Acts 9:8, commentary and pictures

Saul got up from the ground blind, for the brightness of Christ's glory had overwhelmed his mortal sight, and when he opened his eyes he could see no one. His companions, who heard a voice but saw no man, took him by the hand and led him into Damascus, where he remained three days without sight and without food or drink. Instead of entering the city with high-priestly authority to seize believers, he entered helpless, groping in darkness and dependent on others, virtually a prisoner. His bodily blindness laid bare his spiritual blindness and mistaken zeal, condemning him as a transgressor of the very law he thought he kept and bringing him to repentance, faith in Christ, and obedience. Though Christ Himself had arrested and convicted him, He did not teach him directly or restore his sight at once, but sent him into the city to learn his duty from the disciples he had come to destroy and to receive sight and baptism through them.

Journey to Damascus

Saul was on the road to Damascus to find believers in Jesus and seize them by authority from the high priest to bring them bound to Jerusalem for trial, condemnation and punishment. He intended to hunt them with penetrating vigilance, questioning men, women and children about their own faith and that of their associates, entering houses with power to take the inmates as prisoners and send them to Jerusalem to be condemned and punished without mercy. The Commander of heaven beheld the suffering thus brought upon His church and arrested the bold persecutor with a light and voice from heaven.

He neared the city in proud satisfaction and vigor of youth, expecting ostentation and applause for the honor given him and determined to succeed without fear of difficulty or danger so that no Christian would escape him. He acted in full, mistaken, conscientious zeal, though educated by Gamaliel and standing as rabbi, statesman and member of the Sanhedrin zealous for the suppression of Christianity. He had consented to the stoning of Stephen and made havoc of the church by entering houses and dragging men and women to prison and to death, being exceedingly mad against believers in Christ. He thought that in hailing the saints before judges and seeking to wipe them from the earth he was doing God service, which shows his zeal was not according to knowledge and that sincerity alone is not enough.

Blinded and Led

The brightness of Christ's glory was too intense for mortal sight to bear, and when that glory was withdrawn the heavenly light left Saul blind. His eyes were overwhelmed by what had shone upon him, so that sight was taken away after the glory disappeared.

When he arose from the earth and opened his eyes, he saw no man. The glory of the heavenly light had blinded him, so that with eyes opened he could see no one.

His companions, who stood speechless hearing a voice but seeing no man, led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. There he remained three days without sight and without eating or drinking.

Helpless Reversal in Damascus

Saul had neared Damascus in proud satisfaction, expecting ostentation and applause for the honor given him by the high priest and for his zeal and penetration in hunting believers. He was determined to succeed without mercy, fearing no difficulty or danger, planning to question men, women and children about their own faith and that of their associates, to enter houses with power to seize the inmates and send them as prisoners to Jerusalem to be condemned and punished. Instead of wielding power and receiving honor, he entered helpless, groping in darkness and dependent on his companions to guide him by the hand. The man who had expected to arrive with authority and honor to make his mission succeed instead came in as virtually a prisoner himself through loss of sight, in sharp contrast to his confident expectation.

He believed his blindness was God's punishment for persecuting the followers of Jesus. He was troubled by bitter remorse, tortured in conscience, humbled to the dust with pride broken, feeling himself under sentence of death. He was uncertain what the Lord would next do with him. Lodging with Judas he spent the darkness in fasting and without eating or drinking, in prayer and earnest crying to God for pardon, until beholding the divine character he recognized his unworthiness and received full, free forgiveness as a changed man.

Spiritual Sight Revealed

When his eyes were opened he could see no one, and that physical blindness came with the uncovering of his spiritual blindness and mistaken zeal. His conscience had to be enlightened before he could rightly discern spiritual things, for a man in grievous error may think himself honest and led by conscience while his spirit is not right. He had been a zealous persecutor who supposed faith in Jesus was opposed to God's law, and Christ's power to convict mind and heart made him a penitent ready to learn his duty. In that upheaval he reconsidered the Scriptures and recognized Jesus as the promised Messiah, Redeemer and Son of God, and at the same time saw his own sin and the claims of God's law. His opened eyes marked a changed understanding in which he came to see and feel the truth of the gospel he had once despised, remembering that he had persecuted Christ's disciples and now rejoicing to love and serve Christ's cause and to preach what he had despised.

The blindness was humbling, given that he might gain spiritual sight, and the days and nights without sight gave time for reflection. He no longer saw himself righteous but sinful, with his thoughts, words and actions condemned by the law, and in its light he saw himself a sinner who had transgressed the very law he thought he had kept zealously. Conscientious zeal in persecuting the saints did not leave him guiltless once the Spirit pressed his cruelty upon him, and the memory of that zeal filled him with bitter remorse. Hopeless and helpless he cast himself on Jesus as the only one who could pardon him and clothe him with righteousness, dying to sin, repenting, trusting Christ as Saviour for pardon and righteousness, being baptized and preaching Jesus as earnestly as he had once condemned Him. So thorough was the change that from one warring against the law of God with all his powers he became subject to that holy law, obedient to its claims, whereas carnal minds at enmity with God break it and cannot be subject to it without such conversion.

