A Journey Towards Transformation?“The Damascus Road”
Acts 9:1-19
Thinking about this whole idea that we’ll be exploring in our Easter message, “God Will Make a Way,” the concept of the various roads that both Jesus and His disciples took up to and following His resurrection came to mind. We’ll look at two of those roads, the Jerusalem and Calvary roads in the following couple of weeks.
But I’d like to begin with the road that was taken not long after Jesus’s resurrection, “The Damascus Road.” The reason is because it goes along so well with our overall vision for this year, and that is 2024 is to be a year of change, or transformation.
And while these roads led to different destinations, in the end they all lead to Jesus’s resurrection, and the risen Lord, Jesus.
And this is true with this last road and the man we find traveling upon it. His name was Saul of Tarsus, who we also known as the Apostle Paul, and the road was the one leading towards Damascus. And while it led to Damascus, it was also leading him to an encounter with the risen Jesus, the one Paul was actually persecuting in his persecution of Christians.
Saul was born in the city of Tarsus in the province of Cilicia (Sy-LIS-ee-uh), which is located near Antioch a city in Asia Minor, or modern-day Turkey. Saul was the son of a very prominent and wealthy Jewish family, and because Cilicia was a Roman colony, Saul could claim Roman citizenship.
Saul was a bright child and was sent off to Jerusalem to study under the noted Rabbi Gamaliel. He was instructed in all the laws and traditions of the Jewish faith and was very zealous for it. In fact, he was advancing in Judaism to a far greater degree than his peers.
So, Saul was born a Jew, grew up a Pharisee, held Roman citizenship, and lived and studied in Jerusalem during the time of Jesus. Like the other religious leaders, he probably expected that the enthusiasm and teachings that marked Jesus’s followers would soon die out after Jesus’s death.
But that didn’t happen, instead not only did their enthusiasm grow, so did their numbers. Therefore, Saul took action and persecuted them, putting them either in prison or death. It was at the stoning death of Stephen that we’re first introduced to Saul as he held the garments of those throwing the stones.
And so, Saul was very zealous in his pursuit to eradicate Christianity, which at that time was known as “the Way.”
Describing himself later to the church in Philippi, Paul said that he was “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” (Philippians 3:5-6 NKJV)
And so, at this time, Saul thought quite highly of himself and his mission which found him going from synagogue to synagogue punishing those who believed in Jesus until they began to leave Jerusalem, but even this was not enough for him. He got letters from the chief priests and followed the believers wherever they went.
And this is where we pick up our story as Saul was on the road to Damascus and His encounter with Jesus and the Transformation that took place.
Read Acts 9:1-19
Saul was a man full of vinegar, that is, full of hatred and bitterness. He was on a mission, but not for God, nor was it a mission of mercy, rather it was a mission of punishment and pain.
He was on a mission to confront and get rid of all those who followed Jesus, those he described as belonging to “The Way.” In the Hebrew this means a person’s walk, or way and manner of life. In other words, Christians stood out wherever they were, or in whatever situation they found themselves in.
These first followers of Jesus walked the talk; they lived as Jesus would have. Paul described what that looks like in his letter to the Philippian church.
“That you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:15 NKJV)
In fact, the term “Christian,” came from how they conducted themselves. It meant, “little christs.”
In other words, they stood out. So, it really wasn’t hard for Saul to find them. They literally left a trail of new believers in their wake.
And so, Saul was on a mission to confront and get rid of these pesky believers, and nothing on earth would change his mind, or his direction. Yet, little did he know that while on this road to Damascus, on this journey of transformation, he wouldn’t confront the followers of Jesus, but rather Jesus would confront him.
And although Saul was not willing to change, he would be changed in ways greater than he could ever possibly imagine, and he wouldn’t challenge the beliefs of Christians, but have his own beliefs and faith challenged.
So, this Damascus Road is a road of confrontation, change and challenge. Let’s look at the first.
1. A Road of Confrontation
Traveling down this road from Jerusalem to Damascus only intensified the situation in Saul’s mind. Damascus is about 150 miles northeast of Jerusalem. By today’s standards it’s not considered to be far. Maybe a three-hour drive. But back in those days it took the better part of a week. And so, Saul had plenty of time to set his mind and heart toward the confrontations that would take place.
Either these followers of Jesus would return to the Jewish faith, or they would be taken back as prisoners and convicted of blasphemy. But a confrontation was inevitable.
But instead of Saul being the confronter, he was the confronte’. There on the road to Damascus a light from heaven confronted him.
“As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ Then the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’” (Acts 9:3-5 NKJV)
There are many suggestions by scholars and critics as to what this light might have been.
• Some suggest that Saul experienced heat stroke and the light was merely Saul becoming lightheaded.
