Acts 9:1-22 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Acts 9:1-22. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
Acts 9:1-19a (NIV)
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 saints 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 carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before 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…
On verses 1-19a: As we read about Saul’s amazing conversion to Christianity, we see that God is full of grace and mercy. He does not treat His enemies as they deserve. Instead of destroying His enemies for their sins, His first choice is to woo them to His side. That’s what Jesus did with Saul, and that’s He does with us too.
God could have easily destroyed Saul for masterminding the arrest, persecution and murder of His children. But instead He reached out to Saul with incredible grace and mercy, and won Saul over to His side.
God does that with all of us. When we were enemies of God, He could easily have destroyed us for our sins just as we deserved. Instead He forgave us and brought us to His side through Jesus Christ. What a gracious and merciful God we serve!
By the way this isn’t the first time God blinds someone while they are on their way to destroy His people. In 2 Kings 6:18-23 the Aramean army is on its way to destroy Israel, and God blinds them, leads them with grace and wins them over. So if you feel like you’re blind in some way, unable to see what’s ahead of you, trust God, hang on to Him and He will lead you in the best way.
Acts 9:19b-22 (NIV)
19…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 Christ.
On verses 19b-22: Saul originally planned to go to the synagogues in Damascus to apprehend Christians there, bring them back to Jerusalem and have them killed (v1-2). Instead Paul is now in Damascus to preach in the synagogues about how Jesus is the Christ. It’s a dramatic example of Jesus can turn our lives around and give us a new purpose for living.
Also, how could an intellectual like Saul change his mind so quickly about Jesus? It’s because Saul had a personal encounter with Jesus which caused him to doubt his doubts and question his previous biases. When he looked at Scripture again, it’s like his previous biases and skepticism fell like scales from his eyes, and Saul was now able to see how the Scriptures actually pointed to Jesus. This suggests to me that Saul’s previous issue with unbelief had more to do with his will and his heart than with his intellect. When our will and our heart are hardened and we refuse to believe, there is no evidence that can convince us. But a supernatural encounter with Jesus softened Saul’s will and heart, in addition to showing Saul evidence for the reality of Jesus’ resurrection. Faith is more an issue of the heart and the will than it is of the intellect.
Lord Jesus, thank You that rather than destroying us in Your wrath, You prefer to win us to Your side. Thank You that, like Paul, You have chosen each of us to proclaim Your name. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
