"What Do I Wonder About Paul's Encounter with Jesus?" on Acts 9:1-19 - by Cindy Verbeek on Nov. 9, 2025

Today I’d like to share with you some of my thoughts on Paul’s encounter with Jesus.

Paul is also known as Saul to the Aramaic-speaking community but most people use the Roman

form of his name so you just a heads up that you might hear both today. I chose Paul because I

feel like his encounter with Jesus is closer to an encounter we might have, and I was hoping to

get some clarity on how he was so confident in his beliefs. I mean he didn’t walk with Jesus or

spend time with him in person. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John walked with Jesus, asked him

their burning questions and Jesus answered them. They ate with him, laughed with him, cried

with him. Doesn't that sound amazing? I don’t know about you but some days I wish I could do

that too - maybe I wouldn’t have so many doubts if I was able to talk to him directly and get an

audible answer (although I do wonder if I would have believed him but that is a topic for another

time).

But Paul. He has one encounter with Jesus and the whole world shifted. How? That’s what I

want to explore with you this morning.

So here’s a man who had no reason to convert. He was the Pharisee’s star player - knowing

and following the letter of the Jewish “religion”. He grew up in the faith, followed all the practices

- did his devotions every day, prayed, went to synagogue twice on Saturday and Bible study on

Wednesday nights. He was on the inside. And according to him, this Jesus fellow and his

followers did not have their theology correct. In fact, Paul believed this so strongly he was also

actively trying to wipe out anyone who believed Jesus was the Messiah. Like, not just argue with

them but wipe them out, permanently. What? And then he has this one crazy encounter on the

road to Damascus …

Here’s how it happened: Read Acts 9:1-19

And just like that Paul becomes one of the most outspoken, fervent disciples of his time, planting

churches and preaching in the name of Jesus.

As I read the story and read other people’s description of it, there were a few things I noticed and

wondered that I would like to submit for reflection today.

1) Jesus exposes Paul’s sin

The first thing Jesus did once he got Paul’s attention was to point out his sin (persecuting the

Christians). Jesus took the persecution very personal. He did not ask, why are you persecuting

my followers…he said, "Why are you persecuting me?" It reminds me of the passage that says

“Whatever you do to the least of these you do to me.”

His encounter with Jesus is not “Hey, Paul, how can I help you validate your ministry?” or “How can

I help you accomplish peace and tranquility?” It is a bold, in your face - “You are going the wrong

way!” Isn’t that often the case with us? A true encounter with Jesus does not leave out our sin

but holds us to account for our actions.

2) Jesus requires obedience even when we are in darkness

But Jesus doesn’t say “Because of your sin I am going to send you to hell so you’d better

repent” either. He also doesn’t say “Yyour sin has been forgiven.” So what is Jesus instruction for

Paul? Jesus asks for obedience without knowledge of the outcome. Paul is given a vague open

ended instruction (“Get up and enter the city. In the city you’ll be told what to do next.”) And then

plunges him into darkness for what seemed to be an undisclosed to Paul amount of time. Can you

imagine? I wonder what Paul was thinking. I wonder if he knew it was only to be for a short

time? I wonder why God so often leaves us in darkness with the only instruction being go and

wait for what to do next.

3) Jesus plan requires community

Not only did Jesus require obedience from Paul but obedience from the followers of Jesus.

Paul’s deliverance involves the obedience of Ananais who is told to go and seek Paul out.

Ananais' response? “Say what? You mean that guy who’s killing followers of the Way?” Have you

ever been asked to do something and you have all sorts of reasons why it is a really bad idea?

This is what Ananais is feeling. But God says “Don’t argue. Go!” Can you imagine if Ananais

didn’t follow the prompting? Paul wrote ¼ of the New Testament, brought the good news of

Jesus to the Gentiles (that’s you and me) and planted churches all over. What if Ananais said

no? I’m so glad he did what he was asked.

4) Obedience requires courage

The courage it took for Ananais to be able to go and confront Paul, not to mention the

compassion and forgiveness he would give to Paul. Paul’s conversion was problematic for all the disciples - you can read about that more in the following verses of Acts 9 but suffice it to say they did not trust

him. It took a lot of courage to accept God’s decision to have “that guy” as one of them.

5) An encounter with Jesus requires renewal

As soon as Ananias gave Paul the news something like scales fell from his eyes and he could

see! Amazing! And what did Paul do? He was baptized and ate a meal. I find it fascinating that

his renewal involved both the renewing of his soul through baptism and also the renewing of his

body through food. God takes care of and renews the whole person.

6) Jesus builds on who we already are

Acts 19-21 says that “Saul spent a few days with the Damascus disciples, but then went to work

right away.” Saul hardly knew Jesus really, but he started working right away. I find that

incredible. And yet it’s not so surprising really. God often prepares us for His work even before

we have met Him. When I became a Christian I was already interested in creation care and had

a fairly good idea that that was my calling although I didn’t call it that at the time.

Paul had everything he needed for a rich ministry - except the knowledge of Jesus as the Messiah. Once

he found this, the missing piece was in place, and he could go forward and fulfill Gods plan. If we

truly believe we are created in the image of God then God is working out His plan even before

we acknowledge Him.

7) We don’t have to be part of the inner circle to be used by God

Paul learned about Jesus through accounts from people who had spent time with Jesus, leaned

on his deep knowledge of the Old Testament and experiences as a Pharisee, and was filled with

the Holy Spirit. This of all things gives me hope. I do not need to have been there 2,000 years

ago for God to use who He created me be to fulfill his purpose. I, too, can learn about Jesus

through the accounts of people who spent time with him, search the Old and New Testaments for

wisdom, draw on my experiences and listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I’m not sure that

I will never have the confidence or boldness of Paul but I am encouraged. And I hope you are

too.