Acts 9:1-31
Saul's Conversion
1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews,[a] but they tried to kill him.30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
Acts 17:24-31
God Has Appointed Jesus
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
Acts 25:16-21
Paul Says Jesus Lives
16 “I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and have had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges. 17 When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in. 18 When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. 19 Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive. 20 I was at a loss how to investigate such matters; so I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges. 21 But when Paul made his appeal to be held over for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar.”
Matthew 28:19-20
Jesus Will Always Be With Us, Even till the End of the Ages
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 13:53-58
A Prophet Without Honor
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.”
58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
To believe in Jesus sometimes takes a change in us...Faith makes one believe that there can be miracles...And the challenge for all of us is to have faith...Most of us do not want to have a lack of faith...But our faith can change some over time...We can go through periods of lesser faith and stronger faith...And much of my faith is based on a most unusual story of a Man's resurrection...And it is a hard story to explain and understand...Yet, the story exists in all four of the gospels...I see the resurrection as the Truth...How do people lie about something so odd as a Man resurrecting?...How is one to believe that there is this dead Man named Jesus whom believers claim to be alive after two thousand years?...That would make Him an Old Man, if He still is in His body form, as He left us in His ascension to heaven...But there is something different about this particular Man...
Jesus reminds us He is still alive in the Gospel of Matthew...So let us remember that Jesus says I AM with you always to the very end of this age...The hope of the resurrection is the great Christian belief and hope...Paul believed that Jesus was still alive after His death, while others did not...Paul was on trial for believing that Jesus is still alive...Paul had seen and felt Jesus on the road to Damascus after His death, and was converted to believe in Him...We know that it is written that Jesus came to His disciples after His death, and says He will not only live to the end of time, but be with us until the end of time...So, if believe Matthew and Paul (and the other gospel writers) then we too believe that Jesus is Alive...
Paul had to go through a change to believe in Jesus...The resurrection of Jesus was transforming to not only Jesus, but changed others including Paul...And Paul's meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus greatly changed him...The transformations surrounding the resurrection of each of the different believers were probably different, but Paul believed in what he had heard and seem on the road, as he fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”...The transformation would change his life forever...Paul went from a persecutor of Jesus and His followers to a zealous and very active apostle for Him...Paul would now believe that Jesus was the Messiah...Paul believed that Jesus was the One who the Old Testament Prophets wrote about...Jesus was, in fact, the One that God had appointed...God has given us proof that Jesus is the Messiah to everyone by raising Him from the dead...The resurrection is our proof that Jesus was the One to come...
Somehow this belief in Jesus had dramatically changed Paul from tormentor to a leading apostle...And Jesus is still like that...He still can dramatically change people...The gospel of Jesus is about this change...We are like one sort of fellow before we meet and get to know Jesus, and then we are changed by Him, if we believe...There are those that are changed, and there are those who do not believe and they will not believe...Even in His own hometown of Nazareth and the ones that knew Him the longest and probably the best, there He could do only a couple of miracles...It takes one to believe and have faith to see and believe in a miracle...And in His hometown He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith in Him...