There was, in Damascus, a certain disciple named Ananias. I think he was a young man. Because in Joel 2:28 God said through the prophet that after He poured out His Spirit on all mankind, their old men would dream dreams and their young men would see visions.
And here, in Acts 9:10, we’re told that the Lord spoke to Ananias in a vision. So he must have been young.
I’m kidding, of course. We really don’t have a clue how old Ananias was at this time. In fact, we’re not told much of anything specific about him. Young, old, rich, poor, tall, short, thin, not so thin; we don’t know.
There are some things we can surmise about Ananias by what is said of him in just these few verses from Acts 9 though. The entire biblical account of this man is covered in 20 consecutive verses, and his name is mentioned by Luke a total of five times.
On the surface, that’s all we know. So let’s break this account into chunks and find what is revealed here about this certain disciple at Damascus that can teach us something.
THE STORY THUS FAR
First, let’s be sure we’re all on the same page here concerning the events leading up to God’s calling of Ananias for his special mission.
You’ll remember from the opening of chapter 8; or if you do not remember you may go there and look quickly; that Saul of Tarsus was in hearty agreement with the stoning of Stephen, and even took care of the cloaks of the men who piled them to the side so they wouldn’t be hampered in movement while they were bashing Stephen to death with rocks.
Then he embarks on this campaign to wipe out all of these heretics, these followers of the Way, and even gets written permission from the chief priests to go to other towns and villages, routing them out of their homes, and dragging them back to Jerusalem for martyrdom.
Saul was thus engaged, traveling to the city of Damascus, located northeast of Mt Hermon.
Just a little information about Damascus for your edification: Damascus is one of the oldest existing cities in the world. In fact, the boast of the inhabitants of Damascus, a sort of motto if you will, is “The world began at Damascus, and the world will end there”. That does not fit Biblical prophecy; it’s just a local ‘thing’.
Damascus plays an important role in Biblical history and there is not time to do a detailed study of that now. But by New Testament times Damascus was an important trade center, ruled by Arabia under Aretas, as we can see in II Corinthians 11:32, where Paul is giving a defense of his credentials as an Apostle. He says there;
“In Damascus the ethnarch (governor) under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and so escaped his hands.” Parenthesis mine
So this was not some hamlet that Paul was going to, to route out a small handful of people.
He was going there to arrest what may by then have been a very large constituency of believers, Ananias possibly being one of the top names on his list, and Saul had visions of marching back into Jerusalem with a long line of prisoners, chained together, heads low and backs bent, filled with shame and
going to their deaths.
But God had other plans, for the believers in Damascus and for Saul of Tarsus.
He appeared to Saul on the road outside of the city, identified Himself to Saul, blinded him with a sort of cataract if you go by the description in Acts 9:18, and then gives him some instruction.
Now this is very interesting. Go to Acts 9 for a moment and look at this yourself.
Read from verse 4. “…and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who art Thou, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but rise and enter the city, and it shall be told you what you must do’.”
Now think about the implications of this.
We know from the response of Ananias later in this chapter that word had already spread to Damascus that this madman, Saul, was on his way and intended to do the believers in Damascus great harm.
So Jesus confronts Saul before he reaches town, knocks him in the dirt, tells Saul who He is, and then without any word of comfort or assurance for the future tells him to go into that same city, now as a helpless blind man, among the very ones he was coming to destroy.
Saul must have been sweating bullets. Or, he would have if they had bullets in those days…
Maybe he was sweating slingshot pebbles.
In any case, in a very short time he was reduced from powerful, threatening, murderous antagonist, to blind, frightened, confused and humbled little man, being led by the hand into a city where he had many enemies whose faces he had never even seen.
You who have children, when you have had to punish them, once the punishment is done don’t you want to hug them and reassure them of your love? I hope so.
I don’t spank my kids anymore. They’re all too grown up. But when they were little and I did spank them, I remember it bothering me that I had to wait to give them comfort until I knew they had some time to reflect. But when the appropriate time had passed, I found some way to give them a smile or a word of praise for something to let them know I really loved them.
Well, Jesus sort of ‘spanked’ little Saul there on the road, didn’t He? But little Saul must have been really bad; cause Jesus let him wait three days before sending him reassurance.
Saul had a lot to think about. And he neither ate, nor drank for those three days.
Finally it was time though, so Jesus appeared to His faithful servant Ananias in a vision and told him to go to Straight Street.
“Go straight to Straight Street, Ananias! I’ve set Saul Straight so soar straight to Straight Street and set his sight straight with this simple, straightforward message…”
Poetic license… not a direct quote…
And by the way, Straight Street is still there, by the same name. I found a picture of it in Zondervan’s Pictorial Bible Dictionary, page 194.
Now let’s sharpen our focus on Ananias himself, and find the characteristics that are revealed to us through this narrative about him.
ANANIAS WAS RESPONSIVE
Verse 10 says that the Lord said something to Ananias in a vision. Now that word translated ‘vision’ means nothing more or less than that Ananias saw something.
This is not an isolated incident, and there is therefore no reason to doubt that Jesus actually appeared to Ananias and spoke with him.
