Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #14 - 9:1-30)
X. 9:1-30 SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN SAUL'S CONVERSION
A. 9:1-9 SAUL ARRESTED IN HIS RAGING
1. 9:1-2 SAUL RAGES AGAINST DISCIPLES EVEN TO DAMASCUS
Ho de SAUlos, Eti enPNEon [1709]apeiLES [547]kai PHOnou [5408]
But Saul, yet breathing threatening and slaughter
eis tous ma-theTAS tou KuRIou, pro-selTHON toar-chi-eREI,
against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,
eTEsa-to par' auTOU e-pi-stoLAS [1992]eis Da-maSKON pros tas su-na-goGAS;
2andasked him for letters to :Damascus unto the synagogues;
HOpos eAN ti-nas HEUretes hoDOU [3598]ONtas, ANdras te
so that if he found any that were of the Way, whether men
kai guNAIkas, de-deMEnous [1210] aGAge eis Ie-rou-saLEM.
or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
2. 9:3-9 SAUL CONFRONTED BY JESUS AS THE RISEN LORD
a. 9:3-4 A LIGHT AND VOICE FROM HEAVEN
En de to poREUe-sai, eGEne-to auTON egGIzein teDa-maSKO:
And as he journeyed, it came to pass that he drew nigh to :Damascus:
eXEPHnes [1810]te auTON pe-riEstra-psen [4015]phos ek tou ou-raNOU:
and suddenly a light out of :heaven shone about him:
kai peSON ePI ten gen, Ekou-sen phoNEN
4and he fell upon the earth, andheard a voice
LEgou-san auTO, SaOUL, SaOUL, TI me diOkeis [1377]?
saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
b. 9:5a And he said, Who are you, Lord? EIpen de, Tis ei, KUri-e?
c. 9:5b-6 JESUS' ANSWER
ho de, E-GO ei-mi IeSOUS, hon su diOkeis:
And he said, I am Jesus, whom you persecute:
alLA aNAste-thi [450], kai EIsel-the eis ten POlin, kai la-leTHEseTAI soi HOti se dei poiEIN.
6but rise, and enter into the city, and it shall be told you what you must do.
d. 9:7. EFFECT ON PAUL'S COMPANIONS
hoi de ANdres hoi su-noDEUon-tes [4922] auTO hiSTEkei-san e-neOI [1769],
And the men that journeyed with him stood speechless,
aKOUon-tes men tes phoNES, meDEna de the-oROUNtes.
hearing the voice, but beholding no one.
e. 9:8 BLINDNESS ON SAUL: RESULT OF HEAVENLY VISION
eGERthede SAUlos aPO tes ges;
And Saul arose from the earth;
a-ne-ogMEnon [455]de ton oph-thalMON auTOU, ouDEN Eble-pen;
and when his :eyes were opened, he saw nothing;
chei-ra-goGOUNtes [5496]de auTON, eiSEga-gon [1521]eis Da-maSKON.
and they led him by the hand, andbrought him into Damascus.
f. 9:9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
kai en heMEras treis me BLEpon, kai ouk Epha-gen ouDE Epi-en [4095].
B. 9:10-19a SAUL'S SALVATION AND HEALING THROUGH ANANIAS
a.. 9:10a THE LORD COMMISSIONS ANANIAS THROUGH VISION
En de tis ma-theTES en Da-maSKO, oNOma-ti Ha-naNIas;
Now a certain disciple was at Damascus, Ananias by name;
kai EIpen pros auTON en hoRAma-ti [3705] ho KUri-os, Ha-naNIa.
and the Lord said unto him in a vision, Ananias.
b. 9:10b And he said, Lo, here am I, Lord. ho de EIpen, I-DOU, eGO, KUri-e.
c. 9:11-12 SAUL'S VISION: HEALING THROUGH LAYING ON OF HANDS
ho de KUri-os pros auTON, A-naSTA, poREUthe-ti ePI ten 'RUmen ten ka-louMEnen EuTHEIan,
And the Lord saidunto him, Arise, and go to the street :called Straight,
kai ZEte-son en oiKIa IOUda, SAUlon oNOma-ti, TarSEa: iDOU gar, proSEUche-tai;
and inquire in thehouse of Judas for a Tarsian Saul by name: for lo, he prays;
kai EIden ANdra en hoRAma-ti [3705] Ha-naNIan oNOma-ti,
12and he has seen in a vision a man Ananias by name,
ei-selTHONta, kai e-piTHENta auTO tas CHEIras, HOpos a-naBLEpse.
coming in, and laying :hands on him, that he might receive hissight.
d. 9:13-14 ANANIAS OBJECTS
a-peKRIthe de Ha-naNIas, KUri-e, Ekou-sa aPO polLON peRI tou anDROS TOUtou,
But Ananias answered, Lord, I haveheard from many of this :man,
HOsa kaKA tois haGIois sou ePOIe-sen en Ie-rou-saLEM:
how much evil he did to your :saints at Jerusalem:
kai HOde Echei e-xouSIan paRA ton ar-chi-eREon
14and here he has authority from the chief priests
DEsai [1210] PANtas tous e-pi-ka-louMEnous to OnaMA sou.
to bind all that call upon your :name.
e. 9:15-16 THE LORD OVERRULES OBJECTIONS OF ANANIAS
EIpen de pros auTON ho KUri-os, PoREUou:
But the Lord said unto him, Go:
HOti SKEUos [4632] e-kloGES [1589] esTIN moi HOUtos, tou baSTAsai [941] to O-noMA mou
for HE is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my :name
eNOpi-on ton ethNON [1484] te kai ba-siLEon, huiON te Is-raEL:
both before the Gentiles and kings, and thesons of Israel:
eGO gar ho-poDEIxo [5263] auTO HOsa dei auTON huPER tou oNOmaTOS mou paTHEIN [3958].
16for I will show him how many thingshe must suffer for my :name.
f. 9:17 ANANIAS OBEYS THE LORD!
aPELthen de Ha-naNIas, kai eiSELthen eis ten oiKIan;
And Ananias went away, and went into the house;
kai e-piTHEIS [2007] ep' auTON tas CHEIras EIpen, SaOUL a-delPHE, ho KUri-os
and laying :hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, Jesus,
aPEstalKEN me, IeSOUS, ho ophTHEIS [3700] soi en te hoDO he ERchou,
who appeared to you in the way which you came,
HOpos a-naBLEpses [308], kai plesTHES [4130] PNEUma-tos HaGIou.
has sent me, that you may receive yoursight, and be filled with theHoly Spirit.
g. 9:18-19a IMMEDIATE RESULTS
kai euTHEos aPEpe-san [634] auTOU aPO ton oph-thalMON hos lePIdes [3013],
And straightway as if scales fell from his :eyes,
aNEblePSEN [308] te; kai a-naSTAS e-bapTISthe [907];
and he received hissight; and he arose andwas baptized;
kai laBON troPHEN e-nisCHUthe [1765].
19a and he took food andwas strengthened.
C. 9:19b-30 PERSECUTION IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWS SAUL'S PREACHING
1. 9:19b-22 SAUL REASONS STRONGLY OF JESUS AS THE CHRIST
a. 9:19b And he was certain days with the disciples at Damascus.
E-GEne-to de meTA ton en Da-maSKOma-theTON heMEras tiNAS.
b. 9:20 THE IMMEDIATE RESPONSE OF SAUL
kai euTHEos en tais su-na-goGAIS eKErus-sen ton IeSOUN,
And straightway in the synagogues he proclaimed :Jesus,
HOti HOU-TOS es-tin ho huiOS tou TheOU.
that this is the Son of :God.
c. 9:21 AMAZEMENT: RESPONSE OF HIS HEARERS
eXIstan-to [1839] de PANtes hoi aKOUon-tes, kai Ele-gon,
And all that heard himwere amazed, and said,
Ouch HOU-TOS es-tin ho porTHEsas [4199] en Ie-rou-saLEM
Is not this who in Jerusalem made havoc of them
tous e-pi-ka-louMEnous to Ono-ma TOUto? kai HOde eis TOUto e-leLUthei,
that called on this :name? and he had come here for this,
HIna de-deMEnous [1210] auTOUS aGAge ePI tous ar-chi-eREIS.
that he might bring them bound before the chief priests.
d. 9:22 THE AMAZING MINISTRY OF SAUL
SAUlos de MALlon e-ne-du-naMOUto [1743],
But Saul increased the more in strength,
kai suNEchun-nen [4797] IouDAIous tous ka-toiKOUNtas en Da-maSKO,
and confounded the Jews that dwelt at Damascus,
sun-biBAzon [4822] HOti HOU-TOS es-tin ho ChrisTOS.
proving that this is the Christ.
2. 9:23-25 SAUL ESCAPES DEATH IN DAMASCUS BY BASKET
a. 9:23-24a THE JEWS PLOT SAUL'S DEATH
HOS de e-pleROUNto [4137] heMErai hi-kaNAI, su-ne-bouLEUsan-to hoi 'IouDAIoi a-neLEIN auTON:
And when many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel together to kill him:
egNOSthe de to SAUlo he e-pi-bouLE auTON.
