seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Acts 9:1 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 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.
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.
a. Acts 9:29 That is, Jews who had adopted the Greek language and culture
The commentary this morning is from blueletterbible.org.
And heard a voice saying to him: The rabbis of Saul's day believed that God no longer spoke to man directly, as He did in the days of the prophets. However, they believed that one could hear the "echo" of God's voice, what they called "the daughter of the voice of God." Here, Saul learns that one can hear God directly!
Why are you persecuting Me? As the heavenly light overwhelms him, Saul is confronted by the true nature of his crime: He is persecuting God, not man.
The fact that Saul was trembling and astonished by all of this reminds us that it is not always pleasant to encounter heaven dramatically. Saul was terrified by this experience, not oozing with warm, gushy feelings.
The men who journeyed with him stood speechless: The experience was incomprehensible to Saul's companions, but as Saul opened his eyes (presumably shut tight in a terrified reaction to the heavenly light), he still could not see (when his eyes were opened he saw no one).
And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank: It seems that he was so shaken by the experience that he was unable to eat or drink for three days. All Saul could do was simply sit in a blind silence. This was a humbling experience, and a time when Saul must have challenged all his previous ideas about who God was and what pleased God.
In the three days of blindness and deprivation, Saul was dying to himself. It would only be after the three days of dying that he would be raised to new life.
Why Ananias? Was he a prominent Christian? We have no reason to believe so. Did God need to use a human agent at all in this work? Not really. God used Ananias because God loves to use people, and Ananias was a willing servant. Ananias asked Saul's question, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" by the way he lived his life.
Ananias was an ordinary man - not an apostle, a prophet, a pastor, an evangelist, an elder, or a deacon. Yet God used him especially because he was an ordinary man. If an apostle or a prominent person had ministered to Paul, people might say Paul received his gospel from a man instead of Jesus. In the same way, God needs to use the ordinary man - there is a special work for them to do.
Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues: Because Saul was a skilled student of the great rabbi Gamaliel, he could take advantage of the synagogue custom that invited any able Jewish man to speak on the Scriptures at synagogue meetings.
He preached the Christ: The message of Paul was all about Jesus. He knew they needed to know Jesus in truth, that He is the Son of God.
The disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket: Saul would indeed know divine protection in the midst of persecution, but he would also learn that God's deliverance often comes in humble ways. There is nothing triumphant about sneaking out of a city by night hiding in a large basket!
shifting gears.... but remaining in the same commentary.... meet Dorcas... or Tabitha if you prefer..... a good woman who helped the poor and the widows.... Both the names Dorcas and Tabitha mean "deer." This woman was a beloved member of the Christian community in Joppa, because she was full of good works and charitable deeds.
We should remind ourselves that Dorcas was not resurrected; she was resuscitated to her old life, where she would die again.
The good doctor, Luke, who is said to have written this book of Acts..... said that Saul.... had scales on his eyes..... boy that hit home.... I think Saul's eyes got burnt by the light...... Jesus appeared to him.... that was so bright it knocked him down..... and I think that brightness burnt his eyes causing what is now call cataracts..... but then again a torn retina causes a flash as well.... I know..... I have an eye doctor appointment today.... as many may know... my eye went bad before the virus hit.... and it's like I have wax paper smudged with something dark ashy color.... I can see some big movement but not really anything.... I have a gas bubble in my eye to keep it from falling in on itself again..... and I'm hoping that's what the dark ashy smudge is.... if not... well we'll see [pardon the pun].
Saul just sat around blind for three days..... a vigorous... murderous..... self centered.... self indulged rich man with a letter in his pocket allowing him to harass believers.... which he was enjoying..... had to sit... blind for three days.... and then.... and then.... he was healed. God used an everyday guy.... not a doctor flown in from wherever..... or a magician..... just an average guy who was showing real faith by healing this guy.
Peter was working in the area of Joppa.... he healed a man who had been paralyzed for a few years.... but then he was called to the home of a good woman who was active in helping the poor and widowed. Peter got there when the mourners were wailing.... and he cleared the room and woke her up. The commentaries pointed out that Peter didn't bring her back from the dead.... she would die again.... he only woke her up. I wonder.... was she ill from a virus back in the day?????
All three of the humans who were healed in this chapter.... had a reason for the healing..... Saul was murdering believers.... Aeneas was a willing servant.... and Tabitha was kind.....
So.... now Saul of Tarsus..... a murderer.... is Paul.... soon to be Apostle.... and the mighty warrior Saul.... is now in hiding because he's on the right side... and he's being persecuted.... see how that feels Saul?????
I guess this is the beginning of the "Peter and Paul" .......
