And he said, The God of our fathers has chosen thee beforehand to know his will, and to see the just one, and to hear a voice out of his mouth;
Paul stands in chains before an angry crowd in Jerusalem. He is retelling his conversion on the road to Damascus, and repeating what a man named Ananias said to him there: a choice made by God, a sight of a Person, and a voice.
Paul is speaking to Jews who suspect he has left their religion. The title Ananias uses answers that suspicion head on.
The key to what Paul says here, and to what he leaves out, is his purpose: he is recounting his conversion to the Jews. "The God of our fathers" appears only here. It was He, as Ananias said, and not another, who had appointed him to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice out of His mouth. It is much more than the simple fact that the Lord, even Jesus, had appeared to him on the way he came.
Ananias's message breaks the calling into three parts.
The message he brought was most striking: "The God of our fathers has chosen you." How could he escape the reality of this call of God? This was no mere visionary impression that Saul had received. Rather, God had stepped into his history so decidedly that it was impossible to ignore. This choice of God involved three vital matters for Saul's own soul. First, the knowledge of God's will. Second, that he should actually see "that Just One," the Lord Jesus. Third, that he should hear the voice of His mouth. God had special work for him to do, and chose no one else for it. So He would prepare him in a special way. He was to be a particular witness of God to all people of what he had seen and heard. This reality had a wonderful effect. It kept him going through every hardship, declaring the truth he knew.
(Where older translations read "has chosen you," the ESV reads "appointed you.")
"The Righteous One" — older translations read "the Just One" — is not a title invented for the moment. Jesus already carries it earlier in Acts, and it fits with what He said about Himself.
That is a fine title, dear friends, among others — "the Just One." See it in Acts 3:14; 7:52; 22:14. Jesus had already linked Himself and righteousness (or justice) together in John 16:10.
Paul's travelling companions were part of the event, yet they did not receive what he received.
Paul's companions saw the light, but did not hear the voice of Him who spoke with him. In chapter 9 we read that they heard the voice, but saw no one. They did not see the Lord, nor did they hear His words, but they saw a great light and heard a voice without being able to make out the words. This is exactly what was needed. They were undeniable witnesses that the vision was true and real, but the communication was for Paul alone. Only he saw the Lord (Acts 22:14-15). For he had to be taught by Him, and to bear testimony as an eyewitness that he had seen Him.
The other apostles came to know Christ slowly, while He lived among them. Paul began at the opposite end, with the glory.
It was not, as with the twelve, the patient tracing with slow understanding of the unfolding glory of the Man Jesus living among them... but the sudden and unlooked-for perception of the heavenly glory of the Lord, brighter than the sun, and the discovery that this was Jesus. That is, he began at the glory, the heavenly glory. He knew that he saw and heard the Lord speaking from heaven. So he asks, and finds that this glorified One, this glorious Lord, was Jesus whom he was persecuting. His mission therefore came wholly from the glory. He was not a witness of the suffering who would share the glory still to be revealed. He was a witness of the glory who shared the sufferings.
The first item on Ananias's list is the one every believer still asks about.
In Acts 22:14 we read how the Lord called Saul of Tarsus in the glory, so that he would know His will. I stress here that the knowledge of God's will, from then until today, is tied to a glorified Man in heaven. This characterizes Paul's ministry from beginning to end. What about our knowledge of Christ in heaven? Appreciation of this truth will greatly affect our understanding of God's will in our lives.
- Chosen — the call came from "the God of our fathers," not some rival God. The God Paul's accusers claimed was the One who appointed him.
- Shown — he was to see the Righteous One with his own eyes, a title Jesus already carries earlier in Acts.
- Heard — the light was public, but the voice and the words were his alone. He had to be taught by the Lord and to speak as an eyewitness.
- Sent — his ministry began at the glory instead of ending there. So he was a witness of the glory and a sharer in the sufferings.
- Kept — knowing God's will still runs through a glorified Man in heaven. That certainty carried Paul through every hardship.
for thou shalt be a witness for him to all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
Paul defends himself before the Jews by repeating what Ananias told him after his conversion. Three questions follow: who sent him, what he had to report, and how far "everyone" reaches.
The name Ananias used for God carries the whole defence.
"The God of our fathers" appears here alone. As Ananias said, it was He and not another who had appointed him to know His will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice out of His mouth. It is much more than the simple fact that the Lord, even Jesus, had appeared to him on the road.
The men travelling with Paul saw something, but not what he saw. That gap is why his account could be checked and still stayed his own.
Paul's companions saw the light, but did not hear the voice of Him who spoke with him. In chapter 9 we read that they heard the voice, but saw no one. They did not see the Lord, and they did not hear His words. They saw a great light and heard a voice, but they could not make out the words. This is just what the case required. They were undeniable witnesses that the vision was true and real. But the message was for Paul alone. Only he saw the Lord. For he had to be taught by Him, and bear testimony as an eyewitness that he had seen Him.
God also told Ananias what had happened, and there was a reason for that. Paul would be accused. His account had to stand clear of the charge that Jews had arranged it among themselves.
Paul was to be a witness of Christ to the Gentiles beyond all others. So God took special care to remove from every fair, upright man all suspicion that any Jew had arranged it. On the outside, the vision of glory was unmistakable before many witnesses. Of the whole company, only Saul heard what passed between the Lord and His servant. But divine wisdom told Ananias what had happened, independently of Saul and of every other person on earth.
Paul's message differs from that of the other apostles. They reported life with Jesus on earth. His commission came from a Christ already taken up.
He received no commission from Jesus on the earth. His commission came from Jesus "received up in glory." He was specially to witness to the glory into which Christ was exalted. The saints, made alive by the Spirit, were called to that same glory. The other apostles "bear witness because they had been with Him from the beginning"… They were witnesses to the fact of the resurrection of Jesus. But Paul was witness to something beyond this fact.
What Paul saw did more than fill his mouth. It changed what he wanted.
Paul faithfully testified to the glory of the heavenly Christ, for that glory dimmed for him all that had attracted him in this world.
The reach of Paul's calling was set at the very beginning. Older translations read "all men" where the ESV has "everyone."
Here we learn too that Ananias told the apostle, before his baptism, that he should be a witness for Christ to all men of what he had seen and heard. This ought to have prepared the Jews for the wide scope given to Paul's ministry. Would they have him resist the "God of our fathers" and His known will? There were two witnesses, by whose mouth every word should be established.
Paul's commission was personal to him. But the role of witness is not only for apostles.
Every believer is a witness, if not in the special sense in which Paul was. It belongs to what we are. It is bound up with our very profession of Christianity. So in no place and in no circumstances can we strip ourselves of this character.
The same rule of "what you have seen and heard" holds for every believer's testimony.
If we are to have power in testimony, we must go on what we have seen ourselves. We cannot act on the faith or understanding of another.
- Chosen — The call came from "the God of our fathers," not from men. He arranged for Paul to know His will, see the Righteous One, and hear His voice.
- Shown — Paul's companions saw light and heard a sound, but no words. They prove the event was real. The message stayed his alone.
- Sent — He had seen a Christ already received up in glory. So his testimony went beyond the resurrection the earlier apostles reported.
- Spread — Ananias named the scope before Paul's baptism. His reach to everyone was God's known will from day one, not a later drift.
- Shared — Every believer is a witness. That witness has power only when you speak from what you have seen yourself.