Acts 9:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

NIV: But the Lord said to Ananias, 'Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.

NASB: But the Lord said to him, 'Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;

CSB: But the Lord said to him, "Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites.

NLT: But the Lord said, 'Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.

KJV: But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

NKJV: But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.

Jesus is telling a disciple in Damascus, named Ananias, to find a traveler named Saul and heal his temporary blindness. Ananias is dubious; he knows this Saul is on a mission to find all Jewish Jesus-followers, arrest them, and take them back to Jerusalem for trial for blasphemy (Acts 9:1–3).

Jesus reveals why He wants Ananias to go. He had commissioned the apostles to be His "witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Saul will help with the "end of the earth" part.

Saul's primary mission will be to Gentiles, but he will typically start by reaching out to Jews. Luke will record three of his extensive missionary journeys. It's thought he had a fourth. At each new city, Saul (then going by the Greek version of his name, Paul) goes to the synagogues or, if there are not enough Jews for a synagogue, the place where Jews gather to pray. There, he will explain how Jesus of Nazareth perfectly matches what is written in the Hebrew Scriptures about the Messiah. Some Jews and Gentiles who worship the Jewish God will believe. Others won't, and Saul will be regularly kicked out of the synagogues.

Saul will speak with several leaders, as well. The first stop of his first missionary trip is to the island of Cyprus, where he will speak with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus (Acts 13:7–12). After Saul is arrested in Jerusalem, he will willingly tell his story to Governor Felix (Acts 24:10–21). When Felix is replaced by Festus, Saul seems to lose his patience (Acts 25:1–12), but when Festus entertains Herod Agrippa, Saul will happily share Jesus with the king (Acts 26).

Acts 9:10–19 explains how the greatest earthly enemy of the early church experienced a change of heart. Saul is a Pharisee-trained, Greek-speaking Jew and zealous persecutor of Christians (Acts 8:1–3). He asked for permission to hunt Jesus-followers in Damascus, but found Jesus, instead (Acts 9:1–9). Blinded by Jesus' glory, he has been waiting in Damascus for Ananias, a Jesus-follower. Ananias arrives and participates as as Jesus heals Saul from both physical and spiritual blindness. Saul is baptized and takes physical nourishment. Saul stays in Damascus for some time and immediately takes his extensive training in Jewish Scripture to argue that Jesus is indeed the Messiah. The Sanhedrin's hitman is now a target of his former allies.

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.