Now
there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!” He said, “Behold, it’s me, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Arise, and go to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judah for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying, and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in, and laying his hands on him, that he might receive his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he did to your saints at Jerusalem. Here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”
Acts 9:10-14
Acts 9 [7.] The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the sound, but seeing no one. Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. They led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. He was without sight for three days, and neither ate nor drank.
Acts 9 [10.] Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
He said, “Behold, it’s me, Lord.”
Acts 9 [11.] The Lord said to him, “Arise, and go to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judah for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying, and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in, and laying his hands on him, that he might receive his sight.”
Acts 9 [13.] But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he did to your saints at Jerusalem. Here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”
Acts 9 [15.] But the Lord said to him, “Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
Meaning:
Saul has been struck blind on the road and led into Damascus, where for three days he neither ate nor drank (Acts 9:7-9). Jesus had told him that in the city he would be told what to do. Now the Lord speaks to the person who will tell him: an ordinary believer who knew Saul only by his frightening reputation.
- “a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias”
Ananias was not an apostle or a leader from Jerusalem. Paul later described him as “a devout man according to the law, well reported of by all the Jews who lived in Damascus” (Acts 22:12). His name, a form of the Hebrew Hananiah, means “Yahweh is gracious,” fitting for the man who would bring grace to the church’s enemy. He is not the Ananias who lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1) nor the high priest of that name who later had Paul struck (Acts 23:2). The fact that there were disciples in Damascus shows how far the Good News had already spread.
- “Behold, it’s me, Lord.”
Ananias answers like the servants of God before him. Samuel learned to say, “Speak; for your servant hears” (1 Samuel 3:10), and Isaiah replied, “Here I am. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8). Ananias is ready to listen before he knows what will be asked of him.
- “go to the street which is called Straight”
Damascus had a long main street running straight through the city from east to west, and a street of that name can still be visited in the old city today. The Lord gives exact directions: the street, the house of Judah, the name of the guest and his home town. Saul was “a man of Tarsus,” the city in Cilicia he later called “no insignificant city” (Acts 21:39). The Lord who knows every street knows every person in it.
- “For behold, he is praying”
The man who had been “breathing threats and slaughter” is now praying. God had already shown Saul in a vision that a man named Ananias would come and lay hands on him. The Lord was preparing both men at once, just as he would later prepare both Cornelius and Peter with visions before they met (Acts 10:3-6).
- “Lord, I have heard from many about this man”
Ananias does not hide his fear. Saul’s reputation had reached Damascus before him: “how much evil he did to your saints at Jerusalem.” This is the first time Acts calls believers “saints,” people set apart for God. Ananias also knew why Saul had come: to “bind all who call on your name.” Christians were known as those who call on the name of Jesus, fulfilling the promise quoted at Pentecost: “whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21). Like Moses, who pleaded, “Oh, Lord, please send someone else” (Exodus 4:13), Ananias speaks honestly to God. The Lord answers his objection in the next verse (Acts 9:15).
The Significance of Acts 9:10-14
- Honest prayer and obedience
Ananias told the Lord exactly what he feared, and then he obeyed. God welcomes honest questions; what matters is that we listen to his answer and go where he sends us.
- Ordinary people, extraordinary purposes
God chose an unknown disciple to welcome the future apostle to the Gentiles. Faithful believers who will never be famous are often the ones God uses to change a life.
Cross-References:
Acts 22:12: “One Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well reported of by all the Jews who lived in Damascus.” Paul remembers Ananias.
1 Samuel 3:10: “Speak; for your servant hears.” Samuel’s response to God’s call.
Isaiah 6:8: “Here I am. Send me!” Isaiah’s readiness to go.
Exodus 4:13: “Oh, Lord, please send someone else.” Moses’ honest reluctance.
Conclusion: The Lord spoke in a vision to Ananias, an ordinary disciple in Damascus, and gave him exact directions to the house where Saul was praying. Ananias answered readily but voiced his fear, because Saul had come to arrest all who call on the name of Jesus. His honest question prepared the way for the Lord’s reply that Saul was his chosen vessel.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible