Acts 9:3-7 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.

Of all of our encounters with Jesus so far, this has to be the strangest. Jesus has died, has risen and has ascended into heaven. Life on earth carries on. For a zealous young Pharisee going by the name of Saul of Tarsus, this meant cleansing Judaism of false cults, and particularly of the cult of the followers of the now-dead Jesus of Nazareth. He had recently witnessed the stoning of the heretic, Stephen (see Acts 7:58, 8:1), and had then gone on to persecute the Christians and “destroy the church” (Acts 8:3), putting Christians in prison. As part of his campaign to round up the Christians, Saul went to the high priest and obtained permission to go to Damascus and arrest and bring back any Christians he found there upsetting Judaism (Acts 9:1,2)

Thus we come to our verses today where Paul is on his journey to Damascus . He was later to testify that it was about noon (Acts 26:13). Suddenly it was as if a spotlight from heaven shone on him. Whether it was the sun breaking through the clouds on him or a supernatural light we aren't told specifically, yet the latter is more likely for he fell to the ground. Something impacted him and all strength went from him. This is more likely than he simply knelt down for there was no reason for him to do that. Loss of physical strength is known to sometimes be a response when the powerful presence of the Lord comes.

As he lies there on the floor, he hears a voice speaking to him, asking why he was persecuting him. His response indicates that he realises that he is having some sort of heavenly encounter for he asks, “Who are you Lord?” It may sound a strange question to ask God but sometimes in the presence of the Lord you do find yourself asking questions that seem to have been inspired by Him. It enables the Lord to declare himself. He is Jesus! The one who is speaking to Saul is the risen Jesus. He has come to call this zealous but wrongly directed young man to a new calling, to become one of the greatest mouthpieces of the Church. For the moment Saul has not got a clue what the future holds. All he knows is that he is now blind (see v.9) and had to be led by the hand to reach Damascus where Jesus has made arrangements for him (see following verses).

Later on Paul, as he was to become known, spoke of his pedigree: “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel , of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.” (Phil 3:5,6) yet all of this, he realised, counted for nothing. All this, he realised, did nothing for his standing before God, because he had been persecuting His Son, and now knowing the risen Lord Jesus was THE most important thing in life for Paul, indeed it was life itself.

The life that followed for this young Pharisee was indeed incredible. He wrote many letters to the local churches that he had helped establish and he travelled many miles in establishing them. He stands out in the New Testament as the most influential apostle. His writings, coming down the years of history, have transformed the church. He had insights about his lord and about his lord's church like no other apostle. He was indeed a remarkable person and he was used by the Lord in a major way in establishing the Church.

This is all the more remarkable for the fact that he had opposed the church and seen it as a subversive force, undermining Judaism. He summed up his own experience in the light of what the early church knew of him, “ The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” (Gal 1:23) Expanding on that he told them, “For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But … God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, (Gal 1:13-16)

Why doesn't God turn all rebels around, someone might ask, and I think the answer is that He is only able to do that dependent on the heart of the individual. Paul was all out for God – but didn't realise he was going the wrong way. Thus when he received the revelation on the Damascus road, he willingly received it – accompanied as it was by the supernatural voice and blinding experience – and went all out in the new direction. A question we might ask ourselves is, are we open to be redirected by God and will we be all out for Him as He guides?