While at first he thought he might have to correct God, in the end he submitted himself and his very life to Gods call. in expanding, as well as justifying, their earthly wealth and power. Third, these discrepancies may well have been evident to the writers, who did not see fit to remove or explain every problem. Why did Ananias have to overcome his fear? 7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 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.'" Note Pauls summary of the gospel at the end of Galatians 2: I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me (Galatians 2:20). They were based, as I understand it, on what the Lord had revealed to Ananias and not on any confession or actions of Saul, for these seem to follow these initial actions and words of Ananias. Robert L. (Bob)Deffinbaugh graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with his Th.M. And because Saul is welcomed into the church, he is sent out by the church. They do not understand the gospel well enough. Romans 6). There are two very important implications to the personal dimension of Sauls conversion. also 2:14-17; 3:12-18; 4:1-18; 5:17-21; 6:13--7:1; Galatians 1:13-17; cf. Barnabas stood up for Saul and explained everything to the Jerusalem Christians. 139 A. T. Robertson writes, It is open to question if kurie should not here be translated Sir as in 16:30 and in Matt. In His coming as the light, those who come to the light become lights to the world themselves: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned (Isaiah 9:2). These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Pauls method was consistent with his message. But Elymas the magician (for thus his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. When Saul stood up, he discovered he was completely blind, and the men who were with him had to lead him by his hand until they reached Damascus. Ananias was that kind of a disciple. The conclusion of many of the commentators is that Sauls conversion was a much longer process than I see reflected in this account, or in any other. 16and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name. 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. To Him be the glory forever. There is a great deal of information we are not given, and thus we cannot be dogmatic about our conclusions. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. What a shock these words must have been to Saul, who up to this point, seems to have prided himself for his faithfulness to Judaism! And they will reign for ever and ever (Revelation 22:5). Imagine for a moment that this is the week of Sauls arrival at Damascus. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn (Isaiah 59:15b60:13). It would seem not to be there on the road to Damascus. a conversion of will, intellect, and emotion, which dictated the abiding purpose and direction of his subsequent life and activity. (6) Little emphasis is placed on Sauls reception of the Holy Spirit, and nothing is said about what happened as Saul received the Spirit. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? This conclusion could be based upon Pauls argument in Galatians 1 and 2, along with the expression, when many days had elapsed in Acts 9:23. As applied to our Lord, then, the title `Son of God marks him out as the true representative of the Israel of God and as Gods anointed king; but it is no merely official title. Ananias and Saul in Damascus. 6:17; Phil. The expansion is three-fold: (1) The expansion from Christ, to His apostles, to His church, (2) The geographical expansion from Jerusalem to Rome. WebAnswer: > 10 There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias. Here I am, Lord, he replied. Saul went to other cities where he sought to arrest Christians and to bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment. According to Acts 9:10, Ananias was living in Damascus. The first evidence of Sauls conversion was his immediate identification with the church in Damascus. After that Saul was welcomed by the Christians and he preached freely in and around Jerusalem. Say to them, This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 5 And whether they listen or fail to listenfor they are a rebellious housethey will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4, 6). part of the price for themselves while donating it to the church 21:29 (30); John 5:7; 12:21; 20:15; and should be so in John 9:36. 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 impossible to overestimate the worth to the student of Christianity of this event from every angle because we have in Pauls Epistles his own emphasis on the actual appearance of Jesus to him as the fact that changed his whole life (1 Cor. All of this account describes the two complementary divine visions which Ananias and Saul received. When he was still very young, Michael was hired out as a shepherd boy. What is remarkable about the Lord's directions to Ananias? Perhaps Ananias and Sapphira got caught up in a band-wagon effect. The story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 is difficult. Ironically, Ananias could have become one of Sauls targets of persecution for following the Lord Jesus. Saul could only be persecuting Jesus through the members of His body, the church. Trembling and astonished, he inquired, He was to come to the earth as the great light, the light to the Gentiles, and so He did. 1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christtheir Lord and ours 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful (1 Corinthians 1:1-2, 9). CE!L;oza!sQjaTsg Ananias had to overcome his fear so that Saul would be overcome by grace. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. 41He gave her his hand and raised her up, and when he had called the holy ones and the widows, he presented her alive. He hears the voice of the Lord crying out to him. The splendid deliberateness with which God forged His human tool is the great lesson of these years. WebThe last time they saw Saul, he was arresting and killing Christians. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. ,/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 1:4). F. F. Bruce, p. 190. 27Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles, and he reported to them how on the way he had seen the Lord and that he had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. on it belonged to the Roman province of Syria, but had a measure of municipal autonomy in the loose federation of cities called the Decapolis. F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts, Revised Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988), p. 181. The obedience and faith that Ananias demonstrated in going to Saul and helping to restore his sight were incredible, to say the least. Who is blind but my servant {Israel}, and deaf like the messenger I send? with his wife Sapphira, sold some property and agreed to hold back Hb```f``:Ab,=`.9Z3{x5v\);]c#qea #'&D|z:wyKN,0(t\tbRFhT2thS2(9.