3rd May 2026

3rd May - Andy McCrae

Readings: Acts 9: 1 - 9 & 10 - 19

Eyes Wide Open

Praise the Lord, for it is good to sing praises to our God. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners, The Lord opens the eyes of the blind, The Lord raises those who are bowed down.

A question for you?

Who are we to question God, when he asks us to do something, when he leads us down a path, we are afraid to traverse, when he challenges our assumptions, when he turns our world upside down?

Do we know the truth? Are we blind? Do we have faith?

We are not all born physically blind, but we are all born spiritually blind and this was certainly true of the apostle Paul, though he did not know it.

Paul was born in Tarsus, a major city in Cilicia, to a family of strict Jewish heritage; But there was something unique about his family, they were also Roman citizens, a privilege, that later, would open doors and save his life, more than once. As Paul would write in Philippians 3:5, he was circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin. A Hebrew of Hebrews, in regard to the law, a Pharisee. From his earliest days, Saul breathed the air of religious devotion. His family sent him to study under Gamaliel, one of the most respected teachers of the law, in all Israel. In Acts 22:3 Paul later would describe this period of his life, saying he was brought up in this city, educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God. The young Saul absorbed everything he learned. Saul didn’t want to be just a good Jew, he wanted to be the best. He wanted to be blameless before God, perfect in keeping every commandment, every tradition; every ritual. In Galatians 1:v14 Paul would reflect on those early years. I was advancing in Judaism, beyond many among my people of the same age, but I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. He wasn’t exaggerating. While other students might have been content with simple learning, Saul burned with an inner fire. He believed that righteousness came from perfect obedience to the law. And he pushed himself relentlessly towards that goal. But Saul’s zeal would soon take a dark turn. His love for the law would become a weapon, his devotion to God would twist into violence.

The young Pharisee, who studied scripture so carefully, was about to become the most feared enemy the early church had ever known. The followers of Jesus were spreading their message throughout Jerusalem. They claimed that a crucified Jesus was the promised Messiah, that he had risen from the dead, that salvation came through faith in him rather than from keeping the law. To Saul, this wasn’t just wrong, it was blasphemy of the highest order. Everything he had learned, everything he had believed, told him these people were dangerous heretics who needed to be stopped. One day, a man named Stephen, stood before the Sanhedrin. He was an effective administrator and messenger. He was also a powerful speaker. His logic was convicting and convincing.

This is clear from the defence he made before the Sanhedrin. To them he said, “You stiff necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: you will always resist the Holy Spirit.” They covered their ears and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. Even in his final breathe, Stephen prayed, “Lord do not hold this sin against them and he fell asleep.”

Saul approved of their killing him. Godly men buried and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. It was the beginning of a campaign of terror. Acts 8:” describes what happened next, but Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house, he moved through Jerusalem like a storm, he felt no guilt. He thought he was doing God’s work. Some of the people had fled to Damascus, about 135 miles north, thinking they would be safe there, but they were wrong. Acts 9 v 1 and 2 says Saul, still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples, went to the High priest and asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found anyone who belonged to ‘The Way’, whether men or women, he could take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. The journey to Damascus took several days, Saul travelled with companions, maybe as he walked, he would think about the arrests he would make, the believers he would drag back in chains. Little did Paul realise that he would never complete that journey and that he would be a changed man forever. 

Acts 23. As he neared Damascus, suddenly a light flashed around him. This wasn’t an ordinary light. The Greek word suggests something brighter than the sun at noon. It was so intense that Saul’s companions saw it too. The fierce persecutor fell face down in the dust. He heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” A simple and direct question.  And Saul said, “Who are You Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, who you are persecuting.” In front of his eyes he saw, everything he had done, everything he had believed was right, the violence, the persecution, the terror he had caused was laid before him now. Jesus was alive, the apostles were right. His whole belief system was shattered. He wasn’t fighting for God, but against God. The Lord told him to go into the city and there he would be told what to do. This Pharisee of Pharisees! Humbled, brought low, then guided. The men who journeyed with him heard the voice but saw no-one. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing, so like a child they lead him by the hand into Damascus. The confident Pharisee was now a broken man. For three days he was blind, and he did not eat or drink anything, but he prayed.

In direct contrast to this powerful man, was the simple believer Ananias. He was one of the believers that Saul had come to arrest. Ananias had hoped to keep a low profile, but without Ananias there would be no Paul to take the message to the Gentiles. Saul was no stranger to Ananias, he knew of his frightening reputation, and he knew Saul had a warrant to arrest believers. For this simple man, the test of his faith had now arrived. Ananias wasn’t aware of the details surrounding Paul’s confrontation with Jesus. He didn’t know the extent of the change that had occurred in Saul’s heart, but when God called, he simply said, “HERE I AM LORD!” Even though he was afraid, he obeyed.

Saul had been in the dark for several days before he felt hands resting on him and heard Ananias’s voice. “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you came here to Damascus, he has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, there fell from his eyes something like scales, he received his sight, arose and was baptised, ready to begin the difficult road ahead that would end in his death.

There are many things we can learn from this chapter in Acts 9. Read it again, to let god speak to you through it. But take away this:

a) Paul’s story reminds us that God can transform even the most broken or resistant heart. His journey from persecutor to proclaimer shows that our past never will disqualify us from God.

b) Paul’s story also reminds us that Our Lord’s intervention in our lives will often be totally unexpected and not always welcomed. God will ask us to go places, do things which we resist and are fearful of. Like Ananias, and as God’s agents he will provide us with strength to do his will.

Let us pray…