Winning a Persecutor
A year had passed since Acts 8:3. “The Way” had become the accepted phrase for the infant Church and its presentation of the truth, Acts 19:9; Acts 22:4. It may refer to the course of life the Christians pursued, or to their method of getting right with God-not by the deeds of the Law, but by their faith in Christ, Romans 10:5-10. Compare with this narrative Acts 26:13; Acts 22:6. Saul's companions saw the light and heard a noise, but did not see the Lord or distinguish what was said.
Mark how the Lord Jesus identifies Himself with His suffering ones. Their sufferings are His, Acts 9:5. To hurt them is to hurt Him. The pricks are the ox-goad. The more the ox resists, the deeper the wound. Even from heaven the Master speaks in parables. Evidently for a long time-perhaps from the death of Stephen-the persecutor had been fighting against conviction. When God needs captains for His army, He not unseldom takes them from the ranks of the enemy. The foremost persecutor became the foremost leader of the Church. The conversion of Saul was due to the personal interposition of the living Christ. It was the pierced hand that arrested and apprehended him.