The Word Made Fresh
1In the meantime Saul had been threatening to arrest and execute the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest 2and asked for letters to the synagogues at Damascus so he could bind and bring to Jerusalem any followers of the Way, men and women alike. 3But as he traveled toward Damascus a sudden light flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why must you harass me?”
5“Who are you, Lord?” he asked
“I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. 6But now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7The men who were traveling with Saul were astounded because they heard the voice but could see no one. 8Saul stood up, but even though his eyes were open he couldn’t see anything. They led him by the hand to Damascus. 9For three days he was unable to see, and he didn’t eat or drink.
10There was a disciple in Damascus, one Ananias, to whom the Lord appeared in a vision and spoke to him. “Ananias,” the Lord said.
“I’m here, Lord,” he answered.
11The Lord said, “Get up. Go to Straight Street to the house of Judas and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying. 12He has been given a vision of a man named Ananias coming in to place hands on him so that he might see.”
13Ananias protested, “Lord, I have heard people tell about this man. He has persecuted your followers in Jerusalem, 14and the chief priests have given him the authority to arrest everyone who calls on your name.”
15The Lord answered, “Go to him. I have chosen him as the one who will proclaim my name to Gentiles and kings, as well as to the people of Israel. 16I will show him how he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
17Ananias went and when he entered the house he placed his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you while you were on your way here has sent me that you might recover your sight, and that you might be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
18At once, something resembling scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see. Then he rose, and was baptized. 19Then he took some food, and his strength was restored. He stayed with the disciples in Damascus for several days.
20Right away he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21Everyone who heard him was shocked. They said, “Isn’t this the man who caused so much disarray in Jerusalem among those who called on this name? Didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them in bonds to the chief priests?”
22Saul’s popularity increased, and the Jews in Damascus were confused when he proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah. 23After some time passed, the Jews began to plan ways to kill him, 24but Saul got wind of this. They watched the city gates day and night to arrest him and put him to death, 25but his followers took him at night to an opening in the wall where they lowered him to the ground in a basket.
26When he returned to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were afraid of him. They didn’t believe he had become a follower. 27Then Barnabas led him to the apostles and explained how Saul had seen the Lord on the road, how the Lord had spoken to him and how he had boldly proclaimed the name of Jesus in Damascus. 28After that he was able to go in and out among the followers in Jerusalem, and he spoke out bravely in the Lord’s name. 29He debated with the Hellenists, but they plotted to have him put to death. 30When his fellow believers caught wind of it they escorted him to Caesarea and then sent him to Tarsus.
31During this time the church, throughout Judea and Galilee and Samaria, was at peace and was growing. They feared the Lord and were comforted by the Holy Spirit, and their numbers continued to increase.
32Peter traveled here and there among the believers, and visited the saints in Lydda. 33There he met a man named Aeneas who was paralyzed, and had been bedridden for eight years. 34Peter said, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ has healed you. Get up, and straighten your bed.” Aeneas got up! 35Everybody living in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they began to turn to the Lord.
35In Joppa, there was a disciple named Tabitha (or Dorcas in Greek). She devoted herself to doing good works and deeds of charity. 37She became ill and died. They prepared her body and placed it in an upstairs room. 38Lydda was near Joppa, so the disciples who heard that Peter was there sent two men to him. They begged him to come without delay. 39Peter went with them, and when they arrived they took him to the room upstairs. Other widows were standing there. They wept as they showed him tunics and other articles of clothing that Dorcas had made while she was living. 40But Peter put all of them outside, then knelt down and prayed. He turned to her body and said, “Tabitha, awake!” She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41He gave her a hand and helped her get up. Then he called the saints and the widows and showed them that she was alive. 42Everybody in Joppa heard about it, and many of them believed in the Lord.
43Peter remained in Joppa for some time, staying with a tanner named Simon.
Commentary
1-9: Saul hears that some of the followers of the Way are now in Damascus, and zealously seeks to expand his mop-up operation to the synagogues there. (This is the first time the Jesus movement has been called “The Way.” See also 18:25-26; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22.) These first Christians were Jews who naturally are bringing their message to the synagogues of their fellow Jews, and that is particularly threatening to the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. The story of Paul’s conversion experience on the road to Damascus is repeated at Acts 22:6-11 and 26:12-18, each time with rather interesting differences. He is suddenly accosted by a flashing light that makes him fall to the ground. He hears a voice, which identifies itself as Jesus, telling him to go into the city to receive instructions. Saul is blinded by the light and must be led by the hand into Damascus where he fasts for three days, like Jonah in the whale and Jesus in the tomb.
10-19: Saul is at the house of one Judas. A disciple named Ananias receives a message in a vision to go to Judas’ house where he will find Saul, who has been given a vision of his coming. Ananias is at first reluctant because of Saul’s reputation, but the voice persists, telling Ananias that this Saul has been chosen to take the gospel to the Gentiles. He goes and lays his hands on Saul, and Saul’s eyes are opened, and he is filled with the Holy Spirit, although no outward signs of the Spirit’s presence are mentioned.
20-22: Saul begins to proclaim Jesus as the Son of God in the synagogues in Damascus; quite a turn around.
23-25: The leaders of the synagogues decide they will have to do away with Saul, but their plot is uncovered, and Saul escapes the city with the help of “his disciples.” He already has followers!
26-30: Back in Jerusalem Saul tries to join the other disciples, but they want nothing to do with him. Barnabas, however, has heard about Saul’s doings in Damascus and represents him to the others. (We met Barnabas earlier — see 4:36-37.) Saul is an argumentative little guy, though, and before long he’s made the Hellenists mad at him. Stephen, you will recall, was chosen to minister to the widows among the Hellenists (chapter 7). In fact, Stephen is a Greek name, so he was himself a Hellenist. By now, however, the Greek Jews are tired of their number being proselytized, and they are ready to kill Saul. The “believers” (the Hellenists who have converted to the Way) get wind of it and take Saul down to Caesarea and put him on a boat to Tarsus. In other words, they send him back home. He is a bit much for them.
31: Now that Saul is gone, peace settles over the land.
32-35: Lydda is about 20 miles west-northwest of Jerusalem, toward the coast. Peter is making the rounds of the believers in the outlying areas of Judea, which brings him eventually to Lydda, located in the coastal plain of Sharon. There he finds a paralyzed man named Aeneas, and heals him in the name of Jesus Christ. The miracle sparks the conversion of the entire area to the Way.
36-43: Joppa is on the coast about eight miles west of Lydda. Peter is summoned there because of the death of Tabitha/Dorcas. Verse 36 reads as though there has been a Christian presence in Joppa for quite some time. In a scene reminiscent of Jesus healing the synagogue ruler’s daughter (Mark 5: 40-42), Peter puts everybody out of the room where her body is laid, and prays her back to life. News of her resuscitation draws many others to the Way, just as it did when Jesus began to work miracles in Galilee.
Takeaway
We seldom hear about such miracles today. It is as if God has decided to leave the “miracles” to us in the way we live and draw others into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.