Saul’s Conversion

Physical affliction has a way of refocusing how we see life. Whether the consequence of sin or merely living in a fallen world, suffering produces the kind of clarity we might not have the capacity to receive any other way. Temporary loss of physical faculties can result in a permanent shift in spiritual perspective. But let’s be honest: affliction is rarely our chosen means of hard-won wisdom.

Saul, Pharisee and persecutor of Christians, needed a shift in perspective himself—a gross understatement, of course. He seethed with anger toward followers of the Way, “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1). Thoroughly committed to the imprisonment and suffering of Christians, he set about the land in a hunt for those who loved Jesus (v.2–3). That’s what put him on the road to Damascus, and that’s where he encountered the real target of his persecution: Jesus Christ.

The scene begins with an image that reminds me of something from an action film; a helicopter chase from the sky, spotlighting the criminal on the ground in active pursuit. At the flashing light and voice from heaven (vv.3–4), Saul was dumbfounded, falling to the ground as he heard, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (v.4). Though he didn’t know who was confronting him, Saul understood the authority of the one speaking, so he answered, “Who are you, Lord?” an address signifying reverence.

“I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting,” he replied.
“But get up and go into the city, 
and you will be told what you must do” (Acts 9:5–6).

The irony is not lost on me. The hunter had become the hunted. Jesus blinds Saul for three days and tells him to finish his journey to Damascus (vv.6–9). By the time the scales fall from Saul’s eyes, sight restored and filled with the Holy Spirit, his fervor once set against Jesus Christ is now forever submitted to the will of the Lord (v.20). Extraordinary!

It’s a brilliant, strategic move, using Saul as an “instrument” to spread the gospel (vv.15–16). But this is also a story of unfathomable mercy and personal gospel transformation. Saul (also known as Paul) was physically humbled in order to receive the gospel revelation of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:12). Blinding him was God’s chosen means through which Saul could finally see Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. 

Oh, that humanity wouldn’t need to suffer in order to truly see. Not all suffering is caused by our own short-sighted sin or by God, but all pain has the power to make us more like Jesus, the Suffering Servant who is our Savior (Isaiah 53). Empowered by the Holy Spirit, may we submit our will to His in all circumstances, drawn not to isolation, but into deeper communion with the one who has overcome the world (John 16:33).