God's Prisoner of War (Acts 9:1-19)

Introduction

God shows his grace in capturing an unlikely prisoner. Saul assumed that Christ was a failure. Saul’s goal is to do everything in his power to destroy Jesus. Saul sees Jesus as the failed liar who ended up on a cross.

Saul was breathing threats and murder. This makes explicit that he was consumed with destroying the church. He had received authority to travel to Damascus, find those who confessed Jesus Christ as the Messiah, bind them, and bring them back to Jerusalem.

Saul's entire identity and purpose were wrapped up in opposing Christ and destroying his people. He will not bow the knee to the self-proclaimed Messiah. Saul soon realizes that he is closer to Pharaoh than to Moses.

A Changed Plan

Saul’s plan is to stamp out the church. However, the Lord had another plan. The Lord is going to take the Pharaoh oppressor and turn him into an agent of revelation like Moses.

Before Saul ever arrived in Damascus, Christ met him on the road. Heavenly glory surrounded him, and Saul was helpless on his knees. Ironically, he bows before the Lord he seeks to destroy.

This is the reality of God's sovereign grace. Saul did not change his own heart. He did not decide one day that perhaps he had been wrong. Christ confronted Saul in such a way that a stubborn man is kneeling before him. The Lord has a way of disrupting our plans when our plans are contrary to his will. Christ captured Saul on the road to Damascus.

We are reminded that we are truly saved by the Lord’s grace. It is by the Lord’s power. We can kick against the goads, but the Lord always gets his man. Pharoah may have rebelled, but eventually he released the Lord’s people.

An Intended Destination

Saul might have a letter from the high priest, but the true heavenly high priest has different orders for Saul. He is still bowed down before the Lord.

He hears a voice: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

Christ does not say, “Why are you persecuting Christians?” He says, “Why are you persecuting me?” Christ is identified with his people. He heard the groanings of his people in Egypt. So, he experiences the persecution of his people. Christ is present with his people, literally feeling their pain.

That should be a tremendous comfort to the church. We can sometimes think that Christ is far away. We see the struggles of the church. We experience suffering. We wonder whether the Lord sees what is happening to his people. Acts 9 reminds us that the Lord does not just see it, but he feels it. The church’s persecution is persecuting Christ.

Saul asks, “Who are you, lord?” As Saul recounts his kicking against the goads, this is probably not affirming that Christ is God. Rather, it is just Saul affirming that someone with a bright light has captured Saul’s attention.

And then Saul hears the words that overturn his entire world: “I am Jesus.”

The Jesus that Saul thought was a failure is very much the messiah. Stephen’s sermon was not fluff, but the substance of Isaiah’s servant songs. Stephen correctly understood the connections of Christ in scripture. Saul must come to grips that his whole identity is his own self-deception.

Saul is not putting down a deviant movement. No, Saul is the deviant movement that seeks to destroy the Lord’s work.

A New Commission

When Saul arrives at Damascus, he is no longer following the directive of the high priest’s letter. No, he is fasting. He realizes that these threats and murder were against Christ. He realizes that he has destroyed the very thin