Acts 26:16

“But arise, and stand on your feet, for to this end have I appeared to you, 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.”

It was then that he had been given his commission. Like Ezekiel of old he was told to stand on his feet (Ezekiel 22:3). For Jesus was in a position of total authority. And Jesus had told him that the reason why He had appeared to him was in order to appoint him as a minister/servant, and as a witness, both of what he had now seen of the Lord in His supernatural glory, and of the things concerning which He would appear to him in the future. He had been chosen by God to be a chosen messenger of Christ.

We should note that before this audience it was necessary to bring out what ‘the Lord' had said to him. They would not recognise Ananias, but they could not fail to recognise a voice of such authority. When speaking to the Jews, however, he had been at pains to point out that his commission had been given to him by a pious and devout Jew. Here it was to be seen as from the Lord from Heaven Himself. Which then was true? We have no reason to doubt that both were true. While the commissions were similar they were not the same, and there is no reason why he should not have received one when Jesus was speaking to him, and a comparative one when his eyes were opened. Ananias had brought him confirmation of what he had already heard. Like many a testimony, each time Paul gave it, it was selective and concentrated on different aspects of his experience suited to the hearers. But in reality, psychologically the reminder and confirmation by Ananias would be necessary so as to enable him to be sure that he had remembered correctly what he had been told at a time when he was under great trauma. God had given him a second reading.

The Purpose behind The Commission