Before the Jewish Apostle Saul became an apostle, he was a Yeshua-hating ultra orthodox Pharisee. His life’s mission at that time was to stop what he thought was the apostasy of believing Jesus was the Messiah. The story of what changed him reveals the total Jewishness of the event, as well as highlighting other Jewish realities which help interpret scripture.
While the primary narration of Saul’s transformation, often called “The Damascus Road Experience, ”is included in Acts Chapter 9, the details are repeated and embellished by Saul himself twice in later chapters.
First, let’s take note that Saul (Shah-ool) was his Hebrew name, and Paul was his Roman name. God never changed his name. This is revealed in Acts 13:9: “Then Saul, who also is called Paul.” It is also confirmed, as we’ll see, in the later chapters. But we’ll refer to him as Paul in this article as a comfort level.
We see in Acts 9:1-2 that Paul was given permission by the high priest to arrest believers in Yeshua. That proves the religious leadership still considered them Jewish. In the Roman Empire, sub-cultures were allowed authority over their own, so Paul’s scope of enforcement was limited to other Jews. In that same passage in Acts, those Jewish believers are referred to as “of the Way.”
Most likely they were called that because of Jesus’ statement in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Indeed, the Way is the term used for their identification a number of times in Acts, emphasizing their Jewishness. Additionally, they were (although despised) specifically regarded as a sect of Judaism in Acts 24:5&14 and 28:22.
That they “Were first called Christians in Antioch,” is an aberration. First, as many biblical scholars agree, it was not the title they chose, but was used as a derogatory name by their detractors, similar to Nazarene. Obviously that negative connotation has been reversed over the years. It is likely those of the Way simply called themselves disciples or saints.
Secondly, the word “Christian” is used only three times in the entire New Testament. It is clear the early believers were Jews who worshiped Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah. Paul was clear as well, always referring to himself as Jewish, as in Philippians 3:5 and Romans 11:1.
Back to the Road to Damascus where Jesus overwhelmed Paul, Acts 9:3-4, with a light from Heaven. The light was so powerful it knocked Paul to the ground, blinding him. Then He spoke to Paul, calling him Saul. Not only that, but He spoke in Hebrew.
Defending himself in Acts 26:14 before King Agrippa and the Roman governor Festus, Paul said, “ I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
Check it. Jesus spoke Hebrew and called him Saul. That also means when He answered Paul’s question of who He was in Acts 9:5, He said Yeshua. Similarly, Paul used Hebrew as he addressed the Jewish crowd at the Holy Temple in Acts 22: 2, “And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent.”
Responding to the powerful experience, Paul immediately reverses his position against Jesus, calling Him Lord, and asking Him what to do. Yeshua’s answer in Acts 9:6 is indirect, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Instead of giving him instructions on the spot, Jesus requires him to extend his faith by relying on further events.
God has used that technique at other times. For example, in Mark 14:13-15 when Jesus told His disciples to prepare the last Passover Seder (Last Supper), instead of telling them where, He told them follow someone. Likewise in Acts 10, the Jewish Apostle Peter and the Roman Cornelius are given round-about instructions concerning their liaison.
So the details of Paul’s orders were fulfilled when a believer named Ananias prayed over him, restoring his sight and giving him his call to ministry. Though he considered himself an apostle to the Gentiles, his original call included the Jewish People. In Acts 9:15, God gave Ananias His mission statement for Paul saying, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.”
In fact, Acts 9:20 verifies his response, “Immediately he preached Jesus in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.” During his missionary journeys he always sought out synagogues to witness to Jews, and his writings reflected that. Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Messiah, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Gentile;” and 11:13-14, “For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” are a few of many examples.
Upon getting this dramatic call on his life, He took immediate action to spread the message of Messiah. His significant knowledge of Judaism, which he had mis-interpreted, now became his basis for proving Yeshua. The powerful encounter with Yeshua, which embellished the Jewish truth, was used by God to reach the heathen Gentile world.