Ananias
departed, and entered into the house. Laying his hands on him, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me, that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he received his sight. He arose and was baptized. He took food and was strengthened. Saul stayed several days with the disciples who were at Damascus.
Acts 9:17-19
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.”
Acts 9 [17.] Ananias departed, and entered into the house. Laying his hands on him, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me, that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he received his sight. He arose and was baptized. He took food and was strengthened. Saul stayed several days with the disciples who were at Damascus. Immediately in the synagogues he proclaimed the Christ, that he is the Son of God. All who heard him were amazed, and said, “Isn’t this he who in Jerusalem made havoc of those who called on this name? And he had come here intending to bring them bound before the chief priests!”
Acts 9 [22.] But Saul increased more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived at Damascus, proving that this is the Christ. When many days were fulfilled, the Jews conspired together to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. They watched the gates both day and night that they might kill him, but his disciples took him by night, and let him down through the wall, lowering him in a basket. When Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join himself to the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. He was with them entering into Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus. He spoke and disputed against the Hellenists, but they were seeking to kill him.
Meaning:
The Lord had answered Ananias’ fears: Saul was his chosen vessel, and he would suffer much for the name of Jesus (Acts 9:15; Acts 9:16). Ananias now goes to the house on Straight Street. In these verses the persecutor is welcomed, healed, filled with the Spirit, baptized and received into the fellowship of the believers he came to arrest.
- “Laying his hands on him, he said, ‘Brother Saul’”
The first word Ananias speaks is “Brother.” Only days before, Saul had come to bind men like him. Now Ananias places his hands on him and greets him as one of the family. Paul would later teach that believers are “no longer strangers and foreigners, but … fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). He first experienced that welcome in Damascus.
- “the Lord, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me”
Ananias confirms that Saul’s experience was real and that the Lord who appeared to him was Jesus. In Paul’s later account Ananias also tells him, “The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth” (Acts 22:14).
- “that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit”
Saul receives the Spirit through the ministry of an ordinary disciple rather than an apostle. Acts describes the gift of the Spirit coming in different ways: after repentance and baptism at Pentecost (Acts 2:38), through the apostles’ hands in Samaria (Acts 8:14-17), and before baptism in Cornelius’ house (Acts 10:44). Christians draw different conclusions from these accounts about how and when the Spirit is received, but all agree that Saul’s new life and mission were the work of the Holy Spirit.
- “something like scales fell from his eyes”
The phrase has become a common saying for suddenly seeing the truth. Saul’s physical sight returned, and with it came a new understanding of Jesus. The Servant in Isaiah was sent “to open the blind eyes” (Isaiah 42:7), and Saul himself would be sent to open the eyes of others.
- “He arose and was baptized”
Saul was baptized before he even ate. In Paul’s own account Ananias urges, “Arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). Christians understand the link between baptism and forgiveness in different ways, some seeing baptism as a means through which God gives grace, others as an outward sign of the inner cleansing received by faith. Paul himself taught that in baptism believers are joined to Christ’s death and resurrection “so we also might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
- “Saul stayed several days with the disciples who were at Damascus”
He ate, regained his strength and stayed with the believers. Paul later wrote that after his call he “went away into Arabia” and then “returned to Damascus” (Galatians 1:17). Luke does not mention Arabia, and readers place that journey at different points in the story.
The Significance of Acts 9:17-19
- Welcome the new believer
Ananias’ “Brother Saul” shows how the church should receive those who turn to Christ, however dark their past. Forgiveness from God should be matched by welcome from his people.
- A new beginning
Healing, the Spirit, baptism and fellowship came together in a few days. In Christ old things pass away, and a new life begins.
Cross-References:
Acts 22:16: “Arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Ananias’ words in Paul’s account.
Isaiah 42:7: “to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon.” The Servant’s mission.
Romans 6:4: “We were buried therefore with him through baptism to death.” Paul’s teaching on baptism.
Ephesians 2:19: “You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints.” The family Saul joined.
Conclusion: Ananias obeyed the Lord, laid his hands on Saul and called him “Brother.” Saul’s sight was restored, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and baptized, and he stayed with the very disciples he had come to arrest. The welcome of one faithful believer opened the door for the man who would carry the Good News to the nations.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible