Year 1, Day 242: Acts 9

The Depth of Paul’s Pit of Despair

I find this third mention of Paul amusing as well, simply because the point I made of it yesterday.  First we hear of Paul approving of Stephen’s death.  Then we hear about Paul ravaging the Church.  Now we hear about Paul not being content with the ravaging in Jerusalem so he has permission to go to the countryside (or at least Damascus) and persecute any follower of Christ.  Oh how the mighty have indeed fallen.  But just because they are fallen does not mean God cannot lift them up!

Personal Jesus

That is actually precisely what happens.  Paul is on his way to Damascus when Jesus makes it a point to introduce Himself.  I love Jesus’ introduction: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”  Jesus doesn’t say, “I am Jesus and you’re persecuting those who follow me.”  Rather, Jesus says that Paul is persecuting Jesus personally. 

It is easy for us to think of God in heaven, watching us struggle against this world – or more precisely watching this world struggle against us.  But that is just not true.  God takes the persecution personally and feels each and every attempt.  Jesus knows it is Him that the world hates.  But the world cannot harm Him any longer, so the world attacks His followers and His ways instead.  But they are really still assaulting Jesus.  He knows it.  He does take it personally.

Opened by God

I also love the description of Acts 9:8.  The Greek literally says (and I’m intentionally going to leave the word order in its original form so it may sound a bit like Yoda):  “And got up Paul from the earth, and after having been opened his eyes nothing he was seeing.  And after leading him by the hands they brought into Damascus.”  There are a couple of reasons why I love this description. 

First, the word for “after having been opened” (ἀνεῳγμένων) is in the passive voice and the perfect tense.  In ancient writings this is a voice/tense combination reserved for the work of deities.  This is because the perfect tense describes action that was done in the past, the effects continue into the present, and the effects will likely continue being done in the future.  Only divine beings can accomplish that kind of action, especially in the passive voice! 

Because of the tense/voice of this passage we know for certain that Luke is telling us that Paul’s eyes were opened by God.  They weren’t opened by Paul’s sudden willingness to follow or by the righteousness of Ananias.  They were opened by God.

Furthermore, we know that the opening of Paul’s eyes was a process.  It started in the past (Paul’s hatred of the followers of Christ), the effects were still happening now (The Damascus Road moment), and they will continue in the future (Paul’s ministry).  In other words, this Damascus Road moment isn’t the end, but just some point in the middle of Paul’s faith journey.  Paul has got more room to grow!  Is this not true for us?  We think of the mountaintop experiences as great moments of faith, but the truth is that spirituality is a journey, not a point in time.

The other reason I love this description is because of the word order in that same section.  The verbs are on the opposite ends with the nouns being in the middle (after having been opened his eyes nothing he was seeing).  The verbs are intentionally out-of-place in the traditional word order to bring attention to them.  (Proper word order would be: after his eyes having been opened he was seeing nothing.)  Although God was in the process of opening Paul’s eyes, he was still not truly ready to see yet. 

Again, how true is this?  We think we are ready to see God, but most of the time we are not ready.  How patient is God?  God spends years – decades! – preparing us for ministry.  And we want it now whether we are ready or not.  Ha!  How blind we really are in truth.

Ananias

I also want to take a good look at Ananias here.  Notice that Ananias and God have a little discussion about what God wants him to do.  There is nothing wrong with asking God about His plan.  There is everything wrong with doubting God’s plan.  Ananias neither refuses God’s way nor does he doubt.  He merely asks for clarification.  He says to God something like, “You know, I’ve heard about this guy and he’s bad news for someone like me.  I’m just making sure I heard you right.”  God reaffirms the message, and Ananias follows God’s will.  It’s a beautiful thing.  God doesn’t mind questions and asking for clarification as long as we are genuinely willing to do whatever He asks of us – whether for our benefit or even destruction.  After all, remember Stephen’s example from a few chapters back?

Barnabas and Peter

I’m nearly out of space, but I want to talk about Barnabas and Peter before I end.  So let’s talk briefly about Barnabas here.  The Jerusalem disciples – who were likely still mostly directly tied to the Apostles since they remained in Jerusalem when the followers of Jesus scattered – are afraid of Paul and won’t let him into their trust. 

That doesn’t sound familiar at all, does it?  What is one of the hardest parts of repentance?  One of the hardest things about repenting is regaining trust. 

Fortunately Paul had Barnabas as an ally.  Barnabas had a great reputation for being faithful and generous.  When Barnabas steps up to vouch for Paul, Paul benefits from Barnabas’ action.  Notice that Paul is careful not to allow his actions to tarnish Barnabas’ reputation.  Paul takes what Barnabas does for him seriously.  Thanks be to God that there are faithful people who are capable of looking beyond a person’s past and into their future!

Peter and Spiritual Power

We’re almost to the part where we lose Peter in the story, so allow me to talk about the healing of Aeneas and the resurrection of Dorcas.  I use resurrection there because the Bible clearly says she died – but not in the sense that she was raised into perfection as Jesus Christ was raised.  Peter heals Aenaes in Christ’s name. 

It is clear that the power was Christ’s power and that the glory should be given to God.  Again we see a healing done not for the benefit of people but for the proclamation of God’s name.  The same is true for Dorcas.  Acts 9:42 tells us that when people saw what had happened they believed in the Lord.  They didn’t believe in Peter or Dorcas, they believed in the Lord.  So it should be with us.  When God uses His power to work through us, we should be sure to turn to the Lord and give Him the glory.

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