Acts 9:5 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

NIV: "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied.

NASB: And he said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,

CSB: "Who are you, Lord?" Saul said. "I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting," he replied.

NLT: Who are you, lord?' Saul asked. And the voice replied, 'I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!

KJV: And he said, Who art thou, Lord And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

NKJV: And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

On the road approaching Damascus is a zealous Pharisee, Saul. He has orders from the Jewish council to find every Jewish Jesus-follower he can and bring them back to Jerusalem to be tried for the crime of blasphemy. Although Damascus is nowhere near Judea, the high priests have an agreement with the Roman government: they may enforce the Mosaic law among the Jews no matter where they are. Legally, the Sanhedrin cannot execute apostate Jews, but it appears the Romans may look the other way if the situation is right. Stephen was not well known (Acts 7:54–60), while Jesus was popular enough that His death posed the risk of civil unrest.

Saul is surrounded by a great light from heaven and posed with the question of why he is persecuting the speaker (Acts 9:4). He now asks who the speaker is. Jesus told His followers that they will be persecuted because they follow Him, but everything that happens to them will be as if it happened to Him (Matthew 10:17–23, 40; 25:40). As God the Son came in the authority of God the Father, so Jesus' followers come in His authority. Saul is beginning to realize that, while he thought he was defending God's honor, he was attacking God's people (John 16:2). As Jesus told His disciples, "The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me" (Luke 10:16).

This will not be the last time Jesus appears to Saul. On his first trip back to Jerusalem, after preaching that Jesus is the Messiah in the synagogues, Jesus will tell Saul to get out of town and go to the Gentiles (Acts 22:17–21). Jesus will give Saul confidence to continue preaching despite the dangerous situation in Corinth (Acts 18:9–10). And after Saul is arrested, Jesus will tell him he will not die but will teach in Rome (Acts 23:11).

Acts 9:1–9 tells the story of how the lead persecutor of the early church meets Jesus. Saul, who had arrested the Jesus-followers in Jerusalem (Act 7:58; 8:1–3), expands his terror outside of Judea and travels north to Damascus. Jesus stops Saul and reveals He is not only alive, He is glorified by the light of heaven. Saul is stunned—and blinded. His companions lead him into the city where he waits, without food or drink, for three day until Jesus' messenger comes to tell him what to do. Saul goes into further detail in Acts 22:6–16 and 26:9–18.

Acts 9 sets the stage for the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles. Saul continues the persecution of the church by traveling to Damascus to arrest Jesus-followers. Before he reaches the city, Jesus confronts him. Saul realizes Jesus is the Messiah and immediately starts spreading the news, first in Damascus and later in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Peter travels to modern-day Tel Aviv to heal a paralyzed man and bring a dead woman back to life. The miracles aren't unusual, but the story leaves him in Joppa, poised to take the next step in Jesus' mandate to be His witness (Acts 1:8).

The murder of the Jesus-follower Stephen has ignited a fierce persecution against the church, led by a young Pharisee-trained man named Saul (Acts 7:54—8:3; 9:1–2). When he realizes Jesus truly is the Messiah, that fervor fuels his own evangelism (Acts 9:3–30). Meanwhile, Peter travels to the coast of Judea. Soon, he will teach a prominent Gentile household about Jesus and discover that Gentiles can be saved (Acts 10). The stage will be set for Saul to spread the saving news of Jesus to ''the end of the earth'' (Acts 1:8) under the Greek version of his name: Paul.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.