Acts 9: 1 - 19
Fighting for the wrong team
9 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” 6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. 8 Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” 13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” 17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. 19 So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.
As I began preparing this teaching the words ‘Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord’ stood out. I thought of Psalm 2 right away,
2 Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. 5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: 6 “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.” 7 “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’” 10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
In all truth you cannot act tough or be tough with God. And this goes the same if you try to mess with God’s kids. This is talking about you and me my friends.
It seems like almost yesterday but a decade has passed since our country went into Iraq and ousted Saddam Hussein. Some of you may not remember it but there was this spokesperson for Saddam that became funny for his lying pronouncements.
Baghdad Bob or Comical Ali is two nicknames that were given to former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf due to his colorful manner of speech and demeanor in his daily briefings during the Second Gulf War. The briefings were marked with propaganda or misinformation in order to boost the morale of Iraqi troops, which drew the attention of international media.
The Center for Individual Freedom compiled a series of absurd quotations from al-Sahhaf’s briefings, including his assertion that Americans never invaded Baghdad and denial of rumors that Iraqi soldiers were surrendering.
His pronouncements included claims that American soldiers were committing suicide "by the hundreds" outside the city, and denial that there were any American tanks in Baghdad, when in fact they were only several hundred meters away from the press conference where he was speaking and the combat sounds of the nearing American troops could already be heard in the background of the broadcast. On another occasion he spoke of the disastrous outcomes of previous foreign attempts to invade Iraq, citing an unspecified Western history book and inviting the journalists present to come to his home to read it.
Here are a couple of threats he made which I want to share with you;
There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!"
I blame Al-Jazeera - they are marketing for the Americans!"
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!"
"Lying is forbidden in Iraq. President Saddam Hussein will tolerate nothing but truthfulness as he is a man of great honor and integrity. Everyone is encouraged to speak freely of the truths evidenced in their eyes and hearts."
They're not even [within] 100 miles [of Baghdad]. They are not in any place. They hold no place in Iraq. This is an illusion ... they are trying to sell to the others an illusion."
The Americans claim that there are 65 of their tanks in Baghdad. There are no American tanks in the city. Today we destroyed 50 of their tanks in the city.
We will kill them all........most of them."
So, today we are going to look at a bully who is on a mission to show God what he can do for God as His mighty soldier. As you and I know today Saul did not realize that he was in fact fighting for the wrong team - that being the enemy -and not for God’s team at all.
Saul had filled the prisons, and now found that all whom he sought had otherwise fled, and he was so filled with angry zeal that he was determined to pursue them. When news came from the synagogues of Damascus that many had fled there and were spreading their teaching, he went to the High Priest for his authority to haul them back to Jerusalem for trial. Although the High Priest had no jurisdiction over the synagogues in Damascus, he did have the authority to request that ‘criminal’ elements that had fled from Jerusalem might be returned there. The letters that Saul therefore obtained would be to give him official authorization to arrest any fugitives from Jerusalem so as to bring them back for trial.
It may seem surprising that a man of his caliber would partake in such vicious activities, but in view of the fact that he saw the attitude of believers as blasphemous he had plenty of precedents. Moses had ordered the slaying of idolaters at Mount Sinai (Exodus 32.27-28), and at Baal-peor (Numbers 25.1-5). Phinehas was commended for promptly slaying the Simeonite chieftain, thus turning away God’s wrath from Israel (Numbers 25.6-15). It may well have been clear to Saul therefore that such prompt action was now required again, and that he was the righteous man to do it. He had zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (Romans 10.2).
What he did not realize was that he was a marked man. The God of his father’s whom he was seeking to serve in such a vicious way had chosen him for a task that he could not even have dreamed of. He was to be the spearhead of the taking of this Good News message of God to the Gentile world.
Thus on the road to Damascus, which would become one of the best remembered roads in the whole world precisely because of this incident, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him and basically informed him that from now on he must serve Him. He who was going to arrest others found himself divinely ‘arrested’. He would be led, blind, into Damascus to learn his future. It was symbolic of the condition of his own heart.
Humanly speaking we can understand why he was chosen. As a Jew and a prominent Pharisee he knew Judaism inside out, as a Roman citizen from birth he would grow up familiar with the culture of Rome, as a Jew of Tarsus, a university city, he would be fully familiar with the more broadminded Hellenistic ideas relating to Judaism, and his background in Greek ideas, which he could hardly have avoided as he grew up, rounded him off as a man of wide experience and knowledge. Furthermore he would reveal that he had a brilliant mind, and was a man of unceasing zeal.
