- According to Paul of Tarsus, the new sect of Christians threatened the faith of Israel. By hunting down these dangerous renegades, he wanted to protect his compatriots. It seemed clear to him that the crucifixion of Jesus proved that the Nazarene was a false messiah and that the brotherhood between the Jews and members of other races, as preached by Stephen, would do away with the "single election" of the people of Israel. We need to remember these considerations in order to appreciate the true value of the irruption of Christ into the life of Saint Paul.
- It is therefore above all the event of the road to Damascus which illuminates the life of St. Paul with an intensity that will never weaken. His great knowledge of the Scriptures will then provide him with the necessary lights to find meaning in this momentous encounter. The Scriptures will enable him to understand and harmonize the revelation of Jesus, Son of God, with the suffering Messiah of the prophets.
- “The gospel of Paul” therefore did not fall to him from heaven perfectly finished. It will be the fruit of divine illumination, followed by meditative prayer and constant Bible study. His letters reflect this triple character.
- It is important to emphasize that Paul's conversion did not end on the road to Damascus. This is where it begins. It will take him a lifetime, until his death sentence in the capital of the Empire, to complete this conversion.
- The life of a Christian is a path that he must follow and lead to the end!
- There is no question of taking breaks or being a Christian when it suits us!
- One must be a Christian at every moment of his life!
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10- On the road to Damascus
The risen Christ appears to Paul
Paul is deeply gripped, in his heart and in his intelligence, by this Jesus who came to reveal God's infinite love for us.
He is overthrown by the merciful and free love of God, at a time when nothing prepared him for this revelation.
According to Paul of Tarsus, the new sect of Christians threatened the faith of Israel. By hunting down these dangerous renegades, he wanted to protect his compatriots. It seemed clear to him that the crucifixion of Jesus proved that the Nazarene was a false messiah and that the brotherhood between the Jews and members of other races, as preached by Stephen, would do away with the "single election" of the people of Israel. We need to remember these considerations in order to appreciate the true value of the irruption of Christ into the life of Saint Paul.
In Christian iconography, particularly in the Middle Ages, we see Paul who, on the road to Damascus, falls from his horse. In the first century, horses were rare and they were used mainly by the military and by high Roman officials. Paul was probably traveling on foot, in the middle of a "caravan". Suddenly, this convinced Pharisee finds himself face to face with the one he wants to eliminate. Twice he hears his name pronounced: “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” Christ identifies himself with the Christians of his Church. Paul becomes blind and it will be one of the disciples of the Lord, Ananias, who will restore his sight. (Acts 9, 10-19)
Theatrical scene of the conversion of Saul (often repeated in Christian iconography)... which falsely suggests that Paul faces an all-powerful, authoritarian and wrathful God, who stops him in the middle of a ride
The Apostle will never have the slightest doubt about what he experienced during those few moments on the road to Damascus. His conviction will remain unshakable: he really met Jesus, the Risen One, who challenged him and turned his life upside down. When he comes to, like a real man of action, he asks: "Lord, what do you want me to do?" (Acts 22, 10)
Without this appearance of the risen Christ, Paul would never have been able to overcome the “scandal of the cross”. Only the resurrection could remove this obstacle, as it did for the other apostles.
Throughout his life, Paul will remember this meeting. The Lord appeared to him, not in the guise of one who chastises and avenges, but with a countenance full of mercy and kindness:
"The day when the goodness of God our Savior appeared and his love for men, he did not concern himself with the works that we had been able to accomplish, but, moved by his mercy alone, he saved us by bathing in the regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3, 4-5)
The wrath of God against men had been transformed into love full of tenderness. The epistles of Paul, unique documents in world literature, will proclaim this fundamental truth:
"But mercy has been shown to me!" (1 Timothy 1, 13)
Paul is deeply gripped, in his heart and in his intelligence, by this Jesus who came to reveal God's infinite love for us. He then discovers the mystery of the God-incarnate, who places himself on the side of the weak, who identifies himself with each of them: “I am the one you are persecuting”. He is overthrown by the merciful and free love of God, at a time when nothing prepared him for this revelation. It is to the sudden nature of this encounter that the strange words allude: “After all the disciples, he appeared to me too, as to an abortion. (1 Corinthians 15:8).
At the beginning of the 5th century, Saint Augustine, who will also live a great experience of conversion, will say, speaking of the fight for grace in Saint Paul: “She threw him to the ground to raise him immediately” (Sermon 14).
"Paul's Gospel" will be the fruit of divine illumination, followed by meditative prayer
and constant Bible study.
It is therefore above all the event of the road to Damascus which illuminates the life of St. Paul with an intensity that will never weaken. His great knowledge of the Scriptures will then provide him with the necessary lights to find meaning in this momentous encounter. The Scriptures will enable him to understand and harmonize the revelation of Jesus, Son of God, with the suffering Messiah of the prophets.
“The gospel of Paul” therefore did not fall from heaven to him perfectly finished. It will be the fruit of divine illumination, followed by meditative prayer and constant Bible study. His letters reflect this triple character. If we read them in the chronological sequence of their writing, it is possible to recognize quite clearly the development of the thought of the apostle of the nations.
For Paul, this encounter with Christ can be summed up in one word: gratuitousness! This is the key to reading his experience on the road to Damascus. This gratuitousness renewed her relationship with God from within. From now on, it will guide his whole life and support him in the crises that will come. It is the new source of spirituality which makes a "powerful energy" (Colossians 1:29) spring up in him, much more demanding than his will to practice the Law and to acquire his own justification.
Free from God!
This is the key to reading his experience on the road to Damascus.
Joy and thanksgiving will be the characteristics of his spirituality.
It is important to point out that Paul's conversion did not end on the road to Damascus. This is where it begins. It will take him a lifetime, until his death sentence in the capital of the Empire, to complete this conversion.
When Paul takes a look at his life, he sees it divided into two parts, “life without Christ” and “life in Christ”. What happened on the road to Damascus is the great event that separates them. After this meeting, the tumultuous life of Paul experiences a turnaround that invites him not to destroy those who are different from him but to preach to them hope, reconciliation and freedom in God-Savior.
Paul is like the merchant of whom Matthew speaks in chapter 13 of his Gospel: having found a precious pearl, he realizes that all the rest is worthless. He is like the man who discovers a treasure hidden in a field and gives up everything to acquire it.
“Because of him, I accepted to lose everything, I consider everything as waste, in order to win Christ.” (Philippians 3, 7-8).
The encounter on the road to Damascus will produce a true transfiguration in Paul, and will bring him great inner joy:
“I am filled with consolation; I overflow with joy in the midst of all our trials” (2 Colossians 7, 4).
It will invite him to recognition. (cf. Colossians 1:12). Joy and thanksgiving will be the characteristics of his spirituality. And the experience of Damascus will invite him to praise his Lord:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who from heaven has showered us with all spiritual blessings in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). (See 2 Colossians 1, 3-4).
Meeting Christ on the road to Damascus is the most precious moment in Paul's life. Three times, Luke tells us about it (Acts 9, 1-19; 22, 4-16; 26, 9-18), because this event is an example and a model of all true encounters with Christ.