Miracle 6. Saul’s conversion.

 

THE MIRACLES IN THE BOOK OF ACTS

 

What is a Miracle? It is an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause, such an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God.

After the ascension of Jesus Christ, God by the Holy Spirit still moved upon the earth, and the Book of Acts are filled with supernatural manifestations of the wonders and miracles of God.

The book of Acts includes reports of at least 14 single wonders or miracles. A clear sign of the power of God on the earth, even after Jesus return to the Heavens. Here they are:

1. Jesus’ ascension.

2. Pentecost.

3. Healing of a lame man.

4. Death of Ananias and Sapphira.

5. Opening of prison doors.

6. Saul’s conversion.

7. Peter’s restoration of Dorcas.

8.–9. Peter’s deliverance from prison and Herod’s death.

10. Paul’s blinding of Elymas.

11. Paul’s healing of a cripple at Lystra.

12. Casting out a demon in Philippi.

13. Paul’s restoration of Eutychus.

14. Paul’s healing of Publius’s father.

 

Miracle 6. Saul’s conversion.

 

Bible Reading: Acts 9:1-20.

 

A zealous young Pharisee named Saul saw a vision of Jesus while on the way to Damascus to seize Christians and return them to Jerusalem for trial.

 

1.    Was Saul right to persecute Christians?

 

There is no doubt that Saul felt justified in persecuting Christians. In Old Testament times, God had commended Phinehas for slaying a sinning Israelite (Numbers 25:6-15). In more recent history, the Maccabees had shown their zeal for God by rooting out apostasy.

The writer of one of the Dead Sea Scrolls saw zeal against apostates as a natural expression of one’s commitment to God. He wrote, “The nearer I draw to you, the more I am filled with zeal against all who do wickedness and against all men of deceit.

There is no doubt that Saul the Pharisee felt justified in persecuting Christians. He also saw it as his religious duty, until that day on the Damascus road when Jesus spoke to him, and the foundation was laid for the transformation of Saul into the apostle Paul.

 

2. The background of Saul’s journey Acts 9:1.

“Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest.”

 

Saul, who later became the apostle Paul, is pictured as “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.”

Earlier Saul had taken part in the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:58; 8:1). Following Stephen’s death, nearly all the Christians were driven from Jerusalem, Acts 8:1 “Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time, a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”

The “still” in Acts 9:1 tell us that this crusade against Jesus’ followers had not satisfied Saul. So, Saul obtained letters from the high priest authorizing him to bind believers and return them to Jerusalem. In the Roman Empire, ethnic groups could keep their own religions and their own systems of law.

Letters from the High Priest as the head of the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of Judaism, would be recognized as authorizing the arrest of any Jew. Saul was on official business, and his business was the persecution of the church.

A. “Suddenly a light shone around him from heaven” Acts 9:3.

 

While on the road to Damascus, Saul was suddenly blinded by a bright light. He fell to the ground and heard a voice from heaven calling to him. The voice asked why Saul was persecuting the Lord. Saul, “trembling and astonished,” could only ask, “Lord, what do you want me to do?”

When Saul arose, he was blind. His companions led him by the hand to Damascus, where he neither ate nor drank for three days.

 

B. “Ananias” Acts 9:10.

“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.”

The vision on the road to Damascus was not the only miraculous element in Saul’s conversion. God spoke in a vision to a believer named Ananias and sent him to Saul. Reassured by God that the hostile Saul was “a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles” Acts 9:15, Ananias went. When he reached Saul, Ananias laid hands on him and “immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales” Acts 9:18.

Saul got up and was baptized. After recovering his strength, Saul began to preach in the synagogues in Damascus that Jesus was the Christ, “the Son of God” Acts 9:20.

 

2.    The three accounts of Saul’s conversion.

 

Three accounts of Saul’s conversion occur in Acts. They are found in Acts 9, 22, and 26. At first glance, the three accounts seem to conflict in important details. In Acts 9:3 and 22:6, the light radiated around Saul only; in Acts 26:13, it shone around everyone. Acts 9:4 says that Saul heard the voice, and 9:7 adds that his companions heard it as well. But Acts 26:14 indicates that Saul alone heard the voice.

The solution to this apparent contradiction lies in the fact that the Greek noun phone means both “sound” and “intelligible speech.” What happened is that all saw the light that enfolded Saul. While Saul clearly heard Jesus speak, his companions heard sounds they could not understand.

What everyone understood, however, was that something miraculous had happened. There had been a bat qol, the “daughter of a voice,” or a “voice from heaven,” a phrase used in the first century to indicate that God himself had spoken.

How stunned Saul was when the voice from heaven, clearly that of God, asked why Saul was persecuting Him! Saul certainly did not think he had been persecuting God! When the speaker identified Himself as Jesus, everything Saul had believed was swept away.

The miracle convinced Saul that those believers he had been persecuting were right. By the time Ananias appeared, Saul was ready to commit himself to Jesus.

 

3.    The importance of the miracle.

 

The miraculous conversion and the restoration of Saul’s sight foreshadowed the importance of Paul in the spread of the gospel. It also demonstrated the continuing active presence of Jesus, whose own miracles had established Him as the Son of God.

 

Conclusion:

 

          This is the 6^th recorded miracle in the Book of Acts.