PAUL'S DEFENSE BEFORE AGRIPPA

Acts 26:12-15 Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them, which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

Having given an account of his religious training and his active determination to persecute all Jews that had been taught, and accepted, Jesus Christ as the promised Savior, Paul now gives the account of his conversion as he continues his defense before Agrippa II. He relates to king Agrippa II, Bernice, Festus, and all others that were present for this hearing, that while he was on the road to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests (Vs. 12) to continue the persecution of Christians, at mid-day he, as well as those that were traveling with him, saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun. Paul immediately fell to the earth and heard a voice ...saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Christ speaks to Paul in the language of his religion, calls him by his given name, Saul, and tells him to cease his persecution of Christians. Jesus then admonishes Saul, just as an ox learns not to kick the goads of a work harness, he must not to resist the instructions He is about to give him. Realizing that he was bowing before a heavenly being, Paul humbly asked, Who are thou, Lord? Our Savior answered, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

We are assured that Paul immediately recognized Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God, from a previous account of this event. In that account Paul, trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do (Acts 9:6)? In both accounts, as soon as Paul submitted to the Lord, Jesus told him the reason for his calling, and gave him instructions on what he was to do. Here Jesus told Paul to rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee (Vs. 16). No doubt Paul related this incident so king Agrippa II would know that his teaching and his actions were not the result of his own will, but he was directed by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who called him to do so. And not only was Paul to be a witness of Jesus Christ to the world, but He would also protect and deliver him from attempts on his life by both radical, zealous Jews as well as agnostic, idolatrous Gentiles (Vs. 17).

Verses 17 and 18 states that Christ intended to also send Paul to deliver His gospel message of salvation to the Gentile nations, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me. It is significant that king Agrippa II was now fully aware that eternal life through Christ Jesus was not restricted to one nation, but was a fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham that in thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Gen. 22:18), not just the Jewish people as they were mistakenly taught and fully expected.

By the resurrection of Jesus Christ and His appearance to Saul on the road to Damascus, he was convinced that Jesus was the promised Messiah. When called by Him to preach the gospel of salvation to all people of the world, Paul obeyed the will of Christ, was baptized for the remission of his sins, and immediately preached Christ in the synagogues, that He was the Son of God (See Acts 9:3-20). Indeed, Paul could say without reservation that he became an obedient follower of Christ and was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision (Vs. 19). He told Agrippa II that he preached first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance (Vs. 20). It was for this cause that the Jews ...went about to kill me (Vs. 21). Paul obeyed and preached nothing other that that which the prophets and Moses did say should come to pass - that Christ should suffer, and that He should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people (the Jews), and to the Gentiles (Vss. 22-23). These prophecies, which the unbelieving Jews rejected, Paul now believed, obeyed, and preached as fulfilled.