Acts 9:1-31 “The Conversion of Saul” July 29, 2007 In our Old Testament reading we heard Zechariah say to Jerusalem: Thus says the LORD of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye… Saul had been plundering the true Jerusalem – plundering the people of God. But in touching them, he touched the apple of God’s eye – and of such God declares: Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Truly, Saul of Tarsus had been plundering the church, and yet in our narrative today we hear how Saul of Tarsus becomes plunder for the church Throughout history God has frequently plundered the nations, taking their leaders and turning them into his own servants. As God had said to Zechariah, And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day and shall be my people. Through Saul of Tarsus, the nations have joined themselves to the LORD. Thanks be to God! The Conversion of Saul: From Jerusalem to Damascus (9:1-19a) Our text today has two parts – the story of Saul’s conversion (from Jerusalem to Damascus), and then the story of Saul’s preaching (from Damascus to Jerusalem). The effect of the whole narrative is to show how the Lord Jesus Christ turned the tables on the one who was most zealously opposed to him. 1. Saul and Jesus: Who Are You, Lord? (9:1-9) In chapter 8:1-3 we heard that after the death of Stephen Saul launched an all-out assault on the church. Stephen had been accused of teaching that Jesus would destroy the temple and change the laws of Moses. Saul was convinced that Stephen’s “heresy” was a major threat to the Jewish people. After all, Moses had said that if a prophet spoke falsely, he was to be put to death – or else he would lead the people astray! Stephen had said that Jesus of Nazareth had been raised from the dead and was now standing at the right hand of God. This claim (as far as Saul could see) was blasphemy, since it made Jesus equal to God. Saul of Tarsus believed that Israel was called to be faithful. Yes, Israel would suffer at the hands of its enemies, but if they endured through suffering and maintained their stand for righteousness, then God would vindicate them in the end. In Acts 8:32-33 we hear of the sheep led to the slaughter (the quote from Isaiah 53). Saul, like all Jews of his time, believed that this was a reference to “My Servant Israel.” In his view, Israel is the servant of the LORD. Israel will pass through suffering to glory. He may even have believed that the Gentiles would be blessed through Israel’s suffering. But in order for Israel to be faithful, these “Jesus People” needed to be eliminated. False prophets who lead the people astray must be put to death and anyone who claims that Jesus is the Messiah must be silenced. It is important to note that this persecution is not something endorsed by all Jews. Indeed, even the high priests do not seem to be over-zealous for it. They support Saul – they gave him letters to the synagogue in Damascus. But the persecution of the church is something that is driven by Saul himself. (And when he is converted, the persecution dies out and the church has peace.) But Saul sets off for Damascus, authorized by the high priest to bring back any “belonging to the Way.” Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Saul’s response is understandable, Who are you, Lord? The Greek word “Kyrie” means “lord” or “master” but can also be used for the name of God. Saul recognizes that this voice from heaven is a voice of authority, but he is not at all sure who is speaking! The voice responds: I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do. Sometimes we speak of the suddenness of Saul’s conversion. And it was indeed a rapid turn-around. But we should also realize that at this moment, Saul is not converted. He has been called by Jesus. But we are not told of his response to this call. Instead we are told, 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. Saul has been blinded by the light. We are not told what he was thinking. We are merely told that they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. This fasting indicates that Saul was greatly perplexed. He is not at all certain what this means. He does not seek to carry out his mission. He has been ordered to wait – and so he does. And for three days he waits in darkness. No doubt his mind was reeling, trying to figure out the implications of what had just happened. If Jesus had spoken to him from heaven, then that means that Stephen was right! Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God – standing at the right hand of the Father! But we must leave Saul, puzzling in the darkness, and go across town to the house of Ananias. 2. Ananias and Jesus: I Will Show Him How Much He Must Suffer (9:10-16) 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 (v10-2) The conversion of Saul is probably the most remarkable conversion of any individual in scripture It is probably also the one that involves the most radical intervention of God, as Jesus himself stopped him dead in his tracks. This is why the role of Ananias is so interesting. If ever there was a situation where God could have dispensed with the role of the church, this was it! Jesus had spoken directly to Saul, he had called him personally! But in order to bring Saul into his church, he sends Ananians. Of course, Ananias is not especially pleased about the assignment! 