Acts 9: 1-19 Part 2

Part 2: Called

10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord."

With Saul, God chose to first reveal himself and his will for him through a vision. Yet the ordinary means God uses to bring people to faith is through the preaching of the gospel through human beings. This does not have to be “preaching” in the sense of pulpit exposition of Scripture, but in the sense of proclamation of the gospel of Jesus in whatever setting public of private we have the opportunity. God calls Ananias to meet with the infamous Saul to complete Saul's conversion. Ananias responds as do many others in Scripture when called by God saying “here I am Lord.”

11 And the Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying,

Saul was spending the time while blind and unable to go forward either with his plans (as he was now convicted that his persecution was a sin against Jesus as Lord.) or with his new calling as he did not yet know what it was, in fasting (verse 9) and prayer.

12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight."

The Lord continued to communicate with Saul by visions preparing him to meet with Ananias.

13 But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem;

As we tend to do when called, Ananias view this calling as beyond his ability, knowing Saul only as the persecutor of the Church and not as the man who God intended him to become.

14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name."

The character of Saul is an obstacle to Ananias as well as fear or what Saul may do. The immediate threat of imprisonment causes him to hesitate.

15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;

God is always aware of those obstacles but also has in mind the way they will be ( or have been already) overcome. The Lord seeks to calm Ananias' fears letting him know of His purpose for Saul.

16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake."

Saul will surely join the Christians not only in calling and mission but also in suffering. The calling to follow Christ is never one with a guarantee of ease. Suffering is a necessary part of our calling and one which is governed, managed, and finally eased by the Lord.

17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, " Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

One cannot claim that the New Testament claims Jesus to be other than God when these Jews refer to Him as Lord and indeed speak of visions as from God and ascribe them to Jesus Himself. Ananias does not say God appeared but “the Lord Jesus.” Ananias appears to Saul as the means by which Saul will regain his sight as well as complete His conversion, receiving the filling of the Holy Spirit. As it was the power of God that caused Saul to lose his sight, so it is the power of God through the laying on of Ananias' hands that Saul is restored and filled. Throughout the New Testament, believers are exhorted to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the ordinary state of believers, not as annointed prophets of old on whom the Spirit descended, but as those who are filled and continually filled with the Holy Spirit of God. For Saul to convert he must be likewise filled.

18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;

Unsure of what these scales may be, we can only note that Saul's sight is restored and at the same moment he is assured that the spiritual blindness which led him to reject Jesus now was also gone. We are assured of this as he immediately sought baptism and identification with Christ.

19 and he took food and was strengthened.

The reason for his fast now completed he takes food. The virtue of this period of fasting and prayer was to temporarily seek what God would give both in healing and in direction. Saul was now healed and also had come to faith in Jesus and was publicly identified with him and with the believers he once persecuted through baptism. There are seasons for certain things like retreat and fasting and when those seasons are past there is no longer any virtue in them. We must instead move on to the next thing to which God has called us.

In Christ and on the Shepherd's Path,
Mark