Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame. By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from Bible Gateway, a division of The Zondervan Corporation, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA, including commercial communications and messages from partners of Bible Gateway. But why would they be called his disciples? Ananias the high priest brought charges against Paul and We are given a little insight from the account in Acts 12 when Peter was imprisoned and it appeared he would soon be executed, as James had already been, and as we would infer Herod purposed to do with Peter (Acts 12:1-4). The famous story of St. Pauls conversion from being an outrageous persecutor of the gospel of Christ to be an illustrious professor and preacher of it. In the process, Saul was to greatly extend the outreach of the gospel to the Gentiles. They may have been attempting to compile a list of known (and even suspected) Christians, along with addresses, to facilitate Sauls task. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast (Galatians 2:8-9). There is a great basis for comfort in the sovereignty of God. Saul Preaches in Damascus. WebThats when Ananias heard a word from the Lord. Verses 1 and 2 vividly depict Sauls intent, his intense desire and determination to rid the world of Christianity by taking active, aggressive, severe action against those saints who had fled from Jerusalem. Ananias was afraid because he knew Sauls reputation as a merciless persecutor of the church. These two shocking deaths served as an example to the body of Christ that God hates hypocrisy. Why did Saint Paul change his As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God (1 Peter 4:10). In peace, as in persecution, the church was comforted and continued to increase. He sent me so that you can see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit. 18 Immediately, something that looked like fish scales fell from Sauls eyes. There is not so much as a hint that anyone prayed for Sauls salvation or took the initiative to bring it about. %PDF-1.2 % 15:10; Gal. (Acts 9:17) and that Saul was to "be filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:17). Romans 6). For the time being, God is using the disobedience of Israel to accomplish His purposes, but there is surely a time coming when Israel will be restored to the Lord, by faith in Christ. Shortly afterwards, the Lord spoke to a disciple named Ananias, asking him to go to Saul, place his hands on him, and restore his sight. For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? 1:11, Acts 20:23; 2 Cor. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Nevertheless, Ananias obeyed. WebWe can understand why Ananias would be afraid of Saul. But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze upon him, and said, You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? The salvation of Saul was to result in the gospel being preached to distant people and lands, and in the extension of the church to many key cities. God then used this man to further His purposes in launching the career of the most influential of the apostles. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". 136. The words of Jesus, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? related by Luke with no variation in all three accounts, exerted a profound and lasting influence on the thought of Paul. No, God showed him "how many things he must suffer for . The call of salvation is a call to holiness, and to obedience, and to fellowship, with God and with our fellow-believers. (12) The same Saul who played a role in Stephens execution was to become, in large measure, his replacement. 29He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists,* but they tried to kill him. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9). Saul, like Stephen, had a ministry which focused on the Hellenistic Jews. It strikes many readers as harsh, a return to Old Testament retribution. Ananias was afraid because he knew Saul's reputation as a merciless persecutor of the church . The results of Sauls preaching were predictable, very much like the response Saul would have had (or did have) to the preaching of the gospel before his conversion. 23:16-17, 19, 24; 23:26). As at Damascus, Saul eventually had to leave the city of Jerusalem to save his life. Like Stephen, the enemies of the gospel attempted to kill Saul when they could not silence him by means of debate. 1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:4-11). And they were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; 25 but his disciples took him by night, and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. So it would appear. The light was the light of His glory. Saul, as it were, saw the light, but in addition, he was to become a light, a light to the Gentiles, as well as to his own people. 9. 21:29 (30); John 5:7; 12:21; 20:15; and should be so in John 9:36. They found that their cause was literally shut down by Sauls arrival, and the wind was taken out of their sails by his conversion. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". 2023 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. In the Bible, Reuben and Saul were of no relation to each other. That is all we know about Ananias - the small but essential part he played at the start of Paul's pilgrimage of faith. The blindness to which Saul was subject for three days provided him with much time for reflection, meditation, and prayer. When he found him, he "laid his hands on Saul and said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.'" The details of what was said and done when Ananias arrived are fuzzy. Matt. We can overcome our fears if, like Ananias, we trust that Jesus is directing the preaching work, Rueban founded the Tribe of Reuban and Saul was King. 28 And he was with them moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. Those who call upon your name echoes 2:21 (Joel 2:32) and recurs in 22:16 in a command to Paul himself to be baptized . It is one of the few accounts of a conversion which is described with some detail (although this detail is much less than we would prefer). 2:1 He said to me, Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you. 2 As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. He is there praying,j Impatient men forget that God is not bound by time. There is a great deal of information we are not given, and thus we cannot be dogmatic about our conclusions. Did they think their task would be a simple one? The towns of Lydda, Sharon, and Joppa were populated by both Jews and Gentiles and their Christian communities may well have been mixed. They, too, were afraid of Saul and did not believe he really was a follower of Jesus Christ. Luke is emphatic in his representation of mans salvation as having been ordained and orchestrated by God, as a manifestation of His sovereign grace: And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed (Acts 13:48). 2 Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. What Paul learned about himself, personally, on the road to Damascus he came to understand and to preach concerning all men. * [9:29] Hellenists: see note on Acts 6:17. Some of the Hellenistic Jews responded to the preaching of Saul as they had to Stephens preaching; they wanted to kill him (9:29). To Him be the glory forever. Thus, persecuting the church was persecuting Jesus Christ. 137 The Way is a designation for the new movement used several times in Acts 9:19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22; cf. 116-117. