How did St. Paul meet Jesus?

Answer 1

Once - At the time of his conversion he was blinded by a light. Later, he describes going to the 4th heaven and there has been much discussion as to the meaning of this and if that might have been a spiritual experience where he saw Jesus.

Answer 2

Paul was on the road to Damascus to arrest Christians living there when Paul saw Jesus in a vision and was struck blind. Afterwards Paul did a complete reversal and preached that Jesus was the messiah. Read the account in Acts 9:1-6.

Answer 3

Yes, Paul as Saul, who was a chief persecutor of Christians was presented with a meeting with Christ which completely transformed him from Christ hater and disbeliever to a chief proponent and preacher of Christ. On his way to Damascus in the course of his work to eradicate Christianity, the risen and glorified Christ appeared to Him with an intensely bright light.

Yes. Paul met Jesus in a very real way. And there is a great deal of evidence to support this. As examples:

We first hear of Paul as 'Saul' who was a chief persecutor of Christians and who stood on watching and minding the coats as the first Christian martyr, Stephen, was stoned to death (Acts 8:1). On the road to Damascus, Paul met with the risen Christ in such a way that he was immediately converted to Christianity and instead of being a persecutor, he became one of the greatest evangelists and theologians the world has ever known.

Yet it happened, and could only be as a result of Paul going through a mammoth life-changing experience. We have his letters today that prove this change of life, for he mentions his previous lifestyle several times, and his saving by grace as a result of his encounter with the risen Christ.

Paul was a Pharisee, and an important one. Schooled by the great Gamaliel, he would have known the law inside out. And one of the chief beliefs of the Pharisees was that they believed in the literal resurrection of the body at some time in the future. This was one of the doctrines that separated them from the Saduccees who did not have this belief. So for Paul to have the background he did, and to have witnessed a risen Christ, makes it inconceivable that he beliieved in a 'spiritual' resurrection.

So, Paul did meet the resurrected Christ, on the Damascus road, and he firmly believed that Christ had risen bodily so that in his first letter to the Corinthians he could say with absolute conviction "... and finally he appeared to me".

In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 shows that the appearance of Christ was not visionary but real. The Apostles were able to interact with Christ as a real person. What Paul is saying is that Christ appeared to him in person just as he appeared to the rest of the Apostles and the 500 disciples in person. The fact that Paul spread the the word about Christ to the Gentile world and even died for him showed that he had a great love for Christ.

Additionally:

As The Bible describes Jesus as appearing as the sun in his strength [Rev.1:16]... Paul's encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus was the first [and last] "physical" glimpse he had of Christ. His physical vision was greatly impaired after that and he was plagued by cataracts the rest of his life.

But, Paul's "insight" was magnified in the ensuing years, in which Paul mentions a three-year hiatus from the influence of men... and went into the Arabian desert where it's evident that he received personal instructions regarding his "Divine Commission."

"...when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His Grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood..." (Gal.1:15-16).

Most people today "confer with flesh and blood" when they "come to Christ" [as some say]. They hang around those folks who attracted and drew them into the fold. But, not so with Paul [Saul].

He disappeared for three years... AVOIDING contact with people [flesh and blood].

"...neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I WENT INTO ARABIA, and returned again unto Damascus. Then AFTER THREE YEARS I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days." (verses 17-18)

This cryptic episode in Paul's hard, dedicated life is missed [and dismissed] by most people... but, surely, Paul received three years of in-depth spiritual enlightenment and instruction directly from Christ Himself during this time, regarding his future commission and the establishment of the Gentile churches God would call out of the world, cultivate and increase over the centuries.

"For I must tell you, brethren, that the Good News which was proclaimed by me is not such as man approves of. For, in fact, IT WAS NOT FROM MAN THAT I RECEIVED OR LEARNT IT, but BY A REVELATION FROM JESUS CHRIST." (verses 11-12 WEYWeymouth's New Testament)

No one can do that unless they've seen and met Jesus, first.

Answer 4

A:The number of times that Peter saw Jesus after the resurrection depends on which source we use:

In Matthew's Gospel, the disciples including Peter saw the risen Jesus on only one occasion, at a mountain in Galilee, when he said goodbye and commanded them to go forth and preach to the world.

In Luke's Gospel, Jesus saw "two of them" on the road to Emmaeus. One of these was Cleopas and the other was probably Peter. He then saw Jesus one more time, as one of the eleven disciples at a meal in the upper room, after which they went out on the road to Bethany and Jesus was taken up bodily to heaven. This last event was on the evening of the resurrection, so Peter could only have seen the risen Jesus on two different occasions.

In John's Gospel, Peter saw the risen Jesus at a meal in the upper room on two separate occasions, the first being when Thomas was absent and the second was a week later. He subsequently saw Jesus at the Sea of Galilee, making a total of three times.

Mark's Gospel originally ended at verse 16:8 with the young man telling the women that Jesus was risen and they fled in terror, telling no one. In this account, no one saw Jesus after the crucifixion. The 'Long Ending' (verses 16:9-20) was added much later to more or less harmonise Mark with both Matthew and Luke. The 'Long Ending' achieves this goal moderately well, but at the expense of being a little ambiguous. When Jesus saw the "two of them" on the road, it is unclear whether they were the two women of Matthew or the two men of Luke. This means we are even less sure whether one of them was Peter. Jesus afterwards appeared to the eleven at a meal, when he commanded them to disperse and preach the gospel, and he was taken up into heaven. Peter saw Jesus at least once and just possibly twice.

In Acts of the Apostles, Jesus remained on earth for forty days and was seen by many. We can never know how often he appeared to Peter.

In Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians (15:3-8), Jesus appeared to Cephas (Paul), then the twelve, then more than 500, then James and all the apostles, and finally to Paul himself. This is confusing, not least because it differs so radically from the gospel accounts. There is no mention of only 11 disciples, and "the twelve" seems to be a different group from the "apostles". Depending on whether Paul believed Peter to be one of the "twelve" or one of the "apostles", Peter could have seen Jesus just once or perhaps three times, then a further time if he was numbered among the 500. The author of Luke/Acts might plausibly have become aware of this account after writing the gospel but before writing Acts, resulting in the changes between Luke and Acts.

Answer 5

Paul was on the road to Damascus to arrest Christians living there when Paul saw Jesus in a vision and was struck blind. Afterwards Paul did a complete reversal and preached that Jesus was the messiah. Acts 9:1-6.

Answer 6

The only time that Paul ever mentions seeing Jesus is in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, where Paul said that Jesus died and was buried, rose again according to the scriptures, then was seen by Cephas, then the twelve, then by more than 500, most of whom were still alive, then by James and all the apostles, and finally by himself. This account differs in several important ways from the accounts that would later form part of the gospels, but most importantly implies that the appearances were all of spiritual nature. Thus, Paul is telling us that he never met Jesus in person.

It has been noted that Paul never showed any interest in knowing about Jesus the person and never showed any interest in visiting Bethlehem, Nazareth or the sites of the crucifixion and burial. He seems even unaware that Jesus was a real person who had lived and died in Palestine in the quite recent past.