“Who are You, Lord?”

Acts 9:1-25 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, ² and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ³ As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; ⁴ and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” ⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, ⁶ but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” ⁷ The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. ⁹ And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰ Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹ And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, ¹² 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.” ¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; ¹⁴ and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; ¹⁶ for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” ¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; ¹⁹ and he took food and was strengthened.

Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, ²⁰ and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” ²¹ All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” ²² But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

²³ When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him,²⁴ but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; ²⁵ but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

Romans 5:8 is a foundational verse for me. It says:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  It is important that we recognize how the love of God is demonstrated to us and for us regarding sin. God did not, does not accept, condone, embrace or tolorate our sin because He loves us. It is through the cross; through Jesus, the Son of God dying for our sins that God demonstrates His love for us. God’s grace is not that He loves us enough to allow us to remain in sin. Grace is that Jesus died so that we could be redeemed from sin. Look though at what verse 9-10 say:  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.   We need to recognize that as sinners we are not only opposed to God’s will; we are actually His enemies. We are not only redeemed from our sin by the blood of Christ, but we are also reconciled to God. We are no longer enemies, but rather we are adopted as His family. Romans 8:14-17 says:  All who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

It was of course Paul who wrote the letter to the church at Rome. It was Paul who wrote many of the letters to the churches to encourage, exhort and instruct believers. In today’s text we see that Paul wrote and understood from his own experience. Much of what he wrote was actually his fulfillment of what Jesus said in Acts 1:8; that filled with the Holy Spirit we would be witnesses for Christ. The letters to the churches are in part Paul’s testimony as a witness for Jesus; a witness not only of who Jesus was and what He did, but of who He is and what He does.   The text begins:  Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,  but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.  And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.     Surely Saul was an enemy not only of the church, but of Jesus and of God Himself. Notice the interchange when Saul was met by Jesus:  “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”    Up to that time, Saul did not know Jesus, yet he was His enemy. Isn’t that the way it is those who are enemies of God and Christ, do not know Him. We fear what we don’t know and understand. People are enemies of God because the do not know Him. Even before Jesus identified Himself to Saul, Saul recognized that He was superior; that He was Lord.

The text continues:  Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”  And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for 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.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem;  and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”  And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;  and he took food and was strengthened.  Saul was transformed from God’s enemy to His child. Ananias said: “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”   Saul did more than just regain his sight. Through the filling of the Holy Spirit he was able to see not only with his natural eyes, but also with the eyes of the Spirit. Through the Spirit he could truly know God and Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:11 says:  For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.  It is only by the Spirit of God that we can truly know and understand God. It is only by the Spirit of God that we can understand that God’s love does not condone, tolorate or accept our sin, but rather God’s love, demonstrated in the cross, redeems us from sin. By the Spirit we come to know that we no longer need to be enemies, opposed to God. By the blood of Jesus, we are adopted into His family as children and heirs of all that is His.

The story and the testimony of Paul lives on to encourage and exhort believers. Perhaps there is no one more qualified than Paul to testify of the transformation from enemy to ally and heir. Perhaps though, we all could tell the same story. Filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, we are to be witnesses to the world of not only who Jesus was and what He did, but also of who He is and what He is doing.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; thank You for revealing who You are, that I might know You and comprehend Your love. Thank You for the power to be a witness, to testify of Your redeeming and transforming love. Give me eyes to see, a mind to understand and a mouth to testify to the world that Jesus, died for sin because of love.   Amen.