Acts 9:1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
With the Gospel successfully spreading throughout Judea and Samaria, Luke again returns to the story of Saul. Saul, the up-and-coming Pharisee, despised the Lord’s disciples and made it his life’s work to see them all destroyed along with what he believed to be the false teaching of the Way. Making a name for himself he secured letters from the high priest granting him permission to root out these false teachers from the synagogues throughout the land.
Do you remember that in Acts 7:60, as he was about to be murdered that Stephen had prayed for his attackers, asking Lord, don’t hold this sin against them?
God was about to answer Stephen’s prayer in a most unexpected way. As Saul travelled north to Damascus, Jesus appeared to him.
Acts 9:3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul was a Pharisee in Jerusalem during the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. He was a witness listening as Stephen unlocked the mysteries of the Old Covenant, showing that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah. All the while that Saul was fighting with all of his might against the good news of the Gospel, God was preparing him, drawing him into the Kingdom of light. Just as when Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Lord, Genesis 32, and in defeat found blessing, Saul was wrestling with the Lord and in defeat was blessed with salvation and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Luke notes that as Saul is awaiting Ananias’ arrival he is praying. The one thing that we notice about Saul throughout both the Book of Acts and in the Epistles that he wrote to the Church is that he was a man of prayer. Saul was always seeking the Lord’s guidance and assistance for himself and for the believers in the Churches that he established.
Similarly, if we truly wanted to see the Gospel flood over our world, we would be people of prayer.
But for now, put yourself in the place of Ananias. He is a Jewish Christian living in Damascus. Like all of his fellow Christians he knows that Saul is coming to their town breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. When Christ appears to him and assigns him the task of helping Saul, Ananias objects. Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
In other words, just like Moses tried to get God to reconsider the task He was assigning him, Exodus 3&4, Lord, please send someone else, Ananias offed an excuse as to why going to meet Saul is a bad idea. I think we can all identify with Ananias.
Do you ever make excuses or rationalize with God when He calls you to obedience; when God calls you to share the hope that is within you?
Do you think that the task of explaining the Gospel to neighbors, friends, family, and coworkers is too hard and best left to someone else?
What was Christ’s response to Ananias?
But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
So Ananias reluctantly went as the Lord had commanded. Upon meeting the murderous enemy of the Church, Ananias had the honor of healing Saul, filling him with the Holy Spirit, and baptizing the man that God had prepared as the instrument to spread the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth.
By being obedient to Christ, Ananias’ fears were turned to joy. Despite our feelings and fears God uses our obedience to accomplish His purposes and, in the process, change our attitudes from fear to hope and joy.
There is a prophesy in Isaiah 11 that foresaw the dawning of this day:
In that day the Root of Jesse [Christ] will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them…
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
God tamed the lion, Saul, who was devouring His people, and used that lion to go out across the Empire, calling people to Christ. As the many nations and peoples rally to Christ, forces that were formerly mortal enemies, become brothers and sisters in Christ’s kingdom. As Christ’s chosen ambassadors it is our privilege to continue the work of Ananias and Saul, reconciling the enemies of God, bringing them into the church, filling the earth with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
The dragon, thrives on spreading division, discord, and suspicion among the races and nations, and hates it when the people become untied as brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
When Paul turned from being a wild attacking beast into a shepherd and pastor, Christ showed His grace in a special way. It demonstrated that the way of salvation is open to everyone, no matter how notorious sinners they might have been previously. (John Calvin, “1 & 2 Timothy & Titus: Calvin”, The Crossway Classic Commentaries, 1998)
Acts 9:19 Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah. 23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
Being a Pharisee, Saul had an intimate knowledge of the Scriptures and had committed much of them to memory. As Christ had scolded the Pharisees, You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me. John 5:39 Prior to Christ calling Saul, he too, was unaware that the Scriptures spoke of Christ from beginning to end. However, after coming to Christ, after the scales fell from his eyes, Saul understood and could see how the entire Old Testament was a story pointing to Christ.
With his new insight Saul went to the synagogues in Damascus powerfully proving that Jesus was the Messiah. This change of heart astonished the people and so infuriated the Jews that they plotted to kill Saul. The hunter had become the hunted. Knowing that the conspirators kept close watch on the city gates so that they could capture and kill him, Saul’s new Christian friends took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
Acts 9:26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
When Saul arrived back in Jerusalem, his reputation as a bloodthirsty enemy of the Church caused the disciples to fear meeting with him. They remembered how he had participated in the murder of Stephen and probably suspected that his claim to be a believer was a ruse to entrap the Church.
Barnabas, the man who had sold his farm to help support the new Church, Acts 4, took a risk and reached out to Saul. Barnabas then took Saul under his wing. Barnabas introduced Saul to the Apostles as a new believer, told them about how the risen Christ had confronted Saul and worked miraculously in his life, and about how Saul then began to preach boldly. Once in Jerusalem, Saul showed the same fervency in proclaiming the Gospel as he had in persecuting the Church prior to his conversion. Saul spent his time conferring with the Apostles and debating with the Jews, showing them how Christ was the fulfillment of the Old Covenant. According to the early Church Fathers, Clement and Eusebius, Paul recorded the substance of his discussions with the Jews in the book he wrote to the Hebrews and Luke translated the book from Hebrew into Greek. (Eusebius, “Eusebius: The Church History”, Kregel Publications, 2007)
Among other things, Saul taught the Jews: For if there had been nothing wrong with that first Covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said:
“The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new Covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my Covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.
10 This is the Covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
11 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
13 By calling this Covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. Hebrews 8:7-13
However, the Jewish leaders were offended by this message and by the fact that their former champion had defected to Christ. They plotted to murder Saul. Learning of the murder attempt, the disciples whisked Saul off to the port city of Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
With Saul now an ally and a brother in Christ, no longer breathing murderous threats and dragging believers from their homes, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
Now, instead of fearing Saul the new Christians feared the Lord.
It is only the fear of God that can deliver us from the fear of man. (John Witherspoon, “The Works of John Witherspoon”, onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu)
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