Commentary - Acts 9:1-19

Bird's-eye view

The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is, apart from the resurrection of Jesus Christ Himself, arguably the most pivotal event in the history of the early church. Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, recognizes its importance by giving us three separate accounts of it in the book of Acts. This is not simply the story of one man's spiritual turnaround; it is the story of God sovereignly arresting the chief enemy of His people and transforming him into the chief apostle to the Gentiles. It is a raw display of irresistible grace. Saul, a man of ferocious zeal and murderous intent, is literally knocked off his high horse by the glorified Christ. The persecutor becomes the preacher, the hunter becomes the hunted, and the entire trajectory of redemptive history is altered by a flash of light on a dusty road to Damascus.

This passage is a textbook case of divine election and effectual calling. Saul was not seeking Jesus; he was seeking to destroy Jesus' followers. But Jesus was seeking Saul. The encounter is violent, unilateral, and utterly transformative. It reveals the profound union between Christ and His church ("Why are you persecuting Me?"), establishes the pattern for Paul's future ministry (a chosen instrument to suffer for the Name), and demonstrates God's method of using ordinary, faithful men like Ananias to accomplish His extraordinary purposes. The story of Saul's conversion is the gospel in miniature: a blind, dead sinner, hostile to God, is sovereignly brought to life, given new sight, and incorporated into the body of Christ through baptism, all by a grace that is as shocking as it is absolute.

Outline

Context In Acts

This chapter marks a major turning point in the narrative of Acts. The gospel, having been established in Jerusalem (Acts 1-7) and then scattered throughout Judea and Samaria by persecution (Acts 8), is now poised to launch into the Gentile world. The agent of that persecution, Saul, is about to become the agent of that expansion. His conversion immediately follows the martyrdom of Stephen, in which Saul played a key role (Acts 7:58, 8:1), and the preaching of the gospel in Samaria by Philip. The stage has been set. The church has weathered its first great storm of persecution, and in that storm, the seeds of the gospel were scattered. Now, God takes the very man who was fanning the flames of that storm and drafts him to carry the fire of the gospel to the ends of the earth. Saul's conversion is the hinge on which the door to the Gentile mission swings wide open, fulfilling the commission of Acts 1:8.

Key Issues

The Enemy's Surrender

There is no neutrality in the spiritual realm. You are either for Christ or against Him. Saul of Tarsus was emphatically against Him. He was not a passive skeptic or a curious agnostic. He was a man on a mission, fueled by a white-hot religious zeal that manifested as "threats and murder." He was, by his own later admission, a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man (1 Tim 1:13). He was the tip of the spear in the Jewish establishment's attempt to crush the fledgling Christian movement. And it is precisely this man, the chief of sinners, that God chooses to make the chief of apostles. This is not a story about a good man getting better. It is a story about a dead man being made alive. It is a story of warfare and unconditional surrender. Jesus Christ did not invite Saul to a parley; He invaded his life, conquered his rebellious heart, and enlisted him into His own army. This is how the kingdom of God advances, not by negotiation, but by divine conquest.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1-2 Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Luke does not paint a flattering picture. Saul is not just disagreeing with the Christians; he is breathing threats and murder. This is the very air in his lungs. His life's passion is the eradication of the church. This is not a low-level functionary; he is proactive, going to the high priest to obtain the legal authority to extradite Christians from a foreign city, Damascus. His authority is official, sanctioned by the highest religious body in Judaism. He is hunting for any who belong to the Way, one of the earliest names for the Christian faith. It is a beautiful name, identifying Christianity not as a set of abstract doctrines, but as a path to be walked, a manner of life centered on Jesus, who is the Way. Saul's intent is comprehensive and pitiless; he is after men and women alike, to drag them in chains back to Jerusalem for trial and, very likely, execution.

3-4 And as he was traveling, it happened that when he was approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

Just as he is about to spring his trap, Saul is himself ambushed. The attack comes not from men, but from heaven. A light, which Paul later describes as brighter than the noonday sun (Acts 26:13), overwhelms him. This is not natural lightning; this is the Shekinah glory of the risen Christ. It is an act of war. He is thrown to the ground, a posture of utter submission. Then comes the voice, a voice of piercing intimacy and shocking accusation. The double address, "Saul, Saul," conveys both urgency and a personal appeal. And the question is devastating: "Why are you persecuting Me?" Not "my followers," not "my church," but "Me." In this one sentence, Jesus establishes the non-negotiable, mystical union between Himself and His people. To touch the church is to touch Christ. To persecute the saints is to persecute their King.

5-6 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but rise up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”

Saul's question is telling. He recognizes the speaker as a divine authority; he calls him Lord (Kurios). But he does not know who this Lord is. The answer must have hit him like a thunderbolt: "I am Jesus." The very man whose followers he was hunting, the crucified Nazarene he believed to be a fraud, is in fact the glorious Lord of heaven. The foundation of Saul's entire worldview is obliterated in an instant. The persecutor is now confronted by the persecuted, who is also his Lord and Judge. Jesus does not engage in a long debate. The argument is over. He gives a simple, direct command. Get up, go into the city, and await further instructions. The proud, self-directed Pharisee is now under new management. He is to obey without question.

7-8 And the men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. And Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. Leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.

