In this article:
Purpose and Goal
Encounter 1 – What happened?
Paul tells his story to the Jews in Jerusalem
Paul retells his story to King Agrippa and all present Paul’s identity in Christ
Paul’s identity in Christ
Paul’s identity in Christ statement
Keys to prophetic encounter stewardship
Purpose and Goal
This series of articles takes a look at Paul’s first encounter with God with a view to discovering his God-given identity in Christ. Identity in Christ is calling and giftings. We will examine the relevant scriptures in order to highlight these things. Along the way, we’ll find keys to help us along our own prophetic journey with God. I call these keys to prophetic encounter stewardship.
What happened?
Let the scripture tell the story. The scripture can speak for itself and we need to let the scripture have its own voice. Here’s where we get to watch someone else’s story with God happen and unfold. We don’t need to think about anything except what happened in this story. We get to listen.
Acts 9:9-19
1 Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, 2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 4 and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 6 but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”
7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; 19 and he took food and was strengthened.
Before the book of Acts concludes, we get to read two more times where Saul retells his story (as Paul). It’s important to read these and observe the differences of each because a more full picture emerges regarding Saul’s first encounter story. For example, this first account does not tell us that Ananias told Saul what Jesus said about what saul was called to do.
This seems too important for Ananias to leave out. But, did he leave it out? We find our answer when Paul tells his story to the Jews in Jerusalem.
Paul tells his story to the Jews in Jerusalem
By this time in the book of Acts, Saul’s name has changed to Paul. When Paul tells and retells his story, he tells it at a different angle each time. The following accounts are not the full context but serve to give us the big picture of Paul’s identity in Christ. Let’s get right into the action.
Acts 22:6-16
6 “But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, 7 and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 And those who were with me saw the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’ 11 But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.
12 “A certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very time I looked up at him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. 15 For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’
And, here is the final time in Acts where Paul retells his story.
Paul retells his story to King Agrippa and all present
Acts 26:12-18
12 “While so engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, 13 at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; 17 rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’
Paul’s identity in Christ
To summarize, here are the three contexts we just read and a note relating who told Paul about his new identity in Christ.
- In Acts 9: Jesus told Ananias about Paul’s identity in Christ. Ananias is not recorded here to have told Paul.)
- In Acts 22: Paul said Ananias told him originally.
- In Acts 26: Paul told King Agrippa Jesus himself told him originally.
These are not contradictions. Luke, the author of Acts, doesn’t see a need to include every word Ananias told Saul in Acts 9, perhaps because he already included what Jesus told Ananias. In Acts 22, as Paul tells his story, we don’t see the part where Jesus talks to Ananias, but we do see where Ananias shares with Paul what Jesus said about Paul. Finally, in Acts 26, I propose that Paul considers the words from Ananias as the words from Jesus himself, which they are. It’s also possible that Paul wants to protect Ananias’ identity as a potential reason for not including him in Acts 26.
Let’s compare these these contexts.
What Ananias told Saul in Damascus
Acts 9:17
17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
That’s all that Ananias is recorded to have said in this chapter. However, we see that Jesus told Ananias what Saul’s identity was in this same encounter.
Acts 9:15-16
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
This is what it looks like in list form. It’s easier to see the differences when we break down all the details.
- He is a chosen instrument of Mine
- To bear my name before Gentiles
- To bear my name before kings
- To bear my name before the sons of Israel
- Suffer for My name’s sake
However, we see a somewhat different story in Paul’s retelling of this event to King Agrippa. It appears that Ananias did tell Saul what Jesus had told him.
What Paul says Ananias told him: 1st retelling
Acts 22:13-16
‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very time I looked up at him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. 15 For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’
- Appointed you to know His will
- To see the Righteous One
- To hear an utterance from His mouth
- You will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard
Paul says Jesus told him directly: 2nd retelling
I’l detail this account too, but watch here how Paul leaves Ananias out of the picture completely. In this retelling, Paul says that Jesus told him these things directly.
Acts 26:14-18
14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; 17 rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’
“For this purpose I have appeared to you”:
- To appoint you a minister and a witness to the things you have seen
- To appoint you a minister and a witness to the things in which I will appear to you
- I will rescue you from the Jewish people
- I will rescue you from the Gentiles
- I am sending you to the Gentiles
- to open their eyes so that
- they may turn from darkness to light
- they may turn from the dominion of Satan to God
- that they may recieve forgiveness of sins
- that they may recieve an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.
- to open their eyes so that
Now we’ve seen and read the three places in Acts where Paul’s story it told. We don’t get such an advantage for everyone we see in scripture who is walking with God. We have a lot of scripture about Paul and from Paul so his identity in Christ is relatively easy to pick out.
Paul’s identity in Christ statement
Paul might summarize in this way:
I am an apostle to the Gentiles. I was appointed to tell my story to the sons of Israel, kings, and the Gentiles.
Gifts of Christ: Apostle, Teacher 1 Timothy 27
Gifts of Holy Spirit: Miracles, signs, wonders, healing, leadership.
Keys to prophetic encounter stewardship
What can we learn from Paul’s first encounter with Jesus that we can use as a key to unlock our identity in Christ?
Key: Encounters with Jesus reveal our true identity
Saul thought he knew who he was. He thought he knew his identity from God as he traveled from city to city looking for believers to arrest and imprison. In this first encounter with Jesus, he was made aware that his own paradigm of his identity was grossly mis-aligned. Jesus, in his kindness, revealed to Saul his true identity in Christ. Saul was know aware of who God designed him to be.
Key: Trust God is speaking to you through others
As we have seen in this article, Ananias was the one who gave Saul his first prophetic word. Saul, through his own direct encounters with God, and through testing his prophetic words, learned to deeply trust this first word from Jesus through Ananias.
Continued in: Paul’s first encounter part 2 – Jesus’ promise to Paul and fulfillment