Bible Timeline · About AD 34 to 35

Saul Meets Jesus on the Road to Damascus

Saul of Tarsus was a strict Pharisee who arrested followers of Jesus. On his way to Damascus to arrest more, a light from heaven knocked him to the ground and Jesus spoke to him. Blinded for three days, he was healed and baptized, and the church's worst enemy became its greatest missionary.

Read it in the Bible: Acts 9:1-31 Acts 22:3-16 Acts 26:9-20 Galatians 1:11-24 Philippians 3:4-8

About AD 34 to 35, a young Pharisee named Saul set out from Jerusalem to Damascus with letters from the high priest, planning to arrest anyone who followed Jesus. Near the city a blinding light flashed from heaven, he fell to the ground, and the risen Jesus spoke to him by name. Three days later Saul was healed, baptized and preaching that Jesus is the Son of God. The man who tried to destroy the church became the apostle Paul, who wrote thirteen books of the New Testament.

He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” “Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied. Acts 9:4 to 5

Who Was Saul of Tarsus?

Saul was born in Tarsus, a big university city in what is now southern Turkey. He was a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin and a Roman citizen by birth, which would come in handy later. He was sent to Jerusalem to study under Gamaliel, one of the most respected rabbis of the day, Acts 22:3. Paul later described his old resume himself.

circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless. Philippians 3:5 to 6

Saul did not hate Christians because he was a bad person who did not care about God. He hated them because he cared so much. To him, a crucified man could not be the Messiah, since the law said anyone hung on a tree was under God’s curse, Deuteronomy 21:23. Calling Jesus Lord looked like blasphemy. So Saul gave his approval when Stephen was stoned, and then went house to house dragging believers off to prison, Acts 8:3.

What Happened on the Road to Damascus?

Damascus was about 135 miles north of Jerusalem, a trip of nearly a week. Saul had asked the high priest for letters so he could arrest any men or women belonging to the Way, an early name for the followers of Jesus. He was close to the city, around noon, when it happened.

As Saul drew near to Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. Acts 9:3

Notice what Jesus said. Not, why do you persecute My people, but why do you persecute Me. Jesus counts what is done to His followers as done to Himself. Saul got up blind. His companions had to lead him by the hand into the city he had planned to march into as a hunter. For three days he did not eat or drink. He just prayed.

Acts tells this story three times, in chapters 9, 22 and 26. Luke clearly thought it mattered. In the third telling, Paul adds that Jesus said, It is hard for you to kick against the goads, Acts 26:14. A goad was a pointed stick used to steer oxen. Saul had been fighting God and only hurting himself.

Who Was Ananias?

God then spoke to a believer in Damascus named Ananias and told him to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and lay hands on Saul. Ananias was understandably nervous. He had heard what this man came to do. But the Lord was clear.

“Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel. Acts 9:15

So Ananias went, put his hands on the man who had come to arrest him, and called him “Brother Saul.” Those two words may be some of the bravest in the Bible. Something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, he could see again, and he was baptized. A street called Straight still runs through the old city of Damascus today.

Did Saul Change His Name to Paul?

This is a common belief, but the Bible does not say God changed his name at his conversion. Acts keeps calling him Saul for years. Then in Acts 13:9, on his first missionary trip, Luke simply says Saul, who was also called Paul. Saul was his Hebrew name, after Israel’s first king, who was also from the tribe of Benjamin. Paul, Paulos in Greek and Paulus in Latin, was likely his Roman name all along. As he went out to the Gentile world, he used the name they knew.

What Did Paul Do Right After His Conversion?

Saul immediately began preaching in the Damascus synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God, Acts 9:20. People were stunned. Wasn’t this the guy who came to arrest us? In Galatians, Paul adds a detail Acts skips: he went away into Arabia, then came back to Damascus, and only after three years did he go up to Jerusalem to meet Peter, Galatians 1:17 to 18.

By then the hunter had become the hunted. His enemies watched the city gates to kill him, so believers lowered him over the wall in a basket at night, Acts 9:25. Paul mentions this escape himself in 2 Corinthians 11:32 to 33 and names King Aretas, a ruler of the Nabatean kingdom who died about AD 40. That helps historians date these years. In Jerusalem the believers were afraid of him until Barnabas, whose name means son of encouragement, vouched for him.

When Was Paul Converted?

The Bible does not give a year. Most scholars date Paul’s conversion between about AD 33 and 36, a few years after the crucifixion and soon after Stephen’s death. Paul’s own timeline in Galatians, three years and then fourteen years before the Council of Jerusalem about AD 49, fits a conversion in the mid 30s. This timeline uses about AD 34 to 35. Many churches remember it each year on January 25, the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul.

What Paul’s Conversion Means for You Today

Paul never got over the grace that found him. Near the end of his life he wrote these words.

This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. 1 Timothy 1:15

If Jesus could turn the church’s number one enemy into its greatest missionary, no one is too far gone. Paul also counted everything he used to be proud of as loss compared to knowing Christ, Philippians 3:8. His story shows that the gospel is not about cleaning yourself up first. It is about meeting the risen Jesus and letting Him make you new.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

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Questions People Ask

What happened to Paul on the road to Damascus?

As Saul neared Damascus to arrest Christians, a light from heaven flashed around him and he fell to the ground. Jesus spoke to him, asking why he was persecuting Him, Acts 9:3 to 5. Saul was blind for three days until a believer named Ananias laid hands on him, and then he was baptized.

When was Paul converted?

The Bible gives no year, but most scholars date it between about AD 33 and 36, a few years after the crucifixion. This timeline uses about AD 34 to 35, soon after the death of Stephen.

Did God change Saul's name to Paul?

Not at his conversion. Acts keeps calling him Saul for years, and in Acts 13:9 Luke says Saul, who was also called Paul. Saul was his Hebrew name and Paul was likely his Roman name, which he used in his mission to the Gentiles.

How long after his conversion did Paul start his ministry?

He began preaching in Damascus right away, Acts 9:20. Galatians 1:17 to 18 says he went to Arabia, returned to Damascus, and visited Jerusalem three years later. His first missionary journey with Barnabas came roughly a decade after that, about AD 46.

Who was Ananias in Acts 9?

Ananias was a believer in Damascus whom the Lord told to go to Saul, lay hands on him and restore his sight. Though afraid, he obeyed and called him Brother Saul, Acts 9:17. He is a different man from the Ananias who lied in Acts 5.

Sources

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