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5. Saul Baptized at the Hand of Ananias (Acts 9:6-19a)
ACTS 9:6-19a
6 But rise up, and enter into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the sound, but seeing no one. 8 Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. They led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. 9 He was without sight for three days, and neither ate nor drank. 10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!” He said, “Behold, it’s me, Lord.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Arise, and go to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judah for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying, 12 and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in, and laying his hands on him, that he might receive his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he did to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 Here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” 17 Ananias departed, and entered into the house. Laying his hands on him, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me, that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he received his sight. He arose and was baptized. 19a He took food and was strengthened.
Saul was not only frightened, but about to die. Everything important in his life till then, his faith, dignity, righteousness, zeal, and will were all at once broken by the appearance of Him who had been raised from the dead. Saul understood: “I am at fault. I am the enemy of God, and the agent of Satan. All my education and godliness did not help me. I am rebellious, ungrateful, and reprobate.” There is no greater fall than the fall of him who claims godliness in himself, for with the fall comes the knowledge that every man is an enemy of God by nature.
Yet Jesus did not destroy the persecutor of His church, but gave him a chance to repent. Saul mumbled: “Lord, what do you want me to do?” Following this moment Saul was never free again. He had dispensed with his freedom and became a servant of Jesus. He found his Lord, and submitted to Him unconditionally and forever. His Lord cured him of his spiritual blindness and of his belief in an inactive monotheism. Saul realized that Jesus is the living Lord, and the one, true God with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
The Lord immediately examined the faith of him who had been crushed, commanding him to go to Damascus. Only minutes earlier Saul had been determined to enter the gates of the capital on the back of his horse, as a strong, zealous reformer. Now he would enter Damascus staggering, led by his frightful companions, through the gates of the city. He stopped at the house of some friends, who were astonished at hearing the news of the glorious light that had appeared to them on the wilderness road.
Saul did not talk with anyone, but instead isolated himself, prayed, and fasted. He separated himself from the living to come to God. He longed only for submission to the Most High, peace with God, and implicit obedience to Him. Saul knew that the Lord Jesus was living, and that He had not rejected him. He prayed, asking for His forgiveness and salvation from the wrath of God. He penetrated deeply into the meaning of the resurrection from the dead and the mysteries of the cross. He built himself up on the truths of the New Testament.
Jesus answered all his prayers of repentance. He immediately commissioned a believer named Ananias to go to Saul and help him enter into this new life. The Lord did not entrust this task to a great messenger, or a glorious angel, but a man hardly known, yet who had the support of God. At the same time, the Lord revealed to the praying Saul that Ananias would come to him and lay his hands on his head in the name of Jesus. Being so prepared, he would not reject his coming to him.
Ananias was not cheerful about receiving this commission from the Lord. He feared Saul, and trembled at his authority. All the believers knew that this young, biblically conversant Saul, was a rebellious, wicked devil, and a persecutor of the saints in Jerusalem. It appeared unimaginable to Ananias for him to lay his hands on this transgressor. Should the Holy Spirit dwell in him who had not known Jesus, and who had not sincerely repented! But the Lord broke through the reluctance of the disturbed Ananias, and ordered him simply: “Go! When Jesus calls you and orders you to do something then do it, whether it is to go, to speak, to do, or to pray. Carry out the Lord’s command completely and at once. Your King will not wait long. He expects from you immediate obedience.”
Jesus did not clarify to Ananias the account of His appearance to Saul and the reason for Saul’s change. He told the humble man of prayer, however, the purpose of His sending him to Saul. He was going to commission Saul and send him forth as His chosen ambassador. God had chosen him to be a vessel of grace, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Have you understood this work of grace? God made out of His enemy an apostle, and out of him who had born grudge against Him a lover of Christ. He saved him who had been drowned by the blindness of bigotry and self-conceit. He used him to spiritually open the eyes of millions. The Holy Spirit dwelt in this repentant man who was formerly demon-possessed. He freed him from all his reliance on earthly foundations, and confirmed him in the living grace and hope of Christ. Saul came to bear the name of Jesus in his innermost being. He confessed Him with his lips, with his heart, and with his mind; his mind was filled with the name of Jesus. Saul became fully charged with this unique name.
Do you know who the true Christian is? It is the one in whom Christ dwells in word and in behavior, in self-control, truth, righteousness, and power. Does Christ shine clearly in your life?
Paul was to bear witness to Christ before kings, princes, and rulers, bound like his Lord had been and led by guards. His Lord also sent him to the Hellenistic Jews. Paul was divided in his love for the Gentiles and his love for the children of his nation. His heart suffered under the ignorance of the first, and from the rage of the latter. He who reads Paul´s epistles knows how much he suffered for the name of Jesus. In spite of that, he did not boast of his suffering, for he knew he had no reward or merit except grace, and nothing else.
Ananias astoningly heard the Lord’s revelation concerning Saul’s future. He believed the Lord´s word and went to him. He probably inquired about what had happened to Saul on the road, for he spoke to the blind one in the name of the Lord who had appeared to him on the road. This Lord Jesus turned this former enemy of Ananias into his brother. The grace of Christ changes people completely. It brings peace between adversaries, and turns them into brothers in the family of God’s love.
The praying Ananias knew only that the Lord Jesus was not sending him to Saul just to open his physical eyes. He also knew that the result of the ceremonial laying on of his hands was to be the fullness of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of forgiveness, the realization of peace with God, the commission to service, and the strengthening of love in the power of humility. Paul could not produce these virtues in himself, and neither could they be produced in his culture or from the racism in his people. Christ chose to send to him a simple brother filled with the Holy Spirit, so that none should boast.
The uneducated Ananias came and laid his hands on the head of the legal expert. Immediately Saul regained his sight, and the seeker of God was filled with the Spirit of the Lord. No one could explain this moment in Paul’s life except Luke the physician, who wrote that something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes. He realized that the eternal Judge is also his heavenly Father. He who was crucified and despised is the meek Lamb of God. The Holy Spirit is the love of God Himself, and the resurrected Christ is the awaited hope of glory coming soon. In this moment the salvation of Christ was realized in the penitent Saul. His heart became illuminated just as an electric lamp lights up a deep, black tunnel.
After his baptism with the Holy Spirit, Saul also practiced the baptism of water. He was desirous to obey all the words of Christ. He testified before church members and the entire world that he had left the old life, with its lifeless doctrine, and had entered into everlasting life, becoming confirmed in the New Testament. Saul considered his past to be buried; a new man named Paul had arisen.
Following this event we read something pleasant: He who had been redeemed did not begin speaking with inspiring praises, nor did he burst forth speaking in tongues. He asked for food. Having fasted for three days and three nights he ate well. As soon as he was reconciled to God, his body and soul were rejuvenated under the current of the Holy Spirit. He became a normal man. Paul did not continue his walk of asceticism, but ate, and drank, and lived for his glorious Lord.
PRAYER: O Lord Jesus, we thank You that You sent Ananias to fill Saul with the Holy Spirit, through the laying on of his hands. Lead us into true repentance, and cause us to turn to You in all sincerity, that Your kind Spirit may fill us, and we may be filled and energized with Your name and Your virtues.
QUESTION:
- What does Saul’s filling with the Holy Spirit signify?