Saul meets the Unexpected

Oh boy, it's been a whole month. Life has been coming at me fast, as the commercials say, and I've gotten a little behind-hand. But one of the things I have done lately is to have a really interesting discussion with my husband and two good friends about the account of the conversion of Saul in Acts 9.

It all started with Saul, breathing threats and murder as he steamed down the road to Damascus. (Up the road? Who knows. I checked the maps in my Bible and they denied the existence of Damascus entirely, silly things.) Why was he so upset? Why was he taking this so deeply personally and seriously? Why not just let the Christians believe what they want and you believe what you want and agree to disagree? Because Saul, bless him, was a man who had tremendous regard for the reputation of the Lord. We could use a few more of him now. By persecuting Christians, he was, in his opinion, upholding God's reputation, and fighting against blasphemy and heresy. He was a devout man who wanted to stamp out that nasty cult that was leading the nation of Israel badly astray. Saul was doing his very best to serve his God and keep Israel pure. Go Saul!

So there he was, crossing the desert getting near Damascus, and there was a flash of light. That doesn't sound so extraordinary until you think that in the desert at noontime the sun is very hot and bright. For something to actually be noticed as a flash of light, it must have been on the level of a nuclear flash. That's bright. No wonder Saul was knocked to his knees, and blinded by it. And then came the clincher--a voice from heaven. Now, to the rabbinic mind, which Saul certainly had, being a disciple of Gamaliel, voices from heaven were invariably from God. No wonder he responded in confusion, asking "Who are you?" He hadn't been persecuting God, he'd been strenuously defending Him! But when the voice declared that it was the voice of Jesus, Saul must have felt the entire bottom drop out of his world. You do the math. Voice from heaven = God. Voice from heaven = Jesus. Therefore, Jesus = God. Oh no. Saul must have, in one second, become a deeply broken man. No wonder he let himself be tamely led to Damascus, and spent his days in prayer and fasting until God in His mercy sent someone to alleviate his suffering.

Two other things are noteworthy. One is that God showed Saul all the suffering he must undergo from that day forward, all for His sake. We know from further writings of Saul's (Paul's) that he felt that the suffering was no more than his due. Saul/Paul accepted it and even seemed to feel that it was all more than worth it, for the privilege of being used by the God he had persecuted, to the point of being all used up.

The other thing, which my good friend Yoko pointed out, is that Saul was a man of purpose. When he regarded himself as a rabbinic Jew, he marched firmly in that direction, doing his utmost for the God he served. But once Jesus got ahold of him, he marched just as firmly in the other direction, never deviating from the path which Jesus had set his feet upon.

Saul was a deeply faithful and faith-full man. He's been one of my favorites for a while now, an example to emulate and a teacher to listen to. How fascinating it is to study the book of Acts; to see the spread of the church, the revealing of the Holy Spirit, and the remarkable doings of this steadfast man. God chose well.