The 'Conversion' of Paul- Acts 9

Acts 9: 1-20

Today we are looking at the conversion of Saul. Saul will come to be known as St. Paul. ‘Saul’ is his Hebrew name. ‘Paul’ is the name he used among Greeks. It means something like “small”. The name change doesn’t actually have to do with his conversion, as some people believe. … We have a few name changes in the Bible like ‘Simon’ being renamed ‘Peter’ by Jesus. Likewise, ‘Abram’ was renamed ‘Abraham’ by God, and ‘Jacob’ is renamed ‘Israel’ after wrestling the angel of God. … But ‘Saul’ becoming known as ‘Paul’ has less meaning attached to it, in that sense. …

It’s actually more like how some people from Asia, when they move to North America, will choose an English name because they find English speakers have a hard time pronouncing their name. So, you might bump into a man with a thick Chinese accent who tells you his name is “Bob”. It’s easier for English speakers to remember and pronounce that name, so they do that rather than spend the next 5 minutes trying to coach you in the correct pronunciation of their Mandarin name, knowing you will probably forget it shortly anyway.

If we are looking for meaning in the name change, we should probably look at what it says about who he was ministering to. He became the Apostle to the Gentiles, so he becomes known by the name the Gentiles knew him by. That is where we will find the meaning in the name change.

While we are looking at common misunderstandings, we should also be careful about what we mean when we use the word “conversion” when applied to Paul. We commonly use the word to mean someone went from being an atheist to being a Christian, or when someone changes religions. But that’s not what we mean in Saul’s case. Saul already believed in God. He already believed God was sending the Messiah to rescue them. He knew the Bible inside and out, and spent his life studying it and trying to live according to it.

What changed for Saul was where he thought he was in the story of Israel. He thought he was still waiting for the Messiah to come. His conversion was that he came to believe that the Messiah has already come, and the Messiah is Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

So, the change, the conversion, has to do with his attitudes regarding Jesus being the Messiah. It’s not about Saul leaving Judaism to become Christian. It’s actually about Paul seeing that following Jesus is following the Jewish Messiah, which means being faithful to the God of his ancestors.

Perhaps, we could think about Saul converting from one movement of Judaism to another. In the First Century, there were many different movements within Judaism. Paul was part of the Pharisees, but there were also the Sadducees, and the Essenes , the Zealots, the Samaritans, as well as the Hellenistic Jews who sought to integrate Greek culture and philosophical ideas with Judaism, who were especially popular in Egypt. Those are the major movements. … Paul was looking for Christians in synagogues. Christianity arose from the Judaism that saw Jesus as the Messiah. … As much as we can say Saul “converted”, it was from one movement of Judaism to another. …

While this wasn’t about Paul changing religions, we also shouldn’t underestimate what a big deal this was. … Paul was so against the followers of Jesus that he was hunting them down. … One way of getting people executed, without going to the Romans, was by whipping up the crowd so they would stone the person. As long as it wasn’t a very important person, the Romans didn’t seem to care that much. This seems to have happened to St. Stephen, and Paul seems to have been involved in assisting with thiat stoning (Acts 7:58; 8:1).

We read that 

“Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison” (8:3).

 We read today that, 

“Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (9:1-2). 

So, he isn’t just looking to eliminate them locally, he is getting permission to leave the country to hunt them down. And these Jesus followers are probably in Damascus because they fled persecution in Jerusalem. This attempt to stamp them out in Jerusalem sort of backfired because as they fled they spread the news about Jesus. Paul probably saw himself as needing to stamp out a fire that is spreading.

Later in Acts Paul says, 

“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities” (26:9-11).

 In his letter to the Galatians he says, 

“For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers” (Gal 1:13-14).

So, Saul is on his way to Damascus to catch up with the followers of Jesus to arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem. … While Saul is on the way, we read, 

“… suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ [Saul] asked, "Who are you, Lord?" The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do’" (9:3-6).

