Basket Case! Saul Escapes Damascus in a Basket | Acts 9 Sermon on Paul, Grace & the Early Church

Basket Case! Saul Escapes Damascus in a Basket | Acts 9 Sermon on Paul, Grace & the Early Church

From The Semi-Seminarian by Pastor Jim Wilhelm

July 5, 2026 · 27 min · Season 8 · Episode 28

About this episode

This episode explores Saul's dramatic conversion and the early church's struggle to accept him as a disciple.

In Acts 9:19–31, Saul has been healed, baptized, and filled with the Holy Spirit — but now the church has to decide whether it believes Jesus. This episode of The Semi-Seminarian Podcast, “Basket Case! Saul Escapes Damascus in a Basket,” follows Saul after the Damascus Road conversion. The light has flashed. The scales have fallen. Ananias has called him brother. Saul is preaching Jesus as the Son of God. But the man who came to Damascus with warrants now has to leave Damascus through a window in a basket. Saul entered Damascus with power, authority, and letters from the high priest. He leaves Damascus lowered through the city wall by unnamed disciples holding ropes in the dark. The hunter becomes the hunted. The persecutor becomes the preacher. The man who once dragged Christians away is now being rescued by Christians. But Acts 9 does not let the story stay easy. When Saul comes to Jerusalem, the disciples are afraid of him. They do not believe he is really a disciple. And honestly, who can blame them? They remember Stephen. They remember the stones. They remember the coats. They remember the warrants. They remember what Saul did before Jesus stopped him on the road. This Acts…

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