Saul meets Christ: the Damascus road and Peter at Lydda and Joppa

Acts is the second volume of the work of Luke, a companion of Paul according to church tradition (Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11), and it is addressed to Theophilus (Acts 1:1). Some date it to the early 60s, since it ends with Paul under house arrest in Rome and does not report his trial, and many critical scholars date it to the 80s or later. The events of chapter 9 fall in the first years after the resurrection. Scholars usually place Paul's conversion between about AD 33 and 36, depending on how they reckon the date of the crucifixion and Paul's own time references in Galatians 1-2.

Saul, later called Paul, was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, a Jew and a Roman citizen. He was trained as a Pharisee under Gamaliel in Jerusalem (Acts 22:3; Philippians 3:5-6). Acts first mentions him approving of Stephen's death and ravaging the church, going from house to house (8:1-3). Chapter 9 picks him up as he asks the high priest for letters to the synagogues of Damascus, authorizing him to arrest followers of 'the Way' and bring them to Jerusalem. 'The Way' was an early name for the Christian movement (see also Acts 19:9; 24:14). Damascus had a large Jewish community, and the journey from Jerusalem would have taken several days.

Luke tells the story of Saul's conversion three times (chapters 9, 22 and 26), and Paul alludes to it in his own letters (1 Corinthians 15:8-10; Galatians 1:13-17; Philippians 3:4-11). That repetition shows how important Luke believed the event to be. In the second half of the chapter, Luke turns to Peter. He visits believers in the coastal plain at Lydda and Joppa, and his ministry there prepares for the opening of the gospel to Gentiles in chapter 10.

Acts 9 is historical narrative, and its three sections work as a hinge in the book.

• The first two follow Saul.
• The last two follow Peter. At the end of the chapter Peter is at Joppa, where the events of chapter 10 will begin. Luke's plan, announced in 1:8, is to follow the gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, and these two men carry it: Peter in the first half of the book and Paul in the second. Luke also often places events side by side, such as healings by Peter and by Paul, so that the reader sees both as agents of the same Lord.

The chapter has a summary note in verse 31: the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria had peace, was built up, and grew. Luke uses such summaries at several points (6:7; 12:24) to mark the end of one stage and the start of another.

Two interpretive issues arise.

• The first is the relation of Acts 9 to Paul's own account in Galatians 1:15-24. In Galatians, Paul says that after his call he went away into Arabia, returned to Damascus, and went to Jerusalem only after three years. Acts does not mention Arabia and says the Jews plotted against him after some days. The two fit together if the journey to Arabia took place within the period Luke describes briefly.
• The second issue is the differences in the three accounts of the road. In 9:7 the companions hear the sound, and in 22:9 they are said not to hear the voice of the one speaking. Many interpreters hold that the Greek verb 'hear' can mean to hear a sound or to understand it, and the accounts differ in emphasis and not in content. Some manuscripts of 9:5 also add the saying about kicking against the goads, which appears in 26:14. Most scholars think it is a later addition at this point.

A final question is whether to call the event a conversion or a call. Krister Stendahl argued that Paul understood it as a call to a new task within the God of Israel, as with the prophets, and not as a change of religion. Others reply that Paul's own words about counting his former gains as loss (Philippians 3:7-8) show a decisive change of allegiance. This class describes it as both: a turning to Christ and a commissioning.

Verses 1–9

Saul is still full of threats and murderous intent against the disciples. He has letters from the high priest to the synagogues in Damascus, with authority to bring back in chains any men or women who belong to the Way. Near Damascus, a light from heaven flashes around him and he falls to the ground. He hears a voice calling his name twice: 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?' He asks who is speaking, and the voice answers that it is Jesus, whom he is persecuting. He is told to get up and go into the city, where he will be told what to do. His companions stand speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one. When Saul gets up he is blind, and they lead him by the hand to Damascus. For three days he cannot see and neither eats nor drinks.

The question 'why do you persecute Me?' contains the chapter's main teaching. Saul has been attacking the church, and Jesus says that Saul is attacking him. The people of Jesus are so united with him that what is done to them is done to him. The use of the double name, as in 'Abraham, Abraham' (Genesis 22:11) and 'Moses, Moses' (Exodus 3:4), is a familiar form of divine address.

