The Word This Week
Acts 9:1…
Now we come to one of the most radical scenes of salvation in the entire Bible.
We have come to know the reputation of Saul of Tarsus. He was enraged by the emerging Church of Jesus Christ, because he hated Jesus, and denied Jesus was the Christ, and so he would imprison and put to death anyone who professed Jesus was the Christ.
It wasn’t enough to Saul of Tarsus to drag the first-days Christians from their homes in Jerusalem and imprison them, forcing them to blaspheme Jesus at the point of the sword, (as Paul later testified of himself,) he also sought letters from the high priest to pursue the Christians who had fled Jerusalem because of his persecution, even as far as Damascus.
It was on the road to Damascus that Saul of Tarsus was himself arrested.
By Jesus Christ.
Saul was suddenly surrounded by a bright light shining down from heaven, which caused him to fall to the ground. (We don’t know if he was on a horse or not, but it certainly seems likely he was.)
Now Saul who had such authority to seek to put Jesus and all thoughts of Jesus being the Christ to death, finds himself in submission to the voice of Jesus.
Jesus begins to interrogate Saul. Saul had almost certainly been present in the Sanhedrin when the Sanhedrin interrogated Jesus – and now the roles were reversed. Who had the power now?
It is amazing we as human beings think we have the ability to control anything – let alone the lives of other people. Those who usurp the role of God in people’s lives shall not be made to stand.
We can only imagine how stunned Saul must have been as Jesus began to interrogate him.
The question Jesus asks Saul is fascinating: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
How Saul responds is equally fascinating. Saul, (from the ground,) responds: “Who are you, Lord?”
Saul already understands he is not the one in power any longer. Out of either fear or reverence, he calls Jesus, “Lord.” That is the title only Jesus deserves, and under Jesus’ power Saul now recognizes this is so.
Jesus is indeed Lord of Lords and King of Kings, which Saul had previously vehemently denied. But Whom from this point on in his life Saul would just as vehemently proclaim Jesus to be.
Pastor Bill
Now we come to one of the most radical scenes of salvation in the entire Bible.
We have come to know the reputation of Saul of Tarsus. He was enraged by the emerging Church of Jesus Christ, because he hated Jesus, and denied Jesus was the Christ, and so he would imprison and put to death anyone who professed Jesus was the Christ.
It wasn’t enough to Saul of Tarsus to drag the first-days Christians from their homes in Jerusalem and imprison them, forcing them to blaspheme Jesus at the point of the sword, (as Paul later testified of himself,) he also sought letters from the high priest to pursue the Christians who had fled Jerusalem because of his persecution, even as far as Damascus.
It was on the road to Damascus that Saul of Tarsus was himself arrested.
By Jesus Christ.
Saul was suddenly surrounded by a bright light shining down from heaven, which caused him to fall to the ground. (We don’t know if he was on a horse or not, but it certainly seems likely he was.)
Now Saul who had such authority to seek to put Jesus and all thoughts of Jesus being the Christ to death, finds himself in submission to the voice of Jesus.
Jesus begins to interrogate Saul. Saul had almost certainly been present in the Sanhedrin when the Sanhedrin interrogated Jesus – and now the roles were reversed. Who had the power now?
It is amazing we as human beings think we have the ability to control anything – let alone the lives of other people. Those who usurp the role of God in people’s lives shall not be made to stand.
We can only imagine how stunned Saul must have been as Jesus began to interrogate him.
The question Jesus asks Saul is fascinating: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
How Saul responds is equally fascinating. Saul, (from the ground,) responds: “Who are you, Lord?”
Saul already understands he is not the one in power any longer. Out of either fear or reverence, he calls Jesus, “Lord.” That is the title only Jesus deserves, and under Jesus’ power Saul now recognizes this is so.
Jesus is indeed Lord of Lords and King of Kings, which Saul had previously vehemently denied. But Whom from this point on in his life Saul would just as vehemently proclaim Jesus to be.
Pastor Bill