Saul's Conversion
It is possible to see the light and change.
Paul said to King Agrippa, "Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities. "With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, `Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.' I asked, `Who are you, Lord?' The Lord answered, `I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles-- to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' "After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me." - Acts 26:9-21
In order for Paul to rescue people from darkness, he had to be rescued first.
Paul admits to having persecuted those who believed in Jesus, and Jesus came to him to stop him, claiming that Paul (Saul) was persecuting him.
Jesus takes our pain as though it is directed at him, and he comes to our aid. Do you think he does the same for those we feel are evil?
Saul believed he was doing the right thing until he saw the light from Jesus. I am sure no one could have convinced him otherwise, and yet he discovered his whole belief system was wrong.
If that could happen to him, it could happen to us as well, couldn't it?
Now, chances are we would never admit our views are wrong. How could they be? It is always the others who are wrong. Saul felt the same way, and must have been shocked to learn the truth.
Maybe the lesson for us today, as we commemorate Paul's conversion, is that we, too, could be rescued from our righteousness, seeing the light and realizing we have been in darkness.
But we can't do that on our own. We need help.
More to come...