Saul, who was ferociously defending God and truth, who was so sure he was right, was suddenly humbled and thrown to the ground. Later, when Paul is describing his experience, he describes himself as kicking against the goads (Acts 26:14). A goad is a kind of ancient cattle prod. It was a pointy stick. Farmers would use the goad to direct the animal. To ‘kick against the goads’ is to resist the direction of the master, and often to hurt oneself in the process. … Think of the story of the prophet Jonah. … The implication is that God was trying to show him the truth about the Messiah, but Paul was resisting and was struck blind.

He saw a blinding light and heard Jesus speaking to him. Those who were with him, heard the voice, but didn’t see the light. Saul is thrown into darkness- a physical blindness that matches his spiritual blindness. He has to be led to the city of Damascus. There, he refuses to eat or drink. He is fasting and praying in a state of repentance.

Paul will later describe his Damascus Road experience as experiencing the resurrected Jesus.[1] Jesus, who he thought was dead, came and spoke to him. … We have seen Jesus appear to a number of people after his resurrection, Mary Magdelene, the disciples, then Thomas. Some years (in the Easter season) we read the Road to Emmaus story, where Jesus is walking with two disciples and is somehow not recognized by them until they take a break from their journey and Jesus breaks the bread for their meal and then disappears. … We have seen that, after the resurrection, Jesus had unusual abilities. He can keep people from recognizing him, he can appear into locked rooms, and also disappear from sight. So, we should not be surprised if Jesus’ appearance to Paul has some of these unusual qualities.

Jesus says this amazing thing to Saul, 

“why do you persecute me?” 

 Jesus so identifies with his followers that to attack them, is to attack him. In that short interaction Saul suddenly realizes he has been fighting against God’s Messiah. He has been fighting against God, which is what his teacher Gamaliel warned the Council in Jerusalem about (Acts 5:38-39).

Jesus then speaks to Ananias, one of the men Saul was probably coming to arrest in Damascus, telling him to go a lay hands on Saul to heal him of his blindness (9:11-12). Understandably, Ananias has some reservations. He has heard about Saul. He is among the most dangerous persecutors the church is facing (9:13-14). … So, understandably, Ananias has some concerns. 

“… the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name’" (9:15-16).

Then we read, 

“Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized” (9:17-18). 

Ananias may have been the leader of the church in Damascus, who Saul was coming to imprison and kill. This is the only mention of him, but the ripples of this healing are still being felt today. This small powerful act changed world history. … He comes to Saul and calls him “brother”, lays his hands on him and prays for him and then he receives his sight. … On the part of Ananias, it is an incredible act of courage, mercy, and love. This is a man who was responsible for imprisoning and killing his friends.

Jesus could have healed Saul directly, but he used Ananias. Jesus wanted to connect Saul to the community of believers. His ‘conversion’ wasn’t complete until he connected with other followers of Jesus. Saul sees what kind of a community this is. They are willing to risk their lives to come to him and show him love- the very man coming to arrest them and maybe cause their deaths. … He is baptized and becomes one of them.

Bishop NT Wright comments on why Paul was chosen by God, and why he would have to suffer, saying, 

“Nobody must ever be able to say that people took the message to the Gentiles because they weren’t bothered about Israel and its traditions, or because they didn’t understand how important the law itself really was. No: when you want to reach the pagan world, the person to do it will be a hard-line, fanatical, ultra-nationalist, super-orthodox Pharisaic Jew. And then they say that God doesn’t have a sense of humour.”

“[Paul], too, will have to suffer, indeed will face constant suffering, for the sake of the Name. Nobody will be able to say that he, or the other apostles, was in this business for the sake of a comfortable life, or for human glory, power or wealth. When God calls someone, said Dietrich Bonhoeffer, he bids them come and die.”[2]

Paul, a man once consumed with hunting down followers of Jesus became one of its greatest evangelists. His Damascus Road experience forced him into humility and dependence on the very community he was trying to destroy. Ananias, despite the danger, approached his enemy with mercy. In that moment, Saul was healed physically and spiritually. Through his ministry, the Gospel spread across the Roman world, forever altering history. Instead of crushing the movement, his conversion helped fuel it. The power of the Gospel can turn the fiercest opponents into the greatest instruments of grace. AMEN

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[1] Jesus appeared to St. Paul multiple times- Acts 22:17-21; Acts 23:11; Galatians 1:12, 17-18

[2] NT Wright’s Acts for everyone