`mNbq)-pk^;>:+pq2Ck AUbK=N\2M/`KqGLZS1 $[S|Rd\.9i'9T\.EXdxlYcqb Introduction. Did they send for Saul? Ananias not only If the blinding of Saul was a major turning point in his life, so was the blinding of Bar-Jesus. 3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, 1:1; 1 Cor. 18 According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due. Nevertheless, conversion has certain elements which are vital and which are to be present in any salvation experience. required neighboring states to grant it the privileges of a sovereign state, including the right of extradition. What is remarkable about the Lord's directions to Ananias? Acts ix. And thus, in Gods time, Saul was dramatically converted, seeing the Christ whom he had been persecuting, risen from the dead and in His heavenly glory. The only question is who is the LORD? Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. The emphasis in the account is on Paul as a divinely chosen instrument (Acts 9:15). 17) and the restoration of the man after the shattering experience he had known, and for the early ministry in Tarsus, Syria, Cilicia, and Antioch, which prepared mind and method for the major assault on the pagan world. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. Pauls hatred for Christ and His followers was common knowledge. Sauls world of self-trust was now at an end and prayer was helping him see that. When Paul spoke of his conversion here in Galatians 1, he did not speak of the light which shone without, but rather of the light which shone within. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12). The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Some of the Hellenistic Jews responded to the preaching of Saul as they had to Stephens preaching; they wanted to kill him (9:29). 32As Peter was passing through every region, he went down to the holy ones living in Lydda. No one could fault the reluctance of Ananias. 60:1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. 3 And it came about that as he journeyed, he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 4 and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? 5 And he said, Who art Thou, Lord?139 And He said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 6 but rise, and enter the city, and it shall be told you what you must do. 7 And the men who traveled with him140 stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one.141 8 And Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.142 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. in 1971. But hidden in its shadows is another inspiring story, and one to which most people in the pew may more easily relate. For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Pauls conversion is one of the great stories of the early church, and it has rightfully inspired Christians from every generation. Did they think their task would be a simple one? Let us be careful to discern what changes the gospel requires and what changes it does not. Sauls conversion is a watershed event, catapulting the gospel to the Gentiles and to more distant places. Rueban founded the Tribe of Reuban and Saul was King. 18Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. the light and blind passages above). He amazed everyone because they knew he was speaking the same words as the people he had been persecuting. * [9:20] Son of God: the title Son of God occurs in Acts only here, but cf. \4Q-b24Q-z U`E(O42. Sauls baptism followed, accompanied by his profession of faith, his calling on the name of the Lord (Acts 22:16). 21 Were you a slave when you were called? The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. (2) Sauls salvation was exclusively the work of a sovereign God. Saul sought them out to persecute, even kill them, as an unbeliever; but he sought them out to worship and fellowship with them as a Christian. If the worst sinner (Saul) was not too sinful to save, then you are not too sinful for God to save. What a shock Sauls conversion must have been to both groups! * [9:1930] This is a brief resume of Pauls initial experience as an apostolic preacher. Now this would have been a very bitter pill to swallow for many Jewish Christians. 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. It was due to the intervention of Barnabas, a man who would prove to be a lifetime friend of Paul, that the apostles risked a meeting with him and then granted him the freedom to associate with the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, Lord, he answered. 23 And when many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. Start FREE. One cannot help but wonder if it did not send chills up and down Pauls spine when he cast the spell of blindness on the Jewish false prophet, Bar-Jesus: And when they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. 3 He said: Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day. Paul recognized that his ministry was that of bringing the light to those who were lost, including the Gentiles, kings, and his fellow-Israelites: For this is what the Lord has commanded us: I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth (Acts 13:47). Some were amazed, taking note of the dramatic turn-about in Sauls faith and practice (9:21). In the end, God Himself will provide the illumination so that the sun and the stars will not be needed for this function: The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted (Isaiah 30:26). Not all Christians are equipped to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, or teachers (Ephesians 4:11). It was as the Son of God that Christ was revealed to him on the Damascus road (Gal. The approach the Lord took was one of dealing with Saul in the light of his sin, of his salvation, and of his ministry. I see a man who is confident, aggressive, and zealous, rather than a man troubled by inner doubts. Ananiass vision was intended to direct him to the house of Judas and to Saul. Then you hear the Lord telling you to minister to that person. 19So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Shape us into children who rejoice in knowing and proclaiming you to the world. 140 They are called his sunodeuontes, `those who were in the caravan with Him (cf. To open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness (Isaiah 42:7). 136. Those things in which Saul would have formerly trusted for his standing before God, he saw in an entirely different light after God found him and saved him: 4b If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
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