3rd November 2025

What was going through Paul’s [Saul’s] mind during those three days? Was he in pain? Shock? Mourning the fact that he had given his whole life to God and now found out that he was fighting God instead of obeying him? I cannot imagine what those days of darkness were like. That blinding light was seen by others, but they were not blinded as Paul was. They heard a sound, but did not understand what was being said to Paul. They were witness to the event, and to the transformation in his life; and what a powerful transformation that was. how were they changed by it all I wonder.

I am reminded of how Jonah had spent three days in the belly of the great fish God had prepared for him (Matthew 12:39-40). It shows how we cannot run from God or fight against him with any success. Jonah had time to spend in great darkness and confinement, time to think about his life, and to ponder God’s ways. These men were both stopped in a big way and turned around in the opposite direction. Paul was given the right path to live, and Jonah was placed on the right path when the big fish released him. It may seem a harsh way to be treated, but they were by God’s mercy, placed back on track and given a second chance to live for him. Can we say anything different?

The voice in the blinding light was Jesus. He had come to stop Paul in his murderous and outrageous persecution of the church and of himself. How you may wonder was Paul persecuting Jesus. Just as the Father, Son, and Spirit are one, so are we with them as we belong to God and God indwells us by the Holy Spirit. When someone harms or threatens us, they do the same to God; for we are all one in the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:17 (The Voice) reads: ‘But when you are joined with the Lord, you become one spirit with him’ and Ephesians 4:4 (NLT) ‘For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.’

Paul may have been one of those who, in the crowd, demanded the death of Jesus. He was more than willing to sentence others to the darkness and silence of the grave. His rejection of Jesus as the Son of God, and ours as well, sent Jesus to the cross and to the tomb for three days. Is it just a coincidence that Paul experiences blindness and darkness for three days? I personally do not think it was just a coincidence. Jesus was not persecuting Paul; he was bringing him out of the deception of sin that leads to death. Sin that Jesus removed with his own blood sacrificed on the cross (Ephesians 1:7-10; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Paul may have been planning revenge, but Jesus had salvation on his mind. 

‘From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priest, and the teachers of the religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead’ (Matthew 16:21 NLT; see also Mark 8:31-9:1; Luke 9:22-27). Paul was released from his darkness after three days, as we were, when Jesus rose from the grave on the third day.

‘After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth. (Hosea 6:2-3 NIV). 

May the name of the Lord Jesus be lifted high. Amen.

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