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 priest to bind all who call on your name. Lord, are you sure you know what you are doing? If I go to this Saul, I could be a dead man! 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! Saul had come to Damascus to make the followers of Jesus suffer. But Jesus says that Saul is the one who will suffer! Rather than prosecute Christians before the Sanhedrin, Saul himself will stand before rulers – he himself will suffer for the sake of the name of Jesus. 3. Ananias and Saul: Jesus Sent Me (9:17-19a) So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, Brother Saul… This must have been the most nerve-wracking moment of Ananias’s life. Obviously he believed the vision. But even so, he is walking into a house where sits the man who came to Damascus to kill him! And rather than interview him and carefully examine him to make sure that he is really converted, Ananias is supposed to walk in and lay hands on him! But such is Ananias’s confidence in his Lord that he walks right up and says, 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. God called him directly, but his conversion is only complete when he is baptized by Ananias and brought into the company of the faithful. In some respects this is such a unique conversion that I hesitate to use it as an example for evangelism today! But as we go through these four conversion stories (or four baptismal stories) in Acts 8-10, it is perhaps useful to note that in every case the conversion story is completed by baptism While God may work directly in the hearts of some, his converting work invariably includes the coming of a preacher. Jesus said to make disciples of the nations. How? Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you (Mt 28:20). Jesus is establishing a new community – a holy temple – where God will dwell with his people. The Preaching of Saul: From Damascus to Jerusalem (9:19b-31) And Saul of Tarsus immediately jumps in to proclaiming this mission. There is a way in which the second part of our story mirrors the first. In part one, Saul is sent to Damascus to persecute the church, and Saul wonders, “who are you, Lord?” In part two, Saul is now preaching in the synagogues of Damascus, declaring exactly who Jesus is: He is the Son of God! Likewise, in part one, Jesus tells Ananias that Saul is his chosen instrument, and tells him “I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” In part two, Saul begins to suffer for the sake of the name of Jesus. And in part one Ananias intercedes on behalf of Saul, while in part two Barnabas intercedes on behalf of Saul. Part one concludes with Saul being baptized and strengthened. Part two concludes with the church being built up and multiplying. 1. Saul in the Synagogues of Damascus: He is the Son of God (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. Last Sabbath it had probably been mentioned that Saul of Tarsus was coming to Damascus in order to arrest the Jesus People. So no doubt it was very easy for Saul to gain access to the synagogues. He had letters from the high priest! But when he sat down to preach, to their amazement, he proclaimed Jesus! 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? Saul now demonstrated that Jesus was in fact who he claimed to be. In a matter of days Saul had gone from the worst persecutor to the most ardent defender of Jesus. What was it that made the difference? Seeing Jesus at the right hand of the Father. Remember what we said earlier? The Jews (including Saul) thought that the Servant of the LORD was Israel. Israel would have to pass through suffering to glory. And then Israel would be seated in glory at the right hand of God! But now Saul realizes that everything that he had expected would happen to Israel has happened to Jesus. Jesus has passed through suffering to glory. Jesus has now been seated in glory at the right hand of God. In part one, Saul asked, “who are you, Lord?” Now he knows! Jesus is the Son of God. This is why Saul did not need extensive theological training prior to preaching Jesus as the Christ It is not as though Saul had been converted from paganism. Saul was trained in the scriptures – he knew them inside and out. What is more, Saul knew all about Jesus as well! We don’t know when he first came in contact with the teaching of Jesus, but he was a student of Gamaliel in Jerusalem! He could not have helped but be familiar with this eccentric teacher. We don’t know exactly how many years took place between the resurrection of Jesus and Acts 9, but it could not have been more than a decade. After all, Acts 12 recounts the death of Herod Agrippa in the year 44 AD, so this is probably somewhere between the years 35-40 AD. In Acts 6 we hear that Stephen had been disputing with the Cilicians, so Saul had probably been engaged in those debates. He knew the arguments well. It’s just that before he had rejected them as blasphemous; and now he realizes that they are true! When you become convinced that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, it turns your world upside down. But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. 