The Thin Place on the Road to Damascus
The Thin Place on the Road to Damascus.
“ The thin place is where the veil between this world and the next is so sheer that it is easy to step through.” (Barbara Brown Taylor, Home By Another Way).
This term from an ancient Celtic tradition has stood the test of time. The idea of a thin place between heaven and earth has captured our imaginations, and yet is not just a metaphor. Thin places are literal as well.
The traditional thin place as the Irish understood it has been described in many ways: where the veil between heaven and earth is so thin as to be porous, permeable, practically transparent; where the space between the diviner and the human has narrowed; where eternity and time intersect; where the boundary between heaven and earth has collapsed; where the wall between heaven and earth have become indistinguishable; where the doors between heaven and earth have cracked open enough to walk through, if only temporarily; the place where eternity and time seem to join together.
Those descriptions of thin places have recently been expanded to include… wherever God has chosen to reveal Himself and make Himself known with unusual intimacy; wherever the sacred interaction with God’s presence is more pronounced and accessible; wherever the Holy Spirit is released in a particularly powerful way; a physical space where one can more directly and intensely experience God’s presence. I like to think of a thin place as when the Spirit of God opens the skylight of the earth’s roof and helps us climb through it into the cellar of heaven.
“I was full of duty towards God, and I even persecuted this Way to the death and sent women as well as men to prison in chains, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify. I even received letters from them to the brothers in Damascus, which I took with me when I set off to bring prisoners back from there to Jerusalem for punishment. It happened that I was on that journey and nearly at Damascus when in the middle of the day a bright light from heaven suddenly shone round me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ I answered, ‘Who are you, master?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ I said, ‘What am I to do, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told what you have been appointed to do.’ Since the light had been so dazzling that I was blind, I got to Damascus only because my companions led me by the hand.” (Acts 22:4-11).
Damascus was about 190 miles northeast of Jerusalem, and many new believers in Jesus resided there. It was a major trade route linked to numerous other large cities in that region. Damascus continues to thrive to this day, its most recent population about two million people. It is considered to be the oldest continually inhabited city in the world.
Invaded. Sometimes we are able to capture a thin-place moment, and sometimes the thin place captures us. There are those times when we seek out the thin place, and other times when the thin place seeks us out. A thin place can be the fruit of a diligent search, but sometimes the thin place comes out of the blue without the least effort. Thin places can be intentional on our part, but it can also be totally unexpected. In Saul’s case on the Damascus Road, a thin place with heaven was probably the last thing he was looking for. In many ways, Saul appeared to be pressed into service here, he was bushwhacked from heaven, even though we know that Saul’s free will had to be involved somehow. It’s interesting that ever since the risen Jesus captured him on the road, Saul/Paul considered himself to be a prisoner of Christ, a willing volunteer in service of God.
Blocking the Way. Roughly four years after the Ascension of Christ, we find a zealous Pharisee from Jerusalem named Saul, highly educated in Scripture and obsessively anxious to follow the Law. Saul appeared to be the Temple’s attack dog against the believers in Jesus, a combination of a relentless detective inspector and the prosecuting attorney all rolled into one. He was only too happy to capture and imprison anyone following this dead man Jesus of Nazareth who didn’t conform to the Law. In fact, in his zeal to persecute people of the Way, Luke records that Saul was “breathing threats and murder against disciples of the Lord.” (Acts 9:1). Saul wanted to expand the area of activity that would oppose Christians by visiting Damascus and capturing any believers there. During those early days Christians were called people of the Way, suggesting that following Jesus was a way of life, and involved living a certain way that conformed to Christ. Communities of the Way were starting to spring up all over the region. Also, Jesus called Himself “the Way” (John 14:6), and so naturally believers wanted to literally follow the Way.
