Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?

..... And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”  Then the Lord said “I, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”  (Acts 9:5 NKJV).  Saul was on the road to Damascus with letters from the high priest authorizing him to take  believers in Jesus, both men and women bound,  back to Jerusalem (verses 1, 2).  A light had suddenly appeared from heaven, and he heard voice asking the question in the title. Saul was blinded by the light,  but not his companions.  They did however hear the voice but saw no one (verses 7, 8).  By addressing the voice as Lord, We are to understand that Saul had an instantaneous conversion. However,  by asking who his Lord was,  we are also to deduce that he did not yet fully understand.

It is easy to miss and essential part of what Jesus is saying in His reply. The 'Aramaic Bible in Plain English' makes is clear, translating it as  “I AM THE LIVING GOD, Yeshua the Nazarene.” In other words the force of the Greek points us back to God's revelation to Moses as the Great I AM (Exodus 3:14), and the claims of Jesus to be He,  in His “I am” statements in John. The response of the Jews (and Saul) was that Jesus was blaspheming  (i.e. John  8:58; 10:36).  Saul would later tell us that he now understood that it was he  Paul (formerly Saul),  who was the blasphemer, and that he was also  a persecutor, and an insolent man (1 Timothy 1:13).

Though the phrase “It is hard for you to kick against the goads,” is absent from some manuscripts here in Chapter 9. However it is undisputed in Acts 26:15,  where Paul recalls this incident.  The picture is of an ox receiving pricks that goad him into doing his work. When in ignorance the ox  kicks back, he will get more of the same.  We seem to be being told that the Lord had been at work iSaul for some time (i.e goads not goad). It is as though he had been  resisting the revelation, increasing his  blasphemous zeal until in one of His  “suddenly,” the Lord broke though.  Part of what we are being told, is that when the resistance is fierce, it is often because the Lord is at work. In addition, it seems to be part of our fallen human nature, that we accuse others of the very same things we are doing. It is called projection in Psychology. And it strikes me again, that this Bible knows us!


 Father, I am undone this morning as I meditate on this passage, and as You just showed me that the kick back I have been receiving recently,  and in the long term,  is often others kicking against the goads. It's not that I am always right, but that when I am, it's not me they are opposing Lord, it is You  And what I need to do Lord, is to allow You to use it to take me deeper into the fellowship of Your suffering (Philippians 3:10). Bring me to the place Lord Jesus, where I can count it a privilege to suffer for You and with. And I will give Your the Glory and praise in Your precious Name Amen