Week 3 April 2026, Devotion Part 1

We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…  2 Corinthians 10:5

Undeniably, Paul was the big gun in God’s arsenal of choice weapons. The Apostle was born in the university city of Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia (in modern Turkey). The advantage of this background was threefold: he was of Roman citizenship, of Greek culture, and of Jewish faith. Within the span of a mere thirty-seven years after Christ’s crucifixion he helped build His church, which spanned the then-known world. Incredibly, her fiercest persecutor became her most forceful protector. Here was one well-informed big gun who could speak explosively on the subject of mandatory transformation!

The first mention of the Apostle in Acts is in chapter 7:58, where the witnesses to Stephen’s stoning laid their clothes “at the feet of a young man named Saul.” From then on he is consistently referred to as Saul. Famously, when he was resolutely on the road to Damascus with one thing in mind only, a burst of radiance from heaven left him blind, but made him see the Light. By the time he could see again, Jesus had transformed the mastermind of persecution into the missionary who would serve as his light to the nations (Acts 9:1-19).  Part 1 of 2

Comment: When we think of “road,” the one leading to Damascus or Emmaus doesn’t automatically come to mind.  Our “street” address might specify Avenue or Boulevard, but if we “hit the road” into the realm of idioms, we are familiar with them. “Get the show on the road; Take the high road; Down the road; A fork in the road; Middle of the road; The road less traveled; All roads lead to Rome.  A band might go “on the road” with hopes to be “on the road to success” as rock stars. 

From Luke 24:33 ff we learn that the two disciples returned at once to Jerusalem to find the Eleven. The climax of their Emmaus road episode was that they had recognized the risen Lord “when he broke the bread.”  Imagine their shock when Jesus suddenly stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”  Scared out of their wits, His friends and intimates mistook Him for a ghost.  Did the Lord, who had put up with their often glaring humanity for three years, chuckle inwardly when He invited them to check Him over while He ate a piece of broiled fish?  “Touch me and see, a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”  Then He expounded the Scriptures to them just as He had done for Cleopas and his friend, and “opened their minds so they could understand them.”  The Church was birthed fifty days later and the Gospel was on the way to travel the Roman-built roads that reached to the farthest corners of their world. “The Way” was the scornful label soon given to it by the God-hating enemies of the new Christian community..  When Saul with evil intent went on the road to Damascus, it was to round up for imprisonment men and women belonging to “the Way.”