What he learned was that Jesus whom he had called impostor is the Author and foundation of all the religion of God's people from Adam's day and the Finisher of the faith, the vindicator of the truth and fulfiller of all prophecies. When his spiritual vision was touched he learned that Christ did not make the law of none effect but originated and founded the whole Jewish system of sacrifices and came for the express purpose of vindicating His Father's law, so that in Christ's death type met antitype. Afterward he continued to keep the Ten Commandments while knowing the ceremonial rites and sacrifices were temporary symbols whose meaning was fulfilled in Christ's death, and in this he understood the difference between living faith and dead formalism. With that revelation the Saviour's mission and his own work in carrying the gospel to the Gentiles became clear to him.

Conversion and Apostolic Calling

The blinding on the road marks the conversion of Saul the determined, zealous persecutor into Paul the believer. Educated by Gamaliel as rabbi, statesman and member of the Sanhedrin, zealous for the suppression of Christianity, he had consented to Stephen's stoning and made havoc of the church by entering houses and dragging men and women to prison and to death, even as a blasphemer compelling others to blaspheme, strict in his religion yet not a Christian. Stopped by light from heaven, he fell to the earth, heard Jesus asking why he persecuted Him, learned that in persecuting the saints in the person of His saints he was persecuting his Master Himself, and trembling asked what he must do. Told to arise and go into the city to be told what he must do, while his companions stood speechless hearing a voice but seeing no man, he rose with opened eyes seeing no one and had to be led by the hand into Damascus. There he forsook opposition, became a sincere penitent believer, disciple and learner, professed faith in Jesus, was baptized, straightway preached Christ in the synagogues that He is the Son of God, united with the disciples he had opposed as one of the despised and hated sect, received for love of Christ the same cruel treatment he had once helped inflict, and became Paul among the chief of the apostles, showing that beneath hatred and contempt grace can rescue a soul and make it a devoted minister and witness.

Jesus called him as a chosen vessel to bear His name before Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel and to suffer for His name. The circumstances of being arrested by voice and great light in a revelation of Christ exalted him above every other apostle, prepared him to recognize his appointment to preach to the Gentiles, to strengthen the disciples and take Stephen's place freed from Satan's influence, and to be won to faith and commissioned to take the gospel to the Gentiles. His conversion with his vision in the temple at Jerusalem, his appointment to preach to the Gentiles, and the success of his work among them all helped him recognize that duty. The impression made on the former persecutor never lost its force on his mind but stayed with him, enabling him to give a correct representation of the Christian life and character and shaping his estimation of Christian character and of the obligation owed by man to God.

The heavenly vision that first filled him with terror became through transforming mercy a source of consolation and encouragement in his work for the One he had once ridiculed and despised, giving him personal knowledge of Jesus and assurance at the beginning of his ministry. The days of darkness and solitude in Damascus began a complete change, as the persecutor became a disciple and learner and studied the Scriptures with Christ as his teacher and went on to serve through self-sacrificing love. He gave himself wholly to the Crucified One with one purpose to be faithful, to serve and to win souls, exchanging Phariseeism with its popularity and honor for the gospel with its trials and counting it no sacrifice. He related his miraculous conversion wrought by God's power before kings and governors as testimony concerning Jesus with such power that only bitter hatred could withstand it, and at last suffered martyrdom.

The heavenly light that struck him and left him unable to see left a lasting bodily effect. His blinded eyes remained a mark of Christ's glory, ever after carried in his eyes in his body as a reminder of that glory and of his dependence on Christ's sustaining grace for ministry.

Christ and Organized Church

Though Christ Himself met Saul on the road, arrested his course and convicted him of opposing the Redeemer, He did not then tell him his assigned work nor teach him the lessons of truth directly, and He did not restore his sight at once. When Saul in guilt asked what he should do, Christ told him to arise and go into the city, sending him to Damascus to learn his duty and way of life from the disciples he had persecuted. The revelation left him without sight, blinded by the heavenly light and dependent on his companions, so that his conversion joined Christ's direct work of revelation and conviction with the work of teaching by those appointed to teach the truth. In this He placed the convicted inquirer in connection with His organized church as the channel of light and instruction, working through its appointed ministers and through men authorized to act in God's stead rather than doing everything directly Himself.

