{"id":7573,"date":"2025-06-01T08:00:23","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T00:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=7573"},"modified":"2025-06-18T04:08:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T20:08:58","slug":"346-the-symbolic-significance-of-st-paul-struck-down-blind-and-fasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=7573","title":{"rendered":"346. The symbolic significance of St Paul struck down, blind and fasting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"color: #339966;\">The Conversion of Saul<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #339966;\">9\u00a0Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest\u00a0<sup>2\u00a0<\/sup>and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.\u00a0<sup>3\u00a0<\/sup>Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.\u00a0<sup>4\u00a0<\/sup>He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, \u201cSaul, Saul, why do you persecute me?\u201d\u00a0<sup>5\u00a0<\/sup>He asked, \u201cWho are you, Lord?\u201d The reply came, \u201cI am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.\u00a0<sup>6\u00a0<\/sup>But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.\u201d\u00a0<sup>7\u00a0<\/sup>The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one.\u00a0<sup>8\u00a0<\/sup>Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing;\u00a0so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.\u00a0<sup>9\u00a0<\/sup>For three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank.<\/span><\/strong> [<strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Acts 9:1-9<\/span><\/strong>, <em>NRSV<\/em>]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/St-Paul-on-the-Road-to-Damas-by-Luca-Giordano-1680.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7574\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/St-Paul-on-the-Road-to-Damas-by-Luca-Giordano-1680.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"792\" \/><\/a>St Paul on the Road to Damascus<\/em>, by Luca Giordano, 1680<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">St Paul was so shaken by the encounter with the Crucified and Risen Christ on the Road to Damascus, and the entire experience was so disruptive of his entire existence, that Scriptures rely heavily on symbolic language and portrayals to express the trauma and conversion he went through. Thrown, as it were, into a dark tunnel, Paul was compelled to quiet down, to listen hard, and to search deep to negotiate his way out into the light.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The symbolic significance of Paul\u2019s fall, being blinded and being led into Damascus<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Paul\u2019s fall, his being blinded and being led into Damascus signify massive mistakes in vision, attitude, and actions. Seriously lacking in a correct spiritual vision, Paul had to learn the truth of his \u201cblindness\u201d in persecuting Christ\u2019s followers. His pharisaic background had all but ruled out even the possibility of a \u201ccrucified\u201d Jewish messiah.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Blind to the truth and worth of Jesus Christ, his \u201cfall\u201d signals the start of a climb-down from his figurative high-horse in order to come to grips with the reality and extent of his mistakes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0\u201cScales\u201d over Paul\u2019s eyes point to a massive blindness to the light of Christ.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The \u201cfall of scales\u201d then is dramatic language that points to a new vision and a whole new way of life awaiting him, with a glorious mission from Christ.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Pauline zeal that characterized the pre-conversion Saul had got to be re-directed to serving Christ and advancing the kingdom of God. So Christ put aside covert persuasion and chose to directly intervene in changing the course of Paul\u2019s life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Paul\u2019s confident knowledge of what God wanted was smashed. His encounter with the Risen Christ left him so stunned that he knew not how to process the sudden flood of overwhelming information. H<em>e <\/em>came leading a murderous team, absolutely confident and self-righteous; he exited totally neutralized, disorientated and could not find his own way, but had to be led by the hands into Damascus \u2013 a pathetic figure compared to the Saul who came charging with a murderous gang, official authorization in hand, in hot pursuit of the followers of Christ<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Rattled and self-confidence compromised<em>, <\/em>his massive ego was crushed. His puffed-up confidence based on false knowledge had to give way to humility in the knowledge and wisdom of God.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Now, he has to make a complete change, in order to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>serve<\/em><\/strong> Christ (not his own mistaken, death-dealing, agenda);<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>suffer<\/em><\/strong> in service, and<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>make immense <strong>sacrifices<\/strong> willingly<\/em>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">These are three essential elements, among other elements, observable in Paul\u2019s authentic ministry of the cross!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The symbolic significance of \u201c<em>three days blinded and fasting<\/em>\u201d <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Paul was struck blind on a persecuting mission on Damascus Road. The story went deeper: \u201cAnd for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank\u201d (Acts 9:9).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The \u201cthree days <em>without<\/em> \u2026\u201d points forward to a time of spiritual testing and growth, signaling an impending change, for a period of darkness and deprivation is at the same time also a time of spiritual revelation and growth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We see here a significant period of transition and transformation for Saul. To transform, the old must die, for the new to emerge. Thus assessed, the reason why Saul went three days without food and drink becomes clear:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Encounter with\u00a0 the Risen Christ put him in a state of shock. The weight of Christ\u2019s resurrection and what Christ said to him made him fearfully penitent. He must seriously meditate on what had happened. He would not eat or drink<em>. <\/em>He just could not indulge.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Furthermore, whereas sight always distracts and being filled naturally makes one lethargic, going \u201cwithout\u201d can sharpen our inner \u201ceyes\u201d, challenge our consciousness and presumptions, and even compel focus on hard truths. And those three days without food and drink yielded a deepening of spiritual awareness and a turning away from worldly distractions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In sum, Saul\u2019s three days without sight was for him a time of spiritual testing and refinement, a period of darkness and uncertainty, which ultimately led to a profound understanding of God\u2019s purpose for his life. It would end in a deep <strong><em>conversion<\/em><\/strong> (the meaning and implication of which we must take a deeper look into in the next post) and commissioning as Apostle Paul.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Paul\u2019s abstinence from food and drinks resonates with a passage of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:16-18) where Jesus specifically calls us to seek the interior rewards that come from fasting and self-denial. Paul\u2019s action in Damascus encourages a regular exercise of self-denial to strengthen the soul and dispose us to spiritual blessings. Too often, we live for fleshly satisfactions and fall into the trap of mindlessly trying to indulge our appetites. But doing so has the negative effect of tempting us to neglect the more important spiritual desires for holiness. By depriving ourselves of sensory delights from time to time, we become more disposed to seek the true and lasting delights that come only from God\u2019s grace.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The story of Paul\u2019s abstinence from food and drink, which stands at the origin of his life-long service as Apostle of the Crucified Lord, also reveals a complete devotion to seeking God&#8217;s will in his life. It teaches us that, in preparation for ministry, a time of purification is seriously necessary. This was modelled in Jesus\u2019 testing in the wilderness, from where he emerged and at once began to preach and live the kingdom of God all the way to Calvary. Paul now understood all that, implicitly repented, prepared himself in darkness and fasting (his \u201cwilderness\u201d indeed), and emerged to dedicate the rest of his life to preaching \u201cnothing\u201d else \u201cexcept Jesus Christ and him crucified\u201d (1 Cor 2:2). Paul would become not just any Apostle, but decisively an \u201cApostle of the Crucified Lord\u201d. And we are all his beneficiaries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Copyright \u00a9 Dr. Jeffrey &amp; Angie Goh, June 2025. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">To comment, email\u00a0<u><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"mailto:jeffangiegoh@gmail.com\">jeffangiegoh@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/u><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Conversion of Saul 9\u00a0Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest\u00a02\u00a0and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.\u00a03\u00a0Now as he was <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=7573\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Dr. Jeffrey &amp; Angie Goh","author_link":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?author=1"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?cat=1\" rel=\"category\">From Our Perspective<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"The Conversion of Saul 9\u00a0Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest\u00a02\u00a0and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.\u00a03\u00a0Now as he was&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7573"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7573"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7580,"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7573\/revisions\/7580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}