Tag Archives: Damascus

THE BOOK OF ACTS – CAUGHT IN THE ACT!

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CAUGHT IN THE ACT!

“One day on my way to Damascus, armed as always with papers from the high priests authorising my action, right in the middle of the day a blaze of light, light outshining the sun, poured out of the sky on me and my companions. Oh king, it was so bright! We fell flat on our faces. Then I heard a voice in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me? Why do you insist on going against the grain?’

“‘I said, ‘Who are you, Master?’

‘”The voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down like an animal. But now, up on your feet — I have a job for you. I’ve hand-picked you to be a servant and witness to what’s happened today, and to what I am going to show you.'” Acts 26:12-15 (The Message).

Did a day ever go by that Paul did not remember his encounter with Jesus? He remembered every detail as though it had happened yesterday. As he recalled it in the presence of the king, his entourage, the governor and all the dignitaries in the Great Hall that day, he relived those moments, felt the electricity of the Divine Presence once again and melted in the atmosphere of perfect Love.

The words of Jesus were branded on his heart. The Voice, like the sound of a thundering cataract, echoed and re-echoed around the caverns of his mind, supporting and steadying him through every danger and trial he experienced on his journey of life with his Master, and leading him ever on to greater heights of obedient love.

He didn’t care what they accused him of doing, what they said about him or what they tried to do to him. Nothing could change or take away from his encounter with the risen Jesus, from the glory of the Presence that melted his hatred, his anger, his hostility and aggression towards those who believed in Him, and changed him in an instant from a vicious persecutor to a hopeless, helpless, passionate lover of Jesus.

“‘I’m sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I’m sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who began real living by believing in me.'” Acts 26:16-18 (The Message).

Instructions like that should have sent a fanatical Pharisee into a frenzy of protest, had they come from the lips of anyone else than those of his new-found Lord. Go to the Gentiles! Outrageous! Never! But Paul had new eyes and a new heart. Instantaneously he was transformed. He saw, with the eyes of Jesus, the Gentiles as people, not “dogs” or inferior scum to be brushed aside with contempt. Go to the Gentiles? Anything, Lord, if it comes from your lips!

What made the difference for Paul? What should make the difference for us? Not “knowledge” which does nothing to change our hearts. It is only the real, vital, living presence of Jesus that can transform our stony hearts. When we “see” Him, we are changed. When we gaze on Him, we begin to reflect His glory. No work, service, labour, or doing things for Jesus can accomplish what moments of contemplation in His presence can do. There is no substitute for His presence.

Paul saw Him and for the rest of his life he continued to gaze on his Beloved. This is his secret: “And we, who with unveiled faces, all reflect (contemplate) the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV).

THE BOOK OF ACTS – BLINDED AND BLIND

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BLINDED AND BLIND!

“As I arrived on the outskirts of Damascus about noon, a blinding light blazed out of the skies and I fell to the ground, dazed. I heard a voice, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?’

“Who are you, Master?’ I asked.

“He said, ‘I am Jesus, the Nazarene, the One you’re hunting down.’ My companions saw the light but they didn’t hear the conversation.

‘Then I said, ‘What do I do now, Master?’

“He said, ‘Get to your feet and enter Damascus. There you’ll be told everything that’s been set out for you to do.’ And so we entered Damascus, but nothing like the entrance we had planned — I was blind as a bat and my companions had to lead me by the hand.” Acts 22:6-11 (The Message).

Blinded and blind! Paul’s vivid encounter with the alive and living Jesus outside Damascus was forever engraved in his memory and coloured his understanding of the ways of the God. Was he writing about himself when he penned the words, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God”? 2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV).

En route to Damascus, it was a spiritually blind Saul who was bent on wiping out the people who were following Jesus in a new way of living. Then a blinding light shone in his eyes, blinding him so that he had to be led by the hand into the city. Blind on the outside, it was the first time he had really “seen” the light. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV).

Jesus claimed the title, “Light of the World”. On the first day of creation, God declared, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. What was this light, since the heavenly bodies were only created on the fourth day? John gives us the answer. “Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not understood it…The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” John 1:3-5; 9 (NIV).

Before He made the physical lights, God assigned the earth to Jesus to be the light of understanding and truth in a world controlled by the prince of darkness. His presence dominates the Old Testament but His people were blind to Him. He tried to alert the religious leaders of His day to this truth in His encounters with them but they persistently rejected His claims because they were too blind to recognise Him.

“‘Your father, Abraham, rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.’

“‘You are not yet fifty years old,’ the Jews said to Him, ‘and you have seen Abraham!’

“‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!” John 8:57-58 (NIV).

That sent His opponents over the edge! They refused to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus.

This kind of blindness is a choice. “‘This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly, that what he had done has been done through God.'” John 3:19-21 (NIV).

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 (NIV).

THE BOOK OF ACTS – SAUL MOVES TO CENTRE STAGE

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CHAPTER 9

SAUL MOVES TO CENTRE STAGE

“All this time Saul was breathing down the necks of the Master’s disciples, out for the kill. He went to the Chief Priest and got arrest warrants to take to the meeting places in Damascus so that if he found anyone there belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he could arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem.

“He set off. When he got to the outskirts of Damascus, he was suddenly dazed by a blinding flash of light. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?’

“He said, ‘Who are you, Master?’

“‘I am Jesus, the One you are hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you’ll be told what to do next.'” Acts 9:1-6 (The Message).

Poor Saul! He had no chance against Jesus. All his intentions to do as much damage to the church as he could, went up in a puff of smoke when he came face to face with his opponent.

Saul’s passage into the kingdom was a stormy one. Unlike the other apostles, he was not given an opportunity to spend time with the Master, size Him up and reach his own conclusion about Him. Only a once-off, terrifying encounter with the glorified Lord would be enough to change his mind and his direction for the rest of his life.

Saul was a religious fanatic, a Pharisee and a rabbi trained under the best rabbis of his day. He was of the same persuasion as those who crucified Jesus and stoned Stephen. He was not the sort of material for a humble and obedient disciple in that state of mind. When Jesus chose His disciples to understudy Him and to continue His mission, He studiously avoided the religious types because they were the ones most difficult to convince.

But Jesus needed Saul. He had the qualities of a great champion. His superior mind and knowledge of the Scriptures had great potential for being a leader, even of those who lived with and followed Him. Only a personal meeting would convince the man that He was the Son of God.

Jesus waited until Saul had reached his destination.

By this time, Saul had built up such a head of steam that he was ready to take on every person who dared admit to being part of this new “Way”. A blinding flash of light, a voice like thunder, and Saul finally got the message! Jesus was in charge, not Saul. He thought he had enough authority and power to stamp out what offended him in the name of God, but he had taken on more than he had bargained for. He had pitted his puny strength against the Lord of glory and lost! It was time to lay down his arms.

Jesus always deals with people as unique individuals. He knows just what stands between us and Him and how to expose the core of our hearts. For the rich young ruler it was his money, for Peter it was his self-sufficiency and for Saul it was his religion.

What is in the centre of your being that takes the place of Jesus? He wants nothing less than all of you. From a self-righteous, over-zealous religious bigot, in one blinding flash of revelation, Saul became Paul, the love-slave of Jesus.

“But whatever was for my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared with the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own…” Philippians 3:-9a (NIV).