Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you (Isaiah 60:1). From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of Gods choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. This happened to Ananias of Damascus when he ministered to Saul of Tarsus. We honor him on May 14. And if this was important for Saul to do, it was equally important for the church to accept him into their fellowship, as an expression of their unity in Christ. (Acts 9:17) and that Saul was to "be filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:17). WebThe Conversion of Saul. Saul Preaches in Damascus. Why did God send Ananias to Saul It is hardly likely that at this stage Saul recognized Jesus as Lord, though he does so greet him in 22:10 `What shall I do, Lord? A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1930), III, pp. Ananias Indeed, God would reveal His sovereignty by using Saul to further the gospel, first by his opposition (which scattered the church and spread the gospel), and then by his conversion (which resulted in his powerful proclamation of Jesus as Messiah). Grace is not only the basis for ones salvation, but also for ones spiritual walk and service: As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude (Colossians 2:6-7). Obedience is often not easy, but it is very likely the most direct way forward and the clearest way to honor God. But his blindness was symbolic of his condition. This is why Jesus was so receptive of sinners and so hard on the self-righteous. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Ironically, Ananias could have become one of Sauls targets of persecution for following the Lord Jesus. 18Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. After that Saul was welcomed by the Christians and he preached freely in and around Jerusalem. 15:8; Gal. ANANIAS - Who Are The Three Ananias In The Bible? We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. Enough revelation for the moment. Why were Ananias and Sapphira killed on the spot? * [9:2] The Way: a name used by the early Christian community for itself (Acts 18:26; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22). After this incident with Paul we hear no more of him. We would readily grant that every conversion which is recorded is unique, to some degree. 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). Ananias and Saul: Faith over Fear - livingwithfaith.org 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). 31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and, going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it . He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. After this, Saul broke his fast and was strengthened. In the place of Ananias we would fear that it might not work out, and the consequences could be very serious. They are also very significant in what they conveyed to Saul. Sauls world of self-trust was now at an end and prayer was helping him see that. 11The Lord said to him, Get up and go to the street called Straight and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul. At first, I thought this was unique with Saul. 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. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, He is the Son of God. 21 And all those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests? 22 But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding147 the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ. A man once confessed to his pastor that even though he didnt think of himself as hating people, there was one person he really hated for the way the person had wronged him. Though I have fallen, I will rise. 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 . what occupation he was (possibly a businessman). Sauls conversion is a watershed event, catapulting the gospel to the Gentiles and to more distant places. 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? Straight Street was widened and colonnades added to it. He realized that it was nothing which he had donenor ever would dobut only by what Jesus Christ had done that saved him. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". (3) Sauls conversion experience was quick and dramatic in one sense, but it also involved a process, a process of at least three days.135. 5 How did God use Ananias in the New Testament? 2. 4. The conversion of Saul is important in another way. Then you hear the Lord telling you to minister to that person. The couple wanted to appear as outstanding church members, but they didnt want to part with their possessions. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. All Ananias did was to obey Christs command to go pray with Saul so that Saul could do all those things. No one, it would seem, was even thinking of what God was about to do. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever, says the Lord. Those who know themselves sinners, and who call upon Jesus for salvation, are saved: For WHOSOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED (Romans 10:13, citing Joel 2:32). WebActs 9:10-18 Ananias. a conversion of will, intellect, and emotion, which dictated the abiding purpose and direction of his subsequent life and activity. Saul proclaimed Jesus to be the Son of God (9:20), a designation understood to refer to Israels awaited Messiah.149. 1:19; Rom. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. 30And when the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him on his way to Tarsus.p. Ananias was afraid because he knew Sauls reputation as a merciless persecutor of the church. To Paul, his relationship, by faith, to Jesus Christ was also the beginning of his new relationship to the body of Christ, the church: Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christs afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:6-7; cf. ananisofdamascus - Bible Facts Ananias the high priest brought charges against Paul and There are affinities between his conversion experience and Ezekiels inaugural vision, in which the prophet saw the likeness of the heavenly throne and above it a likeness as it were of a human form (Ezek. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?d More than that, he had a deep dislike and hostility toward Christians before his conversion. When the plot became known to Saul, he made a successful, albeit undignified, escape from the city of Damascus. Your merchants were the worlds great men. The first words spoken to Saul were, Saul, Saul, Why are you persecuting Me? (Acts 9:4). Many are the plans in a mans heart, But the counsel of the LORD, it will stand (Proverbs 19:21). And notice one more detail about the way in which Ananias did this. He sent me so that you can Lesson: Saul Believes in Jesus - Ministry-To-Children See Appendix B for information on Sauls Theology in the Book of Romans. 1:1; 1 Cor. Copyright 2023 Rochester Catholic Press Association, Inc. All rights reserved. Indeed, this seems to be the rule. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time (2 Timothy 1:9). And so, Saul asked the LORD who He was. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". 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. He was a man of great respect and influence, and thus he realized that his actions would have broad ramifications. In peace, as in persecution, the church was comforted and continued to increase. He amazed everyone because they knew he was speaking the same words as the people he had been persecuting. Why did Ananias have to overcome his fear? The message which Saul received was not only a call to salvation, but a divine call to ministry. 14And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all (D)who call on Your name., 15But the Lord said to him, Go, for (E)he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before (F)Gentiles, (G)kings, and the (H)children[b] of Israel. In Hellenistic times it was completely replanned on the Hippodamian grid-system. After this incident with Paul we hear no more Acts 9:19-23 Saul in Damascus. * [9:8] He could see nothing: a temporary blindness (Acts 9:18) symbolizing the religious blindness of Saul as persecutor (cf. 129 The history of Damascus goes back to remote antiquity. Just as Saul was called to a live of suffering, so Peter tells his readers that they too, like all saints, are called to suffer for His name: To this {suffering} you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21). 151 The doctrine of total depravity is that every person, every man, woman, and child, has been affected (infected?) [9:1] 8:3; 9:13; 22:4; 1Cor 15:9; Gal 1:1314. While at first he thought he might have to correct God, in the end he submitted himself and his very life to Gods call. According to Acts 9:10, Ananias was living in Damascus. 12and [in a vision] he has seen a man named Ananias come in and lay [his] hands on him, that he may regain his sight. It lay within the jurisdiction of the Roman province of Syria, and it formed part of the Decapolis, a league of self-governing cities. There are two primary options for preaching from this text. . Rueban founded the Tribe of Reuban and Saul was King. I believe that as Luke portrays Saul in Acts, it is as a prototype, a picture of Israel. The splendid deliberateness with which God forged His human tool is the great lesson of these years. Why was Ananias afraid? Impatient men forget that God is not bound by time. . and the other is a deceptive, self-serving half-truth from people interested Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The details of what was said and done when Ananias arrived are fuzzy. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world (John 9:5). This is a miracle, a miracle which is all of God, and all of grace. 131 . When God spoke to Ananias commanding him to go to the house where Saul was staying, he was to receive him as a brother; and he was told that he was called to suffer as Gods chosen vessel to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles, kings, and to his fellow-Israelites. . 21 Were you a slave when you were called? 23After a long time had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him, This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 17(K)And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and (L)laying his hands on him he said, Brother Saul, the Lord [c]Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and (M)be filled with the Holy Spirit. 18Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. (For suggested ways to teach the scripture account, see Teaching from the Scriptures, p. Ananias hesitation to visit Saul showed that he had good relationship with Jerusalem, for he knew of the trouble that the persecutor had raised against the early converts, and of the goal of his mission to Damascus. Then Jesus told them, You are going to have the light just a little while longer.