Sermonstudio

Who would believe it? Saul, the primary punk adversary of the followers of the way, blind in Damascus? Saul, the instigator of Stephen's stoning and death, the one who breathed out murderous threats against the followers of Jesus, now in Damascus in a spiritual safe house? Is this a bluff? Could this be a trick? Could this be a game concocted by the enemies of Jesus to lure us into a trap? How could a man who was feared by so many now be a blind, helpless squatter at a house on a street called Straight?

Doubt, concern, anxiety, and trepidation came with the news. This man named Saul caused terror in the hearts of Jesus' people. He would spare no mercy. He held the coats of the gang who stoned Stephen. He would bark to them instructions during the killing. He was a criminal; a gangster of the first order; a heel who unleashed his dogs of prey with mercenary madness.

Moreover, he would hurt, maim, and jail believers. He would write letters, set bounties, and dispatch mob garrisons to arrest and kill them. He left no stone unturned and no avenue unexplored to strike unholy terror and fear in the minds of the followers, to prevent this rag-tag group of believers from spreading the Good News about a man named Jesus. "All this talk about Saul being blind is just another ploy, a gambit, to lure us into a dark place to have us killed. Any talk about Saul being converted is just a blind man's bluff to entice us and seduce us into wholesale slaughter. Is it true? Can we believe this report? Is Saul really blind or is this a bluff?"

It has to be true for we have heard there was an encounter on the Damascus Road that resulted in his blindness.

All reports indicate that after breathing out murderous threats against the followers of Jesus and after planning to lay traps for them in Damascus, Saul was knocked off his high horse on the Damascus Road. Nothing could stop this man from his persecution. Nothing would deter him from annihilating the followers of Jesus. But as he was traveling to Damascus, he met up with Jesus who asked him why he was persecuting his followers. He met a man greater than himself. He had a close encounter of the first kind that knocked him down to the ground. Jesus knew that of the gang of men who went with Saul to kill Christians, he had to waylay the head gangster. Jesus had to get the attention of the others, and he did this by waylaying the baddest and toughest of the lot.

So it is true. This man Saul was waylaid on the Damascus Road, knocked to the canvas, given a standing eight count, got up and was led into Damascus without sight. He had to be led like a baby. His men were astonished, confused, and thunderstruck. Saul had been struck down to the ground. His men were numb from the encounter and feared for their lives. Now the tables were turned. The persecutors were the persecuted. The routers were the routed. The hounders were the hounded. The gangsters were being gangstered. Only a force and power of the magnitude of Christ Jesus could turn him around and convert him into a new being for Christ. The waylaying was real. His blindness was not a bluff. Those who persecute the followers of Christ will experience a spiritual ambush, a major apocalyptic, cataclysmic upheaval that will knock them from their high horse and re-order their steps for Jesus.

Second, we have heard that he was taken to the house of Judas on a street called Straight.

He was not taken to Jump Street. He wasn't taken to Front Street. The report is he was taken to a house on Straight Street so he could have time to think about his ways and get straight with God. Saul had plenty of time to think about what he did and how he did it to the followers of the Way. So long as he had eyes he could see what he was doing, plan what he was doing, look into the eyes of his men who did the doing. So long as he had eyes he could survey the land, take note of the hideouts of the frightened followers, and have command of his prey as an eagle in flight. Stern eyes. Haughty eyes. Patronizing and condescending eyes. Disdainful eyes. Eyes with no mercy and compassion. Eyes that had no tears nor tenderness; cold, relenting, bloodthirsty eyes were the eyes of Saul.

As a man who relied heavily on his eyes to plan and execute his premeditated murder of Christians, he would now be without the very sight that enabled him to do evil. As a man who used his keen vision and insight to anticipate and set traps for the followers, his eyes were indispensable to his crimes.