But why God should choose him to ‘oust’ the Apostles, making him the central determining figure who would direct the future of Christianity can only be a mystery for even Peter pales into relative insignificance in contrast with this mighty figure. When we commence the Acts of the Apostles and read the first chapter we think that we will find before us a description of how these men went to the ends of the earth with the Good News. And at first our wish is fulfilled. For the first few chapters they and their appointees dominate the scene. Their effectiveness in Jerusalem cannot be doubted, and even their outreach to the surrounding area. But once we get to chapter 9 the book is almost hijacked by Paul. From then on it is he who is seen to be the gigantic figure that spreads the Good News as far as Rome, building on Peter’s initial outreach to local Gentiles. And not only so, but it is his letters which become foundational to understanding the doctrines of the Christian church.
And yet none can doubt that God was right. Not only did he establish the church from Jerusalem to Rome, but he provided the finest possible explanation of the teaching and significance of The Son of God our Lord Jesus Christ that is known to us, provided revelation from God which illuminated Who and What Christ Is, and bestrode the Christian world of his day. And yet he accomplished it all acting humbly under the auspices of the Apostles. His rise to superiority could well have happened had he wished it, but never did he seek to replace them or diminish them. He always treated them with the greatest respect, acknowledging their right to act as final arbiters, and describing himself as ‘the least of the Apostles’, although few others would have looked at him in that way.
Jesus as Savior, Redeemer and Lord, and as both God and Man, was the centerpiece and focus of the Christian message. Paul was to be the magnifying glass that brought His glory and significance to light not only to the Hellenistic Jews but also in the eyes of the whole Gentile world. He was supremely the ‘Apostle to the Gentiles’.
However, we all have to note that the Apostles undoubtedly played their part nobly. They did found the work on Christ, they did establish the infant church in its first roots, Peter did use the ‘keys of the Kingdom of God’ to open the way first for the Jews and then for the Gentiles, and they did ensure the preservation of the Tradition of Jesus and its final recording in the Gospels, and while they lived they were the final source to which men went for the truth about Jesus’ life and teaching. When the early church set in parallel Peter and Paul, Peter represented the whole Apostolate, but Paul represented (in the best possible way) himself.
9 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
The language is very forceful. His rage was not yet satisfied and he had gained a taste for the blood of heretics. ‘Threatening and slaughter’ may carry within it the idea of initial warning, followed by harsh sentence if the warning was not heeded. The legal rules could not totally be ignored. It is possible that Saul’s activity resulted in his promotion at this stage to the Sanhedrin for he later speaks of ‘giving his vote’ against believers as we learn in chapter 26.10.
Unable to bear the thought that some had escaped his blood, and full of determination to pursue them and haul them back to Jerusalem to be dealt with, he now went to the High Priest, this time seeking letters giving him authority to arrest any fugitives who had fled to Damascus, both men and women, and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial. The High Priest did not have full jurisdiction over the synagogues, but his letter would carry great weight and he did have rights of extradition on religious grounds as a religious head of state.
Damascus was on the main trade routes, which would be why the news about the activities of newly arrived believers would arrive, back in Jerusalem fairly rapidly. There would be constant contact between synagogues, especially Hellenistic synagogues, and Damascus contained many synagogues. Their message to their fellow Hellenists in Jerusalem of the activities of certain people who had arrived from Jerusalem declaring Jesus to be the Messiah would arouse strong feeling. Damascus was in the province of Syria, but had municipal freedom and was one of the ten cities of Decapolis, and contained many thousands of Jews. The arrival of the Hellenistic Christian believers from Jerusalem was clearly causing a stir.
Please take note of the term - ‘Any that were of the Way.’ It is clear that the Christian church was now thought of in terms of ‘the Way’. This would presumably be because they were saw themselves as walking in God’s way, and following a way of life different from all others, although it may also have connection with Jesus’ claim to be ‘The Way’ in John 14.6.
3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
Damascus was about one hundred and forty miles north of Jerusalem. He was a man in a hurry and he could not wait to exercise his authority. And then suddenly a light shone from heaven which surrounded him, and he fell to the ground, hearing a voice which said to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
From the midst of the light came a voice. Unknown at this stage to Saul was that it was the voice of our Lord Jesus. And the Voice questioned Saul as to why he was persecuting Him. The implication is that what Saul was doing to the His people he was doing to Jesus, because He and His church were one.
