Acts 9

Saul was still full of anger at the followers of Jesus. The Bible says he was "breathing out murderous threats" (9:1). This is a word picture. His threats came out of him as easily as breath.

Saul went to the high priest, the chief leader of the temple in Jerusalem. He asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus. A synagogue is a local meeting place for Jewish worship and study.

The letters gave Saul permission to hunt for anyone who belonged to "the Way." If he found any men or women, he could bring them back to Jerusalem as prisoners.

"The Way" was an early name for the followers of Jesus. They were Jewish people who believed Jesus was the Messiah, the king God promised. Saul was sure they were wrong.

The Bible doesn't say every reason Saul was so angry. But years later he wrote that he had been "extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers" (Galatians 1:14). Zealous means burning with devotion.

It was a long trip. At last Saul came near Damascus.

Suddenly a light from heaven flashed all around him. Saul fell to the ground.

Then he heard a voice say, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" (9:4). To persecute means to hurt people again and again because of what they believe.

Saul asked, "Who are You, Lord?" (9:5).

The answer came. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting" (9:5).

Saul had never touched Jesus. He had hurt Jesus's followers. But Jesus said Saul was persecuting him. Jesus counts his people as part of himself. When they are hurt, he is hurt.

Jesus told Saul to get up and go into the city. There he would be told what to do.

The men traveling with Saul stood there without a word. They heard the voice, but they did not see anyone.

Saul got up from the ground. He opened his eyes, but he could not see anything.

Saul had come to Damascus to lead people away as prisoners. Now he had to be led. The men led Saul by the hand into Damascus.

For three days Saul could not see. He did not eat or drink anything.

The Bible doesn't say what Saul felt in those three days. But he now knew the one he had been fighting was Jesus. Remember, Saul had watched Stephen die. He had gone from house to house, dragging people off to prison (8:3).

In Damascus there lived a follower of Jesus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision. A vision is something God lets a person see that others usually cannot see.

The Lord called Ananias by name. Ananias answered, "Here I am, Lord" (9:10).

The Lord told him to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street. There he should ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. "He is praying," the Lord said (9:11). The Lord said Saul had seen a vision too. In it, a man named Ananias came and put his hands on Saul, so Saul could see again.

Ananias was afraid, and he told the Lord so. Many people had told him about Saul. Saul had done great harm to God's people in Jerusalem. Now Saul had come with power from the chief priests to arrest everyone who called on Jesus's name. That meant Ananias too.

The Lord told Ananias to go anyway. "This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel" (9:15). An instrument is a tool. This is a comparison. God would use Saul to tell people about Jesus. Gentiles are people who are not Jewish. Saul would tell Gentiles, kings, and the people of Israel.

The Lord also said Saul would have to suffer for the Lord's name.

So Ananias went. He found the house. He placed his hands on Saul.

"Brother Saul," he said (9:17). Ananias had been afraid of Saul. Now his first word to Saul was "brother."

Ananias said the Lord Jesus had sent him. It was the same Jesus who had appeared to Saul on the road. Jesus sent Ananias so that Saul could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

At that instant, "something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes" (9:18). Scales are the thin, flat pieces that cover a fish's skin. This is a comparison. Something fell away, and Saul could see again.

Saul got up and was baptized. Then he ate some food, and his strength came back.

He stayed several days with the followers of Jesus in Damascus. These were the very people he had come to arrest.

Right away, Saul began to speak in the synagogues. He said this about Jesus: "He is the Son of God" (9:20).

Everyone who heard him was amazed. They asked, "Isn’t this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem on those who call on this name?" (9:21). "Wreaked havoc" means caused great damage. They also asked if Saul had come to take believers as prisoners to the chief priests.

But Saul's preaching grew more and more powerful. He proved that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. The Jewish people in Damascus who argued with him could not answer him.

Many days passed. Then some of the Jewish people in Damascus who opposed Saul made a plan to kill him. Saul was Jewish too, and so were the believers who helped him.

Saul found out about the plot. Day and night, the people who made the plan watched the city gates. They were waiting to kill Saul when he tried to leave.

But one night, Saul's own followers helped him. They put him in a basket. They lowered him down through a window in the city wall.

Saul had come to Damascus with letters that gave him power from the high priest. He left at night, lowered in a basket. Years later, Saul told this story himself (2 Corinthians 11:32-33).

Saul went back to Jerusalem. He tried to join the followers of Jesus there. But they were all afraid of him. They did not believe Saul was really a follower of Jesus.

Their fear made sense. Saul had dragged their friends to prison.

Then Barnabas helped. Barnabas brought Saul to the apostles. Barnabas told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road, and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. Barnabas also told them how Saul had spoken boldly in Damascus in the name of Jesus.

So Saul stayed with them. He moved freely around Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

Saul talked and debated with Greek-speaking Jewish people. Before Stephen died, men from Cilicia, Saul's home area, had argued with Stephen (6:9). Now the Greek-speaking Jewish people Saul debated tried to kill him.

When the believers learned about this plan, they took Saul to the port city of Caesarea. They sent him home to Tarsus.

Then the church all through Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. It grew stronger and larger. The believers lived in awe of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit encouraged them.

Stephen had prayed for the people who killed him. Saul had stood there and approved. Now Saul belonged to the same family as Stephen.

This part isn't retold as its own scene.