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day (2 Timothy 1:8-12). They are private Christians, living like islands rather than as a part of His body. 1:11--2:10; Ephesians 3:1-13; cf. Suppose you were a Christian who had just arrived in Damascus, and you had been able to learn the whereabouts of a group of believers. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? The conversion of Saul is important in another way. Over and over in his epistles, Paul spoke of salvation in terms of radical change. It was the most powerful piece of artillery in the Jewish camp that was suddenly turned round upon them. A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1930), III, p. 123. What do you suppose the saints would have prayed at this special prayer meeting? Israels watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep (Isaiah 43:8-10). In our text Ananias was instructed to go to Saul and to lay hands on him so that he might receive his sight (9:12). It was an act of faith and Thus, whenever he spoke of his conversion and his call to ministry, he always spoke of this incident as an act of divine grace, of Gods unmerited favor, of an act of mercy toward him: I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:15-16). This account is accompanied by an asseveration of its truth which suggests that some people were contradicting it.133. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ, 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christthe righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. Furthermore, in Acts 26:10 Paul testifies that he received letters from the chief priests, not just the chief priest alone. of him. Fourth, if we had all the facts, there would be no problem. FOR WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Like Stephen, Saul seemed to gravitate toward preaching to the Hellenistic Jews (9:29). Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit because it was the Holy Spirit who dwelt in the apostles, giving them their power and authority. The light from heaven brought Saul to the ground. He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent (Psalm 104:2). I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14). From the fact that three different accounts of Sauls conversion are recorded in Acts, we know this event had to play a crucial role in the expansion of the church. The Essene community at Qumran used the same designation to describe its mode of life. (7) Those who were saved by Sauls ministry were convinced by the power of the gospel message he preached and not by miraculous signs and wonders. Saul, like Stephen, spoke with such power and authority that his opponents could not refute him. Ananias is not the last believer who has seen fit to keep God up to date (The Storytellers Companion to the Bible: The Acts of the Apostles). Blindness, not willing to see, not willing to understand is all too common but Ananias cured Saul blindness by a touch. This happened to Ananias of Damascus when he ministered to Saul of Tarsus. Ananias had to overcome his fear so that Saul would be overcome by grace. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 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. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. (Acts 9:11)? The ultimate issue was Gods ability to saveeven the most committed unbeliever. The man who, days before, was persecuting Christ was now preaching Christ. There are no exceptions in this all of Romans 3:23, as Paul indicated in these Old Testament words, cited just before: THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE (Romans 3:10b-12). 31* The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace. ,/1Xa} V= endstream endobj 133 0 obj 634 endobj 94 0 obj << /Type /Page /Parent 88 0 R /Resources 95 0 R /Contents [ 98 0 R 100 0 R 102 0 R 104 0 R 122 0 R 124 0 R 126 0 R 129 0 R ] /MediaBox [ 0 0 792 612 ] /CropBox [ 0 0 792 612 ] /Rotate 0 >> endobj 95 0 obj << /ProcSet [ /PDF /Text /ImageB ] /Font << /F1 109 0 R /F3 106 0 R /F4 107 0 R /F6 118 0 R /F7 116 0 R >> /XObject << /Im1 127 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 131 0 R /GS2 130 0 R >> /ColorSpace << /Cs5 96 0 R >> >> endobj 96 0 obj [ /CalRGB << /WhitePoint [ 0.9505 1 1.089 ] /Gamma [ 2.22221 2.22221 2.22221 ] /Matrix [ 0.4124 0.2126 0.0193 0.3576 0.71519 0.1192 0.1805 0.0722 0.9505 ] >> ] endobj 97 0 obj 1512 endobj 98 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 97 0 R >> stream All of these should be expected and can be rather easily explained. WebYou know someone is coming, perhaps to arrest you for being a Christian. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. . I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. His career as a persecutor of Christians seems to have begun with Stephen, but it quickly spread to all of the Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 7:588:3). 15:21). in expanding, as well as justifying, their earthly wealth and power. WebActs 9:1. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities (Isaiah 53:11). 12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Saul did not agree with his teacher, Gamaliel, on how the Christians should be dealt with, however. Dont let it trouble youalthough if you can gain your freedom, do so. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Michael Garicoits (1797-1863) was born into a poor, but hardworking and humble family. 1:1; 1 Cor. He constantly defended the gospel against those who would diminish grace and seek to pollute it with works. The good news of the gospel is that Christ Jesus came to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). The children will practice being giving and friendly with someone that they do not know. to go lay hands on Saul (soon to be known as Paul) and restore his /w\/)sr?o|cBw3>E> He sought to preach Christ in simplicity and not in a way that would detract from Him. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness (John 12:46). Then he We know that the salvation of men rests ultimately with God and not with usand not even with the one whom we wish to see saved. Israel too will look on Him whom they have pierced and mourn. Introduction. He should not become uncircumcised. WebActs 9:10-18 Ananias. The first is this: every saved person must have a personal conversion experience. * She was completely occupied with good deeds and almsgiving. A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel (Luke 2:32). WebSauls Baptism. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 1:6-7). 150 It is interesting to ponder the identity of these disciples of Saul. The first words spoken to Saul were, Saul, Saul, Why are you persecuting Me? (Acts 9:4). And the second group, who were waiting for Saul to come and help them deal with the followers of the Way, were about to discover that Saul had joined them, perhaps bringing other members of the opposition along with him. In Pauls speech in Acts 22, he describes Ananias as a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews that dwelt in Damascus (Acts 22:12). Saul proclaimed Jesus to be the Son of God (9:20), a designation understood to refer to Israels awaited Messiah.149. In this occasion, no one seems to have prayed for Peters miraculous escape. This man who had formerly cringed at the preaching of the gospel148 was now proclaiming the same message. 144 Was Ananias the one who told him what he must do? 11 The Lord told him, Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsusp named Saul, for he is praying. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Your merchants were the worlds great men. 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