Bible Passage: Acts 9:1-22
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: May 4, 2025

Bulletin May 4, 2025

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, the risen Jesus,

I want to begin by reading for you again two statements from our text.  The first one comes at the beginning:  Saul was breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. (v. 1)  And at the end of our text we are told, Immediately [Saul] began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues saying, He is the Son of God. (v. 20)  Stop for a moment to appreciate what we have here!  At the beginning of our text, Saul hates Jesus!  And he hates the followers of Jesus!  So much so that his goal and mission is arresting Christians and threatening them with death unless they renounce faith in Jesus.  And at the end of our text, Saul is standing up publicly proclaiming for all to hear that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God!

Between this pillar and post, in the middle of our text, something happens to Saul.  In the middle of our text we are told, Something like scales fell from his eyes. (v. 18)  Saul received sight.  In a very dramatic way, the Lord taught Saul that he was now going to see everything differently.  St. Luke, the writer of our text, says something resembling fish scales fell off of Saul’s eyes.  Friends, the biggest, most dramatic, most radical change that can ever happen to a human being is Seeing Jesus with Unscaled Eyes.

 To begin, let’s remind ourselves a little bit just who this “Saul” is.  He is more commonly known to us as “Paul.”  We’ll get to that in a moment.  But before his name-change, he was known as Saul.  Saul was from the city of Tarsus in south eastern Asia Minor.  He was a Jew, of the tribe of Benjamin.  At some point in his early life, Saul moved to Jerusalem and became a disciple of the famous rabbi, Gamaliel.  I suppose we might say that was like going to Harvard or Oxford today.  Saul became a member of that group known as the Pharisees.  And according to Paul’s telling of his story, he was moving up the Pharisee-ladder faster than his peers.

There is much we don’t know about Saul.  As a student of Gamaliel in Jerusalem, he most certainly was aware of Jesus of Nazareth.  Was Saul ever in one those groups of Pharisees mentioned in the Bible who watched Jesus carefully when he was in Jerusalem?  Was Saul ever in one of those groups of Pharisees that openly questioned Jesus and his authority?  Was Saul part of the crowd to whom Jesus said, “Woe to you, you Pharisees!  You hypocrites!  You blind guides!”

What we do know is that Saul developed a deep hatred of Jesus and his followers, who in our text are called those who belong to the Way (v. 2)  Why don’t we let Saul tell us in his own words how great his hatred was.  This is what he told King Agrippa when later in his life he was on trial:  I too was convinced that it was necessary to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus the Nazarene.  And that is what I did in Jerusalem.  After receiving authority from the chief priests, I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.  I often tried to make them blaspheme by punishing them throughout all the synagogues.  Because I was so insanely angry with them, I even pursued them to foreign cities. (Acts 26:9-11)  “So insanely angry!”  Saul was nearly driven mad in his hatred of Christ and Christians!

That is where we find Saul as our text begins.  His insane anger is driving him to Damascus to round up Christians and arrest them.  As Saul’s group neared Damascus, a bright light flashed around them.  Saul fell to the ground.  A voice spoke, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? (v. 4)  Saul is at a loss.  Who are you, Lord? (v. 5)  The Voice identifies himself, I am Jesus. (v. 5)  It is Jesus who meets Saul on the road!  The risen Lord Jesus!  The one Saul so insanely hates!  The one whose followers Saul so madly pursues and murders!  But what’s this?  The risen Jesus has not come to destroy this infidel; he has come to save him.  Get up and go into the city and you will be told what you need to do. (v. 6)  Saul’s companions help him up.  He’s blind.  For the next three days he will sit in darkness, his eyes scaled, as it were.

The Lord will remove the scales from his eyes so he can see.  And he uses a man named Ananias to do it.  Ananias goes to Saul.  Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus whom you saw on your way here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit (v. 17)  And then we are told immediately something like fish scales fell from his eyes!  Look at what happens when Saul sees the world with unscaled eyes!  Immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, He is the Son of God. (v. 20)  Saul now sees Jesus as true God!  Saul now proves from the Old Testament that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Sin-Bearer of the world!

The fact that you have come to believe in Jesus as your Sin-Bearer is no less spectacular than what happened to Saul in our text.  You were born with scales, spiritual scales, covering your eyes.  You had no ability, you had no capacity, to see Jesus as the Son of God, your Savior.  But along the line, the Lord sent some “Ananias” to you, who brought you to a font for baptism, or told you about Jesus.  And through the news of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit filled you!  Scales fell from your eyes!  And you now see Jesus with unscaled eyes!  Thank the Lord for this miracle of grace!

And remember, there are still many out there with scales on their eyes.  People who are insanely angry at Jesus and Jesus’ followers.  We see this all the time, don’t we?  Inexplicable, irrational anger at Christians and Christianity.  We only want to tell them some Good News!  It’s insane!   And what is the one thing that can overcome this insanity?  The risen Jesus.  That’s right.  Saul’s hatred of Jesus was overcome by…Jesus.  And it is the same today.  This world’s insane hatred of Jesus is overcome by…Jesus.  By his death.  By his resurrection.  By his forgiveness. Through the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen God’s Spirit works, and scales fall from eyes, and people see Jesus with unscaled eyes!

Amen.