NOTES for Act 9:6

Today's reading brings us back once again to the question of religion's boundaries and limits. It tells us of Saul's conversion to Christ; after his conversion, he will enter Church history as the apostle Paul. There is no doubt that Saul was sincerely religious and absolutely firm in his religious convictions: for his religion, he was prepared both to die and to kill (vv. 1–2). He was utterly ruthless. But religion that knows neither the Kingdom nor God's love is always ruthless, for it appeals to values it regards as far more important than human life. Yet Saul's ruthless religiosity was entirely sincere: from the beginning, he wanted only to do God's will and was absolutely convinced that by persecuting Christians he was fulfilling it in the best possible way. Of course, it was quite impossible to argue such a person out of his convictions. Conversion in the sense in which the word is often understood today was also impossible for him. For a modern person, “to convert” most often means either adopting a religion or exchanging one religion for another, and Saul would certainly not have agreed to that even under threat of death. But Christ needs precisely such servants, faithful to the end and ready for anything. And He makes Saul His servant. He does what no one else could have done, for no one else could have manifested the Kingdom in such fullness. He allows His future servant to experience and feel what the Kingdom is and who He Himself is (vv. 3–5). Then Saul converts. He was convinced not by human words, but by his encounter with the Risen One and his experience of the Kingdom. Yet Christian conversion can only be this: turning to Christ and the Kingdom, not adopting a new religion or moving from one religion to another. After his conversion, Saul remains the same energetic Saul; his first question to the Risen One is: what should I do next (v. 6)? His sincere and active nature could not endure inactivity, and God makes use of these qualities in the new convert: very soon Saul begins to preach, bearing witness to Jesus' messiahship and resurrection (vv. 20–30). He gives no thought to his former views or to what people who had known him in a completely different role will say about him. This is not because Saul was unaccustomed to reflection. Evidently, his encounter with the Risen One on the road to Damascus had made so great an impression that he could not help telling others about it and bearing witness. It was not merely a new truth that had been revealed to Saul: the Messiah had been revealed to him, and silence about such a revelation was impossible. Religion had come to an end. The fullness of the Kingdom had opened before the future apostle Paul.

Today we read about the conversion of Saul, an event that not only turned his life upside down, but also in many ways determined the course of Christian history. Such conversions do not happen often, but they have happened and continue to happen. In essence, every person sooner or later meets God on his path. This meeting often overturns a person's consciousness in much the same way as happened with Paul. He considered himself a servant of God, but turned out to be His enemy, and the reverse was also true: he thought Jesus was his enemy, but He turned out to be his Lord, his life, his calling.

In fact, such an overturning of consciousness is called repentance (in Greek, "metanoia," a "change of mind"). When a person suddenly sees that his whole life is a persecution of Christ, which he carries out inside himself or among those near and far from him, the mercy of the persecuted Son of God is also revealed to him. He will not only accept him among His disciples, but will also lay on him a new mission: not to tear apart, but to build up Christ's Church.

The Book of Acts tells of the great turning points in the history of salvation and in the spread throughout the world of the message about Jesus. Almost every scene recounts either astonishing miracles or momentous turning points in the lives of people who later became great luminaries of the Church. But a reasonable question may arise: how do all these outstanding events relate to the life of an individual, an ‘ordinary person,’ such as those who have always made up the overwhelming majority of the human race?

Apparently, Luke included all these striking and grand scenes from the history of early Christianity largely as illustrations, as particularly memorable examples of what God does in the life of every person He touches with His Spirit. And although people encounter God in different situations and in different ways, certain elements are always present—above all, the divine call and a shaking of the foundations of human life. Jesus says that ‘no one can come to Me unless the Father draws him’ (Jn 6:44). Moreover, this heavenly call or ‘voice’ cannot be earned by anything; ultimately, it cannot even be explained. The case of the persecutor Saul, who became the apostle Paul, is a striking confirmation of this. God alone knows the movements of a person’s heart and the twists and turns of their life. Another matter is that a person is not always ready to answer the call with complete seriousness and commitment. Incidentally, this too happens for reasons unknown to us. But if someone responds to God in kind—trust for trust, love for love—then their life, the life of a seemingly quite insignificant little person, becomes part of the great history of salvation. Through him or her, ‘the mighty works of God’ begin to be accomplished; he or she becomes ‘God’s chosen vessel,’ ‘filled with the Spirit,’ and takes part in building a new world that could embody all God’s most cherished purposes and dreams.

The Lord had prepared a surprise for Ananias. Ananias was plainly quite ready for God to speak to him. But even he did not expect this: to go to Saul of Tarsus, about whom everyone knows that he persecutes Christians and has come to Damascus with one purpose, to root out Christianity.

Ananias is shocked. But he does not reject the vision (though he could have said: going to Saul is madness, so this is not a vision but delirium). On the other hand, he does not argue with God; he does not say, "No, Lord, I am not going anywhere." He clarifies: "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to Your saints, and here in Damascus he also wants to persecute Your Church..." In answer, the Lord does not say whether this is true or not (evidently because it is already known that it is true); He says: "Go, because I have chosen him."

And Ananias makes the only right decision: he simply goes and does what the Lord told him.

Saul became one of those in whom Christ’s words to His disciples were fulfilled: “...whoever kills you will think that he is offering service to God” (John 16:2). Saul’s zeal was zeal for God, but it was directed along a false and criminal path. When evil is committed, it is difficult to say that the perpetrator “meant well,” yet even in such lamentable circumstances one should pay attention to the motives behind actions. Saul did want to serve God, and it must have been for this reason that He Himself intervened so that Saul’s desire could be fulfilled on the true path.