.

 

Paul includes himself among the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ post-death life, meaning that it really was the Lord “in the flesh” who confronted Paul’s unbelief in Christ’s deity and the resurrection. 

 

THE STORY OF PAUL’S CONVERSION ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS IS TOLD IN ACTS 9:1-19; ACTS 22:6-21; AND ACTS 26:12-18.

 

The famous encounter is referred to as the road to Damascus. After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee in Jerusalem swore to wipe out the new Christian church. Acts 9:1 says he was “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples”. 

 

He was a witness to the stoning of Stephen, a disciple of Christ. When Stephen was stoned to death for preaching the gospel, “the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul… And Saul approved of their killing him” (Acts 7:58; 8:1). Saul made havoc of the church, entering into houses and hauling men and women committing them to prison. Saul obtained letters from the high priest, authorizing him to arrest any followers of Jesus in the city of Damascus.

 

On the road to Damascus, Saul was struck down by a blinding light. Saul heard a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” To which Saul replied, “Who art thou Lord?” And the Lord said, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest, it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”

 

Now that Saul knew the true identity and power of the One he had been persecuting, he had yet to learn Jesus’ grace and power to heal. And for that, he would need to meet a follower of Christ.

 

Trembling with fear and astonishment Saul asked, “Lord, what will you have me to do?” The Lord instructed for him to go into the city where he would be told what he must do. He arose and found that he was blind, he was led by the hand into Damascus where he spent three days without sight, and neither did he eat nor drink.

 

Meanwhile, the Lord had prepared a certain disciple named Ananias to go pray for Saul. Jesus had instructed him in a vision, saying, “For he (Saul) is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles…”. 

 

Ananias went his way, and entered the house where Saul was staying. He put his hands upon Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus that appeared unto you, has sent me that you might receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.”

 

When Ananias prayed for Saul something like scales immediately fell from his eyes, and he could see again. He arose and was baptized. Saul spent the next few days with the very Christians he had come to capture, and he immediately began preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ -- to the confusion of Christians and Jews alike. It would take time for Saul’s reputation as a Christian preacher to outgrow his reputation as a persecutor of Christians.

 

In his own accounts of his conversion, Paul says that Jesus appeared to him (1 Corinthians 15:7-8), and he claims that Jesus revealed the gospel to him (Galatians 1:11-16).

 

Shortly after Saul converted, the Scriptures refer to him as Paul. Saul is a Hebrew name and Paul is a Greek version of the same name. And as Paul began to evangelize to Greek communities, and since most of the New Testament was written in Greek, it makes since that we see the Greek version of his name from which he is remembered… Paul.

 

Paul’s life-changing experience on the road to Damascus led to his baptism and instruction in the Christian faith. He became the most determined of the apostles, suffering brutal physical pain, persecution, and finally, martyrdom. His conversion is quite significant as it was the turning point in his life. Paul later wrote nearly half of the books of the New Testament.

 

When God brings a person to faith in Jesus Christ He already knows he wants to use that person in service to His kingdom. Sometimes people are slow to understand God’s plan and may even resist it, it is hard for one to “kick against the pricks”. 

 

“It is hard for you to kick against the pricks”, was a Greek proverb, but it was also familiar to the Jews and anyone who made a living in farming. A prick was a stick with a pointed piece of iron on its tip used to prod the oxen when plowing. The farmer would prick the animal to steer it in the right direction. Sometimes the animal would rebel by kicking out at the prick, and this would result in the prick being driven even further into its flesh. In essence, the more an ox rebelled, the more it suffered. Thus, Jesus’ words to Saul on the road to Damascus, “it is hard for you to kick against the pricks.” 

 

There is a powerful lesson in this for us too. We also can find it hard to kick against the pricks. Solomon wrote, “Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way…” Proverbs 15:10. When we choose to disobey God, we become like the rebellious ox -- driving the prick deeper and deeper. “The way of the transgressor is hard,” Proverbs 13:15. How much better to heed God’s voice, to listen to the pangs of conscience! By resisting God’s authority, we are only punishing ourselves.

 

Paul had passion and sincerity in his fight against Christianity, but he was not heading in the direction God wanted him to go. Jesus was steering Paul in the right direction.

 

The scales falling from Paul’s eyes symbolized a spiritual transformation as well, that allowed him to see the truth. Once he knew the truth about Jesus, there was no going back. Paul may have been knocked off his horse and struck blind, but in the end, the choice to follow Christ was his own.

 

In one moment of fear, enlightenment, and regret, Paul understood that Jesus was the true Messiah and that he (Saul) had helped murder and imprison innocent people. Despite his previous beliefs as a Pharisee, he now knew the truth about God and was obligated to obey him. Paul’s conversion proves that God can call and transform anyone He chooses, even the most hard-hearted.

 

Jesus did not distinguish between His church and His followers, and Himself. Jesus told Saul he had been persecuting Him. Anyone who persecutes Christians or the church, is persecuting Jesus Christ Himself.

 

A person’s past does not matter to Jesus. He is more interested in a person’s future. Even though Saul had been one of Jesus’ cruelest enemies, he became one of His closest allies. God’s forgiveness is full and final.

 

God often chooses the most unlikely people to accomplish His will. Over and over in the Bible, God picked flawed men and women to help carry out His plan of salvation. The lesson is that the power comes from God, the person is only a vessel.

 

If you too have been kicking against the pricks, it’s time to surrender, and say, “Have Thine own way, Lord.”

 

Notes: