Acts 9:1-19; 22:6-16; 26:9-18
It was now the afternoon of the third day, but nothing had changed. Everything continued dark: he still could not see. None of those who had accompanied him had come to see him. He had been offered food and water by someone but refused. Whatever this was; Whoever this was - it was too serious a time for food.
Not that he was hungry, for it was the bright light and the Voice of three days before which filled his mind. And then another vision about someone named Ananias who was coming so he could regain his sight. And his prayers - feeble, grasping, struggling.
“How could I have missed Him? How could I have misunderstood?” These thoughts pulsated in his over-worked mind.
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
“Indeed I was. Those poor defenseless people. Lord, can you ever forgive me? But now I know why they joyfully submitted and even gave their lives. Now I know. You are alive. Alive!”
“I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.”
“Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter. The preacher, the miracle worker. The One who rattled and dumbfounded both the Pharisees and Sadducees. The One who was crucified by Pilate - He is Messiah. How could I not have seen all of this?”
“...for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness...rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.”
“Yes, Lord, people must hear that you are alive from the dead. People need to be brought out of their darkness into your blazing light. People need to hear that forgiveness of sins now comes through faith in you. The world needs to know...” A knock on the door.
“Brother Saul? My name is Ananias...”