Acts 9:1-9
1Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. [1]
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What struck me in today’s passage is Jesus’ identification with His people. Saul was murderously persecuting the people of God, but Jesus accuses Saul of specifically persecuting Him.
One thought that comes to mind is that Jesus’ suffering didn’t end with the resurrection. To be sure, his redemptive suffering for our salvation ended as He completed all that was necessary for atonement and peace with God. But He continues to suffer because His church suffers. Jesus and His church are one.
To be saved by grace through faith in Christ is to be brought into a covenant union with Him. Christ and His followers are one. All that is His is ours. All that is ours is His. We can approach the Father in prayer because of this covenant identity. We have eternal life because of this covenant identity. It is the foundation for our confidence, our hope and also our moral and ethical Christ like behavior (See Romans 6:1-11).
But it also means that what we suffer, Christ suffers. When Christians are being persecuted in India, put to death in Iraq, ridiculed in America, it is happening to Christ. On the one hand this is a comforting thought, knowing that know Christian is ever alone is such times. All are one in Christ and so are one with each other. If one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers, including its head.
But it also leads me to consider other thoughts. Christ rejoices with us as well. Our joy is His joy. Our efforts in witnessing are His efforts. Our serving and living together as brothers and sisters in Christ is His serving in presence among us.
So my thoughts on this first day of a new year are about my oneness with Christ, and the oneness of all followers of Jesus with their Lord. My prayer is that my life may be a manifestation of that unity, and lived out of the conviction that Christ is present with me, and goes into this new year as my Lord, one with me and all my brothers and sisters in Him.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. 2011 (Ac 9:1–9). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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