In what sense did Saul address Jesus as Lord (Gr. kyrios)? It seems from Saul"s reaction to this vision and his descriptions of it later that he realized the person addressing him was God. "Lord" therefore seems to be more than a respectful "Sir." Yet God was Saul"s master already, even before he became a Christian, so he probably addressed the voice as his personal master as well as God. The identity of the voice was not completely clear to Saul. When Stephen had a similar vision, he recognized Jesus ( Acts 7:55-56), but Saul did not recognize Him. This may imply that Saul had never seen Jesus during Jesus" earthly ministry. Or perhaps he asked "Who are you?" because, even though he believed God was speaking to him, he had never heard a voice from heaven before. [source][source][source]
Jesus" self-revelation totally shocked Saul who until then had regarded Jesus as a blasphemous pretender to Israel"s messianic throne. Saul now discovered that Jesus was God or at least with God in heaven, yet He was in some sense also present in His followers whom Saul was persecuting. Jesus again referred to Saul"s persecution of Himself, a doubly convicting reminder of Saul"s erroneous theology and sinful conduct. Jesus did not condemn him but graciously commanded him to enter Damascus and to wait for further directions from Himself. Saul learned that Jesus had a mission for him though he did not know what or how extensive it would be. [source][source][source]