This week I met with a couple who intend to be married soon.
For him it’s his first marriage; for her it’s the second. So I asked him if he
had any pause at marrying a woman who had been married before. I don’t remember
his answer very well. I do remember that
it was honest and detailed. But the words I most remember were hers. When he
was finished, she said, “I was a hot mess when he met me.” And then she
detailed some of the “hotness”.
Her account brought tears to my eyes, though I think she
probably thought it was my cold or allergies flaring up. She talked about her
childhood and her search for significance. She talked about many of the twists
and turns of her life of which she was not proud. And when she finished, she
smiled and said, “And without all of it, I would never have been prepared to
meet him, and marry him, and walk together with Jesus.Saul would understand that. This week we are in Acts 9 looking at what happens to him on the road to Damascus. The sermon is entitled, “Blinded by the Light”, and it’s not unlike Bruce Springsteen’s first single of the same title which chronicles Springsteen’s personal reflections on his journey through life. But unlike Springsteen’s experiences, Saul’s were life changing.
Think of his journey from Jerusalem to Damascus. He’s just
sanctioned the death of the only man in Scripture described as “full of grace”,
other than Jesus. He’s had the stoning crowd pay homage to him by casting their
cloaks at his feet. He has rejected his mentors’ advice in chapter 5 to cease
persecuting Christians, and he has set out on a 6-day journey to the northern
city of Damascus. And it’s here, late in the trip, that Jesus blinds him with
His sovereign light.
Like that woman who recounts the many twists and turns of
her life, so Luke recounts the web of circumstances that the Lord Jesus uses to
intercept Saul and turn him in a different direction.
In preparation for Sunday, you may wish to consider the
following:
1.)
Read Acts 5 and analyze what Gamaliel says
regarding the treatment of Christians.
2.)
Why would Saul reject his advice?
3.)
What does Acts 6:7 tell us about Saul’s
decision?
4.)
What does Acts 7:58 tell us about Saul’s
reputation and authority?
5.)
What authority does Saul seek in Acts 9:2?
6.)
What’s the distance between Jerusalem and
Damascus?
7.)
What details about his journey does Paul add in
Acts 26?
8.)
What do we learn about Jesus when we compare
Acts 7:56 and Acts 9:3-4?
9.)
Why doesn’t Jesus heal Saul on the spot?
10.) What
benefits are there for him to be blind for 3 days?
See you Sunday!
