“Now as he went on
his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed
around him. And falling to the ground he
heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And he
said, ‘Who are you, Lord? And He said,
‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’”
Acts 9:4-6 (ESV).
The eighth “I Am” statement of Jesus is
in the account of Saul the Persecutor’s amazing conversion when he met Jesus on
the road to Damascus as he was going there with the purpose of persecuting
Christians. It is significant that
Paul’s immediate attention on the Damascus Road was gained through a light that
flashed from heaven. He would not have
heard Jesus say to His disciples earlier, “I
am the light of the world,” but
here, to this enemy of the church and one who was even then on his way to find
and perhaps even kill Christians, the light of Jesus shone upon him, getting
Saul’s immediate attention. Paul was
very much aware of the light and his response indicated that he knew the light
was of heavenly origin: “Who are you, Lord?” I think of the prophecy the aged Simeon gave
to Mary when she brought Jesus to the Temple for the required Jewish
purification service: “”Behold, this child is appointed for the
fall and rising of many in Israel…a light for the revelation of the Gentiles…” (Luke
2:34, 32). Next, Saul heard a voice. It was “the
Truth” confronting Saul with the terrible deeds he was doing. It was time for Saul to stop fighting against
the Lord Christ and persecuting those who believed in Him. “I am
Jesus” the voice from heaven declared to Saul. What an awakening for Saul the
persecutor! The very one whose followers
he was trying to kill was in the light and in the voice from heaven. The name Jesus means “Jehovah is salvation,” and Saul, well-trained in Jewish law and
scriptures, would have known the meaning of the name. He was ready to obey the light and the voice,
and was led as a blind man to Damascus where the light would be further
revealed to him. For Paul’s own testimony
of what happened to him on the Damascus road and subsequently, read his defense
before an angry Jewish mob in Acts 22:3-21, and in Acts 26:2-23, his defense
before King Agrippa II and the Roman governor Porcius Festus. When Jesus confronted Saul of Tarsus, his
life was changed completely. He was accosted
as persecutor; he arose, temporarily blinded and having to be led the rest of
the way to Damascus. But once ministered
to by Ananias whom the Lord had prepared to be Saul’s helper, Paul was ready to
be the “vessel unto the Gentiles” that he became. He was soon preaching in Damascus, the very
place where he had intended to persecute Christians. Meeting Jesus changed Saul completely.
“What
will you do then with Jesus, Who is called the Christ?” This is the question each person must
face. Our “Damascus Road” experience may
not have been as dramatic as that experienced by Saul of Tarsus, but the
experience of meeting Jesus comes to each of us. We either hear and heed His voice, or we turn
a deaf ear and reject His invitation to light, life and grace. It is good for each saved person to recall the time when he/she met the
Lord and responded favorably to His invitation.
Such remembrance wells up as an offering of gratitude that Christ could
love each of us enough to ask us to follow Him.
“I am Jesus!” That knowledge and what we do with it
makes all the difference in how we order and conduct our lives. As Paul stated in Philippians 4:4-7, we too
can: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to
everyone. The Lord is at hand: do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be
made known to God. And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus.”
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