Acts 26:9-18
Christ’s sovereign grace transforms persecutors into commissioned witnesses for the nations.
9 “I myself most certainly thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 I also did this in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them.
11 Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
12 “Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests,
13 at noon, O king, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with me.
14 When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
15 “I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
16 But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen, and of the things which I will reveal to you;
17 delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you,
18 to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Christ’s sovereign grace transforms persecutors into commissioned witnesses for the nations.
To recount Paul’s former persecution and his Damascus encounter with the risen Christ, including his commission to the Gentiles.
This section forms the heart of Paul’s defense before Agrippa. Luke presents Paul’s conversion as divine intervention rather than personal reform. The narrative shifts from past hostility to divine commissioning, highlighting the authority of the risen Christ.
Paul’s persecution of believers was conducted with authorization from Jewish leadership. The Damascus road encounter occurred near midday, emphasizing visible brilliance. The commission described here parallels earlier accounts but adds detail about mission to Gentiles. The language of darkness and light reflects Jewish prophetic imagery.
Paul Before Agrippa: The Risen Christ Sends Light to Jews and Gentiles
Acts 26 shows that Paul’s Gentile mission flows from Israel’s resurrection hope fulfilled in the suffering and risen Messiah, who sends his witness to turn people from darkness to light, from Satan to God, and into forgiveness and sanctified inheritance by faith.