寻找人的救主
使徒行传九章3至9节
3扫罗行路,将到大马士革,忽然从天上发光,四面照着他。
4他就仆倒在地,听见有声音对他说:“扫罗,扫罗!你为甚么逼迫我?”
5他说:“主啊,你是谁?”主说:“我就是你所逼迫的耶稣。
6起来!进城去,你所当做的事,必有人告诉你。”
7同行的人站在那里,说不出话来,听见声音,却看不见人。
8扫罗从地上起来,睁开眼睛,竟不能看见甚么。有人拉他的手,领他进了大马士革。
9三日不能看见,也不吃,也不喝。
信息分享
突然之间,他听见有人呼喊他的名字,并向他提出一个问题:「扫罗!扫罗!你为甚么逼迫我?」首先请留意,耶稣早已晓得他的名字。事实上,耶稣知道我们每个人的名字;祂也知道我们身在何方;祂知道我们的一切。「扫罗,我向你做了甚么,使你那样恼恨我?」有时候我们很难明白为甚么有些人对神充满仇视。个中因由,可能连他们自已也不明白。
耶稣的问题问得很有趣。保罗并没有捉拿过基督,他只是去捉拿基督的仆人。这是何等美丽的画面,教会与基督原来是一体的。
接着,轮到保罗发问:「你是谁?是谁呼喊我的名字?」「我是耶稣。」保罗知道耶稣在几年前,已被钉十架和埋葬;但此刻祂却在天上跟他说话。思维敏捷的保罗,立刻想到只有这位耶稣,像祂自己所宣称的那样,真是那位复活了的主,此刻正在天上讲话。这种醒悟把他彻底打垮了。
主继而吩咐他说:「起来,进城去,我会把你当作的事告诉你。」
接着怎样?保罗失明了三天,他用这三天时间,默默思考整卷旧约,开始从一个崭新的角度来理解整件事。这一刻,他的思想必然出现了重大改变,并且深深经历了前所未有的平安。原来的自满自足一扫而空;从此,他的人生便只有基督,直至终点。
保罗对主的委身,永远成为我们的典范。他的书信也时刻成为我们的激励。感谢神抓住了这位逼迫教会的扫罗,把他改变成一位充满爱心、热心的使徒。今天,保罗的转变对我们有何启发呢?
THE SEEKING SAVIOUR AND THE SURPRISED SINNER
Acts 9: 3-9
3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”
Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.[a] It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”
Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.
8 Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.
9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Message
Suddenly he heard his own name, coupled with a question, “Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?” Notice first that Jesus knew his name. He knows all our names. He can see you where you are. He knows all about you. “Saul, what have I done to you that you are so angry at me?” It is hard to know sometimes why some people are so against God. Maybe they don't know why they are themselves.
Jesus made an interesting point in His question. Paul hadn't touched Christ, yet he had in the person of Christ's servants. It is a beautiful picture of how the church and Jesus Christ are one.
Then it was Paul's turn to ask, “Who are you? Who's calling my name?” “'I am Jesus.” Paul knew Jesus had been killed and buried several years ago. But here He was speaking from heaven. Then the quick brilliant mind of Paul realized that the only way this could be true was for that same Jesus to be exactly who He had claimed to be and was now speaking from heaven itself. That settled it. That recogniton shattered him completely.
Then came the words of instruction. “Go on into the city as you had planned, but now it will be different. I will plan things now for you.”
What happened next? Three days of darkness. But in those days, as his mind went back through the Old Testament and saw things in a new light, there must have come tremendous changes and overall a beautiful new peace he had never known before. Gone was his pride, his self-sufficiency. From then on, it was Christ and always would be to the journey's end.
His commitment will always be a great example to us. His letters will always be an inspiration. Thank God for the man who was arrested by God and changed into the mighty apostle of love and zeal for Christ. What does that say to us today?

