Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, June 24, 2013 Read – Acts 9:10-19a The scene now switches to Damascus – a city outside the territory of Judea. We are introduced to a man named Ananias (obviously not the same Ananias who was mentioned in Acts 5). Luke does not tell us anything either about Ananias or about how he became a believer – such detail is of no importance for Luke. We can be sure however that Ananias is a Jewish believer. Luke told us that Jesus “appeared” to Saul along the Damascus Road. Here he tells of a “vision” that comes to Ananias. Are we to distinguish between “appearances” like the one to Paul and “visions” like the one to Ananias? I think both of are the same nature. Of course that does not help us to decide exactly how an “appearance” and a “vision” works. The truth of the matter is that there is always something ambiguous about all of this. How do you know it is God who is speaking? How did the person “hear” the message they heard? All of those questions are simply beyond our reach. It is by faith that we accept the reality of what happened – and it was by faith that both Paul and Ananias came to believe that Jesus had really spoken to them. Luke portrays the vision of Ananias as a conversation between Ananias and the Lord. In fact, Ananias’ hesitation lends itself to our understanding of the ambiguity of all of this – it was ambiguous to Ananias too! We can understand Ananias’ hesitation. Who wouldn’t be cautious and wonder if this was really the Lord speaking to them in vision – or some demented spirit intent on bringing harm? It is by faith that Ananias goes and prays for Saul, laying his hands upon him, and becoming the vehicle through which Saul received his sight. Ananias’ words are significant. He reminds Saul of Saul’s own experience on the road where Jesus appeared to Saul. He tells Saul that he has been sent by God and that the outcome will be that the Holy Spirit will fill Saul for a mission God has in mind for him. Once the message has been delivered and the pray and laying on of hands completed, Saul regains his sight and is baptized. Readers of Acts are led to believe that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit came prior to the baptism in this case – there will be others when the order will be reversed. Those who want to make a distinction between water baptism and spirit baptism, as if spirit baptism somehow greater and even an addition to water baptism, have no grounds in the book of Acts to make such claims. Both are always kept together by Luke though the order varies. Lastly, we noted that Saul began to fast following the appearance of Jesus – now it the time for eating. We have noticed before the connection between receiving the gift of faith and eating. The disciples on the Emmaus Road recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:31). The disciples in the upper room were given fish and bread to eat as a sign of the reality of Jesus’ resurrection (Luke 24:42-43). Throughout the story in Acts the disciples are eating with one another. All of these references touch upon the reality of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. We need to recognize that Word and Sacrament are important for Luke in the spread of faith.