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On a Collision Course
(Acts 9:1-9)
February 13, 2022
Read Acts 9:1-9 – Two soldiers in Moscow spotted a man walking alone late at night and ordered him to halt.
The man ran, but one soldier shot him.
The other asked, “Why did you shoot him?”
He replied, “Curfew.”
“But it’s not curfew yet.”
The soldier replied, “I know.
But I knew him.
I know where he lives and he could never have made it in time.”
That’s the zeal Saul had!
Yet, this greatest enemy of Jesus became the greatest missionary.
But only after he repented his sin and believed in the Jesus whose memory he hoped to erase.
He had to be converted.
That term makes people nervous today.
To ask someone to convert is to be narrow-minded.
Must I be converted?”
Jesus says, Yes! Mt 18:3: “Unless you turn (are converted) . . .
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Heaven itself is at stake.
So, Saul has a dramatic conversion.
Not everyone’s is so jarring.
But his demonstrates some common elements of a saving encounter with the God who will not let go.
He was Conned
1) But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.”
So, who is Saul.
He was born in Tarsus, NE of Jerusalem at south of modern Turkey.
It was famous for its university that ranked with Athens and Alexandria among the most honored in the Roman world.
Saul’s father was a Roman citizen and Pharisee (Acts 23:6), thus Saul was both by birth.
He was sent to Jerusalem to study under Gamaliel, the most respected rabbi of his day.
It’s not clear if he ever met Jesus, but he knew he was no Messiah.
Deut 21:23b says, “a hanged man is cursed by God.” Jesus’ crucifixion was an unthinkable fate if He were really Messiah.
And, Jesus had claimed to be God, but every Jew knew the shema – Deut 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
Saul had heard how Jesus flaunted the law – healing on the Sabbath and allowing His disciples to harvest food and eat on the Sabbath.
It never have occurred to Him that Jesus was not breaking the law, but only Pharisaic traditions – that God could be one in essence, yet three in person -- that Jesus was not cursed for His sake, but Saul’s.
Any such thoughts were far from his mind as he tried to wipe out this heresy.
He’d been conned.
So, he “went to the high priest 2) and asked him for letter to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”
Saul is on the warpath.
The high priest had religious jurisdiction over Jews wherever they might be.
Saul knows there’s a large Jewish population in Damascus, capital of Syria, 130 mi NE of Jerusalem.
He’s going for the kill, and not gently!
“Breathing threats and murder” – violent language.
He admits it himself: Acts 22:4: “I persecuted this Way (Xns) to the death, binding and delivering to prison both me and women.”
Acts 26:10c: “when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.”
And in 26:11b: “In raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.” Saul was a terror, fear by believers everywhere.
Why was he like this? Because, he believed he was right!
He was convinced!
He believed it and he was ready to die for it.
He was sincere.
But he was sincerely wrong.
He’d been conned.
And that is a very dangerous place to be.
We all like to think as long as someone is sincere, they’ll be okay.
Saul’s conversion refutes that.
Jn 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him (not believes in whatever, but whoever believes in Him) should not perish but have eternal life.”
It’s not just believe – it’s believe in Him.
That’s what leads to eternal life.
The alternative is what?
To perish.
To be convinced of the wrong thing leads to destruction.
So, we might sincerely believe if we do my best, we’ll be okay.
We might sincerely believe pantheism has it right.
We might be convinced that no one can really know, so our best will be okay.
We’d be like Saul – convinced, but condemned.
Sincere – but sincerely wrong.
The stakes are too high for that.
Death hit me at age 6.
An electrician relative was up a pole one day when he grabbed a hot wire and was electrocuted.
He sincerely believed the wire was dead – convinced.
But he was sincerely wrong, and just as being sincerely wrong can lead to physical tragedy, so being sincerely wrong spiritually can lead to spiritual tragedy.
Beloved, before you reject the deity and atonement of Christ, check it out.
Make sure you’re not being conned without knowing it.
I.
He was Confronted
So, Saul was convinced, sure he was doing the right thing.
Little did he know he was on a collision course with the very One he thought dead and whose memory he sought to erase.
It’s one of the most moving passages in Scripture.
Saul and team had nearly completed their 150 mile, 7-day journey when about noon (Acts 22:6) “suddenly a light from heave shone around him.”
Brighter than the noonday sun (Acts 26:13), it knocked Saul to the ground (22:7).
That’s bad enough, but then came the voice – understood by Saul, but not his friends (22:9).
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (4b).
Imagine Paul’s thoughts.
He knew exactly who he was persecuting, and now he found himself colliding with a supernatural objection.
Got his attention in a hurry!
The question was terrorizing.
Not, why are you persecuting those Christians?
But “Why are you persecuting me?” Jesus and His followers are one!
That’s how locked in the relationship is.
“Why are you persecuting me?” Saul thought he knew.
Jesus was dead.
He was just wiping out the rabble that claimed otherwise for God’s sake.
Now he’s face-to-face with someone – clearly divine -- whom he later identifies as Jesus (Acts 9:17, 27; 22:14; 26:16; I Cor 9:1; 15:8) – and Jesus questions: “Why are you persecuting me?”
Acts 26:14 tells of a follow-on comment: “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
A goad was a pointed stick used to poke an animal to direct him.
A rebellious ox would kick against that goad, only to suffer the consequences.
This metaphor tells us something about Saul’s state of mind.
Even as he was breathing fire against the Xns, he had doubts.
His conscience was accusing.
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