Acts 9:1-6

Why did Jesus appear in person to Saul?  Yes, I believe Saul encountered Jesus in the blinding light.  His traveling companions saw the light, but he met Jesus.  This was such a unique and life changing experience that it allowed Saul to refer to himself as an apostle.  However, the question remains, “Why?”

It was not because God wanted to put an end to the persecution of the church.  After Saul had this transforming experience, the persecution of the church continued.  Saul was no longer a part of it, (he was now a victim of it), but the persecution continued and intensified.  If ending the persecution had been the motive, Saul’s encounter with Jesus was a failure.

Saul went on to become an evangelist to the gentiles.  Perhaps he encountered Jesus because Jesus and the church needed him.  That exclamation is contrary to the theology revealed in the rest of scripture.  Jesus did not need Saul to believe, any more than he needs any single person to believe.  Jesus would have still been God even if Paul had not believed, and the church would have continued to grow even without Saul.

We find the answer in Saul himself. Saul was trying to do right.  He had spent his entire life studying God’s word, and attempting to keep the letter of the law.  Concerning the Mosaic Law, Saul was a Jew’s Jew.  He belonged to the order known as Pharisees.  With all his heart, he was committed to living a life pleasing to God.  It was not in spite of, but rather because of, his total commitment to God that Saul was persecuting the church.  He was not an evil man, but he was doing evil, all in an attempt to please God.  Jesus appeared to Saul because Saul wanted nothing more than to be right with God.  His training kept Saul from recognizing Jesus.  When God blinded Saul’s eyes to the world, it let him see Jesus.  All who seek God find Him, when they first see Jesus.