He appeared on the Damascus road to Saul, as He had appeared after His resurrection to the disciples on the Emmaus road. And there are many other sightings recorded. In the room where the apostles hid after the crucifixion, by the sea of Galilee, on the Mount of Olives when He ascended into Heaven, and others.
Throughout history there have been accounts given of Jesus appearing to His saints for comfort or instruction. We should be careful and not take too lightly the claims of some that they have seen Jesus in visions; especially when the things they claim to have heard from Him are contrary to His Person and character as revealed in the scriptures.
If a man says Jesus appeared to him and told him to bomb an abortion clinic, or assassinate the Pope, we can pretty much chalk that person off as being in serious need of psychiatric help.
If someone comes to your door and tells you that Jesus told them to tell you to join some cult that you know denies the deity of Christ and other fundamental Christian doctrines, you can chalk that one off as being deceived and a deceiver. Close the door.
It seems to me that accounts I’ve heard or read of in places like Foxe’s Book of Martyrs ~ in other words, extra-biblical accounts ~ that seemed legitimate and believable, came to people during times of great distress or trouble and they would have needed some very strong encouragement and very clear leading.
I do not doubt that Jesus occasionally appears to individuals for His own purposes. But I do think those times are rare, and we should not look for visions, for without faith it is impossible to please Him, and blessed are those who believe without seeing.
But these were desperate times. The infant church was being persecuted beyond measure, and therefore, as He said to Saul on the road, Jesus was being persecuted, as Head of the body of believers. So He appeared to Saul on the road, then He appeared to Ananias to give him a mission, and for confirmation’s sake, He gave Saul another vision, this time of Ananias, (and remember, Saul was still physically blind at this point) who was coming over to lay hands on him and pray with him.
So getting back to our point, Jesus appears in a vision and calls His friend’s name. “Ananias”
Jesus knows you by name, believer. I know you know that. But sometimes it’s good to pause at the thought of something like this and just reflect on it a moment.
You’re not alone, ever. If you’re a believer in Christ, indwelt by His Spirit, He is with you always, and you are no stranger to Him.
The Lord of the ages, the Creator of all, the one who gives to all, life and breath and all things, knows you by name. You’re not just one of the many. Not just a face in the crowd.
You or I can go to a place where there are hundreds of people all around us, and not recognize one face there.
This last Summer our family went to Denver for vacation. We visited the zoo, the planetarium, Ocean Journey and Elitch Gardens. In addition, we went to several large stores, one shopping mall, and at least 3 or 4 public eating places, and in the course of that week the only faces we recognized and the only names we knew, were those of the four of us.
But wherever you or I go, and whatever activity we are engaged in, at any moment of any day, Jesus could call our name either to give us encouragement, or to give us instruction, or to call us home. He’s always there, like Lewis’s invisible Lion, breathing on Shasta’s hand and bidding him, ‘tell me your sorrows’.
I wonder how many times Jesus would say something to us, say our name and call us to a time of intimate fellowship, and we don’t hear because our attentions are too distracted by the physical senses and what appeals to them?
We’re not told Ananias was in prayer. Saul was. But Ananias may have been doing just about anything. All we know is, Jesus appeared to him and called his name, and he was responsive. “Behold, here am I, Lord”
Like young Samuel in the night. Like Moses at the bush. Like young Mary in her room. Like Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, or in his tent in the nighttime. Heart tuned so finely to the voice of the Lord that He only needs to call once, and He gets an alert response. “Here am I”.
What if we didn’t wait to hear that call? What if we faithfully began every single day of our lives, waking to the new dawn and saying, “Lord, here am I. Speak to my heart, give me encouragement, Lord, for I need it every day. Give me instruction, Lord, for without it I go astray. Give me a mission, Lord, so I don’t waste away. Here am I, Lord, melt me, mould me, fill me, use me.
Give me ears to hear what you say.”
Ananias was alert and responsive, and he received one of the most important single charges that any believer in the flesh has ever been given. To go to the man he only knows as his enemy ~ remember, he doesn’t yet know of Saul’s conversion experience ~ and lay hands on him and pray for him to regain his sight.
As a result of the obedience of this man of whom we know so little, the greatest Apostle of all; perhaps the Godliest man in all of history short of Jesus Christ, is raised up and set to work for the Kingdom.
Like I said, we know nothing of Ananias but what we can glean from these verses, but look at what one step of obedience set to motion.
ANANIAS WAS COURAGEOUS
Now let’s not think by the wording of verse 13 that Ananias was arguing with the Lord, or doubting the Lord’s wisdom.
We know that when the angel announced to Mary that she would bear the Lord’s Christ, her question, ‘how can this be?’ was not an expression of doubt in the Lord’s abilities or rebellion against His will. She simply knew how things usually work, and she knew she was a virgin, and something wasn’t computing!
Once Gabriel explained that the conception would be the work of the Holy Spirit, she immediately submitted herself to God’s will and called herself His handmaiden.
We have much the same kind of situation here. Ananias knows who is speaking to him. He is obviously a man of prayer himself, and an obedient follower of Jesus.
