From: Acts 22:3-16
Paul Defends Himself Before the Crowd
[6] “As I made my journey and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light
from heaven suddenly shone about me. [7] And I fell to the ground and heard a
voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ [8] And I answered,
‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are
persecuting.’ [9] Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the
voice of the one who was speaking to me. [10] And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’
And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told
all that is appointed for you to do.’ [11] And when I could not see because of the
brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and
came into Damascus.
[12] “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all
the Jews who lived there, [13] came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Bro-
ther Saul, receive your sight.’ And in that very hour I received my sight and saw
him. [14] And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to
see the Just One and to hear a voice from his mouth; [15] for you will be a wit-
ness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard.[16] And now why do
you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’”
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Commentary:
1-21. St Luke gives us Paul’s address to the Jews of Jerusalem, the first of three
speeches in his own defense (cf. 24:10-21; 26:1-23) in which he tries to show that
there is no reason why Christianity should be opposed by Jew or by Roman. Here
he presents himself as a pious Jew, full of respect for his people and their sacred
traditions. He earnestly desires his brethren to realize that there are compelling
reasons for his commitment to Jesus. He is convinced that they can experience
in their souls the same kind of spiritual change as he did. However, this speech
is not a closely-argued apologia. His main intention is not so much to answer the
accusations levelled against him as to use this opportunity to bear witness to
Jesus Christ, whose commandments validate Paul’s actions. What he is really
trying to do is to get his hearers to obey the voice of the Lord.
1. “Brethren and fathers”: the “fathers” may refer to members of the Sanhedrin
present in the crowd.
3. Gamaliel (cf. 5:34) belonged to the school of the rabbi Hillel, which was noted
for a less rigorous interpretation of the Law than that of Shammai and his disci-
ples.
4. The situation described by Paul is confirmed by 1 Cor 15:9: “I am the least of
the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of
God”; Gal 1:13: “You have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted
the church of God violently and tried to destroy it”; Phil 3:6: “as to the law a Pha-
risee, as to zeal a persecutor of the church”; and 1 Tim 1:13: “I formerly blas-
phemed and persecuted and insulted him [Christ]”.
6-11. Paul describes in his own words what happened on the way to Damascus
(cf. 9:3-9; 26:6-16). This account differs in some ways from—but does not contra-
dict—the two other versions of the episode, especially that of chapter 9, which is
told in St Luke’s words.
Paul adds that the whole thing happened at midday (cf. 26:13), and he says that
Jesus referred to himself as “Jesus of Nazareth”. He also include the question
“What shall I do, Lord?”, which is not given in chapter 9.
As far as Paul’s companions were concerned, we know that they saw the light
(Acts 22:9) but did not see anyone (Acts 9:7): they did not see the glorified Jesus;
they heard a voice (Acts 9:7) but did not hear the voice of the one who was spea-
king to Paul (Acts 22:9), that is, did not understand what the voice said.
10. Paul addresses Jesus as “Lord”, which shows that this vision has revealed to
him the divinity of him whom he was persecuting. The divine voice orders him to
get up from the ground and the future Apostle of the Gentiles obeys immediately.
The physical movement of getting up is a kind of symbol of the spiritual uplift his
soul is given by God’s call. “This was the first grace, that was given to the first
Adam; but more powerful than it is the grace in the second Adam. The effect of
the first grace was that a man might have justice, if he willed; the second grace,
therefore, is more powerful, because it affects the will itself; it makes for a strong
will, a burning charity, so that by a contrary will the spirit overcomes the conflic-
ting will of the flesh” (St Augustine, “De Correptione Et Gratia”, XI, 31).
“Many have come to Christianity”, Origen says, “as if against their will, for a cer-
tain spirit, appearing to them, in sleep or when they are awake, suddenly silences
their mind, and they change from hating the Word to dying for him” (”Against
Celsus”, I, 46).
Paul’s conversion is an outstanding example of what divine grace and divine as-
sistance in general can effect in a person’s heart.
12-16. This account of Ananias and his role in Paul’s conversion is much shorter
than that given in chapter 9 (cf. vv. 10-19). St Paul adapts it here to suit his au-
dience (who are all Jews). He presents Jesus as the one in whom the Old Tes-
tament prophecies are fulfilled. Like Peter (cf. 3:13ff) and Stephen (cf. 7:52) he
speaks of the “God of our fathers” and the “Just One” when referring to God and
to Jesus respectively.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Acts 9:1-22 (Alternate)
Saul on His Way to Damascus
Ananias Baptizes Saul
For several days he was with the disciples at Damascus.
Paul Begins His Apostolate
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Commentary:
1-3. Roman authorities recognized the moral authority of the Sanhedrin and even
permitted it to exercise a certain jurisdiction over members of Jewish communi-
ties outside Palestine—as was the case with Damascus. The Sanhedrin even had
the right to extradite Jews to Palestine (cf. 1 Maccabees 15:21).
Damascus was about 230-250 kilometers (150 miles) from Jerusalem, depending
on which route one took. Saul and his associates, who would probably have been
mounted, would have had no difficulty in doing the journey in under a week. This
apparition took place towards the end of the journey, when they were near
Damascus.
2. “The Way”: the corresponding word in Hebrew also means religious behavior.
Here it refers to both Christian lifestyle and the Gospel itself; indirectly it means
all the early followers of Jesus (cf. Acts 18:25ff; 19:9, 23; 22:4) and all those who
come after them and are on the way to Heaven; it reminds us of Jesus’ words,
“The gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it
are few” (Matthew 7:14).
3-19. This is the first of the three accounts of the calling of Saul—occurring proba-
bly between the years 34 and 36—that are given in the Acts of the Apostles (cf.
Acts 22:5-16; 26:10-18); where important events are concerned, St. Luke does
not mind repeating himself. Once again the Light shines in the darkness (cf. John
1:5). It does so here in a spectacular way and, as in every conversion, it makes
the convert see God, himself and others in a new way.
However, the episode on the road to Damascus is not only a conversion. It marks
the beginning of St. Paul’s vocation: “What amazes you seems natural to me:
that God has sought you out in the practice of your profession!
“This is how He sought the first, Peter and Andrew, James and John, beside their
nets, and Matthew, sitting in the custom-house.
“And—wonder of wonders!—Paul, in his eagerness to destroy the seed of the
Christians” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 799).
The background to St. Luke’s concise account is easy to fill in. There would have
been no Hellenist Christians left in Jerusalem: they had fled the city, some going
as far afield as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch. Many had sought refuge in Da-
mascus, and Saul must have realized that their evangelizing zeal would win many
converts among faithful Jews in that city. Saul genuinely wanted to serve God,
which explains his readiness to respond to grace. Like most Jews of his time, he
saw the Messiah as a political liberator, a warrior-king, a half-Heavenly, half-earth-
ly figure such as described in the apocryphal “Book of Enoch”, 46: “It is impossi-
ble to imagine how even his glance terrifies his enemies. Wherever he turns, every-
thing trembles; wherever his voice reaches everything is overwhelmed and those
who hear it are dissolved as wax in fire.” A hero of this type does not fall into the
power of his enemies, much less let them crucify him; on the contrary, he is a
victor, he annihilates his enemies and establishes an everlasting kingdom of
peace and justice. For Saul, Jesus’ death on a cross was a clear proof that He
was a false messiah; and the whole notion of a brotherhood of Jews and Gentiles
was inconceivable.
He has almost reached Damascus when a light flashes; he is thrown onto the
ground and hears a voice from Heaven calling his name twice, in a tone of sad
complaint.
Saul surrenders unconditionally and places himself at the Lord’s service. He
does not bemoan his past life; he is ready to start anew. No longer is the Cross
a “scandal”: it has become for him a sign of salvation, the “power of God”, a
throne of victory, whose praises he will sing in his epistles. Soon St. Paul will
learn more about this Way and about all that Jesus did and taught, but from this
moment onwards, the moment of his calling, he realizes that Jesus is the risen
Messiah, in whom the prophecies find fulfillment; he believes in the divinity of
Christ: he sees how different his idea of the Messiah was from the glorified, pre-
existing and eternal Son of God; he understands Christ’s mystical presence in
His followers: “Why do you persecute ME?” In other words, he realizes that he
has been chosen by God, called by God, and immediately places himself at his
service.
4. This identification of Christ and Christians is something which the Apostle will
later elaborate on when he speaks of the Mystical Body of Christ (cf. Colossians
1:18; Ephesians 1:22f).
St. Bede comments as follows: “Jesus does not say, ‘Why do you persecute My
members?’, but, ‘Why do you persecute Me?’, because He Himself still suffers
affronts in His body, which is the Church. Similarly Christ will take account of the
good actions done to His members, for He said, ‘I was hungry and you gave Me
food...’ (Matthew 25:35), and explaining these words He added ‘As you did it to
one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me’ (Matthew 25:40)” (”Super
Act. Expositio, ad loc.”).
5-6. In the Vulgate and in many other translations these words are added between
the end of verse 5 and the start of verse 6: “It is hard for thee to kick against the
goad. And he, trembling and astonished, said: “Lord, what will Thou have me to
do? And the Lord said to him”. These words do not seem to be part of the original
sacred text but rather a later explanatory gloss; for this reason the New Vulgate
omits them. (The first part of the addition comes from Paul’s address in Acts
26:14).
6. The calling of Saul was exceptional as regards the manner in which God called
him; but the effect it had on him was the same as what happens when God gives
a specific calling to the apostolate to certain individual Christians, inviting them to
follow Him more closely. Paul’s immediate response is a model of how those who
receive these specific callings should act (all Christians, of course, have a com-
mon calling to holiness and apostolate that comes with Baptism).
