Ananias

Act 9:10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
Act 9:11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
Act 9:12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.
Act 9:13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
Act 9:14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.
Act 9:15 But the Lord said unto him, 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:
Act 9:16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
Act 9:17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Act 9:18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.
Act 9:19 And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.




Act 22:11 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.
Act 22:12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,
Act 22:13 Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
Act 22:14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.
Act 22:15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
Act 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.


Ananias is an interesting New Testament character. He emerges in the Acts of the Apostles for the first time in chapter 9 and then disappears from the Scriptural narrative, only to be mentioned again in the reference above by the Apostle Paul. Yet his role in the history of the church is undoubtedly incredible.

With our observance of Christmas having just passed, I cannot help seeing similarities between Ananias and Mary. Ananias is called devout according to the law by Paul (eusebes or 'godly' being the term rendered as devout, which is why we are looking at his character), while Mary is said to have found favour with God (actually at first I got this mixed up with Zacharias and Elizabeth, who were both said to be righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless, which is more similar to the description Paul gives Ananias. But we will see a few similarities with Mary in any case). Both Ananias and Mary were initially startled or troubled by the communication God had with them. They both reasoned with the implications of the message when they had received it: Mary was a chaste virgin about to conceive without a natural chain of events and Ananias was puzzled as to why the Lord would send him to visit the fierce persecutor of the church, Saul of Tarsus.




But the striking feature of Ananias that many have observed in Mary, is the resignation of one's self to do the Lord's will when it has been clearly expressed. Many commentators have gone into great detail concerning the multitude of terrifying possibilities that would have confronted Mary, with her response being "
be it unto me according to thy word." (Lk 1:38). But consider for a moment Ananias, who fully expresses his reasoning to the Lord in the words, "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."
It is simple, Saul was a really bad guy if you were a Christian and he had been fully authorised to arrest anyone that named the name of Jesus Christ.



But the Lord gave His reply, telling Ananias that Saul was to be His chosen vessel and revealing some of the man's ministry activities that were to occur in the future.



There is no "yeah...but" from Ananias. He has 1) Heard the Lord 2) Been somewhat troubled 3) Reasoned within himself and with God 4) Again heard from God and now 5) Goes to do the will of the Lord.

This sequence is very similar to that with which we are more familiar in the Christmas narrative and the reason we can get something out of the comparison between Ananias and Mary is their primary roles and functions in the Story of God. As most of my readers will know, Mary is not some perfect semi-goddess figure that plays a crucial role in our salvation - as the Catholic perversion teaches - but her primary role in world history and in God's will was to be His vessel to carry the Son in her womb and birth Him into the world. Her importance is completely relative to the significance of the ministry and person of Jesus Christ. Similarly, Ananias is not depicted in the New Testament as a super apostle, prophet 0r evangelist, but instead the importance of his role in God's plan is related to the significance of the ministry of Paul the Apostle and the part he played in Paul's "birth."*




So we can see that Ananias is a wonderful example to us of godliness, in that although he did not find the Lord's directives to him completely reasonable by his own initial reckoning, he nevertheless waited on the Lord and as a servant of his Master, responded appropriately to Christ's command. This is birthed out of the man's cultivated attitude of reverence towards God and willingness to follow Him in any situation. In Ananias we do not find a perfect man, but like Simeon and Cornelius we see a godly devotion within his heart that pleases God and makes the disciple a suitable for the Master's use.




There is also an interesting progression with our three godly examples. Simeon is a godly Jew at the time of Jesus' dedication, to whom God reveals His Messiah. Cornelius is a reverent Gentile after the time of Pentecost to whom God reveals His Saviour and His Holy Spirit. And Ananias is a devout Christian disciple also in the post-Pentecost era, who God used in an amazing way to restore sight to Saul of Tarsus and see the beginning of God's workings in the life of a man who would become known as Paul. I think this progression shows that eusebeia has been important to God from ancient times through to now. It seems to please the Lord greatly to interact with those who have a genuinely devout attitude towards Him and His worship.





Is it any wonder why we are exhorted to add to patience godliness as we build up our Christian character?






*I love the fact that Ananias is only refered to as a disciple, without distinction of particular gifts or ministries, as it refutes the Mormon doctrine that only an apostle can lay hands on someone to receive the Holy Spirit. We see in Acts 9:17 that Ananias says he is laying hands on Saul that he might receive his sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. Since there is no other record in Scripture of Paul receiving the Holy Spirit, it is safe to conclude that this is precisely where it occurred and God used the hands of an ordinary disciple to do it. Thus, Ananias' position in church history is defined by his being a devout disciple used by God in the development of one of the greatest apostles.