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Light In The Dark
by
Shadrach Akhaure
“I am sending you to them to open their
eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins
and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”
Acts 26:17b-18
Introduction
Saul was an educated man. Saul was a
devout, religious man. Saul was a confident, opinionated man.
And Saul was convinced that all of the “Jesus of Nazareth”
narrative he was hearing from a small group of Jewish people
was dangerous. In fact, it was heresy to the Jewish way of
life, faith, and worship. Saul waged war against this
treacherous narrative and anyone who propagated it. After all,
Saul was an educated, devoutly religious, and confidently
opinionated man.
Acts 9 records the account of Saul’s
life-changing conversion. God literally ‘dropped him’ on the
road to Damascus, blinding him with a sudden bright light.
After Jesus introduced himself and Saul responded in faith, a
follower named Ananias was sent to Saul to lay hands on Saul
and pray for him. In this way,
the Holy Spirit filled Saul, restored to him his
physical sight, and provided spiritual sight in an even
greater way.
At this point in his life, Saul was a
changed man. He was also a distrusted man, because the
Christians of the time knew of his treachery toward people of
the faith. It took quite some time for him to gain the trust
of the apostles and other church leaders of the time. But Saul
was also a sent man, and even though he was initially
distrusted, he took the gospel to cities throughout the region
on multiple missionary journeys.
Fast forward 25-plus years and many
wonderful gospel-centered experiences.
Saul, now known as Paul, is nearing the end of his
life. He will be martyred in the next three to five years. One
of those challenging experiences leading up to his death
appears in Acts 26. Paul has appeared before multiple leaders
in their culture before appealing to Caesar and eventually
standing before King Agrippa. He recounts his own conversion
to Agrippa in this text.
“Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, ‘the Lord
replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared
to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what
you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your
own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to
open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from
the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified
by faith in me.’”
Acts 26:15-18
At first this text appears to be about
Paul. But the passage is ultimately about Jesus. In a way only
Jesus can, he appears before his greatest human enemy of the
time with three actions in mind. Jesus is appearing,
appointing and ‘aphesis’ing an entire region through his
newfound relationship with Paul.
Let’s look at the three things Jesus is
doing in this text. Everything begins when Jesus appears
before Paul. Paul wasn’t looking for Him. This was no doubt
Jesus’ initiating work in Paul’s life and wasn’t brought about
by any plea or request from Paul himself. Jesus simply
appeared to Paul. And His appearing was in spectacular
fashion. Ultimately, He got the attention and the allegiance
of Saul in the power of His appearing.
A great application for us is to be
sincerely open to God’s appearing in our lives before we have
to be destabilized, blinded, and silenced like Paul was.
Remember, Paul was an educated, devoutly religious, and
confidently opinionated man. Sometimes those particular
characteristics can result in a stubborn response to God.
Jesus’ bold appearance is in direct contract to Paul’s bold
defiance of Christ leading up to this moment.
Next Jesus appoints Paul to a specific
people and mission. “I have appeared to you to appoint you as
a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see
of me.” (Acts 26:16b). Paul is sent to ‘open their eyes’ and
to ‘turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of
Satan to God” (vs 18). The dark moment where Saul is blinded
by Jesus’ appearance will ultimately result in the blind
gentiles be redeemed from darkness to light. How amazing. This
story is about Jesus darkening the eyes of one man to open the
eyes of millions.
The final role Jesus is playing in this
moment is that of a supernatural ‘aphesis’ing. Aphesis is a
Greek work used in this text. It is often translated
‘forgiveness’ but has an even more rich meaning. The word
means a ‘dismissal’ of charges or a ‘pardon…’ a ‘release from
punishment’ or even a ‘letting go’ of the anger toward
someone’s guilt. Paul, a very guilty man, is being chosen to
proclaim a release of the guilt of an entire people group.
From an eternal perspective, this is
more of an expungement than a pardon. In the process of pardon
in our legal system, the punishment is waived although the
guilt is still recognized.
However, with an expungement, the situation is treated
as if the guilt itself never happened and therefore deserves
no punishment. This is the work of Jesus in us.
Jesus goes on to use Paul in a very
mighty way. Many gentiles prove to be the result of this
promise from God. They are forgiven of sins and they receive
“a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me
(Christ) (vs 18.)
Conclusion
As men and women who have also been
recipients of this amazing work of Jesus, we must be thankful
for the way Jesus dealt with Paul. And we should celebrate the
way he used Paul and millions of others like him over the past
two thousand years. And there is no way to celebrate this
without asking a question: Am I responding to the grace of
Jesus as Paul did? Do I take my own story of salvation and
make it a proclamation to those within my sphere of influence,
helping anyone and everyone understand the role Christ can
play in their lives?
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