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It’s amazing how many things we accept on faith. In science class, we’re taught about the existence of molecules and dark matter, and we all nod our heads in acceptance. In history class, we learn about the lives of Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte, and no one questions their reality. But when it comes to the existence of God or the life and message of a person like Jesus, the standard changes. We need evidence and confirmation. And rightly so. We recognize that there’s more at stake. The challenge is to figure out what that evidence might look like. What could God, if He exists, do to convince us that He’s real?

Maybe if God appeared to me

I think our first instinct is to say, “I’d need God to show Himself to me to convince me that He’s real.” That seems like the scientific solution. I wonder how practical that really is though? First, it would require asking God to appear personally to every person on the planet in every generation in history. Not hard for God, I guess. But would one appearance really settle the matter? If not, how many times? It’s easy to imagine a person having an incredible experience of God and the next day, second-guessing it all. Did I imagine that? Was I hallucinating? And what if you did believe it? What do you do next? Wait for God to appear again?

The fact is that many people have been moved to faith after Jesus appeared to them in a dream or they had a remarkable encounter of God’s presence. I’ve met some of them and have heard the accounts of others (Read, for example, Dee’s story here). I think that’s the last resort rather than the standard way, though. There’s another way that many people haven’t considered.

What if God convinced that person?

Would you find it convincing if Jesus appeared to someone prominent? They would have to be intelligent enough that we’d know they hadn’t just had one pulled over on them. Ideally, they would be unsympathetic to Jesus so there wouldn’t be any question of bias. Better yet if they were an ardent opponent of the faith. And there would need to be others who were there to corroborate the event and record it. Would that be enough to convince you?

The Bible records a dramatic encounter with just such a person. Several years had passed since the death and reported resurrection of Jesus. His teachings were being spread by His followers, and the religious establishment was in full damage control. A young Jewish scholar named Saul was committed to stamping out the young sect. He had given his support to the stoning of a Christian martyr named Stephen already (Acts 8:1), and now he was headed to Damascus to arrest more (Acts 9:1-2). On his way, he was blinded by a light in the sky (Acts 9:3) and a voice from heaven revealed Himself to be Jesus (Acts 9:5). The voice led him to Damascus where he was told he would be given further instructions (Acts 9:6). There, a Christian who had also been directed by Jesus through a vision (Acts 9:10), appeared at the door of his house, healed his blindness (Acts 9:17), and baptized him (Acts 9:18).

What do you do with an account like that? Maybe you think, “Yeah, but I’ve never met Saul.” The fact is that many people in his day did. He had trained under one of the top rabbis of the day (Acts 22:3) and was a respected anti-Christian defender of Judaism. But maybe you’re thinking, “He could have just made up the story, though.” That could be true of anyone. In Saul’s case, though, he had everything to lose and nothing to gain by making up this Jesus story and converting to the faith. He would have lost the status and reputation he had been developing for years. Most of his friends and family members would turn on him. As a Christian, he would be beaten, imprisoned, and eventually executed for his faith. It’s almost impossible to conceive of him making up this story. What’s even more remarkable is how he changed. The person who had tried to stamp out Christianity went on to write almost half the books of the New Testament. The one who was known to threaten his opponents with violence and murder (Acts 9:1) became known for his message of grace and love. The man who had started his career vowing to take people’s lives ended his career by giving his life for his new-found faith in Jesus. How do you explain the change in his life apart from the appearance of Jesus to which he testifies?

Saul’s story isn’t an accident. Jesus appeared to him and transformed his life as evidence for you. Saul put it like this, “Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:15-16). Jesus had your doubts in mind when He revealed Himself to Saul. Respond to Him today.

In awe of Him,

Paul