The Day Saul Saw the Light

 

Tuesday, May 3, 2022

“One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests.  About noon, Your Majesty, as I was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions.  We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?  It is useless for you to fight against my will.’  “‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked.  “And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.  Now get to your feet!  For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness.  Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future.  And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles.  Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.  Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’  Acts 26:12-18

Paul the Apostle was called Saul before Jesus renamed him.  At the time of his conversion his purpose in life was to persecute the church.  It seems odd that one who preferred violence for the followers of Christ would become one, and later defend that faith in Christ, with his life at stake.

It’s tempting, and perhaps easier, to just dwell on the mystic trappings of Paul’s conversion story.  A blinding light from Heaven, and the voice of a resurrected Lord Jesus, redirecting Saul’s life.  Or you could draw some interesting parallels, like a man blinded by Jesus, and having his sight restored by a miralce prayer.  These are a rather safe, academic exercise, which carry no burden of personal action or change.  They’re simply good story, with a happy ending; the misguided guy fiercely persecuting the good guy…confronted, humbled, and turning into a good guy, who eventually gets persecuted by the guys who used to support his persecuting the orignial good guy.  Sounds a little soap-opera-ish, or Hallmark movie-ish. 

So, what’s the  takeaway from the day Saul was not only blinded by the light, but eventually saw the light?  I believe it’s in the trial.  Paul is on trial for heresy (which carried a death sentence in those days…not a contract with Netflix to tell your story, and a blog and Twitter-follower-crowd in the millions).

The trial allowed Saul, now Paul, a defense.  And with an adroitness any sharp lawyer would’ve envied, Paul didn’t mince words.  He relied on only two simple principles in laying-out his entire case:  truth, and witness. 

In the TRUTH department, Paul told the judges who he was…a persecuter of the church, who met the Jesus of the church, and was converted. 

And in the WTNESS, department, Paul stuck to what had happened to him, how God had to blind him, in order for him to see that to which he’d chosen to be blind…the love of God that offered Paul, and all of us, salvation and eternal life.

And then he rested his case, trusting God for the outcome.

For You Today

Paul gave us the ultimate strategy and modus operandi, God’s formula for being a witness of truth…THE TRUTH, what a disciple of Jesus should live for, sharing the truth with others about what God wants for each of us. 

It’s Tell your story, Rest your case, and Trust God for the outcome. 

It’s as simple as that!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road with Jesus; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image: Wikimedia.com    Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©