Far from Home. Why did Saul want to travel so far away to Damascus to capture and persecute Christians? Maybe he was chasing believers who had fled Jerusalem because of the martyrdom of Christians there. Maybe he wanted to prevent the spread of the Way to other main cities by nipping it in the bud in the busy trade route of Damascus. Maybe Saul wanted to impress the Temple leaders so he could advance his standing in the Pharisee community. Perhaps Damascus was developing a reputation of being a Christian hot spot, and Saul saw a chance to easily pick off some believers. Whatever the reason, Saul found himself on the road to Damascus, when his life took an unexpected turn. We don’t know if he was on foot or riding a horse, but we do know that he saw Jesus. He had a personal encounter with the risen Christ.
Light on the Road. Saul and his traveling companions were on the Damascus Road from Jerusalem when suddenly at noon a bright light flashed around them, flaring directly into Saul’s eyes. This was not a vision, this was literal reality, a painfully blazing light from heaven that was described by Paul later as being “brighter than the sun.” (Acts 26:13). This light was not an earthly phenomenon, a simple noonday sun. This was full-blown resurrection appearance of Jesus. Because of this thin place, Saul who became Paul can in all good conscience say that he met with Christ face-to-face. The men with Saul saw the light, they heard the voice, but they didn’t see anyone and they didn’t understand a word of what was said. They were struck speechless at this extraordinary spectacle. Saul fell to the ground, blinded by the light and terrified. He heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Lying on the ground, Saul gathered the courage to respectfully ask in response, “Who are you, master?” He knew this was a divine encounter of some sort, but he wanted to know more about this mysterious voice from heaven. The voice then identified Himself, saying, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 22:8). This must have been a shocking idea to Saul… persecuting people of the Way was actually persecuting God? This man Jesus is actually alive? On the one hand, Saul was well aware of the prophet Zechariah announcing to His Chosen People that whoever touches them touches the apple of His eye (Zech. 2:8). But Saul learned there on the roadside that the same is true in terms of the Son of God. Whatever is done to Christian believers, is done to Christ. Jesus so closely identifies with and is present to believers that He can say, “Whatever you do to the least of these my brethren, you do to me.” (Matt. 25:40). Saul then asks Jesus, “What do you want from me? What do you want me to do?” Christ’s answer was simple, “Go to Damascus and you will be told what to do.” In effect, Saul is being told he is no longer in control of his destiny.
Double-Naming. Here on the dusty road to Damascus, before his conversion no less, Saul finds himself in notable company. This episode reveals a double-naming from the Lord, which didn’t occur very often: Abraham when about to sacrifice Isaac (Gen. 22:11); Jacob when reassured that Egypt was the next step (Gen. 46:2); Moses at the burning bush (Ex. 3:4); and little boy Samuel when receiving an important word from the Lord (1 Sam. 3:10).
Jesus Speaks in Aramaic. While offering his defense before King Agrippa, Paul recounted his Damascus Rod experience. Paul interestingly remembered how Paul spoke of Jesus speaking in Aramaic, and telling Paul a rather confusing statement… “It is hard for you, kicking against the goads.” (Acts 26:14). What is that supposed to mean? Many biblical scholars interpret this to mean that Saul is offering useless resistance to God’s will, that Saul is only going to experience futility when working against the God’s invincible purposes in the world. A goad at that time was a very sharp piece of metal at the end of a workman’s staff used as a prod on the beast of burden. It was obviously a very foolish thing for the ox or donkey to kick against in rebellion. Kicking against the goad will only hurt the one who is doing the kicking, and it will be for nought. Jesus is telling Saul that his resistance to God’s will is futile and will only end up hurting Saul in the end. Saul, just quit banging your head against the wall and accept the reality of how God’s will is to be accomplished!
