Acts 22:6-11 (NIV)
“About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’
“‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.
“‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.
“‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked. “‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.
The most critical moment in Paul’s life was what has become known as his “Damascus Road Experience.” It was when he was confronted by the risen Jesus, and when he came to believe that Jesus really was the Son of God and that He really had risen from the dead. This story is told initially in Acts 9:1-19.
It was noon, he was approaching Damascus, when suddenly a blinding light flashed all around him, causing him to fall to the ground. Then he heard a voice accusing him of persecuting its owner. When he asked who was speaking to him, the person identified Himself as “Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.” (The title “Lord” in Paul’s question does not necessarily denote divinity. It was frequently used in much the same way as we use the word “sir,” as a title of respect.) Thus, Paul had come face to face with the risen Savior.
Those with Paul at the time were terrified, they saw the flash of light, they watched as Paul suddenly fell to the ground, and then heard a vague sound that they couldn’t identify (Acts 9:7). They couldn’t make out words that Paul seemed to hear and respond to as he held a conversation with someone that he could see, but that they couldn’t.
Jesus told Paul to go into Damascus and wait. He would be given instructions there at some time in the future.
When the encounter ended and the vision of Jesus faded, Paul found that he couldn’t see anything. The light of the vision that had merely dazzled his companions had blinded him, so that he had to be led by the hand into the city, where he fasted and waited for three days (Acts 9:9).
In that moment of vision, everything Paul had believe in up to then fell at his feet in ashes. He had believed that Jesus was a mere man, a false Messiah, a heretic, who was making heretics like Himself among the Jewish people, a cancer that had to be rooted out and destroyed. He had believed that the resurrection was a myth, having been told by those in authority that His followers had stolen His body from the tomb while the guards slept on duty (Matthew 28:12-15), and had then spread the lie that He had risen physically.
But now he had seen the risen Jesus Himself, and had spoken to Him in person. Everything he had been told was a lie had turned out to be true, and everything he had been told was the truth had turned out to be a lie. The very foundations of his life and identity were now exposed and torn apart in this seismic revelation, which was actually a good thing, the right thing, since now Jesus would be able to help him rebuild his life from the ground up on the firm foundation of Himself.
Father, the revelation of Jesus really does do that to our lives, shaking us to our core, causing us to reassess pretty much everything we have held true up to that point, and often showing us how distressingly far we are from living a life pleasing to You. But, just as You did with Paul, if we will engage in the process, beginning with surrender and a commitment to radical obedience, you will do the heavy lifting by literally transforming us into the people You want us to be, and do it in an incredibly short time. Thank You for this reality. Amen.
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