Acts 9:17

But Christ did not say to Ananias: I appeared to him, but he learned this from the Holy Spirit. And indeed he was not seen. Yes, he was seen through works and through the operation. Nor did he say, He who pierced you, turning aside …

Look how much obedience there was after the greatest fear. And so, these words of Ananias were spoken by him not out of unbelief, but out of fear and trembling. "Brother Saul! The Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you …

At the word of Ananias, Saul was discharged from his confinement by the restoring of his sight; for Christ's commission to open the prison to those that were bound ( Isa. lxi. 1 ) is explained by the giving of sight to the blind, Luke iv. Christ's commission is to open the blind eyes, and to bring out the prisoners from the prison.

The Lord hath sent me - Ananias does not tell Saul all which Christ had said concerning him. It was not expedient that he should know yet to how great a dignity he was called.

And Ananias went his way,....

But Christ comes to the soul in light, for he is himself the light of the world, bright and glorious to us, as light. The first thing in this new creation, as in that of the world, is light, 2 Cor. iv. Hence all Christians are said to be children of the light and of the day, Eph. v. 8 .

Putting his hands on him - This was not “ordination,” but was the usual mode of imparting or communicating blessings. See the notes on Mat 19:13; Mat 9:18. Brother Saul - An expression recognizing him as a fellow-Christian. Be filled with the Holy Ghost - See the notes on Act 2:4.

Ananias went his way, and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul--How beautifully childlike is the obedience of Ananias to "the heavenly vision!" the Lord, even Jesus--This clearly shows in what sense the term "Lord" is used in this book.

Brother Saul - As he found that the Head of the Church had adopted Saul into the heavenly family, he made no scruple to give him the right hand of fellowship, and therefore said, Brother Saul. The Lord, even Jesus - Of what use is this intrusive word even here? It injures the sense. St. Luke never wrote it; and our translators should not have inserted it. The Lord Jesus, the sovereign Jesus who appeared unto thee in the way, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. Christ could have cured him so miraculously by his own power, without human means, as he had enlightened his heart without them; but he will honor man by making him his agent, even in working miracles. And be filled with the Holy Ghost - So it appears that the Holy Spirit was given to him at this time, and probably by the imposition of the hands of Ananias. To say that it would be degrading to an apostle to receive the Holy Ghost by means of one who was not an apostle is a very flimsy argument against the evidence which the text affords that Saul did receive this Spirit by the ministry of Ananias: besides, Saul was not an apostle at this time; he was not even a Christian; and the Holy Ghost, which he received now, was given more to make him a thorough Christian convert than to make him an apostle. No person will deny that he was baptized by Ananias; and certainly there was as strong an objection against an apostle receiving baptism from one who was not an apostle as there could be in receiving the Holy Spirit from such a person. It is very likely that Ananias was either one of the seventy disciples commissioned by Jesus Christ himself, or one of those who had been converted on the day of pentecost. If he were the former, any authority that man could have he had. […]