The Trinity Makes a Joint Appearance

Acts 9:3 "And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. 10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias.... 17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized."

This is the transformation of Saul to Paul. It's when the bad guy was sacrificed so that the good guy could live! These verses are pulled together to demonstrate a firm belief that I have: That Jesus, although born in the flesh, is transfigured to suit whatever purpose is at hand.

Saul needed to see Jesus! He needed to know that by killing people who were followers of Christ, he was in effect persecuting Jesus Christ. That should be a lesson for people today. When society brands sincere Christians "lunatics", it's Jesus who they accuse of being crazy! When that happens now, we must remember that Jesus took the same verbal abuse!

Mark 3:20 "Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, 'He is out of his mind.'"

It's a good thing to be "out of your mind" for Jesus. I'm sure Saul wasn't thinking rationally because Jesus is supraorbital. Saul was able to see Jesus who was outside the realm of physical sight!  The others saw nothing, but heard Jesus speak!

These passages are a demonstration of the Holy Trinity. The unseen God is "the Father".  He glorifies himself by light. Indeed God is light!

1 John 1:5 "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."

"But", you say "I thought Jesus is light!"

 John 8:12  "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

These two passages say exactly the same thing about Jesus and God: They both are "light" and in both there is no darkness!" These passages are not contradictory. They merely affirm that Jesus is God!  It was "the Father" seeking Saul.  Saul saw the glory of God, but not his presence. However, when the Light shined forth speech emanated from the Light. That was "The Word" or "The Messenger" which spoke and "angels" are messengers. This messenger is a specific "angel", being that "The Angel of the Lord" is a transfiguration of Jesus.

Jesus spoke to Saul in first person:  "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." This isn't Stephen speaking. It's Jesus Christ who had arisen and  lives even today. Jesus has the power to appear as Light, as "The Angel of the Lord", as an unrecognizable person (as on the Amaeus walk) or as himself! Two of the three aspects of the Trinity "appeared" to Saul.  Later on in the story Ananias saw Jesus in a vision.  That's just another transformation of Jesus. It's still all him!

Ananias validated the appearance of the two aspects (persons) of God when he said " the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee..." Although Jesus is Lord, so is God. Ananias specifically clarified two different "aspects" (persons) of God: the Lord; even Jesus (verse 17).

Trinity means "threefold" from the Latin. The three are of the same essence (God), but have distinct "personalities", although in a strict sense, they are not persons, but deity! ("persons" are for our understanding).

Two of the three "persons" have thus far "appeared" by sight and sound. Jesus is "the voice of God" and God was whose glory was the Light that shined.

Another personality came shortly. That "person" is the Holy Ghost (aka the Comforter). The Father is manifested by lighting the darkness, the Son by his voice; passing God's will on to mankind, and the Holy Spirit is a sensory presence, perhaps a sixth sense. Christians can't explain how we sense, but know that we do sense. Maybe the sixth sense is "Comfort" as defined by the twelve gifts or fruits of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians 12:7-11 and  Revelation 22:2).

Saul received the Holy Ghost from "the Lord" and "even Jesus". Then he had a change. He once was blind now he saw! He saw the Light literally! God, even Jesus transformed Saul and filled him with their spirit. He didn't get the Holy Spirit at baptism; it was before! Baptism was Saul becoming Paul. It was the testimony that an old bad guy died and a new good guy was born! That's Saul being "born again"!

What Saul "sensed" when the third person of the Trinity came upon him was a need to share. Saul now had hope that he had never had before. He had "the hope of Salvation", and with that hope, things change. Saul wanted to please God and he sure did!

God is not dead. Jesus is not dead. He was resurrected. The Holy Spirit is not dead. He lives in everybody who receives the Spirit of the Lord, even Jesus!