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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this Name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”
Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
Acts 9:17-19
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
You know, sometimes you need a major event to happen in your life to get your attention and change your perspective on things.
Maybe you can relate. I know I can, on more than one occasion.
I can’t help but think about Saul and the quantum impact that regaining his sight by the grace of Jesus had on him. After all, Jesus owed him nothing but condemnation and judgment for everything he had done. He not only persecuted faithful Christ followers but took this persecution to the highest level, killing Jesus believers with great delight. Jesus could have left Saul blind and no one could have blamed Him for it.
But Jesus doesn’t quite operate that way, does He? Rather, He sees purpose in the kind of people that others don’t, people like Saul.
That’s what makes these Damascus moments we have looked at over the past four devotions so amazingly wonderful. For in each instance, we see Jesus moving in a special way, all toward a specific end.
To get Saul’s undivided attention and bring him to the doorsteps of absolute humility and respect for the Messiah he was persecuting, Jesus had to take away something significant from Saul. And so he removed his sight so that when He restored it, Saul would see his life, and Jesus, in a whole new light.
Then there was a man Ananias who needed his own Damascus moment. Unlike Jesus, he didn’t see Saul as worthy of deliverance given his murderous reputation. He looked at the Jewish persecutor through his own lens and was blinded to the ways of Jesus. And so Jesus made Ananias see things in a different light, that the interaction he would have with Saul to restore his sight wasn’t about the past but rather the future. Jesus had pegged Saul to be an instrument of the Gospel, bringing the good news to the Gentiles and Israelites. But he had to see again before that could happen.
These were the first two Damascus moments we looked at before yesterday’s message when Ananias and Saul actually encountered one another, not in a vision as before, but person to person. You’ll remember that as Ananias laid his hands on Saul he made sure that it was clear who was restoring his sight. It wasn’t Ananias but the Lord Jesus Himself. Ananias was just dispatched by Jesus to do the work of giving sight back to the blinded Saul.
And so he did. Ananias spoke words, giving Jesus the honor and glory for what he was doing, and immediately, the scriptures tell us that something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes and once again, he could see. It was an alleluia moment and one that changed Saul forever as he instantly sought to be baptized in the name of Jesus before finally eating in order to regain his strength after three days of self-imposed starvation.
This leads us to today and our final Damascus moment, one that shows Saul didn’t waste any time in going to work for the cause of Jesus and leaving people completely bewildered.
For after his conversion, we read where “Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus” and immediately “began to preach” in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God”.
It was an amazing Damascus moment for Saul, post conversion, but it was also a major moment for those who were in the synagogues listening to his preaching. Saul had a reputation that proceeded him, a fervent Jew who took great pleasure in punishing Christians and “raising “havoc in Jerusalem among those who call” on the name of Jesus. The synagogue Jews were expecting a message condemning Christianity as Saul appeared to bring Jesus believers into custody and “take them as prisoners” back to Jerusalem to the chief priests.
This is what they expected so imagine their amazement to instead find Saul actually on the side of Jesus and preaching in His name! Blinded by years of hearing the prophecy about the Messiah but not actually recognizing Him when He did come, those in the synagogues were now having their sight recalibrated so they could clearly see Jesus for who He truly was. Through his work for Jesus, Saul grew more and more powerful as Jesus blessed his ministry work, so powerful that he became the target for elimination, just as the Messiah he proclaimed had. The scriptures tell us that a conspiracy developed among the Jews to kill Saul, the former persecutor now the target of persecution, but Saul slipped away unscathed as his followers “lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall” after dark.
Saul was safe and free for now, ready to continue his work as an instrument of Jesus’ Gospel spreading plan. Soon he would be bringing the good news to Gentiles to the ends of the earth, and it was all possible because of some special Damascus moments initiated by Jesus, the Messiah.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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