But now that sight was gone. Now he couldn't see where he was, know where he was going, or know how he would get there. Now he was blind and helpless without the evil sight that caused him to wreak havoc among believers. Now he was like mother justice, blindfolded, but without the scales of truth balancing in the sway of his mind and hands. Now he was blindfolded and could not see. The wicked sight taken away would be restored by a more glorious sight of the presence and power of Christ. Before he had evil eyes, now he would see through the eyes of Christ. "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

Now he was in a safe house on a street called Straight. Now the three days without sight, food, and water would straighten him out for the Lord's work. Now his crooked ways would be made straight. His rough edges would be made plain. His high and haughty ways would be brought low and made straight. He was in a safe house on Straight Street so the Lord could get him straight.

"Saul, do you know who I am? I am the one who formed you in your mother's womb. I am the one who put food on your table and clothes on your back. I am the one who gave you an education. I am the one who raised you up in a prosperous family. I am the one who commissioned you as a tent maker and gave you the health to make a living despite your thorn. I am the one who gifted your mind and loved you through the rough and tough times of your life. I am the one who helped your mother when she was sick. I am the one who gave you everything you have. So why, why, why do you persecute me?"

The three days of blindness on a street called Straight would forever transform his sight and insight so that he could see Jesus. If Jesus were going to use him, Saul had to see Jesus for himself. During the three days of blindness in the house of Judas, he gained more sight and insight than he had in a lifetime. He would see more of God in his physical blindness than he would in a lifetime of 20/20 vision.

Here he could look retrospectively to see the error of his ways, introspectively to search his own mind and spirit, and prospectively into the future to see how Christ had planned to use him.

The house of Judas on the street called Straight is the place where Saul has been taken to get right with Jesus so that Jesus could straighten him out to use him for kingdom building. That he is on a street called Straight is not a bluff. It is not a rumor. It is not a trick or a trap. He is really in a place where Christ has his crooked ways straight in order to help rather than persecute the followers of the way.

Third, we have heard that there has been a laying on of hands by a man named Ananias and his sight has been restored. Ananias, reluctant himself at first to believe that Saul could be so helpless, was told by God to lay hands on Saul so the Lord could use him for his glory. Filled with the Holy Ghost, Ananias anointed Saul, and immediately the scales fell off his eyes and his sight was restored. This man Saul was baptized, and fed to make strong, and now he is a new man named Paul who is a chief missionary for Christ. The laying on of hands was the icing on the cake. The laying on of hands was the final straw that restored his sight. The laying on of hands through the power and anointing of the Holy Ghost is what finally convinced Saul of the power of Christ.

He was blinded, yes. But he may have thought it was some kind of freak accident. He was lead on to a street called Straight and was without sight, food, and water for three days. He may have still thought that this experience was just an anomaly, an aberration of some kind. But what really convinced him was the powerful prayer of Ananias, the anointing of the Holy Ghost, and the feeling of regaining fully restored sight. So the report is true. It is not a bluff. The blind man has had his sight restored and is a new creature for Christ. No longer a persecutor of followers and an ally of the devil, he is now an advocate for the followers and an enemy of the adversary. For it is Christ Jesus who confronted him, challenged him, and converted him. It is only through the power of Christ that we can have our sight taken and restored. It is only through the power of Christ that we can be led to a safe house by strangers to be prayed for and have hands laid upon us to change our lives forever.

The man who was once blind does now see. He was blinded by darkness but now sees the light of Christ. He was blinded by his own envy, hatred, and ignorance, and now he sees what the power of love, mercy, forgiveness, and grace can do. It is not blind man's bluff where he tags those with sight with his blind fold still on. Nor is it blind man's bluff where he is pretending to be blind and still can see. He is now truly a new man in Christ who will be used for helping the saints and building God's kingdom rather than hurting the saints and destroying the works of Christ.

The encounter on the road to Damascus, a street called Straight, and the laying on of hands has convinced us that the conversion of Saul was not a bluff or a game. For Christ truly came and changed his life and will change ours too on the roads of life. All things Christ can make new. His love, mercy, and power can change us from a life of persecution to a life of joy and service. No one can call God's bluff. It is Christ who calls us, saves us, anoints us, and equips us for service to his people. Christ will open our eyes and allow us to see what he sees just as he did to Saul on the Damascus Road.