The Nazarene. Jesus doesn’t seem like the kind of Person who would waste words. In this scene especially, it would seem that every word counts. So why would Jesus identify Himself as “the Nazarene” to Saul in Acts 22:8? Why not simply, I am Jesus? There is a vital backstory to this… The town of Jesus’ upbringing, Nazareth, is translated as meaning “Branch.” Since there were so many profound prophecies in the Hebrew Bible revealing the Messiah as a Branch, that particular term was intimately embraced by Jesus. Christ’s identity was in many ways defined by being the Nazarene, “the Branch.” Isaiah 11:1-4 is only one of many significant Branch references in Scripture: “Then a Shoot will spring forth from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the Spirit of extraordinary wisdom and perfect understanding, the Spirit of shrewd counsel and a mighty warrior, the Spirit of inspired knowledge and reverence for the Lord. He will find delight in reverence for the Lord, and He will neither judge by appearances nor make His decisions based on rumors. But He will judge the weak with integrity, and defend the lowly with fairness.” (also refer to Isaiah 4:2-3 and 53:2; Jeremiah 23:5-6 and 33:15; Zechariah 3:8 and 6:12). Remember that Saul was a highly esteemed scholar of the Hebrew Scriptures, and he would be very much aware of the biblical significance of Nazarene, Branch, and all that the term implies in its messianic meanings. When Jesus said He was the Nazarene to Saul as he was lying prone on the dusty road, Saul would have had the light bulb go off in his scholarly head… Jesus was indeed the long-awaited Branch, the Messiah of God. And finally, let’s not forget what Pilate confirmed as to Jesus’ identity when he placed on the sign above Jesus’ head on the Cross: “Jesus the Branch (Nazarene), the King of the Jews.”
Ananias. Because Saul was still blinded by the presence of the radiant and risen Christ, he was led by the hand into Damascus and waits there for further instructions for three days, neither eating nor drinking. During this time, the saintly Ananias is praying, and the Lord speaks to him in a vision. “Ananias,” He says. And Ananias replied with those words He loves to hear, “Here I am, Lord.” Jesus then directs Ananias to Straight Street in the city, to the home of a man named Judas, to a man named Saul of Tarsus. Ananias resisted this assignment, because by this time Saul had developed a well-earned reputation as a particularly fierce antagonist to people of the Way. The Lord reassures Ananias that He has a special calling for Saul, and that he shouldn’t be afraid of him.
At the same time Ananias was receiving his marching orders from the Lord, Saul was also praying and receiving a vision from God. A man named Ananias will come to you, He says to Saul, and will lay his hands on you to regain your sight. So Ananias obediently enters the house, lays his hands on Saul, and calls him, of all things, “brother.” Despite Ananias’ misgivings, he trusted Christ and saw Saul as a Christian brother. Saul immediately received his sight, was baptized, and was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 9:17). Ananias was comfortable throughout this time being in the role of the prophet, God’s messenger, God’s spokesman. He told Saul that he was destined to know God’s will, that he would see the “Righteous One” Jesus Christ, that he would directly hear Christ’s voice, and that he would be a living witness to all people. The word used here for “witness” is “martyr,” and this certainly became true in Saul’s life much later.
The Rest is History. After his baptism at the hand of Ananias, Saul remained in Damascus for several days for some important teaching and fellowship with other believers. Saul began to proclaim Jesus in the local synagogues, and all who heard him were amazed that this was Saul, the persecutor, saying these things. It is traditionally thought that after his time in Damascus, Saul went to the Arabian desert for around three years to receive more grounding in the Christian life and faith. (Gal. 1:17-18). Saul became Paul, and he succeeded in being the Apostle to the Gentiles, the most famous and effective missionary in Christian history.
Not the Only Way of Conversion. Saul’s conversion on the Damascus Road is not a prototype conversion story. Some people describe their conversion as being dragged into heaven with his heels digging in the ground. For others, conversion was a gradual, peaceful process of taking things one step at a time. Some believers don’t even remember a specific time of “accepting Jesus into his heart,” and instead grew into it like a plant growing roots beneath ground and then breaking forth above it. Some describe their conversion as a definite event like a marriage or a birthday, and others describe their conversion as more like falling in love. Can one point to the actual day one fell in love? No. Every conversion is a different story, and we trust in God’s mercy and wisdom throughout every conversion. God’s ways are infinitely above our ways, His thoughts higher than our thoughts. We don’t even need to try to understand the mystery of how God converts us, adopts us, or how God initiates and participates in the process of our being born again.