Lord, I Want to See
Acts 9:17-19
Helen Keller (1880-1968) has inspired men, women, and young people to see past their limitations, to look beyond their handicap and to accomplish more with what they have and spend less time fretting over what they do not have.
Another blind man has also inspired men, women, and young people to see more clearly spiritually. This individual is Saul of Tarsus.
SAUL’S BACKGROUND:
Saul writes in Philippians 3:5-6 that he was a “Hebrew of Hebrews” – this was a way of saying he was the Hebrewest and the Hebrews – a “red-blooded Hebrew”. He was a Pharisee, a persecutor of the church and blameless when it came to the Law of Moses.
Saul studied under the most well-known scribe in Jerusalem at that time – Gamaliel – and he advanced rapidly under Gamaliel’s tutelage. He advanced beyond many of his contemporaries, being extremely zealous for the Pharisaic traditions (Gal. 1:13-14).
SAUL’S PLANS:
Saul is first introduced to us as an accomplice to the stoning of the first Christian martyr, Stephen, in Acts 7. The day Stephen was stoned to death, Saul participated in a massive persecution of Christians in the city of Jerusalem. Saul “ravaged” the church, entering house after house of Christians and dragging them off to prison (Acts 8:3).
On the way to Damascus, Saul ran into the ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes – Jesus of Nazareth Himself. First, Jesus struck him blind. Sometimes you have to blind someone before they can see. Jesus sent Saul into Damascus, but this time it was not with letters of death but to become a letter for life (2 Corinthians 2:14-16).
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SAUL’S CONVERSION:
Then, Jesus sent a Christian, a Jewish Christian, to Saul to give him his sight back and to baptize him into Christ.
Here are some things this blind man saw:
He saw that one could be honest, sincere, conscientious, religious, zealous – and yet be wrong spiritually. Acts 23:1; 24:16.
He saw that one could be mistaken about the identity of God’s people. Rom. 2:28-29.
He saw that to persecute the church of Christ is to persecute the Christ Himself.
He saw that one could not be saved by faith only. Rom. 1:5; 16:26.
He saw that salvation also demands genuine repentance. 2 Cor. 7:9-10.
He saw that baptism was an important aspect of Christ’s plan of salvation. Rom. 6:3-4.
He saw that even a persecutor, blasphemer, and violent offender could be saved by the Gospel of Christ (1 Tim. 1:15-16).
Paul Holland