Paul VI describes in this way the effects of this specific kind of vocation in a per-
son’s soul: “The apostolate is [...] an inner voice, which makes one both restless
and serene, a voice that is both gentle and imperious, troublesome and affectio-
nate, a voice which comes unexpectedly and with great events and then, at a
particular point, exercises a strong attraction, as it were revealing to us our life
and our destiny. It speaks prophetically and almost in a tone of victory, which
eventually dispels all uncertainty, all timidity and all fear, and which facilitates—
making it easy, desirable and pleasant—the response of our whole personality,
when we pronounce that word which reveals the supreme secret of love: Yes;
Yes, Lord, tell what I must do and I will try to do it, I will do it. Like St. Paul,
thrown to the ground at the gates of Damascus: What would You have me do?
“The roots of the apostolate run deep: the apostolate is vocation, election, inte-
rior encounter with Christ, abandonment of one’s personal autonomy to His will,
to His invisible presence; it is a kind of substitution of our poor, restless heart,
inconstant and at times unfaithful yet hungry for love, for His heart, the heart of
Christ which is beginning to pulsate in the one who has been chosen. And then
comes the second act in the psychological drama of the apostolate: the need to
spread, to do, to give, to speak, to pass on to others one’s own treasure, one’s
own fire. [...]
“The apostolate becomes a continuous expansion of one’s soul, the exuberance
of a personality taken over by Christ and animated by His Spirit; it becomes a
need to hasten, to work, to do everything one can to spread the Kingdom of God,
to save other souls, to save all souls” (”Homily”, 14 October 1968).
8-11. Straight Street runs through Damascus from east to west and can still be
identified today.
13. Ananias refers to Christ’s followers as “saints”; this was the word normally
used to describe the disciples, first in Palestine and then in the world at large.
God is THE Holy One (cf. Isaiah 6:3); as the Old Testament repeatedly says,
those who approach God and keep His commandments share in this holiness:
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to all the congregation of the people of Israel,
You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy’” (Leviticus 19:1-2).
The use of this term is an example of the spiritual sensitivity of our first bro-
thers and sisters in the faith: “What a moving name—saints!—the early Chris-
tians used to address each other!...
“Learn to be a brother to your brothers” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 469).
15-16. Our Lord calls St. Paul His “vessel of election”, which is a Hebraicism
equivalent to “chosen instrument”, and He tells Ananias how much the Apostle
will have to suffer on His account. A Christian called to the apostolate is also,
by virtue of this divine vocation, an instrument in the hands of God; to be effec-
tive he must be docile: he must let God use him and must do what God tells
him.
The task God has given him is far beyond Paul’s ability—”to carry My name be-
fore the Gentiles and kings and sons of Israel”. In Acts we will see how Paul ful-
fills his mission, with the help of God’s grace and suffering a great deal on ac-
count of His name. Down through the centuries, in diverse circumstance, those
whom the Lord elects to carry out specific missions will also be able to perform
them if they are good instruments who allow grace to act in them and who are
ready to suffer for their ideals.
19. In spite of the exceptional manner in which God called St. Paul, He desired
him to mature in the normal way—to be instructed by others and learn God’s will
through them. In this case he chose Ananias to confer Baptism on Paul and
teach him the basics of the Christian faith.
In Ananias we can see a trace of the role of the spiritual director or guide in
Christian asceticism. There is a principle which states that “no one can be a
good judge in his own case, because everyone judges according to his own in-
clinations” (cf. Cassian, “Collationes”, XVI, 11). A person guiding a soul has a
special “grace of state” to make God’s will known to him; and even if the guide
makes a mistake, the person who is being guided will—if obedient—always do the
right thing, always do God’s will. In this connection St. Vincent Ferrer says: “Our
Lord Jesus Christ, without whom we can do nothing, will not give His grace to
him who, though he has access to an expert guide, rejects this precious means
of sanctification, thinking that he can look after on his own everything that tou-
ches on his salvation. He who has a director, whom he obeys in everything, will
reach his goal more easily and more quickly than if he had acted as his own
guide, even if he be very intelligent and have the very best of spiritual books”
(”Treatise on the Spiritual Life”, 2, 1).
On the spiritual guidance of ordinary Christians, who seek holiness and carry
out apostolate in the context of everyday life, St. Escriva, writes: “A Director.
You need one. So that you can give yourself to God, and give yourself fully...by
obedience. A director who understands your apostolate, who knows what God
wants: that way he will second the work of the Holy Spirit in your soul, without
taking you from your place, filling you with peace, and teaching you how to
make your work fruitful” (”The Way”, 62).
20-23. In his letter to the Galatians (cf. Galatians 1:16f) St. Paul tells of how he
went into Arabia after his conversion and then returned to Damascus. He spent
almost three years away, and it was on his return that he preached the divinity
of Jesus, using all his energy and learning, now placed at the service of Christ.
This surprised and confounded the Jews, who immediately began to take action
against him.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.