PAUL’S REVELATIONS OF JESUS CHRIST
PAUL’S REVELATIONS OF JESUS CHRIST
JAN LILLEBY
Jesus revealing Himself to Paul is recorded in the New Testament books of Acts and Galatians, specifically in Acts 9:3-6; Acts 22:6–8, and Galatians 1:15–16.
We must never be so foolish as to put Paul at the ‘end of the list of the twelve apostles’ – for Paul was a real STAND-ALONE sovereign chosen apostle of Christ – and this article will help us see this clearly. He was not just anybody…picked up casually somewhere…no he was chosen by God and Christ, His Son, for a ministry of which we cannot find anything comparable in the entire Bible. Not even Moses comes close to Paul in regard to ministry.
Paul was chosen to be the one and only apostle SENT OUT TO THE ENTIRE POPULATION IN THE WORLD.
Key Scripture Passages
Acts 9:3–6: A bright light from heaven flashes around Saul (later called Paul) on the road to Damascus, and he hears a voice asking why he is persecuting Him, identifying the speaker as Jesus.
Acts 22:6–8: Paul later retells this exact conversion story to a crowd in Jerusalem, mentioning the blinding light and hearing Jesus say, "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute".
Acts 26:12–18: Paul gives a third account of the heavenly vision before King Agrippa, detailing how Jesus commissioned him to be a minister and a witness.
Galatians 1:11–16: Paul explains in his letter that the message he preaches did not come from man, but through a direct revelation of Jesus Christ calling him.
Before dealing with Paul’s heavenly revelations in detail, we must remember that these glorious revelations came with a price:
He had to take sufferings for Jesus the rest of his life (Acts 9:16).
He had to live with the constant plague of an angel of Satan who
beat him and caused unrest, due to the great revelations he was
given by Christ (2 Cor. 12:7-9).
REVELATIONS IN WHICH JESUS WAS VISIBLY PRESENT
Acts 22:14, NASB,
"And he said, 'The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth.”
Paul was on a general and constant basis chosen to SEE JESUS. Just so we have the correct headline here; let there be no misunderstanding, for Paul was going to literally LIVE TOGETHER WITH JESUS…and seeing Him times and times again, on permanent basis! What an enormous calling, what a glorious podium for ministry, in spite of Paul’s harsh sufferings and peril…which he listed up in 2 Cor. 6:4-10, and 11:23-28, NASB,
In 2 Cor. 6 he listed up himself including his company, suffering with him:
“4 but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses,
5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger,
6 in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love,
7 in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,
8 by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true;
9 as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death,
10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.”
In 2 Cor. 11 Paul speaks of himself exclusively:
“23 Are they servants of Christ?- I speak as if insane -I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.
24 Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes (195 lashes!)
25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.
26 I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren;
27 I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
28 Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.”
At the conversion along the Damascus Road in Acts 9, Paul did not actually see Jesus. He HEARD HIM as He talked to Paul (Saul) directly by naming him. Paul was actually stricken blind.
The first time Paul saw Jesus is recorded in 1 Cor. 15:8, as Paul points to his past, but it actually was not at the Damascus incident, "Last of all he appeared to me also" – and 1 Cor.9:1, "Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?"
Gal. 1:15-16, NASB,
“15 But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased
16 to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,”
Gal. 2:1-2, NASB,
“1 Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.
2 It was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.”
The revelations mentioned in Galatians are not specifically telling of Paul SEEING JESUS. It may have been by a vision, or even just by Paul hearing His voice.
So this brings us to Acts 22:18, when Paul for the first time since the ascension of Jesus SAW HIM,
“17 "It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance,
18 and I saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.”
When we read of Paul seeing Jesus, it must not be confused with same kind of appearance as when He came to His disciples after the resurrection. He told Thomas to put his fingers into His wounds so he should stop doubting, and He ate food in their presence to show them He was not a ghost or a vision. When he appeared to Paul He let Himself be seen as He looks in the heavenly realm, in glory…not in an earthly manner.
Acts 23:11, NASB,
“But on the night immediately following, the Lord stood at his side and said, "Take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also."
This is the first revelation reported of Paul SEEING JESUS, standing right by Paul’s bed and speaking to him. Only Paul has seen Jesus as He looks in His heavenly glorious body and appearance – and nobody else on earth. It was 58 CE, 21 years after the revelation at the Damascus Road, Acts 9.
Paul was told to go on his final mission abroad, to the very center of the world powers at that time, Rome – to see Caesar Nero and to bear witness to the religious Sanhedrin counsel there of Jesus as the Messiah of God. This would prove to become the ‘end of the line’ for Israel as a nation for God, since they refused to receive Jesus as Messiah.
Check out my book here at my web, “The Book of Acts – the Story of Israel’s Falling Away From God” – free of charge.
When Jesus thus appeared to Paul in his quarters inside the Antonia Fortress, it goes to show the utter importance and urgency of the mission to Rome! Notice: Paul was NOT told to visit the Messianic congregation there, to which he had written the epistle of Romans. He was told to go to the national religious leaders of Israel in the dispersion, the counsel from the eleven synagogues of Rome. It was a national urgency to this mission not earlier found with Paul’s ministry. The cause which Jesus pointed to, was the cause of Israel to receive Him so the millennial Kingdom of God on earth could be established by Jesus’ Second Advent. He demanded that the entire nation had to repent and believe on Him before returning from heaven. Peter spoke of the very same narrative in Acts 3…the second advent of Christ…to bring in the millennial Kingdom in Israel.
Check out my article here in the web, “Paul’s Journey to Rome Was Entirely Piloted by the Lord!”
A SUMMARY OF PAUL’S REVELATIONS
The primary scriptures detailing the Apostle Paul's direct revelations, visions, and encounters with Jesus Christ include:
Galatians 1:11-12
Acts 9:3-6
2 Corinthians 12:1-4
Damascus Road Conversions and Encounters
Acts 9:3-6: Paul's initial blinding encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus.
Acts 22:6-11: Paul's personal retelling of the Damascus road vision to the crowd in Jerusalem.
Acts 26:12-18: Paul's testimony before King Agrippa II, detailing Jesus' commission of him directly from heaven.
Epistles on Direct Revelation
Galatians 1:11-12: Paul asserts that his gospel came through direct "revelation of Jesus Christ" rather than from human instruction.
Galatians 1:15-16: Mentions God's pleasure to "reveal his Son in me" so that he might preach among the Gentiles.
1 Corinthians 15:8: Paul lists himself as last among the apostles to whom Christ appeared.
1 Corinthians 11:23: States that he received the specific tradition of the Lord's Supper directly from the Lord.
Visions, Trances, and Heavenly Heights
2 Corinthians 12:1-4: Paul speaks of catching up to the "third heaven" and hearing inexpressible words, boasting of visions and revelations from the Lord.
Acts 22:17-21: Paul describes falling into a trance while praying in the Jerusalem temple and seeing Jesus speak to him.
The Mystery of Christ
Ephesians 3:1-4: Explains how the mystery of Christ was made known to him by divine revelation.
Romans 16:25: References the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began.
The sheer ENORMITY AND THE HEAVENLY CONCERNS shown openly with Paul’s ministry and revelations, let us know without any doubts, that Jesus Christ indeed is alive and well, and shall continue to care for every believer who has put his trust in Him, the mighty Son of God. Through Paul’s immense and sovereign ministry to us Gentiles, Christ made it possible for every human being to receive salvation, by faith in Him. And the hope of salvation is the heaven up above, where He resides with His Father. At present we, the ‘One new man’, are awaiting the Day of Redemption, when we shall be transferred right into the heavens, Eph. 4:30. Also mentioned in Col. 3:4, …when Christ is revealed, we shall be revealed with Him in glory.
Eph. 2:8-9, NASB,
“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
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