Being led by the hand into Damascus in helplessness began Saul's necessary steps, for he who rose from the earth with eyes opened yet seeing no man had to confess to the very men whose destruction he had planned, unite himself to the very people he had persecuted for their religion, and become a learner of the disciples. He remained three days without sight and without eating or drinking, after having conscientiously served in error while working against Christians and sending men and women to prison and to death until Jesus revealed Himself and called him as a chosen vessel to bear His name before Gentiles and kings and Israel and to suffer for His name. He was to receive blessing, sight and fellowship through them, and his healing came through Ananias acting in Christ's name, who touched his eyes, laid hands on him and prayed, so that Saul immediately regained sight, received the Holy Spirit, arose and was baptized. Thus baptized he straightway preached Christ in the synagogues that He is the Son of God, having in the light of God's law recognized himself a sinner, repented, turned from sin, obeyed the law and trusted Christ as Saviour, and his strict conscientiousness in persecuting the saints did not make him guiltless once the Spirit impressed upon him the knowledge of his cruel work.

The episode gives the principle that Christ does not sanction religious experience apart from His organized and acknowledged church, even when fitting a most important chosen vessel brought directly into His presence. In it Christ identified Himself with the office and authority of His organized church and joined man to the ordained agencies and channel through which His blessings come. It stands as an example to all of His manner of working for salvation, through conviction by the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit together with teaching by the church.

Stephen and Other Parallels

Saul had consented to Stephen's death, and the turning that left him blind on the road to Damascus was God's power freeing him from Satan's influence to become a chosen messenger who would strengthen the disciples and take Stephen's place in the work. Stephen's faith and steadfastness under martyrdom, with God's presence resting upon him, remained in Saul's memory and helped bring about that conversion. His constancy and glorified, God-given appearance made an enduring impression on Saul and on the other witnesses, testifying to the truth he had proclaimed. His words also remained with them as a witness to that same truth. Though permitting wicked men to triumph in stoning the true and faithful Stephen made it appear that God was not strengthening His cause on earth, God used that martyrdom to convert Paul, and through Paul's word thousands were afterward brought to gospel light.

Paul's turning from opposition to Christ to faith in Him stands as the comparison for Farel's turning from religious tradition to the liberty of the sons of God through faith in Christ.

Warnings and Encouragement Today

The verse shows a wonderful change in Saul on his way to Damascus to persecute the saints, when in full zeal and exceeding madness against believers in Christ he determined to take men and women and punish them with imprisonment and death. The Commander of heaven beheld the suffering brought upon His church and made His voice heard to arrest the bold persecutor with a light from heaven, so that Saul fell to the earth and heard Jesus speaking to him. When he arose blind with his eyes opened seeing no man, his companions led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. This reveals that all heaven is interested in the believing church of God, and that God will open ways before those who will put their trust in Him.

Before conversion Saul was an unconverted man used by Satan to hunt up souls to be persecuted, in need of the converting power of God on the soul. Unconverted men will work with all their power to persecute, as the satanic agencies in Christ's day crucified Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God, and history is to be repeated as Lucifer's act to exalt himself works through such men in present and future experience. In his blindness he was in grievous error while thinking himself honest and guided by conscience, proving conscience is not a good conscience when the spirit is not right and a man must not make himself a criterion. The warning is to cease self-sufficiency and criticism, to accept God's test, to feel weak and helpless to help self with a burden of soul, and to become altogether a changed man when the practical working of truth is felt on the heart. He was sincere in his course of persecuting the disciples of Christ, and this proves it does make a difference what a man believes and sincerity alone is not enough. The more conscientious a man is in belief of error, the more dangerous he becomes in opposition to truth, yet if such a man becomes converted he will be as zealous and persevering in spreading truth as he was in opposing it.

The account of Paul's conversion to which the verse belongs is held up as the thorough conversion ministers need before they are fitted for God's work. That history of the apostle Paul's conversion is to be looked at and traced out through his life together with study of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and the shame of Christ crucified on the cross as a criminal.

Saul was struck down in the height of bitter prejudice, with prejudice no less than the bitterest prejudice workers meet today, and his being struck down and led into Damascus proves God can work mightily even for such prejudiced brethren. Workers must therefore not block the way or be discouraged by difficulties and fiercest opposition but labor with melting love and pity and tenderness, hide in God, cling to Jesus Christ, be humble and teachable and ready to be counseled by more experienced brethren, and go forth not in their own name but in the might and power of Israel's God. His conversion while in zeal persecuting Christians came when he was arrested by a voice and a great light from heaven in a revelation of Christ that exalted him above every other apostle. The impression made on this former persecutor never lost its force on his mind but stayed with him, enabling him to give a correct representation of the Christian life and character and shaping his estimation of Christian character and of the obligation owed by man to God. Though so exalted by this revelation, Paul still labored with his hands as a tentmaker, proving that manual labor is not degrading and is consistent with true greatness and elevation of human and Christian character.