THE STUNNING CONFRONTATION
Play Audio
If you prefer listening to today’s Bible guide reading, play this audio file.
If the audio bar is not appearing, click here to play the audio.
Opening Prayer
Ruler of everything that was, that is, and ever will be, please give me the opportunity and means to serve you today without reservation, with all that I am and have.
Read ACTS 9:1–9
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Saul’s Conversion
9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
Reflect
Saul was young and zealous, a rising star in Judaism. Not only did he persecute followers of Jesus in Jerusalem, but he also sought permission to chase them across national borders. What would get his attention? How does God get your attention?Saul of Tarsus was a young disciple of Gamaliel—a wise and mod- erate leader among the Jews (see Acts 5:34–40). But Saul was the rising star and wanted to come out from Gamaliel’s shadow. A violent persecution campaign against the followers of Jesus would help young Saul make a reputation for himself.
What was the worst thing that could happen to the chief antagonist of the followers of Jesus? Surely it would be a personal encounter with the risen Jesus himself? That was what happened to Saul. As the bright light from heaven flashed so brilliantly that he fell to the ground, blinded, he cried out to ask who was speaking to him. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting’ (v. 5) was not the response he could have anticipated!
It must have been startling to discover that all these targets for persecution who spoke of a resurrected Jesus were telling the truth! Saul was humbled and so startled that he spent the next three days without eating or drinking a thing.
Apply
There could be no more stunning confrontation for Saul than encountering the risen Jesus himself. Indeed, there could be no more stunning confrontation for any of us. Imagine how you would respond if you suddenly met the risen Jesus!
Closing prayer
Holy Spirit, thank you for enabling me to know Jesus and, in him, changing me; surely it is no less a miracle than what you did in your transformation of Paul. Thank you for the new life and greater purpose that are mine because of Christ.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2026 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.