Acts 9:6 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."

NIV: "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

NASB: but get up and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do.'

CSB: "But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

NLT: Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.'

KJV: And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

NKJV: So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

On his way to Damascus to arrest Jesus-followers, Saul has been thrown to the ground. He is surrounded by a great light and hears an insistent voice claiming to be that of Jesus, demanding to know why Saul is persecuting Him (Acts 9:1–5). Saul's traveling companions see the light and hear a noise, but they cannot see the speaker or understand the words (Acts 9:7; 22:9). Saul, however, hears Jesus clearly. Jesus will rescue Saul, a devout Jew (Philippians 3:4–6), from the Jewish leaders and send him to be Jesus' witness to the Gentiles (Acts 26:16–18). First, Saul must go into the city and wait for Jesus' messenger.

By the time Jesus is finished, Saul is blind. He takes the hand of one of his companions and enters Damascus where he waits and fasts for three days. A follower of Jesus, named Ananias, comes at God's command. Saul becomes the very thing he'd hated just days before: a believer that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah (Acts 9:9–19).

It's interesting how much Saul's experience parallels Cornelius' (Acts 10). In both cases, God prepares the two men and tells them what to do (see Acts 10:1–8). Then He prepares His evangelists, Ananias (Acts 9:10–16) and Peter (Acts 10:9–23). Both Ananias and Peter are reluctant, and God reassures them of His plan. Their obedience results in two major steps in the spread of the gospel. Cornelius' conversion convinces Peter and the other apostles that Gentiles can follow Christ. Saul's conversion prepares him to be the primary evangelist to the Gentiles.

Acts 9:1–9 tells the story of how the lead persecutor of the early church meets Jesus. Saul, who had arrested the Jesus-followers in Jerusalem (Act 7:58; 8:1–3), expands his terror outside of Judea and travels north to Damascus. Jesus stops Saul and reveals He is not only alive, He is glorified by the light of heaven. Saul is stunned—and blinded. His companions lead him into the city where he waits, without food or drink, for three day until Jesus' messenger comes to tell him what to do. Saul goes into further detail in Acts 22:6–16 and 26:9–18.

Acts 9 sets the stage for the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles. Saul continues the persecution of the church by traveling to Damascus to arrest Jesus-followers. Before he reaches the city, Jesus confronts him. Saul realizes Jesus is the Messiah and immediately starts spreading the news, first in Damascus and later in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Peter travels to modern-day Tel Aviv to heal a paralyzed man and bring a dead woman back to life. The miracles aren't unusual, but the story leaves him in Joppa, poised to take the next step in Jesus' mandate to be His witness (Acts 1:8).

The murder of the Jesus-follower Stephen has ignited a fierce persecution against the church, led by a young Pharisee-trained man named Saul (Acts 7:54—8:3; 9:1–2). When he realizes Jesus truly is the Messiah, that fervor fuels his own evangelism (Acts 9:3–30). Meanwhile, Peter travels to the coast of Judea. Soon, he will teach a prominent Gentile household about Jesus and discover that Gentiles can be saved (Acts 10). The stage will be set for Saul to spread the saving news of Jesus to ''the end of the earth'' (Acts 1:8) under the Greek version of his name: Paul.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.