Tucked away in the Acts of the Apostles is a story of a man named Ananias. He gets overlooked due to the the prominent figure in his story. Ananias was the man who ministered to the man who later became the greatest missionary in Church history, the Apostle Paul.
The story of Paul’s conversion may only rival that of the Gentiles. Nobody thought the Gentiles would be considered for salvation, it was quite controversial to the early church. But it wasn’t as controversial as the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Saul was wreaking havoc on the newly founded church of Jesus Christ (Acts 8:3); consenting to the death of Stephen (Acts 7:58, 8:1); and held believers captive in prisons. Saul was a blasphemer and a persecutor (1 Tim. 1:13). Saul of Tarsus was a man completely devoted to the Old Testament Law of Moses. He sat and learned at the feet of Gamaliel and taught according to the perfect manner of the law and because of that teaching he very zealous (Acts 22:3). But Saul rejected Jesus as the Messiah. Saul walked in the only light that had been given to him.
When Saul had been blinded by a vision of Jesus Christ he was told to go into the city of Damascus and wait for the instructions on how he was to be healed and converted (Acts 9:6). Enter the ministry of Ananias.
