2 and [Paul] requested letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

3 As Saul drew near to Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”

5 “Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied.

15 “Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel.

16 I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”

— Acts 9:2-5; 15-16

15 and I [Paul] have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

16 In this hope, I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man

— Acts 24:15-16

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

Paul saw the new movement of Christianity after Jesus’s resurrection a dangerous deviation from Jewish law and was determined to stamp it out. Acts 9 tells us that Paul even asked letters from the high priest, authorizing him to capture Christians in Damascus, aiming to bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. At this point Paul was a man consumed by Jewish religion zeal. His heart was set on stopping the message of Jesus at any cost.

But something incredible happened. Something that would change not only Paul’s life, but the course of history. As Paul traveled to Damascus with the intentive persecution, he encountered the very one he was prosecuting. Jesus appeared to him in a blinding light knocking him to the ground and asking him why he persecute Him. This question struck at the core of Paul’s beliefs and convictions, unraveling everything he thought he knew in that moment. Instantly Paul was blinded, but his spiritual eyes were open to a reality he had never before understood. Jesus was indeed the Messiah and the gospel was the truth.