24a but their :plot became known to :Saul.
b. 9:24b-25 THE DISCIPLES DELIVER SAUL
pa-re-teROUNto [3906] de kai tas PUlas [4439] heMEras te kai nukTOS, HOpos auTON aNElo-sin:
And they also watched the gates both day and night, so that they might kill him:
laBONtes de hoi ma-theTAI auTOU nukTOS, diA tou TEIchous [5038]
25 but his :disciples took him by night, andlet him down
kaTHEkan [2524] auTON, chaLAsan-tes [5465] en sphuRIdi [4711].
through the wall, lowering him in a basket.
3. 9:26-30 PERSECUTION DRIVES SAUL FROM JERUSALEM TO TARSUS
a. 9:26 JERUSALEM DISCIPLES SUSPECT SAUL
Pa-ra-geNOme-nos [3854] de eis Ie-rou-saLEM,
And when he was come to Jerusalem,
ePEIra-zen [3987] kolLASthai [2419] tois ma-theTAIS: kai PANtes e-phoBOUNto [5399] auTON,
he attempted to join the disciples: and all were afraid of him,
me piSTEUon-tes HOti esTIN ma-theTES.
not believing that he was a disciple.
b. 9:27 BARNABAS HELPFULLY PRESENTS SAUL
BarNAbas de e-pi-laBOme-nos [1949] auTON Ega-gen pros tous a-poSTOlous,
But Barnabas took andbrought him unto the apostles,
kai di-eGEsa-to [1334] auTOIS pos en te hoDO EIden ton KUri-on, kai HOti eLAlesen auTO,
and rehearsed to them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him,
kai pos en Da-maSKO e-par-re-siAsa-to [3955] en to oNOma-ti IeSOU.
and how at Damascus he had done boldly in the name of Jesus.
c. 9:28-29 PAUL ROUSES ENMITY AMONG THE HELLENISTS
kai en met' auTON ei-spo-reuOme-nos [1531] kai ek-po-reuOme-nos [1607] eis Ie-rou-saLEM,
And he was with them going in and going out at Jerusalem,
par-re-si-aZOme-nos en to oNOma-ti tou KuRIou:
29doing boldly in the name of the Lord:
eLAlei te kai su-neZEtei [4802] pros tous Hel-leniSTAS; hoi de e-peCHEIroun [2021] a-neLEIN auTON.
and he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists; but THEY undertook to kill him.
d. 9:30 DISCIPLES AGAIN DELIVER SAUL
a-pigNONtes de hoi a-delPHOI, kaTEga-gon [2609] auTON eis KaiSAri-an,
And when the brethren knew it, they brought him down to Caesarea,
kai e-xaPEstei-lan [1821] auTON eis TarSON.
and sent him forth to Tarsus.
NOTE: 9:4 - When one persecutes a disciple, a believer in Jesus, he persecutes the Lord Himself. For the Lord as Head of His body, the church, sees each believer as a member of His own spiritual body. Think of the seriousness of all in the world like the Saul of Tarsus, who severely persecute Christ's body members, even unto death. The blood of the martyrs is treasured in heaven, and they are seen early in the book of Revelation.
In the upcoming chapter 10 of Acts, we see a double vision. Cornelius the Roman Centurion on the one hand, and Peter in preparation for response on the other. Here in chapter 9 we find Saul receiving a vision of Ananias coming to pray for him to regain his sight and be filled with the Spirit; and on the other hand Ananias receiving a vision in preparation to go and fulfill what Saul has seen. In “Visions Beyond the Veil”: by H. A. Baker, this same double vision preparation occurred a number of times. How timelyare the Lord's ways of preparation! In the Old Testament, the pre-incarnate Jesus as the Angel of the Lord, appeared to Moses in the Bush. After he finished demolishing Moses' excuses for being unqualified to deliver Israel out of Egypt, then the Lord told Moses that his bother Aaron was on his way to look him up, and would be Moses' mouthpiece to Pharaoh. Again, a double preparation.
In 9:27 we see the wonderful ministry the Lord gave Barnabas, the “son of Consolation”! When all others feared Saul, Barnabas forged a relationship between the Jerusalem apostles and Saul. Later on in the Book, we read how Barnabas rightly read the need of the church of Antioch for the unique ministry of Saul. So he went to Tarsus, brought Saul down to Antioch for his unique teaching and prophetic ministry. Within a year the Holy Spirit launched Barnabas and Saul on their first missionary journey, and on their return in 3 months, it was nowPaul and Barnabas, functioning as apostles. Stephen and Philip started as deacons, but soon were promoted to the office of evangelist!
Many other lessons are in this story of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Search them out, and the Spirit will lead and aid you. Heis the Teacher to be within us, that Jesus promised in the Gospel of John. J.A.W.