“and one ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the jews who lived there, came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘brother saul, receive your sight.’ and at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. – [acts 22:12-13]
devout men and divine healing
as paul preached the gospel to this jewish audience, he made specific mention of ananias, the man God used to heal his temporary blindness. it is a fascinating testimony – prior to Jesus revealing himself to him, paul had no visual issues at all, but was spiritually blinded. after meeting Jesus on the road to damascus, his spiritual vision was finally clear, but he was now visually blind.
there is no indication whether paul knew if or how this blindness would ever be healed. yet this blindness was part of a well-orchestrated plan.
God had planned to meet paul on that road, in that moment and leave him temporarily blind. paul had to trust, as did ananias, the righteous man God used to restore paul’s vision.
paul, a confident and calloused leader was now humbled and helpless, blindly led by the hand to the city he intended to enter as a powerful force.
saul the persecutor had now become paul the apostle, but ananias had no proof of this beyond a vision from God. in faith, ananias came to him, stood by him, and called him brother. in faith, ananias followed God to heal a man he knew nothing of but fear.
in his providence, God had arranged a miracle.
the first image that paul the new believer would see was the face of a faithful man willing to put his own safety aside and trust himself to God. the first thing he would see was a man he previously intended to persecute. paul was learning that God would humble him and teach him to love a care deeply for those he once persecuted. ananias would learn that God could change any heart, no matter how cold.
~ jason soroski