Be A Barnabas
Background Story: In Acts 7:59-8:3, we read that Saul was a persecutor of the church. Saul grew up as a Pharisee like his father (Acts 23:6) and was responsible for catching and killing those Jews who were following this new teaching about Jesus called “The Way.”
Read Acts 9:1-31
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, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 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. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
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.
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.”
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.”
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.” 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 spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 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?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
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. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
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. 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. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
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.
Big Idea: Strengthen and encourage new believers.
Saul (who is later called Paul) is the most unlikely of converts to Christianity. Growing up a Pharisee who studied under the leader Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), Paul probably believed he knew more about God and the Jewish faith than most. But he was blind to the truth that Jesus was the promised Messiah and spent his time hunting down and killing Christians in zealous rage.
It’s no wonder that Ananias was scared when God called him to go and speak to Paul. Ananias must have followed God closely because he recognized God’s voice and understood what He was asking of him. And in his worries, he honestly told God of his fears. But something must have changed in Ananias’ heart as he entered the room and saw Paul laying there, blind and hungry because the first word he uttered to this killer of Christians was, “Brother” and then placed his hands on him.
We see this same love and compassion in Barnabas’ reaction to Paul’s conversion and preaching. While others were saying, “Isn’t he the man who,” Barnabas was bringing Paul into fellowship with other believers. That seems like a huge risk seeing who Paul had been in the past. But Barnabas must have seen the changed man God had delivered from darkness and not the person he was before.
The more miraculous the conversion and the more sketchy the past, the more divided people are in their response to a new believer. Some will look in amazement at the change and some will doubt its legitimacy waiting to see cracks in this “new” person. All of us need an Ananias and a Barnabas who see the supernatural miracle of God and encourage us in our walk bringing us into Christian community. All of us need to be an Ananias and Barnabas in other’s lives not reminding them of their past failures but praying for them and pointing them to the future God has planned.
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