And when Saul had come to jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple.  (27) But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles.  And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.  (28) So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out.  (29) And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed among the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him. (30) When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus. (31) Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified.  And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they multiplied. 

The Acts of the Apostles was written by Luke as a history and theological study of the early Church. In today’s verses in chapter 9, Luke takes up Sauls/Paul’s journey after his conversion at the gates of Damascus. Paul was a Hebrew born of Hebrews; he was a Rabbi and studied under the most famous Rabbi of his time. He lived his life as closely to the Law of Moses as anyone was able and was passionate about his Jewish faith. When Paul heard that a Jewish carpenter from Nazareth was acclaimed to be the Messiah his passion turned to supreme violence and he became an extreme persecutor of this “heresy”.  Jesus of Nazareth was not at all what the Jews thought the Messiah would be – that the kingdom promised of the Messiah would be of this world.

Paul’s  dramatic, sudden and total conversion on the road to Damascus was transformative to say the least. Forever the history of the world was changed in a moment.  Paul is the pattern for transformation by faith in Christ Jesus and the greatest ever example of the power of the resurrection.

Paul did not return to Jerusalem until years after his conversion and even after this time his actions as persecutor of those of the Lord struck fear in the faithful, even the apostles. We don’t know why Barnabas sponsored him in Jerusalem but Paul’s actions in speaking boldly for Christ after his transformation gave him credibility. Clearly from today’s verses Paul was successful in proving Christ Jesus was the Messiah promised in all of scripture to the point where he needed to be smuggled out of that city for his safety.

All the faithful have a conversion story and all are like Saul. We have been reborn and transformed never to go back. We are new men and women and have all been on our own road to Damascus.