The Book of Acts Chapter 9

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The Book of Acts Chapter 9

Text from https://www.bible.com/bible/111/ACT.9.NIV

Saul's Conversion and Peter's Miracles

Saul’s Conversion

1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus (150 miles NE from Jerusalem), so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. (Saul determined to destroy the newly rising churches. Believing the Old Testament only, he couldn't find the completed truth of the Bible. The Gospel of Jesus is the completion of the laws.)

3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. (The sudden appearance of Jesus in the light was undeniable to Saul.)

6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Jesus gave Saul a new direction.)

7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.

8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.

9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. (The blinded and overwhelmed Saul was led to Damascus.)

10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered.

11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.

12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” (The Lord Jesus also appeared to Ananias and told him to guide Saul.)

13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem.

14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

15 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.

16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” (Saul had become hated to the believers but God has a plan for him.)

17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord- Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here- has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Ananias obeyed the Lord and initiated the new journey of Saul.)

18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. (Saul was converted to be a servant of the Lord.) Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. (He might go to the Arabian wilderness around this time for three years. Gal. 1:17)

Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. (The Saul's conversion was dramatically sudden and clear in belief and action without delay.)

21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” (The Saul's errorful past did not disappear at once.)

22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah. (But he became a new creature in the Lord. 1Co. 5:17)

23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. (So that another hatred rose among Jews against Saul because of his zeal for the Gospel.)

25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall. (So fellow believers evacuated him from Damascus to Jerusalem.)

26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. (But there were certain people who couldn't trust him due to his past.)

27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.

28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. (But Barnabas, who was a very generous and well-respected leader, helped Saul to be settle down among believers.)

29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. (Saul raised hatred among those Jews who were under the influence of Greek culture.)

30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea (70 miles N) and sent him off to Tarsus. (564 miles from Caesarea, NE corner of Mediterranean Sea. Saul's hometown. He might stay here for ten years.)

31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. (It was a time of growth of the church.)

Aeneas and Dorcas (Thabitha) (Peter's Miracles)

32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. (30 miles NW from Jerusalem)

33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years.

34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up.

35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. (Peter raised paralyzed Aeneas and many came to the faith in Jesus.)

36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor.

37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.

38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.

41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. (Peter raised Tabitha from the dead in nearby Joppa.)

42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. (Many converted to the Lord due to the miracle. It was a time of MIRACLES.)

43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.