Acts 9:19b-22 - Immediately he proclaimed Jesus

9:19b,20

These two verses are wonderfully encouraging. Saul spent some time with the disciples. Imagine what this was like for them. Here was this arch-persecutor of the church, so this must have been some wariness, to say the least. Yet here he was, and he was learning from them. Then, without any delay, Saul starts declaring the gospel in the synagogues, saying the Jesus is the Son of God. What a transformation in the man. Sin has a pernicious effect on us, a very deep rooted effect, but the blood of Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit, the grace of God can change anyone’s heart, and radically so. The gospel, as pronounced in Ezekiel, is that God will give men a new heart. We should pray fervently for this to happen. And also in our own lives, not just the lives of others. Transformation is the goal of the gospel.

Note also that he preached in synagogues (plural). He preached in the heart of the battle ground.

9:21,22

Not surprisingly, those who heard him were amazed. They knew what his reputation was, what he was known for prior to his conversion. They knew what he had done before (caused havoc in the church), and why he had come to Damascus. But God had other plans! This is the sovereignty of God at work, and it is something to rejoice in.

This amazement, and maybe not a little doubt, did not deter Saul at all.  Instead he increased in strength. When God is at work in us, the circumstances will not deter nor defeat us. Moreover, he confounded the Jews by proving that Jesus is the Christ. So we see here the role of apologetics in spreading the gospel. Arguments are not the be all and end all of witnessing, but they are an important part. And notice how Saul’s past would have prepared him for this. He knew the Old Testament scriptures extremely well. Now that the veil had been removed from his mind he could see how they all pointed to Jesus.

We should perhaps note that in Galatians 1:17 Paul says he went to Arabia and then returned to Damascus. Luke, as is common in the gospels, has telescoped events. Ie they were not giving a detailed day by day account of things, with every detail recorded.