Saul was a man on the rise. Like his namesake Saul the first king of Israel, he was from the tribe of Benjamin. He had gone from working as a coat check boy to a champion for the cause of Judaism. “Have warrants. Will travel,” could have been the motto for this paladin from Tarsus. He was willing to roam far from home in pursuit of the lawbreaking disciples of Jesus who had scattered after the stoning of Stephen. (Acts 7:54-9:3) Leading a posse to Damascus, he intended to investigate, interrogate and root out any followers of the Way, wherever they might be trying to hide.
Along the way, “Jesus so sweet, Jesus so mild,” knocked him to the ground with a flash of light from heaven. Before Saul could recover, Jesus asked, “Why are you persecuting me?” Saul doesn’t have any idea who could be speaking to him, other than God must be involved. He is given a simple answer, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Saul discovered while lying in the dirt that he wasn’t simply after some renegade Jews who had gone off the deep end in their devotion to Jesus who had been crucified, dead and buried. Apparently, the rumors about a resurrection might be true. Now Jesus tells Saul to rise and go into Damascus. There, he will be told what to do.
In an eye blink Saul went from a confident, hot headed zealot for the cause of eradicating the gospel, to someone completely dependent on others. They led him by the hand. He experienced his own God-caused tomb as he remained blind for three days, neither eating nor drinking.
In the meantime, the Holy Spirit was working in another part of town on a man named Ananias. Ananias wasn’t too keen on visiting Saul. But when he learned that Jesus had chosen Saul to be His paladin for the sake of the Gospel, Ananias went to the Judas’s house on Straight Street. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord Jesus appeared to you on the road to Damascus by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Saul rose and was baptized.
He who had come to root out the gospel, now began proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Son of God. After a time, Saul became the target of a plot to kill him. He who would have boldly walked into Damascus with the authority to arrest Christians, now escaped in the dark of night, let down from the city wall in a basket.
Today is the day the church remembers the Conversion of St. Paul.
Almighty God, You turned the heart of him who persecuted the Church and by his preaching caused the light of the gospel to shine throughout the world. Grant us ever to rejoice in the saving light of Your gospel and, following the example of the apostle Paul, to spread it to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Empowered in the Holy Spirit, you and I are able to a paladin, “Have Gospel.” Will travel.”
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