Acts 9:3 And as he went, he drew near to Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. (4) And he fell on the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? (5) And he said, Who are You, Lord? And He said, I am Jesus, whom you persecute.
Saul thought that he was persecuting merely the followers of Jesus. Now a voice came from the heavens and told him that he was persecuting this One who is in the heavens. To Saul's great surprise, he experienced a heavenly light, a heavenly voice, and a heavenly One. Saul may have said to himself, "I have never persecuted Jesus. Rather, I persecuted Stephen and other followers of Jesus. I thought that Jesus was in the tomb, but now He comes to me from the heavens." According to 9:4, the Lord Jesus asked Saul, "Why are you persecuting Me?" This is a corporate Me comprising Jesus the Lord and all His believers. Saul did not know that when he persecuted these [Jesus-followers] he persecuted Jesus, for they were one with Him by being united to Him through their faith in Him. He considered that he was persecuting people on earth, never thinking that he touched anyone in heaven. To his great surprise, a voice from heaven told him that He was the One whom he was persecuting, and His name was Jesus. To him this was an unique revelation in the entire universe! By this he began to see that the Lord Jesus and His believers are one great person--the wonderful "Me." This must have impressed him and affected him for his future ministry concerning Christ and the church as the great mystery of God (Eph. 5:32), and laid a solid foundation for his unique ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Acts, pp. 205-206. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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