“Who art thou, Lord?”
The full verse · Acts 22:8 · KJV
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Asked by
Paul: then called Saul, lying on the ground near Damascus after a great light from heaven shone around him (Acts 22:6-7)
The Scene
Struck to the ground by a light from heaven on the Damascus road, Saul hears a voice asking why he persecutes the speaker, and Paul now retells the moment to the Jerusalem crowd (Acts 22:6-7).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionSaul did not know who was speaking to him. Gill says that at this point "he knew not whether it was God, or an angel, or who it was that spake to him." Barnes, on the parallel in Acts 9:5, explains that the word "Lord" here, as often in the New Testament, means no more than "sir." The voice said Saul was persecuting him, yet Saul thought he was persecuting only followers of "this way" (Acts 22:4). His question asks the one thing he must know: who is this?
The Response
What Scripture recordsThe answer came at once: "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest" (Acts 22:8). The very one Saul had been fighting was alive and speaking from heaven. Saul's companions "saw indeed the light, and were afraid," but did not hear the voice (Acts 22:9). Saul's next words were a question of surrender: "What shall I do, LORD?" (Acts 22:10).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsOnly in this telling does Jesus call Himself "Jesus of Nazareth." In Acts 9:5 and Acts 26:15 He says, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." The added name tied the voice from heaven to the man from Nazareth whose followers Saul had been binding.
Gill points readers from this verse to his note on Acts 9:5. Matthew Henry adds that Ananias later calls Christ "that Just One" (Acts 22:14), "for he is Jesus Christ the righteous, and suffered wrongfully."
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThis is the turning point of Paul's life, and it comes as an answer to a question. Saul asked who the speaker was, and Jesus told him plainly. Jesus did not leave Saul in the dark about who was speaking.
The answer was also a hard one. To learn who Jesus is, Saul had to learn who he himself had been: the man persecuting the risen Lord. Yet this answer opened the way to mercy. Soon Saul would hear that God had chosen him to "see that Just One" and be "his witness unto all men" (Acts 22:14-15). The question "Who art thou, Lord?" sits at the center of the change in Saul's life.
Look Closer
Why did Saul need to ask who was speaking?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord, like Saul I want to know who You really are; what do You want to show me about Yourself that I have missed?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- Saul learned who Jesus was and who he himself had been in the same moment. Why do you think those two discoveries go together?
- When did you first realize Jesus was more than a name to you? Share that moment.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
"Who art thou, Lord?" is one of the most honest questions in the Bible. Saul asked it while lying in the dust, unsure who was speaking. Jesus did not scold him for not knowing. He answered.
You can bring the same question to God. Ask Him to show you who Jesus is, not just what you have heard about Him. Then be ready, like Saul, to follow the answer with a second question: "What shall I do?" (Acts 22:10).
This does not mean every question will be answered with a voice from heaven. Paul's experience was unique. But Jesus also made Himself known to Saul through one of His people, Ananias (Acts 22:12-15).
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