• Others say that it was lighting, which was a common occurrence in that area, and that Saul became dazed and only thought he heard a voice, but that doesn’t explain why the others heard the sound of the voice.
• And finally, they say that Saul had an epileptic seizure, which would cause the fall and his hearing voices, but again it doesn’t address the others hearing the voice.
You know what I find amazing is how when we are speaking to God we’re praying, but when God speaks to us, people think we’re crazy! Charles Spurgeon remarked that if Saul indeed had epilepsy, then he wished that all men would have epilepsy just like that.
But the truth of the matter is that humanity has consistently been trying to explain away the supernatural of God with natural explanations.
People are more comfortable with explanations that they can grasp and understand with their natural mind, rather than the supernatural, because now we are dealing with faith. And humanity has always had the propensity of walking by sight, not by faith.
In Saul’s case this wasn’t a bolt of lightening or heatstroke. It was nothing and no One less than the Light of the world, Jesus Christ.
The Apostle John describes Jesus as the real light of life.
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:4-5 NKJV)
And Jesus said the same thing concerning Himself. He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 NKJV)
In fact, we know that this light that confronted Saul was Jesus, because the voice that came from the light said, “Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” and when Saul asked, “Who are you Lord,” the voice replied, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”
All this time Saul thought that he was zealously serving God in persecuting these followers of The Way, but in truth he was persecuting Jesus, the Lord God Himself.
And so, in the blink of an eye the confronter became the confronted. The hunter became the hunted. The accuser was now the accused. Saul thought he had the authority and power, but in that single moment of time, he realized that he was powerless when he heard the true voice of authority.
What voice did he hear?
• He heard the Voice that spoke in the dark and created the light.
• He heard the Voice that spoke to Moses from out of the burning bush.
• He heard the Voice that spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
• He heard the Voice that spoke to the prophets, and
• He heard the Voice that cried out from the Cross, “It is finished.”
And all Saul could do was to bow his face to the ground and yield to the only true authority, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, there was no way Saul was going to say, “Well, how do you do, I’m Saul, nice to make your acquaintance.” What I mean by that is that we have to stop emphasizing who we are and start emphasizing who Jesus is. And when we do, He’ll change everything.
• He is the Creator and our Savior.
• He is the risen Lord, and He is alive.
• He is the giver of both abundant and eternal life.
• He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
• He is our righteousness and the only Son of God.
• And He is the soon coming King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Now, the goads Jesus referenced were sticks used by shepherds to prod their livestock to get them moving the right direction. The goad Jesus was speaking of was none other than the Holy Spirit who had been trying to get Saul’s attention and change him from the path he was taking.
The first goad that the Holy Spirit used was his teacher Gamaliel. When Peter and John were brought before the high courts of the Sanhedrin, Gamaliel warned not to touch the followers of Jesus, because if this wasn’t of God then it would die out, but if God was behind it, and if they were trying to overthrow it, then they would be fighting directly against God Himself, which is exactly what we see happening with Saul.
Another goad would have been Saul’s witness of Stephen’s death, where instead of pleading for his life, or cursing his accusers, Stephen asked the Lord not to charge them with this sin. And then there were all those that Saul had persecuted and imprisoned. How could these people go so quietly? They didn’t fight or curse him. They were most likely praying for him.
Maybe this whole idea of fighting against the goads describes some of us. Maybe we’ve been kicking against the leadings and promptings of the Holy Spirit, either when He places in our paths those who have been telling of our need to know Jesus as Savior and Lord, or maybe we’ve been kicking against the Holy Spirit leading us into new avenues of ministry and faith. Or it may be the Holy Spirit’s promptings trying to get us to stop doing something that is taking us further away from Jesus and the church.
And so, what we need to understand is that when we’re walking down a path of our own choosing, the Lord will confront us, because as King David cried out, “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight, that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.” (Psalm 51:4 NKJV)
And since God is in the transformational business, He will confront us on these roads we take that are not the Narrow Road He desires.
2. A Road of Change
Sir Isaac Newton tells us that the first law of motion is that everything continues in a state of rest unless it’s compelled to change by forces impressed upon it. Saul wasn’t going to change unless Jesus confronted him, and once confronted, he changed.
• His name was changed from Saul of Tarsus to Paul the Apostle.
• Jesus whom he had hated was now the One that he adored and called Lord.
• He became a member of the very fellowship he had sworn to destroy.
• He changed from being the persecutor to being the one who would be persecuted.
He was so transformed and changed that he said, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV)
What I find interesting is that after this remarkable change he became the most unpopular man on the face of the earth. The believers didn’t trust him, and the Jews wanted to kill him. But Paul was now a different person. He was now a part of The Way, and regardless of the consequences, he went out and preached Jesus in the synagogues increasing both in faith and power.
