¹⁷So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; ¹⁹and he took food and was strengthened . . .

How do you go from seeing a man as the arch-enemy of everything you believe, and as someone who is out to harass you, to embracing him as a brother in the cause? To call that difficult would be an understatement. Ananias took God at His word (as revealed in a vision) that Saul was changed, but to emotionally accept the former detractor who breathed “threats and murder” against Christians—that would be another story!

Ananias, being the man of God that he was, responded graciously, reaching out with a term of warm fellowship, “Brother Saul.” This made a huge impression on Saul, for when he, more than twenty years later, recounted his conversion story in his defense in Jerusalem, quoted these exact words (Acts 22:13). This was not the plural form of general kinship or fellow countrymen. Ananias immediately accepted Saul as a member of God’s family through Jesus Christ.

One of the hallmarks of the early Christians was the emphasis on the lordship of Jesus Christ. Ananias did not refer to “Jesus” but to “the Lord Jesus.” Notice also Ananias’ proclamation, “the Lord . . . has sent me.” He was on assignment, not acting on his own advisement. This was completely against natural human nature, but allegiance to his Lord compelled him to go to Saul. After his initial hesitation in Acts 9:13–14, he needed no further convincing: the Lord had spoken!

The details in this story are fascinating. Ananias’ only source of information on Saul’s experience on the road to Damascus was through the vision. He mentions this as a point of connection with Saul and verification of the message. Saul had received a divine message about Ananias as well (see Acts 9:11–12). The same Lord had spoken to both, choreographing the entire event.

The result was that Saul immediately received his sight. He was blind, but now he could see (compare with the blind man’s healing in John 9:25). Saul could now see spiritually, and his life would never be the same. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, empowered for the service for which God had chosen him. And he was baptized, identifying with the Lord Jesus Christ, which was—and still is—the first response of new believers to the grace of God in salvation.

Lord, I identify with those who are persecuted for their belief in the Lord Jesus.