The Divine Arrest
Introduction: When God Intervenes
We live in an age that wants a tame God. We want a God who fits neatly into our self-help programs, a divine consultant we can call upon when we need a bit of inspiration or a spiritual pick-me-up. The modern sinner wants a Jesus who will be his co-pilot, a friendly assistant in the grand project of self-actualization. But this is not the God of the Bible. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is not a consultant; He is a King. He does not offer suggestions; He issues commands. And when He moves to save a man, it is rarely a polite negotiation. More often than not, it is an arrest.
Here in Acts 22, the Apostle Paul is giving his testimony. But we must understand the context. He is not sharing his story in a cozy church fellowship hall. He is standing on the steps of the Antonia Fortress in Jerusalem, addressing a bloodthirsty mob that has just tried to lynch him. This is not a fireside chat; it is a legal defense delivered in the face of raw hatred. And the heart of his defense, the foundation of his entire life and ministry, is the story of his arrest by Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus.
Saul of Tarsus was not a man searching for meaning. He was not spiritually adrift. By his own account, he was zealous, blameless under the law, a Pharisee of Pharisees. He thought he was on a mission from God. He was carrying letters of authorization from the high priest to hunt down, bind, and imprison Christians. He was a man utterly convinced of his own righteousness, and in the name of that righteousness, he was waging war against the living God. And so God did not send him a pamphlet or invite him to a seeker-sensitive service. He intercepted him. He ambushed him with glory. This is the nature of true conversion. It is not man finding God, but God finding man. It is a sovereign interruption, a divine mugging, a glorious, life-altering arrest.
The Text
"But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' And I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.' And those who were with me beheld the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. And I said, 'What should I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Rise up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been determined for you to do.' But since I could not see because of the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who were with me, I came into Damascus."
(Acts 22:6-11 LSB)
The Ambush of Glory (v. 6-7)
The story begins with an invasion of light and a voice from heaven.
"But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'" (Acts 22:6-7 LSB)
Notice the details. This happened at "noontime." This is not some shadowy vision in the dead of night. This is in broad daylight, under the full strength of the Middle Eastern sun. And the light that flashed from heaven was brighter still. This was not a subjective feeling or a psychological episode. This was an objective, external, historical event. It was the undiluted glory of the risen and ascended Christ breaking into our time-space reality. This is not the gentle glow of a nightlight; this is the searing flash of a divine detonation.
And what is the proper response to such a display? "I fell to the ground." All human pride, all self-righteous zeal, all religious confidence is flattened in the presence of the holy. You do not stand and debate with this kind of glory. You are undone by it. Saul, the proud Pharisee, the authorized agent of the Sanhedrin, is knocked into the dust of the road. This is the necessary posture for anyone who would be saved. God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. And sometimes, He makes men humble by throwing them to the ground.
Then comes the voice. It is personal: "Saul, Saul." The repetition indicates urgency, intensity, and a deep, personal knowledge. This is not an impersonal force; this is the personal God who knows Saul's name. And the question He asks is a thunderclap of theology: "Why are you persecuting Me?" Saul thought he was persecuting a dangerous cult. He thought he was stamping out a heresy that threatened the purity of Judaism. But Jesus reveals the profound, mystical union He has with His people. To harm the Church is to harm Christ. To arrest a believer in Damascus is to persecute the King in heaven. This demolishes all forms of individualistic Christianity. You cannot have Jesus without His body, the church. An attack on the little finger is an attack on the head.
The Great Reversal (v. 8-9)
Saul's world is being turned upside down, and his response is one of stunned confusion, followed by a devastating revelation.
"And I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.' And those who were with me beheld the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me." (Acts 22:8-9 LSB)
Blinded by the light and pinned to the earth, Saul asks the most important question anyone can ask: "Who are You, Lord?" He instinctively uses the title "Lord" (Kurios), acknowledging the authority and power of the one addressing him. He knows he is in the presence of divinity, but he does not yet know the identity.
The answer must have hit him like a physical blow. "I am Jesus the Nazarene." Jesus does not say, "I am the eternal Logos" or "I am the second person of the Trinity." He identifies Himself with His humble, earthly existence. He is Jesus of Nazareth. He takes up the very name that was used as a term of contempt and presents it as His badge of honor from a throne of heavenly glory. The one whom Saul considered a crucified blasphemer, a failed messiah from a backwater town, is the very Lord of Glory now confronting him. The hunter has just met the Lion. Everything Saul believed was wrong. His entire life's work was not just misguided; it was a direct assault on the God he claimed to serve.
Verse 9 is a crucial apologetic detail. His companions saw the light. This was a publicly verifiable event. But they "did not understand the voice." They heard a sound, but the words, the meaning, were for Saul alone. This is a perfect illustration of the difference between general and special revelation. The light of God's glory shines everywhere, but only those to whom God gives ears to hear will understand the message of salvation. The miracle is public, but the grace is particular.
The Surrendered Will (v. 10-11)
Having had his mind and worldview shattered, Saul's will is the next to be conquered.
"And I said, 'What should I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Rise up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been determined for you to do.' But since I could not see because of the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who were with me, I came into Damascus." (Acts 22:10-11 LSB)
Saul's first question was, "Who are You?" This is the question of faith. His second question is, "What should I do?" This is the question of obedience. And this is the ironclad, logical progression of all true conversion. First comes the recognition of Christ's identity, and immediately following is the submission to His authority. Any supposed faith that does not ask this second question is a dead and useless faith.
The Lord's command is simple, immediate, and shot through with divine irony. "Rise up and go on into Damascus." He is to continue his journey. He is to enter the very city he intended to ravage. But he will not enter as a proud inquisitor; he will enter as a humbled, conquered subject of the King. God does not give him the full blueprint for his apostolic career. He gives him the next step. This is how God guides His people, not with a detailed map, but with a lamp for our feet, illuminating the path one step at a time.
And then we see the beautiful, humbling picture of verse 11. The very glory that opened his spiritual eyes left him physically blind. He who thought he was a guide to the blind must now be "led by the hand" like a helpless child. The proud Pharisee, the self-sufficient persecutor, is now utterly dependent. He is blinded by a light too bright for mortal eyes, so that he might truly see for the first time. He is led into the city he meant to judge, a captive of the grace that had just overthrown him. This is the gospel. God strikes us blind to our own righteousness so that we might see the righteousness of Christ. He cripples our self-reliance so that we might learn to walk by His strength. He arrests us in our rebellion so that He might lead us by the hand into His kingdom.
Conclusion: Your Damascus Road
The story of Saul's conversion is not just a remarkable historical event. It is a paradigm for every true conversion. While the external circumstances may differ, the internal reality is the same. We are all, by nature, at war with God. We may be irreligious rebels, or we may be pious, self-righteous Pharisees like Saul, but either way, we are persecuting Christ with our unbelief and our attempts to build our own kingdoms.
Salvation comes when the risen Christ breaks into our lives with a light that we cannot deny. He confronts us personally, calling us by name. He reveals our sin for what it is: a direct assault against Him. He reveals Himself for who He is: Jesus the Nazarene, the crucified and risen Lord. And in that moment of divine confrontation, we are brought low. We are knocked off our high horse.
And if He has done this for you, if He has revealed Himself to you, then you are left with the same two questions that defined Saul's new life. The first is "Who are You, Lord?" You must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. But you cannot stop there. You must immediately ask the second question, the question that proves the first was genuine: "What should I do, Lord?" And His answer to you today is the same as it was to Saul. Rise up. Leave your old life. And walk in simple, step-by-step obedience. He will take you by the hand and lead you into the glorious purpose that He has determined for you from before the foundation of the world.