By John Stott
The Lord told him (Ananias), “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for his is praying.”
Acts 9:11
It is wonderful to see that transformation that took place in Saul, especially in his relationships. Firstly, he had a new reverence for God, as evidenced by his praying. Of course, as a Pharisee he had often prayed before, or at least said prayers, both publicly and privately. But now he experienced a new access to God through Christ and a new sense of God’s Fatherhood as the Holy Spirit bore witness with his spirit that he was a child of God. As R.G.H. Lenski, the Lutheran commentator, has expressed it, “The raging lion has been changed into a bleating lamb.”
Secondly, he had a new relationship to the church. When Ananias visited Saul and laid hands on him, he addressed him as “Brother Saul” or “Saul my brother.” I never fail to be moved by these words. They must have sounded like music in Saul’s ears. What? Was the archenemy of the church to be received as a brother? Yes! So he got up and was baptized into the Christian community. Some three years later in Jerusalem the disciples were at first sceptical of his conversion. It was Barnabas who introduced Saul to the apostles. Thank God for Ananias in Damascus and Barnabas in Jerusalem. If it had not been for the welcome they secured for Saul, the whole course of church history would have been different.
Thirdly, Paul had a new responsibility to the world. Already on the Damascus road Jesus had told him that he was appointed to bear witness to what he had seen and heard. And Ananias confirmed his commissioning as apostle to the Gentiles. He was also warned that he would suffer. In fact, he had to be smuggled out of Damascus and then flee from Jerusalem. Thus the story of Saul’s conversion, which began with his leaving Damascus with official accreditation from the high priest to arrest Christians, ends with his leaving Jerusalem as a fugitive himself.
There are many Sauls in the world today, people richly endowed with gifts of intellect and character, stubborn, even fanatical in their rejection of Christ. We need more holy expectation that such people can be first converted and then be transformed in all their relationships. Let’s magnify the grace of God.
For Further Reading: Acts 9:19-30