Monday 08 May 2023

Background

This is quite a detailed account of Saul’s conversion. Saul has been persecuting the Church, which is a sanitised way of saying he did everything he could to try to find, attack and destroy individual Christians. His ‘murderous threats’ (v. 1) should be taken literally. And to underline all this, and likely because there were others similar to Saul at work in Jerusalem, he takes the initiative to head to Damascus to search for Christians there. It doesn’t get much worse that this. And then, on the journey, his life is transformed and Saul develops eventually into the apostle Paul. It is all about amazing transformation.

Take a look at the role of Ananias. He’s a Christian in Damascus and has heard all about Saul so is far from enthusiastic in responding to God’s call to meet him. And it is likely this would have been our initial response as well. But Ananias is willing and the rest is history. Ananias has a clear relationship with God to the extent that he can understand God’s direct challenge; he is courageous and willing to risk his very life for the sake of the gospel; and he is generous and forgiving. When Ananias meets Saul he immediately calls him ‘brother’. He welcomes and accepts Saul into the family of Christianity, and ministers to him with prayer and laying on his hands. This is a further element in how God transforms Saul.

Our passage today is about Saul’s conversion to become a follower of Jesus, but it is also essentially about an ordinary Christian who is obedient to God and is a part of how God worked in Paul’s life. We can miss the ordinary Ananias and focus on the far from ordinary Saul/Paul. But perhaps it's Ananias who is actually the more relatable character here.

To Ponder:

• Who will you minister to this week?
• If Saul can change, anyone can change – is that how you really see others?

Prayer

Gracious God, may I be privileged enough to impact lives around me and be part of how you draw people to yourself.