Acts 9:10, commentary and pictures

The verse presents a certain disciple living at Damascus named Ananias, to whom the Lord appeared and spoke by name in a vision, and who at once answered that he was present and ready to listen and obey. The vision began the Lord's direction of Ananias to go to the house where Saul lay totally blind, fasting and praying in repentance and distress, to restore his sight and give him help and instruction. It shows Christ working for Saul's salvation through an appointed human agent rather than doing all the work directly, though He could have done so. Ananias represents Christ and His appointed ministers on earth, acting in Christ's stead and authority as the channel through whom blessing and light come, because Christ does not sanction religious experience independent of His organized and acknowledged church. Saul had thought that in persecuting the saints he was doing God service, but Christ arrested him and showed him that in persecuting them he was persecuting Christ Himself, making him physically blind by that glory so he might gain spiritual sight and cast himself on Jesus for pardon and righteousness.

Ananias and the Vision

There was a certain disciple living at Damascus named Ananias, to whom the Lord appeared and spoke by name in a vision. The Lord spoke to him through an angel messenger speaking in Christ's name, showing God's work through heavenly agencies and the close connection between heaven and His servants on earth. Ananias at once answered, Behold, I am here, Lord, showing he was present and ready to listen and obey.

That ready answer began the Lord's direction of Ananias to go to a certain house where Saul was praying, to find him and help him despite Saul's recent persecution of believers. He was to go as the Lord's ordained agency to the penitent persecutor, so that Saul would learn his duty and receive his sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost through the church rather than by Christ directly. Ananias was told that Saul, then lying totally blind in fasting and prayer at the house of Judas in utter darkness of mind and in uncertainty and distress crying earnestly to God for what was required of him, had seen in vision a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he could regain his sight.

Saul Waiting in Damascus

Acts 9:10 belongs to the time when Saul lay totally blind at the house of Judas in Damascus, spending three days in fasting, reflection, repentance, and earnest prayer while awaiting what the Lord would do with him. He was alone after his encounter with Jesus, in utter darkness of mind about what was required of him, and in uncertainty and distress he cried earnestly to God. During the days and nights of his blindness he had time for reflection, no longer seeing himself righteous but sinful, with his thoughts, words, and actions condemned by the law. The thought of his zeal in persecuting God's people filled him with bitter remorse, and hopeless and helpless he cast himself on Jesus as the only One who could pardon him and clothe him with righteousness.

The Lord told Ananias that Saul was praying and needed help, instruction, and restoration of sight. The vision to Ananias began the Lord's direction to go to a certain house where Saul was praying in distress, to find him and help him. Ananias was directed to go where Saul of Tarsus was praying to be instructed what to do next, to come in and put his hands on him that he might receive his sight, and to tell him his further duty.

Ananias was told that Saul, then blind after the Saviour revealed Himself to him, was a chosen vessel to bear Christ's name before Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. This made clear Saul's commission and his work of bringing the gospel to the Gentiles. The circumstances of his conversion prepared him to accept God's call to preach to the Gentiles, the Saviour's mission became clear to him, and he was won to faith and commissioned to carry the gospel to them.

Christ Works Through Church

Christ could have done all the work for Saul directly, yet His plan for the salvation of men is for His blessings to come through agencies He has ordained, so He works for Saul through an appointed human agent given a responsible work to do. The calling of Ananias in vision entrusts that work to people authorized to act in Christ's stead, making the channel connecting man to God the means by which blessing comes. Rather than finishing the work Himself, God sent Ananias while requiring Saul to confess to those he had intended to destroy.

Ananias, a disciple at Damascus who answers when the Lord calls him in vision, represents Christ and Christ's appointed ministers on earth. He ministers to Saul in Christ's name and authority, acting as a channel through whom Saul receives instruction and help, sight and the Holy Spirit. Through him Christ uses the church as a channel of light and instruction, directing Saul to His church and its authorized representatives.

Christ does not sanction religious experience independent of His organized and acknowledged church. Even though Paul was brought directly into the presence of Christ to be fitted for a most important work as a chosen vessel, Christ did not Himself teach him the lessons of truth he must learn, but only arrested his course and convicted him. When Paul asked what he should do, Christ placed him under direction in connection with His church, where others would tell him what he must do, using Ananias as His appointed instructor.

While Saul lay totally blind during three days of fasting and prayer at the house of Judas in Damascus, in darkness of mind and distress crying to God for what was required of him, the Lord spoke to Ananias by name and sent him as His ordained agency. Saul was to learn his duty and God's will through Christ's church and from disciples whom God had appointed to teach the truth, rather than by Christ directly, thus giving sanction to the authority of the organized church. Ananias, one of the very men Paul purposed to destroy and now appointed to be Paul's instructor in the religion Paul had despised and persecuted, was directed to go to the certain house where Saul was praying, to come in and put his hands on him that he might receive his sight and tell him his further duty. He obeyed, called the former persecutor Brother Saul, laid hands on him so he received sight and was filled with the Holy Ghost, followed by baptism.

Paul had to take the steps necessary in conversion by making confession to the very men whose destruction he had premeditated, by learning from and uniting himself to the very people he had persecuted for their religion, and by becoming a learner of the disciples. Being strictly conscientious in persecuting the saints did not make him guiltless when the Spirit of God impressed the cruelty of his work upon him. In this he was placed in connection with the very disciples he had purposed to destroy as his instructors in the faith he had despised.

