Why did Saul want to go all the way to Damascus instead of staying in Israel?
Saul was no longer satisfied with persecuting believers only in the small towns of Israel. He sought letters to Damascus so he could enter Gentile territory and search the synagogues for anyone who followed “this way”—men or women—who confessed Jesus as the Christ, and bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Les explains that Saul of Tarsus was a good Jew who viewed the message that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah as a heresy, and he believed nothing worse could have happened to Israel. Saul was already persecuting, imprisoning, and putting believers to death, but he was not satisfied with only working the small towns of Israel. He therefore went to the high priest and desired letters to Damascus so he could go into Gentile territory, visit the synagogues, and take any who followed “this way”—that Jesus was the Christ—whether men or women, and bring them bound under Jerusalem. Les also notes that as Saul journeyed near Damascus, a light from heaven shone around him, he fell to the earth, and he heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”
And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
More Questions
Why did Saul ask the high priest for letters to Damascus?
Saul requested letters from the high priest so that he could go to Damascus, arrest Jewish believers in Jesus, and bring them back to Jerusalem.
What did Saul's letters from the high priest authorize him to do to believers in Damascus?
Saul's letters authorized him to arrest any of 'this way' in the Damascus synagogues who were following Christ as Messiah — whether men or women — and bring them bound back to Jerusalem.