The early church · Acts 9
Saul Escapes from Damascus in a Basket
Converted on the road to Damascus, Saul stays a few days with the disciples, then immediately begins preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. Everyone is amazed: isn’t this the man who persecuted those who call on this name? He grows stronger and stronger and confounds the Jews of Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ. After a time, they plot to kill him and watch the gates day and night. Warned of the plot, Saul is let down by the disciples one night through an opening in the wall, in a basket. In Jerusalem, everyone is afraid of him and doubts that he is a disciple. Barnabas takes him in, brings him to the apostles, and tells how Saul saw the Lord and preached boldly in Damascus. Saul moves freely among them, but the Hellenistic Jews try to kill him: the brothers take him down to Caesarea and send him off to Tarsus. Then the church has peace.
What happens
- Immediately, Saul preaches in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God Acts 9:19–20
- His hearers are amazed; he confounds the Jews of Damascus Acts 9:21–22
- A plot to kill him: the gates are watched day and night Acts 9:23–24
- The disciples let him down by night through the wall, in a basket Acts 9:25
- In Jerusalem, everyone fears him; Barnabas brings him to the apostles Acts 9:26–27
- Threatened by the Hellenistic Jews, he is sent off to Tarsus Acts 9:29–30
Who is in this story
The lesson
God protects his servant by humble means: disciples, a wall, a basket. And the church needs a Barnabas, who welcomes and vouches for a brother that everyone still fears.
Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.
Quick quiz on this story
How does Saul escape from Damascus?
One night, the disciples “took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket,” while the gates were being watched to kill him. Acts 9:24–25
What does Saul preach in the synagogues of Damascus soon after his conversion?
Right away, Saul “preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.” Those who heard him were amazed: hadn’t he come to bring the disciples back bound? Acts 9:20–21
Who brings Saul to the apostles in Jerusalem, when everyone fears him?
They were all afraid of him, not believing he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him to the apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road. Acts 9:26–27
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