What’s not computing, is that Jesus is telling him to go to the very one that every believer in Damascus is hiding from, and get close enough to touch him, and pray for him.
I think the gravity of this might be difficult for our minds to grasp, in a time and culture when most of us have never been under any real physical danger from persecutors.
But if you can imagine any reason why Jesus might tell you to crawl into a lion’s den and pet the lion, you can understand why you’d need a vision and not just a vague feeling or a ‘sense’ that it’s the thing to do.
So what we’re seeing here is just Ananias’ mind trying to reconcile things. Make the adjustment.
Let’s see now. We get word from Jerusalem that this Saul guy is on the way here. We’ve heard stories about him knocking down doors all over Jerusalem and dragging people away to be stoned.
This guy is practically drooling from the mouth with cursing and blasphemy in his hatred for the church, and he’s doing it with the blessings of the authorities. It’s like, Jeffrey Dahmer with a license to kill. Like Charles Manson being sworn in as a deputy sheriff.
Now Jesus is saying that Saul is over at Judas’ house on Straight Street, right here in Damascus, and he’s what? Praying? And he’s seen a vision of who? ME? And I’m supposed to go pray for him?
I mean, can you blame Ananias for doing the head-shaking, ‘higgida-higgida’ thing?
But our God is a gentleman, and He is patient and His lovingkindness is everlasting. So He explains further.
“Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake”.
Maybe it gave Ananias some encouragement to hear that Saul was going to the gentiles and before kings. He’d have to eventually leave Damascus to do that, wouldn’t he?
Well, we’re not told what his further reflections were, so let’s not speculate.
I’d not be surprised to know that his head was still spinning. But without further ado, he goes.
He was courageous. But his confidence wasn’t in his strength or man’s weaponry. It was in the word of the Lord. Ananias, go and do, for this is My will.
If you are confident that you have the Lord’s word to stand on, to go in, you can go with more assurance and conviction and courage than if you had the entire United States military machine at your heels.
“The Lord is a warrior. The Lord is His name”. Ex 15:3
ANANIAS WAS GRACIOUS
Finally, Ananias was gracious.
Corrie Ten Boom told an account of a day when she was speaking to a gathering of women about her experiences in the Nazi camps during WWII.
At the end of her address a woman came from the back of the room toward her, and she immediately recognized this woman as a Nazi guard from the prison camp, who had been especially harsh to Corrie’s sister, Betsy, who had died in the camp.
Feelings of loathing and rage rose up in her, and as this woman came down the aisle and began to extend her hand, Corrie had to pray and ask for the Lord to give her strength to forgive, for she knew she could not find it in herself.
As the woman extended her hand, Corrie slowly reached out and took it, and in that moment her heart flooded with forgiveness for this person who had done her so much harm, and there was healing. (“He Cares, He Comforts”, 1977, Kuenning pub.)
Again, we could only speculate about what kind of things went through the mind of Ananias as he made his way to Straight Street. He may have known personally some of the people who had already died under the hand of Saul of Tarsus.
He certainly knew the fear that must have gripped his own heart in anticipation of this assault on the Damascus church.
Someday in Heaven I think I’d like to hear Ananias’ entire testimony from his own perspective and hear of his thoughts and feelings on that day.
For now, I can only imagine that as he entered the home of Judas and was led to where Saul was staying, there must have been very much the same kind of emotions rushing through him as Corrie Ten Boom felt that day.
But look at the wording of our text. (vs 17)
“…and after laying his hands on him said, ‘Brother Saul,…’”
This had to be the moment of transformation in his own heart; it had to be a moment of healing for them both; it had to be the moment that Jesus spoke intimately to the heart of Saul and said, ‘forgiven’.
Despite his fears, his loathing, any tendency toward resentment and hatred, this gracious, obedient follower of Jesus reached out his hands and placed them on the person he had heard so many terrible things about, and called him ‘brother’.
And Saul’s vision was restored, and he was immediately filled with the Holy Spirit, and his life, and therefore the world, was changed forever. Because of the responsiveness, the courage, and the graciousness of one faithful follower of the Way.
Could Jesus have done all this Himself? Could He have appeared once more to Saul, healed his eyes, filled him with the Holy Spirit and then begun to instruct him with no human agency involved in the process?
Of course He could. So let this be a lesson and an encouragement for us; to know that when God gives us duty to perform it is for our blessing and for our growth as well as for those we are sent to serve. What a faith-strengthening experience that must have been for Ananias!
What a wonderful testimony he had to share with all the believers in Damascus, of God’s mercy and grace, of His providence and provision, of His power and purpose.
Meditate on this and let God minister to your heart concerning this truth. The God who could do all things by Himself, who needs no human hand to help Him, chooses, for our sake and not His own, to include us in His plan and use us in His work.
It should then be our duty and our desire and our delight to remain alert and responsive to His calling, courageous and confident to go in His strength, and demonstrate His grace in a graceless world.
Only eternity will reveal what He may accomplish for his glory, through one seemingly insignificant step of obedience from one faithful follower of the Way. Whether it be Ananias, or you.
