BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
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Opening Prayer
Father, have your Word cut deep into my heart, building my faith and transforming me. Help me to reflect the love of Jesus in all that I do each day.
Read ACTS 22:12–21
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
12 “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. 13 He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.
14 “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. 15 You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’
17 “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.’
19 “‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. 20 And when the blood of your martyr[a] Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’
21 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”
Footnotes
- Acts 22:20 Or witness
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘My luminary, my morning and evening star … My balance of joy in a world that has gone off joy’s standard.’1
In verse 11 Paul tells his hearers that he was completely blinded by the light of Jesus. This was literally true, but it speaks into his spiritual state, too. As he must be led physically, so he must seek spiritual guidance from followers of Jesus. Everything he knows about the Lord God has been turned upside down. He cannot rely on his intellect or religious knowledge and zeal. Paul uses both Ananias’ testimony and the healing miracle performed by Ananias to persuade the crowd that the God of his ancestors was behind his conversion. God restored Paul’s sight, both physically and spiritually. Paul’s baptism is another sign of his new obedience, faith, and confession of Jesus.
So far the crowd has listened attentively, but the latter part of Paul’s speech provokes them to violence (v. 22). It was not the fact that Paul was baptized in the name of Jesus that stirs them, nor that he was part of a focused attack against Jewish converts like Stephen. They are furious that he claims God judged Jerusalem’s lack of faith and sent Paul instead to preach to the gentiles.
Many converts to Christ have painful testimonies of being rejected by family and community. Accepting Christ and following him can be seen as a rejection of how we are brought up or of our community values. Most of us need to work out how we communicate our faith in Jesus among friends, family, and colleagues, who may see our faith as a judgment on them. Yet we need to give them an opportunity to hear the gospel. It can scare us to think of people rejecting Jesus and rejecting us, but there is a wonderful possibility that they will see the light of Christ and go from blindness to spiritual sight.
Apply
Who are they in your world that need you to tell them about Jesus?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, fill me with the Spirit of boldness, love, and freedom—so I may testify to who you are. Forgive me for my timidity; give me your strength.
1 RS Thomas, ‘Luminary’, in Uncollected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 2013).
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