Hint #03: blinded at “Awakening” … (10/22/18)
In dramatic contrast to Jesus Christ, who received a noted enhancement of clarity after his baptism (“And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him.” ~ via Matthew 3:16; also Mark 1:9-11 & Luke 3:21-22 et al1), Paul was blinded for three days after his own “awakening” (“Since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, those who were with me took my hand and led me to Damascus.” ~ Acts 22:11 – see also Acts 9:8)
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1 There are actually a number of verses in the New Testament proclaiming that Jesus was a champion of sight (see Matthew 5:8, Matthew 7:4-5, Matthew 11:2-5, Matthew 13:10-17, Mark 8:17-18, Luke 4:18, Luke 10:22-24, John 9:39, & John 17:24) &/or a direct provider thereof (see Matthew 9:30, Matthew 20:32-34, Mark 8:22-25, Luke 24:31, & John 9:7) … In profound contrast, along with being himself blinded after supposedly encountering “the Spirit of Jesus Christ” on the Road to Damascus (as described in Acts 9), Paul’s subsequent ministry contained several references to sight itself being over-rated, if not a direct hindrance to faith (see Romans 8:24, 1 Corinthians 2:9, 2 Corinthians 4:18, & 2 Corinthians 5:7), and he was even known to have at least once intentionally blinded one of his opponents – “But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, ‘You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now listen: the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a time, unable to see the sun.’ Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand.” (Acts 13:9-11)
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