⁶”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, ⁷and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ ⁸And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ ⁹And those who were with me saw the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. ¹⁰And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’”

Nothing short of a miracle could change the course of Paul’s life. His Jewish bona fides were impeccable (see also Phil. 3:4–6). Only a miracle of epic proportions could change him, so fierce was his Pharisaical adherence to the Law of Moses and his antagonism against Christians. And that is exactly what happened—divine intervention.

His was the iconic, seminal “on-the-road-to-Damascus conversion experience.” No amount of reasoning or theologizing could change the fact of what happened to him. To all others the story was secondhand information, but to Paul it was personal firsthand experience, and it animated him. He preached it as reality to the mob who wanted to kill him.

Paul’s testimony dates back some thirty years earlier. His account lines up with the original record of his conversion in Acts 9:3–8 and his later account in Acts 26:12–18 (where he adds a bit more detail). A bright light, a voice, a confrontation, and a question, all cascading onto the hardened heart of the Christian movement’s greatest persecutor. Paul was stopped dead in his tracks; no arguing, no rabbinical or legalistic machinations could protect him from this divine intervention. He who was set on invading the Christian community was now being invaded by the God he was kicking against. For indeed, his persecution was against Jesus Christ Himself, as the voice told him!

Paul’s response was humble acquiescence, asking, “Who are You, Lord?” His words were reminiscent of the question Moses asked at the burning bush:

“Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (Ex. 3:13–14, see also verse 15)

God’s answer to Moses uncovered the divine name of Yahweh (from the Hebrew play on the words “I am who I am”). The voice to Paul said, “I am Jesus.” While God spoke to Moses out of a burning bush, He spoke to Paul out of bright, flashing light from heaven.

Lord, thank You for intervening in my life and miraculously saving me!