Saul, now Paul, wasn’t like that Civil War soldier who tried to stay neutral to save his life. You know the guy. The one who wore Yankee pants and a Confederate shirt? The only problem is that when he went outside, he got shot by both sides.
Paul was the first recognized missionary of the church, and wherever he went he started new churches. And he also wrote nearly one third of the New Testament.
How did this change or transformation take place? It was by meeting Jesus, the Living Word, and allowed His word to come alive in his heart, which is the same way we change, by allowing Jesus Christ, the Living Word to become alive in our hearts.
Saul knew the word, he knew the Scriptures, from top to bottom, frontwards and backwards, but it didn’t change him, and that’s because he didn’t know its author personally. He was a Jew, he knew the law, but he never allowed the law and the word to come alive within him, which is what we see in the church today.
There are those who know the Bible and the rules, rituals, and traditions of the church, but the don’t know Jesus personally. They don’t know Him who is the author and perfecter of the faith.
To Saul the words of Scripture were merely a set of rules and traditions to follow, but it wasn’t something that was alive and breathing in his life. And so, when Saul met with the Living Word, Jesus, the two became as one within him, and he was forever changed.
It takes both if transformation is going to take place. There are people who say they believe in Jesus, but they rarely if ever open their Bibles. The Bible and the words written within are foreign to them and these people never stand out. There’s no difference between them and the world, because they don’t know God’s word for their lives. Paul tells us of this reality.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2a NKJV)
We’ve had years of indoctrination, where false and wrong information has been forced upon us through the educational system that denies the very existence of God. To counter this we must allow God to change us from the inside out, which is what transformation means. We need to replace worldly wisdom with God’s wisdom, and we do that through the continual study of God’s word.
And so, this Damascus Road, this journey towards transformation is first a road of confrontation, then it is a road of change, and finally, it’s a road of challenge.
3. A Road of Challenge
From that time forward Paul no longer challenged having faith in Jesus, but instead allowed faith in Jesus to challenge his life.
We see this challenge in our text when the Lord said that Paul would be His mouthpiece to Kings, Gentiles, and Jews, and then how much he would suffer.
And this is seen throughout Paul’s ministry. One of the most noticeable places was when Paul prayed that God would remove an illness or disease that hindered him, but God said, “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ (And Paul replied) ‘Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast in my infirmaries, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.’” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV)
And, while we talk about the Damascus Road, Jesus and the Apostle Paul are our main focus, but there was another disciple that stepped up to God’s challenge to greater service. His name was Ananias.
“Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ So the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.’ Then Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.’” (Acts 9:9-14 NKJV)
God called Ananias, and Ananias response was, “Yes Lord, here I am.” And then the Lord proceeded to tell Him that Saul of Tarsus was at a house on the street called Straight, praying. God wanted Ananias to go to Saul, lay hands on him and pray that he would receive his sight.
And Ananias answered the Lord in those same solemn tone and religious voice we all use when the Lord asks us to step up to the challenge of following Him in the same way, but we don’t want to go.
“Are You out of your eternal mind? Saul just got finishing whacking Stephen in Jerusalem and is putting believers in jail wherever he goes. And you want me to lay hands on him and pray. I lay hands on him he’s going to lay hands on me, and not in a good way.”
But God set Ananias straight because Saul was a chosen vessel to bear His name to the Jew and Gentile alike, and that he, that is Saul, would suffer because of it.
Jesus said, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:15-16)
Ananias was called and challenged by God to greater service, just as God calls us, and God is faithful and will equip us with everything we need to accomplish the task He has for us.
And God does so, most often, through His word.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV)
Conclusion
There are many today who are walking down a similar road that leads to destruction, a road of drug and alcohol addiction, crime, hatred, bitterness, greed, and lust.
Please know that Jesus wants to confront us today with the light of His truth and presence, and His desire is for us to quit kicking against the leadings of the Holy Spirit and come into the fullness of His light and presence.
Yes, we’ve all done some really stupid stuff, and myself more than most. But, God still extends to us His grace and mercy. In fact, God’s grace and mercy are newly given to us each and every morning.
And so, today, as we close our time together, let’s take this moment and look long and hard at our lives. Do we like what we see? Is there something that God is asking us to change?
God is in the life changing business, and he will change us. Let’s allow the light of Jesus to shine upon our lives today, and allow God’s word to come alive in our hearts.
So, let’s stop fighting God and what He has for our lives, and instead start following Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
And so, as we journey down this road of transformation, let’s be open and allow Jesus to confront our faith, to change our hearts and change us from what we were and even where we are right now, and let’s become all that desires for us to become. And let’s accept His challenge to be those difference makers in the lives of others that He places in our path, along with the world around us.