Saul Convicted and Changed

Acts 9:10 belongs to the revealing of Jesus Himself to Saul, who had persecuted the church and consented to the death of Stephen, and to His choosing of Saul to preach His name and strengthen the disciples, more than filling the place Stephen had held. Stephen's faith and constancy and God-given witness and glory remained in Saul's memory and left a lasting impression on those who saw him die, testifying to the truth Saul had resisted and helping to bring about his conversion. Though permitting wicked men to triumph and a true and faithful Stephen to die did not appear to strengthen God's cause on earth, God used it to convert Paul, and through Paul's word thousands were brought to the light of the gospel.

Before that conversion Saul verily believed that to have faith in Jesus was virtually to repudiate the law of God and the service of sacrificial offerings, that Jesus Himself had disregarded the law and had taught His disciples that it was now of no effect, and that it was his duty to strive with his utmost power to exterminate the doctrine that Jesus was the Prince of life, so with conscientious zeal he became a persevering persecutor of the church of Christ. He had thought that in persecuting the saints, hailing them before judges and seeking to wipe them from the earth, he was doing God service, but Christ arrested him and showed him that his zeal was not according to knowledge and that in persecuting the saints he was persecuting Christ Himself. Although Paul had been strict in his religion, he was not a Christian until Christ revealed Himself and spoke to him to show him this, and being strictly conscientious in persecuting the saints did not make him guiltless when the Spirit of God impressed the cruelty of his work upon him.

The account shows the Holy Spirit convicting him of sin and changing his understanding of Jesus, so that he came to recognize that Jesus vindicated God's law, instituted the Jewish sacrificial system, and fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of Israel's Redeemer. It was humiliating for Saul to learn that while he thought he was doing God service he had been persecuting Christ, and he was made physically blind by the glory of the One he had blasphemed so that he might have spiritual sight. During the days and nights of his blindness he had time for reflection, and he no longer saw himself righteous but sinful, with his thoughts and words and actions condemned by the law. The thought of his zeal in persecuting God's people filled him with bitter remorse, and hopeless and helpless he cast himself on Jesus as the only One who could pardon him and clothe him with righteousness.

A sight of his own unworthiness brought him to humility and the assurance of full, free forgiveness, and he arose changed, having seen the Lord and glimpsed the beauty of the divine character. The vision that first filled him with terror became a source of great consolation, and God's mercy transformed him into a penitent believer and called him to be an apostle. His transformation through beholding Infinite Love inspired a longing to see others freed from sin. When Paul found he was in the wrong path he turned from that course and joined the people he had thought worthy only of persecution, turning away from popularity and positions of honor and ambitious preferment to the service of Christ with all its trials and humiliations, counting it no sacrifice, binding himself to Christ and at last suffering martyrdom for His sake.

His change from persecuting believers to preaching Jesus and strengthening the disciples came from overwhelming evidence, not impulse or fanaticism, and he immediately abandoned his former opposition to Jesus after being convicted of his sin. After his conversion he looked back on that former life of fierce prejudice and authority to go to Damascus with remorse and pity for those still opposing Christ, and he became grateful to preach the truth he had once despised. His dramatic change led him to expect that his former friends and associates would also believe when they heard what had happened. He later told the experience before kings and governors, where it helped bear witness that Jesus is the Son of God.

Rumor of that wonderful conversion and great change had reached the disciples, but because Paul had immediately retired into Arabia and they had heard nothing definite of him farther, they had not credited the report of his change. Because they remembered his former persecutions, when he attempted to join himself to the brethren they would not receive him as one of their number, suspecting him of acting a part to deceive and destroy them, to his great grief and disappointment.

Lessons for Saving Souls

The verse means God calls an obedient disciple by name to go to one who has been in conscientious error, as Paul persecuted Christians while as sincerely serving God as those now living up to the best light they have while worshipping in error on an idol sabbath. Such souls in error are not to be piled with condemnation but are to be saved by devised methods. For the Lord Jesus reveals Himself to them and sends His disciple to restore sight, bring the Holy Spirit, lead to baptism and fellowship, and set them to preach Christ as the Son of God.

The account to which the verse belongs is that of Saul of Tarsus, one of the gospel's most determined enemies, becoming Paul, a devoted minister of Christ and chief apostle. It shows that even someone who appears hateful and contemptuous may be rescued and transformed by Christ's grace and mercy. Even a persecutor's heart can be reached by divine impressions before conversion. Paul's sudden arrest while persecuting Christ's followers, his vision of the Saviour, and his complete transformation into a devoted worker for Christ belong with the disciple at Damascus hearing the Lord call him in a vision and answering that he is ready.

Paul's conversion from a persecutor of all who believe to a believer he never forgot bore on all his after life and encouraged him as he worked for the One he once ridiculed. It gave him personal experience and knowledge of the Lord Jesus so he could speak intelligently. He kept living faith by cultivating a sense of Christ's presence in all his works, receiving strength in prayer, and as a faithful soldier ever looking to his Captain for orders, so no piled-up obstacles made him regard the work as impossible, for all things are possible to them that believe.

Paul's thorough conversion is the conversion needed to fit young men for God's work as living representatives who preach with spiritual life and simplicity, receive words from God to arrest attention, and bring Christ into life and character. Without it profession is valueless for those warring against and breaking God's holy law with carnal minds at enmity with God. Before his conversion Paul was strict in religion but not a Christian until Christ revealed Himself and converted him. Afterward he was a Christian to whom Christ was ever supreme and altogether lovely and precious.

Even bitter prejudice and strong iron walls of prejudice can be broken down when the worker hides in God, is humble and teachable and molded by His Spirit, and lets His Spirit soften his own spirit. The worker must cling to Jesus, labor with melting love, pity, and tenderness, and not get in the way. He must be ready to be counseled by more experienced brethren, go forth not in his own name but in the might of Israel's God, and endure hardness and fiercest opposition without discouragement.