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| Chapter 9 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And Saul, yet breathing out threatening's and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2 and asked of him letters to the synagogues at Damascus, that if he found any who were of this Way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 3 And as he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shone round about him a light from heaven. 4 And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" 5 And he said, "Who art thou, Lord?" And the Lord said, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest; it is hard for thee to kick against the goads." 6 And he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" And the Lord said unto him, "Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do." 7 And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no man. 8 And Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened, he could see no man; but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did he eat nor drink. 10 ¶ And there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Behold, I am here, Lord." 11 And the Lord said unto him, "Arise and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for the one called Saul of Tarsus; for behold, he prayeth 12 and hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight." 13 Then Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many of this man, and how much evil he hath done to Thy saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on Thy name." 15 But the Lord said unto him, "Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him what great things he must suffer for My name's sake." 17 And Ananias went his way and entered into the house, and putting his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus who appeared unto thee on the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightiest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received sight forthwith, and arose and was baptized. 19 And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples who were at Damascus. 20 And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. 21 But all that heard him were amazed and said, "Is not this he that destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither with the intent that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?" 22 But Saul increased the more in strength and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that Jesus is the very Christ. 23 ¶ And after many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him. 24 But their lying in wait became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. 25 Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down through the wall in a basket. 26 And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join himself to the disciples, but they were all afraid of him and believed not that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord on the way and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. 28 And he was with them, coming in and going out at Jerusalem. 29 And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Grecians, but they went about to slay him. 30 And when the brethren heard of this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him forth to Tarsus. 31 Then the churches throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had rest and were edified, and, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, were multiplied. 32 ¶ And it came to pass, as Peter was passing throughout all quarters, he came down also to the saints who dwelt at Lydda. 33 And there he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had kept to his bed for eight years and was sick with the palsy. 34 And Peter said unto him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed." And he arose immediately. 35 And all who dwelt in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and turned to the Lord. 36 ¶ Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha (which interpreted means Dorcas). This woman was full of good works and alms deeds which she did. 37 And it came to pass in those days that she was sick and died; and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper chamber. 38 And inasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he should not delay to come to them. 39 Then Peter arose and went with them. And when he had come, they brought him into the upper chamber; and all the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made while she was with them. 40 But Peter put them all outside and kneeled down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, "Tabitha, arise." And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and calling in the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And it came to pass that he tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon, a tanner. |
We had a mention of Saul, who was later to become Paul, in the previous chapters. Saul was in agreement with the stoning of Stephen, he was present but we are not told that he actually threw any stones. Acts 7:58; Acts 8:1. He came from Tarsus, hated Christ and wanted to destroy Christianity. In Acts 8:3 "But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison," this was in the Jerusalem area, now he goes to the High Priest for letters of authority to the synagogues in Damascus. Acts 22:4; Acts 22:19,20. Persecution of this level could have destroyed the spread of the Gospel, but God had things in control, the suffering small match flame of the gospel was soon to burst into a "forest fire," spreading fast across the world. v3-5 Saul starts out on his journey, several days into his journey, just as he is approaching Damascus, about midday, Acts 22:6 God acts. A light which shone brighter than the noonday sun shines on Saul, he falls to the ground in terror. He hears a voice, speaking in Hebrew Acts 26:14; Acts 22:6-11. "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?." It is interesting that Saul says "Who are you, Lord?" He has already accepted this must be someone special, he calls him "Lord." At this point he does not understand, he has not connected the light with his task of persecuting Christians. When the voice identifies itself, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," Saul has to ask himself, "The man from Nazareth, the man who blasphemed, the one who died on a cross, how can it be? " v6,7 Saul, still shaking with terror, ask "what shall I do?" the voice continues "Get up, go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." As fast as it had appeared the light was gone. Silence. v5 "it is hard for thee to kick against the goads (sharpened sticks, spears)." does not appear in the text in some early copies and may have been added in later copies, being taken from Acts 26:14. The people with Saul are also terrified, they heard the voice, possibly did not understand what was said and could not see anyone. Acts 22:9. v8 Saul now stands up, his eyes open but can see nothing. This man, who had planned to enter the city to terrorize the Christians, now enters as a blind man, needing the guidance and help of others. v9 For three days Saul goes without food, his eyesight was gone but as he thinks about what had happen he begins to realize that he has seen Jesus, alive and with great power. v10-12 Meanwhile God is moving onto the next stage of His plan. God speaks to Ananias in a vision, telling him to go to Saul of Tarsus who is praying and has had a vision of you coming to him. We are not told much about Ananias but v13 suggests he was not one of those who had fled from Jerusalem. How Ananias became a believer is not given. v13,14 To Ananias this command brings terror, he has heard all about Saul’s activities, fear fills his heart as he replies to the command. In the mind of Ananias Saul was to be avoided, he was a murderer of God’s people. v15,16 But God does not look at a persons present life, He can see the future and tells Ananias that Saul was a chosen person for the spreading of the good news of salvation through Jesus to the world. God also tells Ananias that Saul would also suffer for this work. v17 Ananias obeys the command and identifies himself as a follower of Jesus to Saul. With love and kindness Ananias, calling him "brother" talks to Saul. "Jesus, who you saw on the road has sent me to you. For you to receive your sight back and receive the Holy Spirit." The "laying on of hands" was not the normal way to receive the Holy Spirit, perhaps it was to confirm to the local believers that Saul was now a believer. Acts 8:14-17. v18 Once enemies, now brothers, Ananias and Saul are one in Christ. Saul is baptized to show that Jesus is now his Saviour. v19 Saul has changed his mind about Jesus, he needed to be educated into the truth. This came from the Damascus Christian Church, Saul enjoyed the close fellowship with these believers. v20-21 Within a few days Saul is preaching in the synagogues that Christ was the Son of God . What a shock to the Jews, a man who had hated Jesus was now telling all that He was the Son of God. v22 Saul was well educated in the scriptures, now he could see how it had been pointing to the coming Saviour and was able to silence any arguments by the Jews in the synagogue. v23 How long this lasted we are not told but now Luke reports "And after many days were fulfilled," Saul had now become the hated believer and the Jews were hunting Saul, they were out to kill him. The "many days" must have been quite a long period, in Gal 1:11-17 we find that Saul describes this period, he had gone off to Arabia to be taught of God. We are not told exactly the length of this period but Gal 1:17,18 suggests about 3 years. v24,25 Saul must have returned to Damascus where the Jews plotted to kill him. 2 Cor 11:32,33 indicates that the Jews plotted with the governor of Damascus. But the Damascus believers helped Saul to escape during the night in a basket lowered down the city wall. An event which must have been humbling for Saul. v26 Saul now travels to Jerusalem, he had not been to the city since his conversion. The believers in Jerusalem had experience Saul’s earlier attempts to destroy them so were very afraid of him, not believing that he had been saved. Saul is rejected by the believers and hated by his old Jewish friends because he was a Christian. v27-28 One man has faith and belief in Saul, Barnabas. He stood by Saul and brings him to the disciples. He tells them how the Lord had come to Saul on the road and how he had since been preaching Christ boldly throughout Damascus. Barnabas was not affected by Saul’s past or the public opinion. He had the courage to stand up for Saul. v29 Saul was now accepted by the Jewish believers and speaks out for Christ in the city. It was not long before he came up against those who had stoned Stephen, the Grecians (Hellenistic Jews). Acts 6:8, His old friends. Very quickly they became his enemies and attempted to put Saul to death. Why did they hate Saul so much? Saul had found the truth and it had changed his life. Here was evidence that Jesus was alive and powerful, the evidence must be destroyed. v30 So to protect Saul the Jerusalem believers sent him to Caesarea and then onto Tarsus, his home town. v31 Luke seems to suggest that the Jewish believers had felt that they could do without Saul as he points out that after his departure there was peace in the area and the Church was allowed to grow in the Lord. Saul now disappears from the story for a while, and does not reappear until Acts 11:25. It must have been quite a shock to Saul, but it was all part of God’s plan. This time was to be a period of training for Saul, the ‘desert or faraway’ time when Saul needed to put his full trust in God, Saul may have needed a time of humility to prepare him for the future. v32 The story returns to follow Peter’s ministry with two of the few miracles recorded. Supernatural events were more common during the earlier growth of the church as God proved the authority of special people like Peter. Today God does not work miracles through His people as He did with the disciples, instead the proof and authority is in His written Word. v33 As Peter enters the town of Lydda he comes across a sick man. We are told that Aeneas was bedridden for eight years with paralysis but no other information, how paralyzed was he? How did he become sick? Why did Peter chose him to heal? v34,35 Peter, on seeing the man, tells him that " Jesus has made you well, get up and make your bed." Immediately the man is healed, broken nerves joined, unused muscles restored, he stands again after eight years, and the people saw and believed. This one miracle caused a spiritual awakening to spread through the area. Note that Peter gave the glory to Jesus, the man had not asked for healing, the healing was instant and complete. v36,37 We now move about ten miles onto the coast town of Joppa where a woman lived whose name was Tabitha, a very busy believer and well loved, but she becomes sick and died. v38 The believers (disciples) heard that Peter was nearby in Lydda and sent two men to ask him to come. v39 Because of the slowness of travel in could have been a day or so later when Peter arrives at Joppa. Luke never mentions that they asked for a miracle, the people of Joppa wanted to show how wonderful a woman she was in her serving of the Lord. v40,41 Peter requests that they leave the room. He now prayed over the body of Tabitha. Then commanded her "to arise." Life flows back into Tabitha, she sits up, with Peters support she gets off the bed. Peter then calls in the rest of the church, who see a living Tabitha, what amazement and joy for them. John 14:12. v42 As a result of this event "Many believed in the Lord." v43 Peter now remains in the area for some time. |
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