This voice too would throw Saul into turmoil. To a Pharisee a voice from heaven was the voice of God, especially when accompanied by blinding glory. Who then was this Who spoke from heaven? It could only be the Lord. But how could he be thought of as persecuting the Lord? He had come here to defend the Lord’s name. He realized therefore that he had to identify who was speaking.
5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” 6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Saul had been humbled and asked who it was who was speaking. His reference to ‘Lord’ was an expression of humility before divine authority. He wanted ‘the Lord’ to identify Himself. How could he be persecuting God when his whole life was given to His service? ‘
The reply was that ‘He’ was Jesus. In a blinding flash Saul was being made to face up with the One against Whom he was venting his anger and hatred, the One in Whom these people he was persecuting believed, and it was in a way that was revealing His divine nature. He had thought Him a charlatan, and now here He was speaking to him from heaven in this blinding glory. It turned his world and his theology upside down. The whole of his opposition to Jesus could only crumble at His feet. The conclusion smote him with irresistible force. Jesus really had risen! Stephen had been right after all when he had spoken of seeing the Lord Jesus in His glory.
It need hardly be pointed out that the last person he would have expected to hear from was Jesus. To him Jesus was just a dead body in a grave. He had not had the slightest conception that he would experience Him as alive. This was no hallucination brought on by pious hope. He was not seeing what he expected to see. It was a contradiction against everything that he had expected. Those who do not want to believe him will desperately weave unsatisfactory explanations about it. They will have to for otherwise they will have to believe in the physical resurrection from the dead of the Lord Jesus Christ. But they will believe anything rather than that. However, none of their explanations will be based on reality. For the reality was that he knew from then on that he had met the risen Jesus.
We are only given here the briefest description of what The Lord Jesus said. He was to arise, and enter the city, where he would be told what to do. We will learn more of this encounter in chapter 26 verses 15-18 we are given more of the substance for there he is also told, “But arise, and stand on your feet, for to this end have I appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness both of the things in which you have seen me, and of the things in which I will appear to you, delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” He was being commissioned to fulfill the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
7 And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.
The men who travelled with him apparently heard ‘of the sound’ (the same word means sound or voice) but did not understand what it was saying. They saw no one but Saul. The fact, however, that they were ‘speechless’ suggests that they experienced more than the sound. It is clear that something happened that shocked them, which suggests even here that they were also aware of the light. But here Luke wants us to concentrate on the light and Saul meeting together face to face. He wants us to appreciate the intensity of the confrontation. Here this is to be seen as between Saul and the Lord.
In 22.9 we are told, ‘those who were with me beheld the light, but they did not hear the voice of Him Who spoke with me’. This confirms why they were filled with awe, because of the blinding light, and it confirms that while they heard ‘of’ some strange ‘sound’, they were not aware that it was an intelligible voice and did not comprehend what the voice said to Saul. In 26.14 we learn that all eventually fell to the earth under the compelling light. The initial shock which initially made them stand there rigid eventually drove them to their knees. Alternately it may be that all initially fell to the ground (especially if their horses buckled under them) but that they, unlike Saul, then stood up. But here in chapter 9 Luke wants us to see Saul and the Lord in solemn face to face confrontation. He alone was blinded by the light.
8 Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.
Then when Saul picked himself up and opened his eyes he realized that he was blind. And the result was that he had to be led into Damascus by the hand. He was blind both physically and spiritually. All that he had believed in had gone. He saw nothing.
9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
The condition of blindness lasted ‘three days’. During that time he did not eat or drink. We can understand that he was traumatized, and that his mind had to take its time to adjust itself to this remarkable experience which had turned all his thinking upside down, for it was no longer possible for him to see Jesus as a made up God. The idea took some getting used to. Rather he now recognized Him as someone to be reckoned with. The fasting was clearly his own choice as he thought his way through what he had experienced. His life was, as it were, beginning again.
Luke may well have intended us here to compare how Jesus was in the grave for three days, after which He partook of food (Luke 24.41-43). Here Saul is, as it were, seen as being ‘crucified’ with Him and rising again with Him (Galatians 2.20).
10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”
Meanwhile a believer in Damascus who was named Ananias, had a vision in which a voice spoke to him by name, to which he replied that he was there and listening. Here ‘Lord’ refers to the Lord Jesus as is apparent from what follows.
