Now that we’ve seen the drastic turnabout in Saul’s life resulting from his witnessing and speaking with the resurrected Jesus of Nazareth, let’s now turn to what exactly it is that we know about Saul after his Damascus road experience. Let’s take a look at the biblical references to his life following that resurrection-witnessing event. The following is a concatenation of the descriptions of Saul’s life after the events of his Damascus Road experience recorded in Acts 9, Acts 22, Acts 26 and Galatians chapters 1 and 2.
And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, they led Saul by the hand by those who were with him, and they came into Damascus and brought him into the city. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Now there was a disciple named Ananias who lived there at Damascus. He was a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
So Ananias departed and entered the house. And he came to Saul, and standing by him he layed his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Receive your sight.” And immediately at that very hour something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight and saw him. And Ananias said, “The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened.
Before Saul was born God had set him apart and called him by His grace in order that he might preach Him among the Gentiles. When God was pleased to reveal His Son to him, Saul was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. He did not immediately consult with anyone, and did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before him, but he went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus and declared the gospel first to those in Damascus. Then after three years he went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But he saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. Then Saul went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And he was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of Saul.
“When Saul had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, he fell into a trance and saw Jesus saying to him, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ And Saul said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’
And He said to him, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
Saul declared the gospel throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
Then after fourteen years Saul went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with him. He went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that he proclaims among the Gentiles, in order to make sure he was not running or had not run in vain. But even Titus, who was with him, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.
Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were made no difference to him; God shows no partiality)—those who seemed influential added nothing to Saul.
On the contrary, when they saw that Saul had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through Saul for his to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to Saul, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and Saul, that they should go to the Gentiles and James, Cephas and John to the circumcised. Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing he was eager to do.
To this day Saul has had the help that comes from God, and so he testifies both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”
Three very interesting points here in light of the first chapter of Romans will again convince us that Saul’s Damascus road encounter with the resurrected Jesus dramatically influenced what he writes to the Roman church.
First: The road to Damascus was the very place where Saul received his commission to the preach the “gospel” to the Gentiles. It is important to notice that not only do we learn that Jesus communicated this mission to Saul during Saul’s Damascus road experience, but we also learn that Saul’s commissioning event is mentioned in each of the five Damascus road accounts in the book of Acts, (and sometimes more than once in the same account). Thi repetition leads us to believe that it must be a very significant factor to understanding Saul’s abrupt new self-identity and why he writes what he does in Romans and other New Testament letters.
Below is a listing of the accounts of Saul’s commission to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.
“But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;” - Gal 1:16
“I went up because of a revelation and set before them…the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles- Gal 2:2
“when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised,
they gave us the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and Saul, that we should go to the Gentiles.”- Gal 2:7, 9
“...for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.”- Acts 9:15
“Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.”- Acts 22:21
"...delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you”- Act 26:17
“Saul declared the gospel throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles…”- Acts 26:20
“to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.” - Acts 26:23
Just as fervent as Saul was in persecuting the church, even more so now, after his Damascus road experience, Saul becomes equally, if not more so, fervent in reaching the Gentiles with the gospel message of the conquering Messiah.
The importance of this abrupt turnabout in Saul’s mission, from persecution to preaching, is the least we can infer from the repetition of his commissioning in each of these accounts.
In similar fashion, we can also see this same fervency in the first chapter of Romans. We read in Romans 1:5,
“we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the Gentiles.”-
This shift in fervency again coincides with his Damascus road experience.
Saul’s writings cannot be understood apart from understanding the influence his encounter with the risen Jesus of Nazareth had upon his thinking. On the Damascus road, what Saul was appointed for, what he was called to do, what he was set apart for, and what he was chosen to do is clearly reflected in the first chapter of the letter to the Romans.
“we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the Gentiles.”- Romans 1:5
“in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.” - Romans 1:13
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek/Gentile.”- Romans 1:16
Saul's commission on the Damascus road is the same commission he fervently pursues fulfilling in Romans 1.
Second: It is very interesting to note that as a result of Saul’s Damascus road experience, in his post-calling worldview, Saul associates ones behavior as evidence of ones repentance, a point that becomes very important in his communication to the Romans. In the Acts 26 account of Saul’s encounter with the resurrected Jesus, Luke says,
“Saul declared the gospel throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.”- Acts 26:20
Throughout Romans, Saul makes mention of behavior and habits that either will attract or distract attention away from Jesus and he urges his readers to act in such a way that reflects their belief in the conquering Messiah. For instance, he mentions shameless acts in 1:27, lawless deeds in 4:7, the deeds of the body in 8:13, and acts of mercy 12:8. Saul attempts to correct ungodly behavior as he expects the practice of their daily lives to be in keeping with their repentance from their old ways.
Third: One would think that as a result of Saul being severed completely from his staunch Judaic legalism, he would abandon any and all forms of Jewish religious life. However, Saul’s new radical worldview not only embraced the Jewish religious system, but unexpectedly extended it beyond the boundaries of his former religious lifestyle and worldview. After meeting the resurrected Messiah, his former limited Judaic worldview, once viewed by Saul as exclusive to the Jewish nation, now extended beyond those limited borders to include both the Jewish nation and all the nations, the Gentiles (ἔθνος). In a sense, Saul being severed from his previous way of thinking offered the opportunity for a grafting-in of a much larger worldview, one that now includes the ἔθνος. What may appear to be Saul's abolishing of the law, in actuality, is a fulfilling of the law.
On the road to Damascus, Saul learned that “he would proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.” (Acts 26:23) and that he was “a chosen instrument of mine (Jesus’) to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.”- Acts 9:15
Saul’s new worldview of the “gospel”, which appears to many to be a shameful experience for all Jews everywhere, and which now include the previously uncharitable Gentiles, adding to that shame, was in reality nothing at all to be ashamed of, because he knew…
“it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Gentiles).”- Romans 1:16
So, we have seen in Saul’s post-calling, Saul is commissioned “to the Gentiles.”
But just who are the Gentiles? How are we to understand that term? Would the gospel make more sense if we had a clearer understanding of who they are? We will attempt to answer those two questions in future blogs.
We will take a closer look at the term "Gentiles" and discover it's origin and it's biblical definition. We will see that this term, more fully understood, opens up an new understanding of what the "gospel" is.
In my next blog, "The Gentiles: A Mere Veneer," we will learn that the term "Gentiles" has a substrate of greater underlying meaning than one normally attributes to its hollow eight-lettered surface representation.