The road or roads to Damascus were probably a pretty well known terrain all through the times of scripture. Today it is reflected as the oldest city in the world. One Article put it as 11,000 years old. It was occupied by several power house countries, and it’s mentioned through out the Bible starting in Genesis and practically all the way through the Old Testament and up to the letters written to the Corinthian people. All the big cities in the world usually have something other people and it’s citizens know of it or know it by. New York City is known as the Big Apple; Paris, France as the City of Love and Boston, Massachusetts is known as Bean Town. But none of those names hold the standard of oldest city in the world, which I’m sure it is of some significance to its 2 million citizens today.
It also has significant meaning in the New Testament. It is the location of the conversion and experience Saul, who will be named Paul, encountered Jesus which halted his current plans to arrest Jesus followers in Damascus and brought him to the truth of who Jesus is and what he should be doing with his life. Thought this story confusion seems to be present on both sides of the story. Saul was headed to Damascus to punish those who he thought were sorely confused on how to follow and worship God. After Saul experience Jesus, the disciple Ananias is instructed by the Lord to go meet with Saul. Ananias then confused why the Lord would have him confront a deadly leader of the opposition to His followers, but he gracefully and faithful did it.
What I want us to get out of this is passage is that we may meat people whose belief can be old and established and may even be counterproductive to truth, but our approach must be done with grace and faithfulness. Grace keeps us humble with the perspective that we know we have something of favor that we don’t deserve and with the faith of God being powerful enough and willing to lift the haze of confusion, doubt from their mind and maybe even the hate heart if need be.