Immediately

“Now for several days he was with the disciples who were in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’” (1) It seems that shortly after Ananias’s visit, Saul moved from Judas’s house to the house of one of the disciples. He stayed with the disciples in Damascus for “several days.” (2) Saul did not waste any time and began preaching immediately. Once he was convinced, Saul was quick to take action. He began visiting the synagogues with a purpose completely opposite to his original intention. He started following the command of the heavenly High Priest, rather than the command of the high priest Caiaphas. (3) He began to proclaim, “Jesus is the Son of God.” (a) Saul was able to use the Hebrew Scriptures to demonstrate that Jesus is the Son of God. (b) What is happening here is not a change in systematic theology but its completion. The truth that “Jesus is the Son of God” was the final piece of the puzzle. Those who heard Saul’s message were astonished and said, “Is this not the one who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” Saul had come to Damascus to bind those who believed in Jesus. Now, he had become a proclaimer of Jesus. Of course, people were amazed by this.

Saul’s theological foundation

To reiterate, what happened within Saul was not a reconstruction of systematic theology but its completion. (1) He had already heard and knew the content of the gospel of Jesus Christ multiple times. (a) He must have heard the testimonies of “the Way” members he had arrested. (b) He also heard Stephen’s defense, which included the gospel of Jesus Christ. (2) However, this knowledge did not incarnate within him until he encountered the resurrected Jesus. (3) Saul’s previous studies were completed by the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. (a) Saul did not take time to discover the truth of the gospel. (b) His theology was mostly complete from the moment of his conversion. (c) He was able to use the Hebrew Scriptures to demonstrate that Jesus is the Son of God. Saul picked up the baton that Stephen had dropped and began his run. Our mission today is to faithfully share with our neighbors the gospel of Jesus Christ, which the apostles have handed down to us.