ACTS 9 – Saul to Paul

Acts Chapter 9

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. ³ As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

⁵ “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. ⁶ “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷ The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹ For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

¹⁰ In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

¹¹ The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. ¹² In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

¹³ “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

¹⁵ But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. ¹⁶ I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

¹⁷ Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, ¹⁹ and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. ²⁰ At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. ²¹ All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” ²² Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

²³ After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, ²⁴ but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. ²⁵ But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

²⁶ When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. ²⁷ But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. ²⁸ So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews,^[a] but they tried to kill him. ³⁰ When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

³¹ Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

Aeneas and Dorcas

³² As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. ³³ There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. ³⁴ “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. ³⁵ All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

³⁶ In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. ³⁷ About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. ³⁸ Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

³⁹ Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

⁴⁰ Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. ⁴² This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. ⁴³ Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

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Many times in the Bible, God changed someone’s name because He was calling them to live out a new mission or identify with a new identity that God was giving them.

All about Paul

Saul is a masculine given name of Hebrew origin (Shaul), meaning “ask/question”.

A derivative of Paulus, this name means “small” or “humble.”

Born a Roman citizen to Jewish parents in Tarsus (in modern eastern Turkey)

Studies Torah in Jerusalem with Gamaliel; becomes a Pharisee

Persecutes followers of Jesus of Nazareth in Jerusalem and Judea

We will see in this chapter that God brought this man full of pride to a man full of humility and surrender.

But some question why God chose Saul (thereafter known as Paul), a known and self-confessed sinner to become one of the great founders of the faith. That question was convincingly answered by Paul himself in 1 Timothy 1:16-17, “But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life.” If the Lord gave Saul, a murderer and a self-proclaimed “chief sinner”, such a dramatic conversion experience and used him to deliver the message of the faith to millions of people, He certainly not only forgives us of our sins but also has a divine purpose and plan for each of us.

Why did God strike Paul with blindness and not leprosy or any kind of other disease?

Saul hated Christians and his heart was full of hatred for them. He persecuted them to the point of death – Acts 26: 9 – 11

⁹ “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

The time came when enough was enough. Jesus could have used any method to get Paul’s attention but he chose blindness.

His Power was subdued

With Paul being a very prideful and a self – righteous man, it was necessary for Jesus to assert His power. Paul needed to understand God’s power and not his own. The only way to stop Paul and overwhelm him with Jesus’ presence and glory was to make him blind.

Many times God has to break us to make us. Break our pride, our egos and he will showcase his power. We are never greater than God.

His Surrender

When Paul was striked with blindness, he was helpless. His blindness caused him to understand that he is helpless before God and he needed to surrender to this almighty God and he needed God in his life.

With Paul sitting in darkness for three days, not knowing that he would be blind forever or if he would be ever able to see, God brought Paul to His knees. Humbled and confused, by the time Ananias appeared. Because he was now prepared to listen to Ananias as well. Eyes shut, there could be a lot of unknown or uncertain things happening around and you are so dependent that one can be filled with lot of panic and anxiety as well. Once a confident man is now a humbled man.

Renewed Sight

Spiritually Paul needed to lose his sight to gain spiritual eyes. Acts 9: 18 ¹⁸ Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, ¹⁹ and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Also, to understand better, God had to touch him and show him what blindness felt like to open his spiritual eyes.

Ananias

A prayerful man. The Lord called him in a vision. We are not sure of the back ground of when this happened but Ananias seem to be prepared to hear from God.

He is well versed with the situation about the believers being persecuted and killed. He also knows about this man named Saul. With this we can also imagine the popularity of Paul with regard to persecution.

Acts 9: 13 & 14 – ¹³ “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

Ananias simply obeyed God. He trusted God for his own life. It was a threat to his own existence.

There are four things we can learn from Ananias

Going beyond your fears

• Risking his own life to obey God, fully knowing who he is going to meet.

Going beyond your expectations

• He didn’t know what this encounter with Saul would turn out to be. Whether he can really expect a change or it’d be much riskier to expose himself to this murderer. However, what he didn’t expect was that Saul created history.

Going beyond my reality

• Ananias trusted God fully. He obeyed all that God had told him. The reality was that he was meeting a murderer but he chose to see from his spiritual eyes rather than what the reality was. He obeyed with faith and not with what reality looked.

Going beyond my emotions

• He may have had hatred towards this Saul for treating his fellow brothers so badly. He was meeting someone who has harmed his community. Ananias simply obeyed God – no hatred, or justification, or any kind of attitude prevented him from healing Saul – ‘brother Saul’

Can we think of being like Ananias? Simply trusting and obeying God. Going beyond what my reality says. I can see a changed person – Saul who turns Paul very evidently.

Acts9: 19 – 25 – Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. ²⁰ At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. ²¹ All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” ²² Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

²³ After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, ²⁴ but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. ²⁵ But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

Now the real story begins in Jerusalem, where majority of Jesus’ followers resided. Everyone witnessed the incident in Damascus but what about Jerusalem.

Do you think it might have been easy for Saul to penetrate into this community of Jesus’ disciples?

Acts 9: 26 – 31 ²⁶ When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. ²⁷ But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. ²⁸ So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews,^[a] but they tried to kill him. ³⁰ When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

³¹ Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

Barnabas and Ananias are the radical people who trusted God and saw beyond Saul. They witnessed this dramatic change of Saul into Paul by the act of the Holy Spirit. They saw beyond Saul. They saw God working through the Holy Spirit to transform a wretched murderer into a man zealous for the name of Jesus. They trusted God even though it may call for a risk to life.

Who am I?

Am I Saul?

Am I Paul who had a past like Saul?

Am I Ananias? Has God asked me to obey something?

Am I Barnabas – looking with spiritual eyes of faith?

A small portion of chapter 9 is dedicated to peter and his work. How with two miracles he helped people to know the Lord.

For some it needs a major dramatic incident to know the Lord Jesus, for some only a miracle is enough. However as the verse says for those who have been forgiven much, love much.

Luke 7: 47 – ⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

Sandra wife of Virjil .The Renewed Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that Renewed Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Karanjade, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.