11 So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”
He is told to go to a street name ‘Straight’ (Straight Street) where in the house of Judas he would find Saul of Tarsus. Now stop and understand that Judas’ house was not a believer. He was a representative of the religious leaders of Jerusalem. Saul was offered housing in his associate’s home. Therefore, if you were Ananias you would be quite hesitant to go to a place where you could face arrest and possible death.
He was informed that Saul was praying and was awaiting his coming so that he may lay hands on Saul so that he could receive his sight. Normally Ananias would have obeyed unquestioningly, but at the name of Saul of Tarsus he stiffened. That name was too well known among Christians for any other response. He probably at first only half considered the remainder of what had been said.
Look at our Lord’s comment about Saul - ‘Behold he is praying. What was Saul’s prayer? Have you ever come to a time in your life when you have realized that you have let God down by your sins? Have you ever felt the weight of guilt? I can imagine the torture he was going through. Remember he was the one who stood by the coats of those who stoned Stephen to death. He was the one who destroyed Christians and their families. Later in chapter 1 verse 15 of his letter to Timothy, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. One who prays rightly is close to God.
We know nothing about who this Judas was but he would clearly be no friend of the Christians, and it may be assumed that the temple police were also staying in his house. It was in the main thoroughfare through the city, a street with great porches and gates at each end and colonnades for commerce running along each side. And Judas was probably a very important man. His house was not a place that Christians in general would want to approach. But it could well be that Ananias was a man of prestige and had some kind of access, and he was held in high favor among the Jews. However, when he heard the name Saul of Tarsus even his blood curdled.
13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”
We learn here that Ananias was not one of the fugitives from Jerusalem but was presumably a resident of Damascus for he speaks only of what he has ‘heard’. Nevertheless he is obviously in touch with what is going on, suggesting that he was an influential person. For the Lord chose his representative well. He was ‘a devout man. According to the Law he was ‘well reported of by all the Jews who dwelt there’ (22.12). Here was one Christian who could safely enter ‘the house of Judas’ in which lay the High Priest’s representative. It was the house of Jewish authority in Damascus, but Ananias would be welcome there.
The anticipated arrival of Saul of Tarsus with his temple police was clearly well known in Damascus, together with the reason for his coming. Judas would have been sent details of his mission and it is probable that disciples in the know had travelled post haste to Damascus with a warning to the church. So Ananias, naturally unaware of what had happened to Saul on the way to Damascus, explains to the Lord what he knows about him [He forgot the Lord knows all things]. He has done much evil to the Lord’s work in Jerusalem among ‘the saints’. This is the first use of the term ‘saints’ in Acts but it appears regularly in the Old Testament to indicate the true people of God, and is regularly used by Paul in his letters. It brings out Ananias’ Jewish background. Furthermore, he explains that the Damascus believers have received the intelligence that Saul’s purpose in coming there was to bind all who ‘call on the Lord’s name’ (worship Him and seek His mercy) by the authority of the chief priests in Jerusalem.
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
The Lord patiently makes it clear that He is aware of all the circumstances, but that nevertheless He has chosen Saul as one who in His Name will go to the Gentiles and before kings as well as to the children of Israel where he will suffer for His name’s sake. Like the church he is to become one with God’s chosen Servant in fulfilling this responsibility. But it is also a summary of Paul’s future. The breakdown of his life is being described. He is primarily to be the Apostle to the Gentiles, even though he will also go to the children of Israel. The witness before kings will come out later in Acts. And then, both included in this and following this, he must suffer greatly for Christ’s sake.
17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Ananias immediately accepts correction and responds. He leaves his home and goes to the house of Judas where he lays hands on Saul.
Please note also in the reply the emphasis on the fact that Jesus is ‘the Lord’. It is He Who appeared to Saul in the way in which he had come, and it is He Who has sent Ananias so that Saul might receive his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. There is a double implication in the words ‘receive your sight’ emphasized by the fact that he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He is to receive both physical and spiritual sight.
18 Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. 19 So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.
Immediately he had spoken these words Saul’s eye were opened and his sight was restored. And with that he arose and was baptized. Then he took food and was strengthened. However, the mention of baptism first would suggest that Saul was eager for it to take place as soon as possible, even before he had eaten. With his usual impatient zeal he could not wait to be made one with Christ. ‘Took food and was strengthened’ is again probably intended to be seen as meaning both physically and spiritually. Preparation is taking place for his soon coming ministry. Saul is going through a kind of ‘resurrection experience’
In some final thoughts I want you to think what were Saul’s and the Christian brethren experiences like. Here together were former enemies now part of the family of God.
