Acts 9:17

‘And Ananias departed, and entered into the house, and laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord has sent me, even Jesus, who appeared to you in the way which you came, that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ’

Ananias immediately accepts correction and responds. He leaves his home and enters the house of Judas where he lays hands on Saul. Note how Luke only cites the essentials. The Lord’s will is being done. The courtesies of life, such as being invited in and explaining why he has come are ignored.

Note also in the reply the emphasis on the fact that Jesus is ‘the Lord’. It is He Who appeared to Saul in the way in which he had come, and it is He Who has sent Ananias so that Saul might receive his sight and be filled (pimplemi) with the Holy Spirit. There is a double implication in the words ‘receive your sight’ emphasised by the fact that he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He is to receive both physical and spiritual sight.

The laying on of hands was probably for healing. But it also identified Saul with the new people of God, for it is as clear as anything can be without saying it that Ananias must have been an elder in the Damascus church. And the result was a unique filling of the Holy Spirit, ‘by prophecy and the laying on of hands’ (1 Timothy 4:14), that is specifically God-ordained and received as a member of the body of Christ.

‘Filled (pimplemi) with the Holy Spirit.’ This phrase is only ever used of those who are to speak inspired words, usually with an explanation attached as to its result. The use of the term without an explanation of what will result being added, is only found here and in Luke 1:15 In both cases it is for men for whom God has a vital prophetic ministry. This use must therefore be seen as distinctive. This is not the same as that described in earlier descriptions in Acts. This is a special permanent enduement for a special and unique ministry.

In the case of John the Baptiser he was ‘filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb.’ Right from the commencement John the Baptiser’s life was uniquely Spirit-filled. That could not be said of Saul/Paul. But Paul makes clear that he had been set apart from his mother’s womb (Galatians 1:15), it was just that his filling had to be delayed until he had first experienced what was necessary for the fulfilment of his life work. But from now on he is to be a Spirit-filled proclaimer of the truth in accordance with the words spoken by Jesus on the Damascus Road, ‘to appoint you a minister and a witness both of the things in which you have seen me, and of the things in which I will appear to you, delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

So both John and Paul experienced something unknown to most others, although we may rightly see Jesus’ breathing on His disciples in the Upper Room on the same terms (John 20:20-22) as filling them with the Holy Spirit for their life’s work.