2. Saul’s Escape from Damascus: the Plot of the Jews (9:23-25) But Jesus had said that he would show Saul how much he must suffer for the name of Jesus. No doubt Saul understood the consequences! He had come to Damascus to persecute and kill those who believed in Jesus. And now he is proclaiming the name of Jesus openly. 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. A servant is like his master. As they plotted to kill Jesus, so they now plot to kill Saul. The book of Acts records several instances of martyrdom, where Christians are put to death for their faith. In every instance, they go to their death boldly, with confidence, because they know that they are sharing in the sufferings of Jesus. But at the same time, whenever they can escape martyrdom, they do. They do not fear death, but neither do they seek it out. 3. Saul in Jerusalem: Barnabas Intercedes (9:26-31) But then Saul returns to Jerusalem. Once again, our story takes us back to Jerusalem. Jerusalem continues to be the center of our story. All roads lead back here. But when Saul returned to Jerusalem the disciples were reluctant to welcome him, For they did not believe that he was a disciple. After all, a few days ago he had been sent to Damascus to arrest believers! Now he comes back saying that he is now a disciple himself! A likely story! He’s just a spy! 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. Being welcomed into the company of disciples, Saul immediately launches into an evangelistic ministry among the Hellenists, the Greek-speaking Jews in Jerusalem – the very people whom he had represented against Stephen some time before! Naturally, they are none too pleased that Saul has turned traitor, so they sought to kill him. And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. Saul now goes home to his native city. In Galatians 1:16-17 Paul says that he spent three years in Arabia and Damascus before he went to Jerusalem to visit Peter, and then went from Jerusalem to Syria and Cilicia (where Tarsus is). If all you did was read Acts 9, you would think that Saul went directly from Damascus to Jerusalem, only a few weeks after his conversion. But all it actually says is that “when he had come to Jerusalem,” they were afraid of him. It would appear that Paul spent three years in Arabia before returning to Damascus and then coming to Jerusalem. But Luke is not interested in any of those events. So he simply tells the story of what happened in Damascus, and then what happened in Jerusalem. The one who had been sent from Jerusalem to Damascus to tear down the church, now returns to Jerusalem building up the church! And with Saul out of the way, 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. The book of Acts is all about the work of the Holy Spirit. Remember the theme: You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses… When the Spirit of God comes upon his church, the result is that the church grows and increases in number. I know. We’re not supposed to be concerned about numbers. “We’re interested in the spiritual growth of the church!” But Luke tells us that when the church walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied! I realize that it is possible for God to send times of darkness and difficulty for the church – after all, that is what the church faced when Saul persecuted them! But in times of peace, that is when the church ought to flourish! Because then we are able to devote ourselves openly to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. But the normal, Spirit-filled pattern of church life is that we are walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and therefore we are multiplying! Because if you fear the Lord more than you fear others, then you will live kingdom-centered lives in your homes, neighborhoods and workplaces. If you are walking in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, then you are able to comfort others with the comfort which you have received! Or, to use Saul as our example, the recognition that Jesus is the Son of God, seated at the right hand of the Father, turns your whole life upside down. It becomes the all-consuming passion of your life. I am constantly striving to improve as a preacher and pastor. I am never satisfied with my efforts. I want you to see that if you believe in Jesus, you simply cannot live like your neighbors. But it is not a series of rules and regulations that makes you different. It is not a self-help program of “principles” of Christian living. Rather, it is because you have seen Jesus. And when you have seen Jesus, you are no longer concerned with what others think of you. Those around you see in you and hear from you the glory of Jesus. When you are comforted by the Holy Spirit, then you radiate that comfort to others. You see, my goal in preaching is not merely to give you information about the text. My goal in preaching is to draw you into the story. This is not merely the story of a man named Saul, this is the story into which you have been drawn. ?? ?? ?? ?? 1