Intricately connected to Christ

"I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison ... About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?'"
Acts 22: 4-7 (edited)

I've always had thoughts float around in the back of my mind when I've read this passage, that Jesus's words are a little strange. And then I've always immediately dismissed them as unholy and irreverent thoughts! Saul is persecuting Christians, and yet Jesus says "why do you persecute me". Which can make you think "hang on Jesus, your taking this too literally. It's your followers who are being persecuted."

But if you linger on this thought instead of immediately dismissing it, it reveals something quite fascinating: everything you feel Jesus feels. It's like we're actually part of the same physical body. When we're persecuted he is persecuted. When we suffer, he suffers. When we sin, he felt it on the cross. When he was raised from the dead, we were given new life. And he was tempted in every way, just as we are.

When we become a disciple of Jesus Christ, we become very intricately connected to him.

"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."
1 Corinthians 12:27