Acts 9:10-19a (NIV)
In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
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. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
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.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Ananias was a devout Jewish Christian (Acts 22:12), exactly the kind of person that Saul had come to town to arrest and see executed. Ironically, he was also the only kind of person that could help Saul where he was at that moment.
Jesus appeared to Ananias in a vision while he was praying and sent him to not only heal Saul’s blindness, but to baptize him and to start him on the pathway of discipleship. Ananias’ initial reluctance to go into the house of someone who was there to haul people like him off to trial and execution in Jerusalem, and where, even if Saul was no long out to get him, his companions might still be, was perfectly reasonable.
But Jesus’ firm command was “Go!” He had not only stopped Saul’s reckless mission in its tracks, He had chosen Saul for a special new mission: to carry the gospel to the gentile world to the north and west, as well as to his fellow Jews. Saul would appear before and convert rulers and kings and would ultimately suffer for his faith in the same way that he had caused others to suffer.
Ananias was a disciple, so ultimately his only answer to Jesus’ command was a firm yes, followed by full obedience. He went immediately to the indicated house and walked in the door. There he found himself face to face with Saul sitting quietly in a corner, his sightless eyes staring straight at him.
Ananias spoke Jesus’ message to Saul just as he had received it. It was indeed the risen and glorified Jesus who had appeared to Saul on the road, the Jesus whose followers Saul had come to Damascus to arrest. But though the encounter had taken Saul’s sight from him, Jesus was now going to return it, and was going to impart to him the Holy Spirit. Ananias placed his hands upon Saul, and immediately scales fell from his eyes, returning his sight. At the same moment, the Holy Spirit filled his heart, cleansing him from the sins of hatred, lies, and complicity in the murder of God’s people, sins for which he had been grieving for the last three days, and empowering him for the work that Jesus had called him to do.
Even though Saul had now been filled with the Holy Spirit, he still needed to be baptized in water (much like the gentiles in Cornelius’ household that would soon come into the kingdom through Peter’s ministry – Acts 10:44-48). So, Ananias baptized Saul immediately. Only then did Saul eat some food so that he could regain his strength.
Father, even in the midst of what surely seemed to Saul and his companions a chaotic situation, You sent an emissary to bring Your order into the chaos, the light of truly seeing into the darkness of both physical and spiritual blindness, and life into the spiritual deadness of sin and guilt. And in the process, You recreated Saul into a person who could act as Your messenger, Your ambassador to multiplied thousands of people all over the Roman empire who would trust in Jesus through his ministry and be saved. Saul’s past was not an obstacle to the future You had in store for him. Thank You for the hope that this truth opens into the life story of everyone. For all who will turn to You, our future is without limit, and You’re are able to make of any of us what You would have destined us to be, no matter what our initial state! Amen.
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