His companions are witnesses, but not participants. They are aware of the supernatural event, hearing a sound but not discerning the words, and seeing the light but not the person of Christ. This confirms the reality of the event while highlighting its personal nature for Saul. When Saul gets up, the great hunter is now helpless. The brilliant Pharisee is blind. He who thought he saw everything so clearly now sees nothing at all. This physical blindness is a perfect picture of his spiritual state. He had been blind all along, and God had to strike him blind physically to make him see spiritually. The man who came to lead away prisoners is now himself led by the hand, a humbled, dependent man, brought into the very city he meant to terrorize.

9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

For three days, Saul is in a state of sensory deprivation and fasting. This is a period of intense, forced introspection. It is his tomb. He is dying to his old self, his old ambitions, his old religion. The number three is surely significant, echoing the three days his new Lord spent in the tomb. Saul is being crucified with Christ. Everything he was is being put to death. His fasting is not a work to earn favor, but the natural response of a man whose world has been turned upside down, a man utterly undone by his encounter with the living God.

10-12 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.”

Now the scene shifts from the conquered enemy to an ordinary, faithful disciple. Ananias is not an apostle or a famous leader; he is simply a disciple. His response to the Lord's call is the classic response of the faithful: "Here I am, Lord." God gives him a series of very specific instructions: a street, a house, a man's name, and his hometown. God is the master of logistics. And He gives Ananias two crucial pieces of intelligence. First, Saul is praying. The man who was breathing threats is now breathing prayers. This is the first sign of new life. Second, God has already prepared Saul for Ananias's visit through a corresponding vision. God is working on both ends of the line, orchestrating events with perfect, sovereign precision.

13-14 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”

Ananias's hesitation is not born of disobedience, but of a very reasonable prudence. He is not telling the Lord anything He doesn't already know, but he is processing the sheer shock of the command. "Lord, are you sure? Do you know who this man is?" Saul's reputation has preceded him. He is Public Enemy Number One for the church. Ananias knows that Saul has come to Damascus with the legal authority to arrest him and everyone he loves. To go to this man's house feels like walking into a lion's den. This is a healthy fear, and it shows that Ananias is not naive.

15-16 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”

The Lord overrules Ananias's objection not with a rebuke, but with a revelation. "Go." The command is repeated. And then the reason: Saul is a chosen instrument. The word for instrument is skeuos, a vessel or a tool. Saul is a tool, hand-picked by God for a specific task. His mission is threefold: to carry the name of Jesus to the Gentiles, to kings, and to the Jewish people. This is the blueprint for the entire book of Acts. But this high calling comes with a high cost. God's next statement is sobering: "I will show him how much he must suffer for My name." The grace that saves Saul is the grace that will lead him into a life of profound suffering. The persecutor will become the persecuted. This is the paradoxical glory of the gospel.

17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And he laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord sent me, that is Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Ananias obeys. His fear is overcome by faith in God's word. His first word to the church's greatest enemy is "Brother." This is a radical act of forgiveness and acceptance. He does not put Saul on probation. He does not lecture him. He welcomes him into the family of God. He confirms Saul's experience on the road, naming Jesus as the Lord who appeared to him. He then states his purpose, which is twofold: Saul will regain his physical sight, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. The laying on of hands is the physical sign of this spiritual transaction, a transfer of blessing and commissioning.

18-19 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he rose up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened.

The healing is immediate and visible. Something like scales falls from his eyes, a physical manifestation of his spiritual blindness being removed. He can see again, both physically and spiritually. His first act as a seeing man is to be baptized. Baptism is the sign and seal of his inclusion in the covenant community. It is his public declaration of allegiance to the Jesus he once persecuted. It is his burial and resurrection with Christ. He is washed, not just with water, but with the Holy Spirit. Having been brought from death to life, healed of his blindness, and incorporated into the church, he finally eats. His three-day fast is broken. He is strengthened physically, ready to begin his new life as a chosen instrument of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Application

The story of Saul's conversion should, first of all, fill us with a profound sense of awe at the absolute sovereignty of God. There is no heart so hard that God cannot break it. There is no sinner so far gone that God cannot save him. Saul's conversion is a standing rebuke to all our timid evangelism and our faithless despair over lost friends and family. God can save anyone, anytime, anywhere. He delights in taking His worst enemies and making them His most valiant champions, because it puts His glory and His grace on display most spectacularly.

Secondly, we must grasp the deep solidarity between Christ and His people. When the church is mocked, Christ is mocked. When a believer is persecuted for righteousness' sake, Christ is persecuted. This should give us immense courage in the face of opposition. We are not alone in our sufferings; the Head in heaven feels the afflictions of His body on earth. It should also give us a profound love and respect for our fellow believers. To love the church is to love Christ; to serve the church is to serve Christ.

Finally, we should see the role of Ananias as a model for our own. God could have done everything supernaturally, but He chose to use a regular, ordinary disciple to welcome Saul into the kingdom. God delights to use human instruments. We are not all called to be apostles like Paul, but we are all called to be faithful like Ananias, ready to speak a word of welcome, to extend a hand of fellowship, and to obey the Lord even when it seems risky or counter-intuitive. Our job is to go when He says "go," and to call "brother" whomever He has chosen.