Acts 9:21
But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?
All who heard Saul preach Jesus in Damascus were amazed because they knew him as the man who had destroyed those who called on Jesus' name in Jerusalem and had come to Damascus to bring believers bound to the chief priests. His errand had been to destroy believers, armed with authority and commission from the high priest to seize them as prisoners. To the very believers he had set out to destroy he now fearlessly proclaimed that Jesus who had been put to death is indeed the Son of God. He presented evidences from prophecy as Stephen had done, including the prophecies of Christ's first advent as fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, with arguments so conclusive that the opposing Jews were confounded and unable to answer him. His change of faith rested on overwhelming and compelling evidence, not on impulse or fanaticism, showing that even a fierce enemy who came to bind Christians could be rescued by grace and become a devoted minister.
Saul's Astonishing Reversal
All who heard Saul preach Jesus in Damascus were amazed because they knew him as the man who had destroyed those who called on Jesus' name in Jerusalem and had come to Damascus for the express intent of bringing believers bound to the chief priests. His sudden change from persecutor to preacher made his conversion evident and his new witness to Jesus striking, for his former hostility set against his public proclamation of Christ sharply reversed the purpose for which he had traveled there. His principal errand to Damascus had been to destroy believers, armed with authority and a commission from the high priest to seize them as prisoners and bring them bound to Jerusalem. They knew his position at Jerusalem, yet now they beheld him preaching the gospel to the very believers he had come to destroy.
He had been known as a fierce persecutor who hunted up souls, seized believers in their homes, and delivered them to be killed. After the heavenly vision revealed Jesus to him, transforming mercy made him a penitent believer and an apostle, and Jesus chose him to preach, strengthen the disciples, and take up Stephen's important work. His persecution had come from sincere but prejudiced conviction and strict conscientiousness in which he thought he was serving God. That conscientiousness did not make him guiltless when the Spirit of God impressed his cruel work upon him.
The amazement belongs to the events immediately after his baptism by Ananias and being strengthened by food, when he preached Jesus to the very believers in Damascus whom he had set out from Jerusalem intending to destroy. In the same synagogue where he had earnestly disputed against Stephen he was now heard fearlessly proclaiming that Jesus is the Son of God, advocating the same cause Stephen had died to vindicate. He related his own wonderful experience, and with a heart filled with yearning for his brethren and former associates he defended that cause. This stands earlier than the work at Lydda and at Joppa near Lydda where Dorcas lived as a disciple whose life was filled with acts of kindness, ministering to the poor and sorrowful and clothing the needy.
The stoning to death of true and faithful Stephen by the enemies of Christ did not mean God was failing to strengthen His cause in the earth by letting wicked men triumph. From that very circumstance Paul was converted to the faith, and through his word thousands were brought to the light of the gospel.
Preaching Jesus with Evidence
To the very believers in Damascus whom he had set out from Jerusalem intending to destroy, he now fearlessly proclaimed Jesus as the Son of God. In the synagogues he taught that Jesus who had been put to death, the crucified Jesus, is indeed the Son of God. He preached in the same synagogue where he had once disputed against Stephen, telling of his own experience and defending the same cause Stephen had died to vindicate. His changed conduct and testimony to his conversion convinced many that Jesus is the Son of God.
He strengthened those who were already disciples and continually made new converts to the faith he had once so zealously opposed. He was preaching the gospel to the very people he had intended to destroy, building up believers and winning others to Christ. His rabbinical and Pharisaic education, once used in every effort to destroy the gospel cause, was now used to good account in preaching the gospel and sustaining it. Presenting evidences from prophecy as Stephen had done, he used the prophecies of Christ's first advent to show they had been literally fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. His arguments from prophecy were so conclusive, and his efforts so attended by the power of God, that the opposing Jews were confounded and unable to answer him.
His change of faith was demonstrated to all who heard him to rest on overwhelming and compelling evidence, not on impulse or fanaticism. He preached Jesus as earnestly and as zealously as he had once condemned and opposed Him. Before preaching he became a learner of the disciples and learned that Jesus, whom in his blindness he had considered an imposter who made of none effect the law of God, is indeed the Author and foundation of all the religion of God's chosen people from Adam's day and the Finisher of the faith. He came to see Christ as the vindicator of the truth and the fulfiller of all prophecies, and as the originator and foundation of the entire Jewish system of sacrifices in whose death type met antitype and who came for the express purpose of vindicating His Father's law. In the light of the law he saw himself a sinner though he had thought he kept it zealously, died to sin, became obedient to God's law, repented, had faith in Jesus as Saviour, was baptized, and then preached Jesus.
As he preached and strengthened the disciples with arguments that could not be answered, astonishment among opponents turned to fierce opposition and intense hatred when the evidence for Christ was rejected. Unable to meet his reasoning they turned to force and plotted to kill him. After he later preached in Jerusalem and told of his change, the priests and rulers were enraged and sought to kill him.
Transformation, Warning and Hope
The amazement at Damascus came because the preacher had been known as a fierce persecutor of the followers of Jesus, traveling there to seize them and take them to the chief priests. Suddenly arrested in his career of persecution by a view of the Saviour, with the heavenly vision revealing Jesus to him, transforming mercy made him a penitent believer and an apostle. He was wholly changed, and henceforth his life was wholly devoted to the Crucified One, with obligation resting on him to labor for all classes of men. That obligation embraced Jew and Gentile, learned and unlearned, those in high positions and those in the most lowly walks of life.
His change from persecutor to preacher testified that his eyes had been opened to the gospel he had once despised. He remembered the persecution he had helped bring upon the disciples and rejoiced that his eyes had been opened to the truth he had once despised. His encounter with God brought him to see his own unworthiness, and assured of full and free forgiveness he arose a changed man. That transformation through beholding divine love gave him a longing for others to be freed from sin and its penalty.
Even Saul, once a determined and fierce enemy who persecuted Christians and came to bind them, could be rescued by Christ's grace and become a devoted minister. His rescue shows that fierce opponents of the gospel can be saved.
Before conversion he was a man used by Satan to hunt up souls to be persecuted and bring them bound for punishment. This stands as a lesson and warning to all that without the converting power of God in the soul, professed but unconverted brethren will do the same persecuting work, acting with satanic agencies as did those who crucified Christ. Great education and long experience give no protection unless they perfect the knowledge of the glory of God and exalt the Lord and Christ. History is to be repeated as Lucifer's self-exalting spirit works through such unconverted men in present and future experience.
The circumstances of his conversion prepared him to accept God's call to preach to the Gentiles. By those circumstances he was helped to recognize and accept his work of preaching to the Gentiles.