Ananias, a Disciple

GOLDEN TEXT: “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”—Psalm 40:8

THE primary application of our Golden Text was to Jesus. It constituted a part of his consecration vow—a consecration which when he was thirty years of age, he made to do his Heavenly Father’s will—and he symbolized the burial of his will into his Father’s will by water immersion at the hands of John the Baptist. In this consecration he agreed to do all that had been written of him in the “Book,” that is, in the Old Testament Scriptures. (Psalm 40:7) Our Golden Text is an expression of the Master’s delight in doing God’s will.

The sentiments of this text should permeate the heart and life of every follower of the Master. Indeed, one would not be a true follower of his unless this were so. Besides, in a general way, God’s will for us is the same as it was for Jesus. We too are to be obedient to the Heavenly Father’s instructions as they are recorded in the “Book,” the Scriptures; and in this we have the perfect example of Jesus to guide us in the interpretation of the Father’s instructions. May we follow his example faithfully and cheerfully, delighting to do God’s will, even as Jesus delighted to do it.

ACTS 9:10-20—The heart sentiments of Ananias, the disciple at Damascus, were in keeping with the thought of our Golden Text. He was happy to do the Lord’s will, yet we see in him a proper degree of caution which led him to make sure that he was, for the incident of our lesson was a very unusual one—he was to visit the cruel Saul of Tarsus who had been “breathing out threatenings and slaughter” against the church of Christ. (Acts 9:1) Ananias probably wanted to be sure that some sort of trap was not being laid for him whereby he would not only be putting his own life in danger, but might unwittingly betray all the brethren of Damascus into the hands of the enemy.

That Ananias had thoughts along this line is evident from the record of his reply to the Lord when requested to visit Saul. He said, “Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: and here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.” To this the Lord replied, “Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.”

This must have placed a severe test of faith upon Ananias, and also a test of love. Here was a man who had been a bitter enemy of the truth and of the Lord’s people, yet the Lord had chosen him to a special position of prominence in the church. Ananias might well have asked why the Lord did not choose for this position one of the disciples who had earned a reputation among the brethren of being true to the cause and devoted to his people. Situations of this kind have always proved a test upon God’s people. The tendency of human wisdom has ever been to place the greatest confidence in those whom we suppose have proved faithful through many years of trial.

The limitations of finite minds makes this viewpoint a very natural one; but God, who can read the heart, does not need to be thus restricted in choosing his servants. He knew that there was nothing wrong with Saul’s heart, that it was merely a matter of his having the wrong viewpoint. He knew that when Saul realized that Jesus was the Christ of promise, the Redeemer of Israel and the world, he would be an ardent, trustworthy promoter of the Gospel. Besides, Saul’s background of experience and education made him peculiarly fitted for the position to which the Lord had called him.

“And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house,” the account tells us. When he was convinced that the Lord was truly dealing with Saul, there was no hesitancy to carry out the divine commission to visit him. And what an honor this was! Just as the less talented Andrew had the privilege of introducing his brother Peter to Jesus and of later seeing him become one of the outstanding apostles, so the plain disciple, Ananias, was given the honor of being the first of the brethren to visit and talk with Saul concerning his relationship with the Lord and the service to which he had been called.

That Ananias was eminently qualified for this assignment is revealed in the manner in which he greeted this former enemy of the church. Entering the room where he found him he placed his hand on his head and said, “Brother Saul.” There were probably many in the Early Church who would have found it difficult at once to recognize Saul as a brother in Christ. Some would have wanted to question him concerning the genuineness of his conversion and then put him on probation for a time. A disposition to do this, however, would disqualify them for the service Ananias had the privilege of rendering.

Ananias had faith enough to accept the Lord’s judgment in the matter. If Saul was a “chosen vessel” of the Lord, who was he that he should make an investigation of the new convert’s sincerity? Ananias delighted in the Lord’s choice and was happy to co-operate, and there could have been no better evidence of this than his addressing a former enemy of the church as a “Brother”—“Brother Saul.”

QUESTIONS:

To whom does the Golden Text of this lesson especially apply?

Was Ananias justified in hesitating to call on Saul?

To what extent are we justified in testing one another’s sincerity before the Lord?

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