Verses 10–19

A disciple in Damascus named Ananias is told by the Lord in a vision to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street, a main road through the city, and ask for Saul of Tarsus, who is praying. Saul has seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming to lay hands on him. Ananias objects: he has heard how much harm Saul has done to the saints in Jerusalem, and that Saul has authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on the name of Jesus. The word 'saints' (the holy ones) is a common early name for believers. The Lord answers that Saul is his chosen instrument to carry his name before Gentiles, kings and the people of Israel, and that he will show Saul how much he must suffer for the name. Ananias goes, lays his hands on Saul and calls him 'Brother Saul'. Something like scales falls from Saul's eyes, he sees again, and he is baptized. After he eats, he regains strength.

Verses 20–25

Saul begins at once to proclaim in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. The hearers are amazed, because he had come to arrest those who call on this name. He grows more powerful and confounds the Jews of Damascus by showing that Jesus is the Christ. After some time a plot is made to kill him. Saul learns of it, and the disciples let him down through an opening in the wall in a basket at night. Paul recalls the same escape in 2 Corinthians 11:32-33 and says that the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city.

Verses 26–31

In Jerusalem the disciples are afraid of him. Barnabas, whose generosity Luke noted in 4:36-37, takes Saul to the apostles and tells how he had seen the Lord and spoken boldly in Damascus. Saul then moves freely in Jerusalem and debates with the Greek-speaking Jews, who try to kill him. The brothers take him to Caesarea and send him to Tarsus. The church has peace and grows.

Verses 32–35

Peter travels among the believers and comes to Lydda, where Aeneas, paralysed and bedridden for eight years, lives. Peter says that Jesus Christ heals him, tells him to get up and make his bed, and he does. All who live in Lydda and the plain of Sharon see him and turn to the Lord.

Verses 36–43

At Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, in Greek Dorcas, who is full of good works and charity, falls ill and dies. The disciples place her in an upper room and send for Peter. He arrives, and the widows show him the garments she made. Peter sends everyone out, kneels and prays, turns to the body and says, 'Tabitha, get up.' She opens her eyes and sits up. Peter presents her alive to the saints and widows. Many believe. He stays on in Joppa with Simon, a tanner, a trade that made a person ritually unclean, which hints at the surprising direction of chapter 10.

The chapter shows that salvation begins with God's initiative. Saul is not looking for Christ. He is going to harm his people when the risen Lord stops him. Later Paul describes the event as grace and as a call from before his birth (Galatians 1:15-16; 1 Timothy 1:13-16). His testimony is that he is the least of the apostles because he persecuted the church, and that he is what he is by the grace of God (1 Corinthians 15:8-10).

It also shows the union of Christ with his people. Jesus does not say 'why do you persecute my followers' but 'why do you persecute Me?' Paul's later teaching that the church is the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 1:22-23) may have its seed in this meeting, though Luke does not draw that connection.

• Third, the chapter teaches that the mission involves suffering. The Lord says that Saul will suffer for his name (9:16), and Paul's letters describe a long list of hardships (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). The chapter also records the role of ordinary believers, Ananias and Barnabas, who risk trust in a former enemy.
• Finally, the miracles of Peter show that the power of the risen Jesus continues through his people and brings people to faith.

This is not foreshadowing but direct encounter. The risen Jesus speaks from heaven, in light, and calls the church's suffering his own (9:4-5). To strike his people is to strike him. The identification echoes his words when he sent out his followers (Luke 10:16) and his teaching that what is done to the least of his brothers is done to him (Matthew 25:40). The glory of the light shows him as the exalted Lord, and Saul's first words to him are a question: who are you, Lord?

Saul's commission has the shape of an Old Testament prophetic call. The Lord's description of Saul as his chosen instrument to bring his name to Gentiles and Israel recalls the servant who is a light to the nations in Isaiah 49:6. Paul later cites that text in Acts 13:47, and Simeon's words in Luke 2:32 about a light for the Gentiles echo it. Paul describes his call in terms close to Isaiah 49:1 and Jeremiah 1:5 (Galatians 1:15). These are connections the New Testament makes, though the links are not stated in chapter 9.

Peter's miracles carry an echo of Jesus' own ministry. He insists it is 'Jesus Christ' who heals Aeneas (9:34), and the command to get up and make his bed is close to Jesus' words to the paralysed man in Mark 2:11. At Joppa, Peter sends the mourners out and says 'Tabitha, get up', much as Jesus did with Jairus's daughter in Mark 5:40-41, where the Aramaic is talitha cumi, very close to Tabitha. Peter's action also resembles Elisha's raising of the Shunammite's son, where he shut the door and prayed (2 Kings 4:32-35). The point is that the Lord who raised the dead still acts through the apostles in his name.