Today’s Scripture: Acts 9:20-31

• The Apostle Paul was raised as a Pharisee.

• The Pharisees (the name means “the separated ones”) were a Jewish sect that believed that unless Israel were faithful to the Law, the Messiah would never come. Consequently, they saw it as their mission to purify the Jewish people by making sure that the Jews kept the Law perfectly. You can see, therefore, why they had such a problem with Jesus, who seemed—from their point of view—to be too lenient in matters of Torah.

• So, when this Messianic Jewish sect who claimed Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah arose in Jerusalem, Paul vigorously tried to stamp it out. He did this because he believed it was righteous to do so. After all, if the Jews believed the wrong things, it would mean the Messiah wouldn’t come.

• Imagine, then, that famous moment on the Damascus Road: Jesus appears to Paul as a living man, which both immediately confirmed everything Paul believed and at the same time showed he was completely mistaken in his beliefs.

• It is not really possible to overstate what this revelation meant to Paul, but we can see from his actions how life-changing was his Damascus Road experience: he went from persecuting the followers of Jesus to being persecuted for being a follower of Jesus.

• The reason Paul immediately changed course is because he met the Risen Jesus. The fact that God raised Jesus from the dead proved that Jesus was the Messiah.

Have you ever had that kind of Damascus Road experience?