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Updated:- Saturday, November 4th, 2023

Paul’s Encounter With Jesus in the Scripture

Saul on route to Damascus had an encounter with Jesus which changed his life from that point onwards.

As I examine Saul’s personal encounter with Jesus three things will stand out.  First, he saw Jesus; he spoke with him; then he preached in his name.

There are two perspectives of an encounter with Jesus: His point of view and ours!

However, as you study your Bible you will become aware that the Scriptures only explicate our view and not that of Jesus Christ.

And there is a great reason for this.

However, even though Saul had an experience with Jesus the disciples in Jerusalem were still afraid of him. His reputation as a persecutor and imprisoner of Christians preceded him.

“And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.”

Acts 9:26

I have written about some initial qualities of a disciple of Jesus Christ. These, however, are additional features that every disciple of Jesus possesses.

The Apostles in Jerusalem had every right not to trust Saul for he had no personal encounters with Jesus; the Lord hadn’t spoken to him, and he had not spoken in the name of Jesus Christ yet!

What is an Encounter With Jesus?

Your encounter with Jesus is your initial, personal experience or meeting with him. It is the single most powerful, and revolutionary meeting you will ever have.

Meeting Jesus is not a physical experience.

Your encounter with Christ is not about you coming in contact with his presence. This would imply that you are already saved.

Since a personal encounter with Jesus is the first meeting of a sinner with Christ. Sinners don’t experience the presence of God! Only Believers do!

So, one face-to-face encounter with the Lord will change you forever!

It involves touching him whether naturally or by faith. Since he’s gone back to heaven we must by necessity touch him by faith.

Is Your Encounter With Christ by Choice?

You will not decide where you will encounter the Lord because you will never know beforehand that you are going to meet him.

He chooses the time and the place. Recall Saul of Tarsus and his experience. Similarly, recall Matthew (the Tax Collector) and his encounter.

And don’t forget Zacchaeus.

None of them knew in advance that he would have an experience with the Lord.

Have you seen the Lord Jesus Christ? Saul saw him and that experience revolutionized his life and ours forever.

However, because of Saul’s reputation with Christians, the disciples of Jesus didn’t believe that he had an encounter with Jesus.

They thought he was pretending so he could entrap and then imprison them.

“But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.”

Acts 9:27

There is no encounter with Jesus Christ where the doctrines of him are not taught and preached. These people knew not Christ nor did they experience his presence and power. 

Encounters With Jesus in Scripture

Here Is a List of Encounters With Jesus in the Bible

Scriptures	Encounter With Jesus	Result/Action
Matthew 4:1-11	Satan’s	Instructions
Matthew 4:18-20	Peter & Andrew	Calling
Matthew 5:1-48;	The Disciples & The People	Instructions
Matthew 8:1-4;5-13;	The Leper; The Centurion	Healing
Matthew 8:28-34	Devils
Matthew 9:1-8;	Man Sick of the Palsy	Healing
Matthew 9:9	Matthew	Calling
Matthew 9:19-22	Woman With Issue of Blood	Healing
Matthew 9:23-26	Young girl	Resurrection
Matthew 9:27-31	2 Blind Men	Sight
Matthew 9:32-35	A dumb man with devils	Speak/free from devils
Matthew 10:1-42	12 Apostles	Enlightenment/Instructions
Acts 9:1-8	Saul’s or (Paul’s)	Conversion
Scriptures	Meeting Jesus	Result/Action

List Of Encounter With Jesus – Bible Verses

• Zacchaeus an encounter with Jesus, Luke 19:5.
• The woman at the well personal encounter with Jesus, John 4:17-26.
• Peter and his brother Andrew had an encounter with Jesus, Matthew 4:18-20.
• James and John the sons of Zebedee also had a personal encounter with Jesus, Matthevv 4:21-22.

Reactions To Your Personal Encounter With Jesus

Sometimes others won’t believe your account that you had seen the Lord until someone else speaks on your behalf. Just as Barnabas did for Saul. This initial act of kindness on his part will stimulate a lifetime of friendship between him and Saul.

Did Jesus Speak to You?

Conversations are the seeds for every change, good or bad. Jesus spoke to Saul and disrupt his life. He moved from being a tormentor to becoming a nurturer and a father to many.

Even wars are won or lost based on conversations. Additionally, you are married to your spouse because of that initial conversation. If it weren’t for it you wouldn’t be married.

Converse with Jesus daily in prayers. Ask him pertinent questions and he will provide appropriate answers for them.

How To Encounter Jesus?

Seeing that Jesus Christ is not physically with us for he returned to heaven, then we must learn how to encounter him by interacting with his Holy Ghost.

Be vigilant for opportunities to engage others in conversation. Approach anyone, even strangers. Tell them of your experiences with the Lord Jesus Christ.

This requires some amount of boldness. I must warn you, I’m extremely bold and fearless. My wife will testify to that!

Each interaction with another person will supply you with the prospect to speak to his or her situation in the name of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes, even when I’m not praying I would talk with the Lord. If you happen to overhear my ramblings you may think that I’m going koo-koos.

