As
he traveled, he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him. He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He said, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise up, and enter into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the sound, but seeing no one. Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. They led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. He was without sight for three days, and neither ate nor drank.
Acts 9:3-9
Acts 8 [39.] When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch didn’t see him any more, for he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus. Passing through, he preached the Good News to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.
Acts 9 [1.] But Saul, still breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he traveled, he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him. He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Acts 9 [5.] He said, “Who are you, Lord?”
The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise up, and enter into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Acts 9 [7.] The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the sound, but seeing no one. Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. They led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. He was without sight for three days, and neither ate nor drank.
Acts 9 [10.] Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
He said, “Behold, it’s me, Lord.”
Meaning:
Saul had obtained letters from the high priest to arrest followers of “the Way” in Damascus and bring them bound to Jerusalem (Acts 9:1-2). The journey of more than two hundred kilometres took about a week. Near the end of it, everything changed. Luke considered this event so important that Acts tells it three times: here, in Paul’s speech in Jerusalem (Acts 22:6-11) and in his defence before King Agrippa (Acts 26:12-18).
- “suddenly a light from the sky shone around him”
Paul later said it happened “at noon” and that the light was “brighter than the sun” (Acts 26:13). Like Ezekiel, who saw the glory of Yahweh and “fell on my face” (Ezekiel 1:28), Saul fell to the ground. This was not only a vision of light. Paul insisted that he had seen the risen Lord: “Haven’t I seen Jesus Christ, our Lord?” (1 Corinthians 9:1), and “last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also” (1 Corinthians 15:8).
- “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
God had called Moses in the same way, “Moses! Moses!” (Exodus 3:4), and the boy Samuel, “Samuel! Samuel!” (1 Samuel 3:10). The question is startling. Saul thought he was persecuting heretics, but Jesus says, “me.” Christ is so united with his people that what is done to them is done to him, as he taught: “you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). Paul would later write, “Now you are the body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:27). A footnote notes that the Textus Receptus adds here, “It’s hard for you to kick against the goads,” words found in all manuscripts in Paul’s own account (Acts 26:14).
- “Who are you, Lord?”
Saul knows he is facing a heavenly being. The answer overturns everything he believed: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” The crucified man whose followers Saul was hunting is alive and is Lord. Paul later described this moment as God choosing “to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles” (Galatians 1:16).
- “rise up, and enter into the city, and you will be told what you must do”
The proud persecutor receives no explanation, only an instruction. He must wait to be told, and the one who tells him will be a disciple he came to arrest.
- “stood speechless, hearing the sound, but seeing no one”
Saul’s companions heard something but saw no one. In Acts 22 Paul says they “saw the light” but “didn’t understand the voice of him who spoke” (Acts 22:9). Together the accounts suggest that they saw the brightness and heard a sound, but only Saul saw the Lord and understood his words. Daniel described a similar experience: “the men who were with me didn’t see the vision” (Daniel 10:7).
- “He was without sight for three days, and neither ate nor drank”
The man who came to lead believers away in chains is now led by the hand. For three days he sat in darkness, fasting and, as the Lord tells Ananias, praying. His blindness was real, but it also pictured his former state. He would soon be sent to the nations “to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light” (Acts 26:18).
The Significance of Acts 9:3-9
- No one is beyond grace
Paul called himself the chief of sinners and saw his conversion as proof of Christ’s patience: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). The fiercest opponent can become a faithful servant.
- Jesus stands with his people
Jesus took the persecution of his followers personally. Believers who suffer for his name are never alone; he shares their pain.
Cross-References:
1 Corinthians 15:8: “Last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.” Paul’s own testimony.
Acts 26:13: “At noon, O king, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun.” Paul retells the event.
Matthew 25:40: “Because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” Christ identifies with his people.
1 Timothy 1:15: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” Paul’s view of his conversion.
Conclusion: On the road to Damascus a light from heaven struck Saul to the ground, and the risen Jesus asked why Saul was persecuting him. The persecutor learned that Jesus is alive, that he is Lord, and that he is one with his people. Blind, fasting and led by the hand, Saul entered Damascus to wait for what he must do.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible