Acts 9:10-19. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 5, 2023.
Today we will look at a man named Ananias. He is obviously not the same as Ananias and Sapphira mentioned earlier in Acts.
There were two brave men in the story of Saul of Tarsus. We will meet the first one here today. A man who will be the first to hear the Lord say that Saul is changed and needs help from him, which takes a lot of trust. The second will be Barnabas. These men will help the early Church embrace a man who had been causing their loved ones to be executed.
People come to Christ from very different backgrounds. The movie Jesus Revolution is now in theaters, which portrays the Jesus movement of the 1970's. There were many hippies that were saved during that revival, and it was a challenge to the American Church. We can become used to a certain type of person being saved. When God saves someone out of left field, we can become fearful and "crusty." We can resist what God is trying to do in their life, instead of helping them.
Where does bravery come from? It comes from Christ. The test here is not so much about obedience, as it is about how much you trust Jesus. How much Jesus do I really have? I might discover that I don't have as much of Jesus as I thought I did.
So, what is the answer to that? Turn to Christ in repentance and seek him. Cry out to Jesus that you want more of him, and to become more like him!
Saul was a test to the Church when he was persecuting them. It tested them to see if they believed in Jesus enough to suffer for him. However, he became a different test to them when he surrendered to Jesus. It challenged the believers on just how much they would trust Jesus. Do you love Jesus enough to forgive him?
This is something that many Christians around the world have to wrestle with today. How do you love your enemy when they have caused loved ones to be killed? You can't, but Jesus in you can help you do it. I like how Paul confesses in Romans 7:18 that no good thing dwelled in him, that is in his flesh. However, the Spirit of God was dwelling in him, and that made all the difference.
I pray that we will believe in Jesus enough that we will be able to do anything that he asks us because we love him, and because he loves us.
Let's look at our passage.
Saul has had a powerful confrontation by the Lord Jesus just outside of Damascus. He had the intention of dragging Christians back to Jerusalem for trial. However, now he was humbled and blinded by the power of Jesus. The men helped him into the city, where he proceeded to fast and to pray for what he should do.
I think the Lord let him sweat a few days because Saul needed to cry out to God in weakness before he could be restored.
Jesus is going to send Ananias. Let's note that Jesus could have healed Saul on the spot. He doesn't have to use somebody, but in his wisdom, he has determined to use a Christian. There is something good, something perfect, in the grace of Jesus coming through the very group that Saul had persecuted. It is good for Saul, but also for the Christians. Talk about shame, and talk about anger. "Ananias, come be a blessing to this man who has caused so much pain among believers!" "Saul, I have a blessing for you, but you have to bear the shame of facing the people you persecuted!"
Can I be a blessing to a person like this, someone who has been the source of so much pain? Can I swallow my pride and let God minister to me through whomever He chooses? I know that I am working both sides of this at once, but I want us to see that much of life is God working both sides. We just become wrapped up in our side of the issue, and don't see the other.
Whomever God uses in your life, quit looking at the person. It was never about Saul, and it was never about Ananias. It was about Jesus who is being faithful to us, even through imperfect people.
Ananias is introduced as a certain disciple in Damascus. This was a common name among Hebrews and means the grace, mercy, or favor, of Yahweh. It was also connected to the idea of a gift because a grace of God is essentially a gift of God, i.e., you don't deserve it. Ananias would be a precious grace to Saul of Tarsus.
It is important to know that though our name may not be full of such meaning, Jesus does have purpose and meaning for our life. All Christians are called to be the grace, and the mercy, and the favor of Jesus into the lives of others.
We are told that it is a vision. Of all the passages that involve heavenly interactions with men, there are some that emphasize an actual physical presence (whether God or an angel). However, a vision emphasizes that you see something, but others around you do not see it (if there are others around). A vision can be so real that you are not sure whether it was a vision or not. Paul mentions in 2 Corinthians 12 that he wasn't sure if he was actually caught up into the heavens or simply had a vision. The difference being that someone in the room with him would see him disappear in the first (physically caught up into heaven), but would think that he was in a trance in the second (it is happening in his mind). By the way, the difference between a vision and a dream is clearly the issue of being awake or being asleep. Dreams happen during sleep, and visions happen while you are awake.
Of course, skeptics can scoff at visions, but the proof is always in the life of the person who claims to have had one. Christians should not be chasing after visions, as if desperate to have one. In fact, there are people who are taking drugs in order to have a vision. There are people who make a living "guiding" such people. That's not how God works. It is how the occult works, and how false religions work.
The truth is that people have been fitted to interact with God. We generally do that through prayer, and a still small voice in our hearts and minds. However, we have been fitted by God for His communications in the forms of dreams, visions, and even physical manifestations. We could say that the still small voice is the most common, with the others scaling down to physical manifestations of angels, etc., being the rarest. Let no Christian scoff at God's ability to do these things.
I love the simple answer of Ananias, "Here I am, Lord." This is the classic good response when God speaks to you. We are to be a people ready to hear the Lord, and when He is done, ready to obey the Lord.
Jesus tells Ananias to go to the house of Judas who lived on Straight Street. Judas is the Greek form of Judah. Judah is most likely not a Christian. The most natural place for Saul's men to take him would be a leader of a synagogue that was loyal to the religious leaders of Jerusalem. Ananias is told that he would find Saul of Tarsus there, and that he was praying.
Of course, Saul is a religious man and has probably prayed many times before this. However, none of his prayers were like they were now. There is something different about his prayers now. He is a stripped man who knows that he is nothing before the God of heaven. It doesn't matter how good your prayers sound, how flowery they are and how smoothly they flow. Desperate moments help us to be real with God. We too often have a religious shell around our true self when we deal with one another. It even infects our approach to God. This life trains us to keep it up because that is our protection. However, for the Christian, Jesus is our protection. God help us to drop the shell, the mask, and be real with God in prayer. Saul is a humble man seeking God for his eyesight, and for wisdom for what to do now.
Ananias is told that Saul has had a vision too. He has seen a vision of a man named Ananias laying hands on him and praying for him to receive his sight. After the vision is over, Saul still has no sight. This is where our interactions with God are tested. I may believe that God is telling me something, but then I have to trust him. Like Moses, God can tell us a great plan of leading the people of Israel out of Egypt, and almost being destroyed by Pharaoh at the Red Sea, and yet miraculous deliverance from God. That's an awesome plan. I would like to see that movie, but will I tell everyone to pack their bags and follow me into the wilderness? Of course, Saul doesn't have to do much, but stay there seeking God. You are probably not surprised that this is where most of us fail, staying in prayer seeking God.
Of course, it is not Ananias who will do the healing, but Jesus. Both of them need to exercise faith for God's will to be done here. Whether we are praying for one another because God has told us in general to pray for healing, or we have a specific word from the Lord, we need to be faithful on both accounts, to pray for others, and to ask for prayer.
Notice the mercy of Jesus to this man who had been persecuting his people. Jesus doesn't want Saul to be lost, even after all he has done. This is God's love for those who are in the depths of sin and hatred. People who perish do so over the top of God's love and mercy towards them.
I'm not sure if Ananias is actually objecting, but he does ask God about this man Saul. He had heard about this Saul of Tarsus, and was making sure that he heard the Lord correctly. How could he pray for such a man. Is this the same man who has come here with letters giving him authority to take Christians back to Jerusalem in order to stand trial?
Yet, the Lord overcomes his "objections" firstly by reiterating the command to go. Ananias may be surprised, but he needs to obey the Lord. Secondly, the Lord emphasizes to Ananias that He has a purpose in Saul through four statements loaded with God saying: "mine," "My Name," "I will," and "My Name's sake."
Jesus had chosen Saul to be a vessel of his just as much as he had chosen Ananias. You can choose to follow Jesus, but you cannot choose who else does so. Imagine two people who are saved in the same church, one a business man who dresses in a suit, and the other a homeless man. We could add drug addict to one of these, but it doesn't matter. On the day they become followers of Jesus, they become brothers. They come from very different worlds and may have reason to despise the other. However, we must always remember that the other person belongs to Christ. They will stand or fall before him, not me.
I can be found resisting and rebelling against God's purpose in another believer if I am not careful. I must always seek to please the Lord. The best way to do that is to remind yourself that you are quite capable of displeasing him. We must be humble and seek God's leading in all of our relationships.
Of course, Ananias obeys and goes to the house where he finds Saul of Tarsus. He then lays his hands upon him, which symbolizes the touch of the Lord, praying for him to be healed and to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
It is made obvious in the passage that Saul receives his sight. However, it doesn't mention about the Holy Spirit. However, we will see within short order that the Holy Spirit clearly came upon Saul as he began to minister powerfully in Damascus, and the rest of his letters bear testimony too. When the Holy Spirit dwells in and fills a believer, they will be empowered to follow the righteousness of Jesus, and they will be enabled to be a witness for Christ. Saul did this very powerfully.
Let's look at the healing. We are told that something like scales fell from his eyes. There are skeptics who would say something to the effect that there is a natural explanation and thus it cannot be attributed to God. Even if they could go back in time with modern equipment and show that the outer layer of Saul's eyes were damaged, and over the three days, his crying had softened the tissue causing it to fall off, it would still beg this question. How do you explain the visions by separate men who do not know one another, and the coincidence of the tissue falling off as Ananias prays for him? You are left with calling them liars. The evidence screams against this. By the way, I don't think it is rational to argue that the God who created the universe and put its "laws" into place is not involved if we can discover a natural explanation that only has a "miracle" of coincidence. God is always involved even in the very natural things of our life.
Sometimes God answers prayer immediately, as He did here. Sometimes it is answered over a period of time. God even tells us, "No," sometimes. But, it is always for our good. Saul is definitely healed in that he can see. Yet, there seems to be something residual with his eyes. He says in one of his letters that he prayed for God to remove a "thorn in his flesh." This was something wrong with his body that caused difficulty. Three times he asked and in the end God tells him that His grace was enough for Saul. Saul also says in Galatians 6:11 that he had written the letter by himself. They would know because of the large letters he had. The speculation is that his eyes may have excessively watered as a result of the bright light. This may have made him look like he had been crying all of the time, and made it hard to see. It is not that God couldn't heal him, but that Paul goes on to say in 2 Corinthians 12 that the Lord didn't completely heal him in order to keep him humble. It was for his good.
Seeing a little is better than not seeing at all, and I am sure that there was a lot of rejoicing when Saul realized that he could see. He had given nothing but pain to the believers of Jesus, and yet, now he was receiving joy from them in return.
Let us remember that God still heals today and believers need to pray for one another in general, but we also need to seek God and hear from Him on specific needs. That takes times of prayer and fasting.
Saul is then water baptized. No doubt, Ananias explained that this is what the Lord commanded. This demonstrates that Saul was dying to his old life focused on him and his career, and coming alive to a new life focused on Jesus and his purposes. Saul is now a Christian because he has believed upon Jesus with true faith. This religious Pharisee had received the precious gift of salvation. He was now truly clean inside and out.
Too many people settle for an outward form of godliness, but miss out on the power of the Holy Spirit to transform their life. Don't settle for only looking like a Christian, being a poser. Instead, truly put your faith in Him and be transformed by Him as you are led by the Holy Spirit.
We are told then that Saul stays in Damascus fellowshipping with the believers there. Of course, where else would he go? Going back to Jerusalem would not only be awkward, but it would probably end up with him on trial. Saul knows the Bible inside and out, but doesn't know it like he should. I am sure that he picked up rather quickly as the believers explained to him about Jesus and passages throughout the Old Testament, like Isaiah 53.
I want to end by emphasizing the test of obedience that Ananias had. The Lord gives us general commands in His word that test whether or not we truly love him. However, from time to time, the Spirit of God will make specific commands known to us. They may be about things in our life that need to change, that we need to pray for, or people we need to talk with. Let us pray for courage to be used of God in whatever way He sees fit. Carve out some room in your prayers and in your time for God to speak to you.
Even Saul could be saved. Don't let anyone say they can't be saved. If Saul could be saved, then anyone can be saved. Seek to let the grace of God give you the privilege of doing something that you don't deserve: introducing others to their Loving Father in heaven.