Talking to The Holy Ghost and Meeting Jesus

Recently, I wanted to remember someone’s name, but I couldn’t. So, I said, “Holy Ghost, what is the name of that young man, who lived in Port Maria that I had Bible Studies with some twenty-five years ago?”

And I continued with whatever I was doing. Soon after, I was ecstatic because the Lord Jesus brought back his name to mind.

The Word of God is real. Jesus told us that the Comforter will bring back forgotten things to our memory. So use Him.

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

John 14:26

Meeting Jesus 101

Please remember that one of the ways Jesus speaks to us is through others. So, “whatsoever I have said unto you” may come from someone you have met and conversed with.

Meeting Jesus is also meeting the Word of God. This could happen when we hear another Believer preaching or teaching the Word of God or via Bible reading.

Your Encounter With Jesus Involves This!

Note the Bible says “all things”. This is not just talking about the Word of God and Scriptures and stuff. It means anything that you desire to recall but can’t, He will bring “to your remembrance”. However, you must ask Him. He does not volunteer this information.

Why? Ask and you shall receive.

Did you know also that if you are born again, according to the Word of God, the sicknesses of the world shouldn’t afflict you?

For example, not because unsaved and Christian people you may know have Alzheimer’s, as they grow older, that doesn’t mean that you should too.

No. The Holy Ghost is our keeper. He secures our minds. We will not lose our memory. We will remember things even in our good old age. Freedom from illness is one of the legacies of a Christian.

Having a Personal Encounter With Jesus Shall Force You To…

Your personal encounter with Jesus will change you so much that people will start to note the change. Your speech will change. Now you will commence talking about him. The identical thing happened to Saul.

“And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem,” (Acts 9:28).

Your personal encounters with Jesus will compel you to speak in his name.

“And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him,” (Acts 9:29).

Many people are replete with false beliefs about what should happen after they have their initial personal experience with Jesus Christ. They think everything will go smoothly. But the opposite is true.

Having a Personal Encounter With Jesus Will Do This!

First, you become a target. An object for wickedness and evil. Strangers and friends will desire to eliminate you because now you are calling on the name of Jesus Christ.

They will direct death towards you, but fear no evil for the Lord is always with us. You will become the object of sharp words.

Then, you progress from being the target for everybody’s evil to being the weapon that God uses to expose and tear it down.

“Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus,” (Acts 9:30).

“Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied,” (Acts 9:31).

Thus having a personal meeting with Jesus Christ will equip you. It will enable and empower you to go into the world and speak of the King, Christ Jesus.

What Happens When You Have an Encounter With Jesus?

If we never have an encounter with Jesus Christ we cannot have our names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

And we will be lost for all eternity to enjoy torment with the Devil.

Another benefit of meeting with Jesus Christ is the fact that it instantly changes your life. You will never be the same person after your initial meeting with him!

But this result is only true if you approach your encounter with Jesus with faith in him.

Your encounters with Jesus will highlight three things: you will see Jesus; he will speak to you; you will preach and teach in the name of Jesus Christ.

Have you seen Jesus Christ since you believed in him? If no, you need to see him.

When you perceive the heart and the character and the nature of the Son of God you never will worship another God but the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only true God.

Your life will be routine until your first encounter with Jesus Christ. You will never be the same after it.

Similarly, Jesus cannot speak to you and you remain quiet. If you attempt it, you will experience the identical thing as the prophet Jeremiah.

This scripture below expounds it.

“Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”

Jeremiah 20:9

Meeting Jesus Is Unique

Your meeting with Jesus Christ will always be the most unique incident in your life. So much so that you will never forget it.

You will recall your meeting Jesus with such clarity that it would appear to others like it recently happened. It’s forever etched into your memory.

And everyone who comes face to face with the Lord will have this report.

If you remain quiet, you will feel like any moment and you are going to explode. This is one of the reasons I blog. I must utilize a medium to share the Word of God that’s in my heart.

All of us won’t have churches, some of us must write and share the Gospel of the Kingdom!

And once you meet Jesus and he speaks to you, then you will forever speak in his name.

Therefore, all encounters with Jesus involve conversations. He speaks through conversation. The Lord God has no mouth but ours.

As a result, pay attention to conversations, because we will never know which ones He could utilize to initiate our meeting with Jesus.

Your Personal Encounter With God And Speaking

Nicodemus’ encounter with God involved conversation. So too was that meeting with the woman at the well. And we cannot forget the experience of the thief on the cross.

Anything that you will ever receive from the Lord comes via conversation. It’s important to Him. So, ensure that’s significant to you too.

How could you have a nonesuch experience with Jesus and not talk about him? You can’t. After it, you will do everything in his name.

In closing, the Lord Jesus wants all Believers to have an experience with Him. Some, like Saul, He calls, others like us must seek Him. And while we search for the truth of his Word, we will have an inevitable encounter with Jesus Christ that will alter our lives forever.

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