his throat dry and words measured. He picks up a nearby water jug. It is clay and heavy. Smashing it down on Paul's head would be such an easy way to kill this miserable man.
"Who are you?" demands Saul. "Speak!"
"I am one of those you long to destroy."
Saul rises to his knees. "Forgive me. Please forgive me."
Ananias puts down the jug.
Saul reaches out, his hand fumbling to take hold of Ananias's. His body is convulsed by remorse. "Please forgive me! I have wronged you. I have wronged God. My soul is on fire. Help me! Save me!"
Ananias places his hands on Saul's face. Saul winces as if he's been stung, and tries to push Ananias's hands away.
Then he stops.
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For the touch of those hands has restored Saul's sight. He blinks away tears as sunlight bathes the room. A succession of faces flashes before his eyes.
These are the images of those men and women he has persecuted. He feels regret for pain he has inflicted, but that suffering is soon replaced by God's healing forgiveness. He realizes this, and breaks down sobbing.
"Shhh," Ananias tells him. "I am sent by God. For you."
Saul looks up at the voice offering him such comfort. He recognizes the face of the man before him. "I know you," he says.
Ananias nods.
"Don't leave me," Saul begs. He clings desperately to Ananias's cloak.
Once again, Ananias reaches for the jug of water and now pours it over Saul's head. "I baptize you, Paul of Tarsus, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."
Saul is a new person. Even his name is changed. From this day forward, Saul is gone. The man named Paul, the apostle who will fearlessly go out into the world and share the Good News about Jesus, now takes his place.
The water runs over Paul's head and into his eyes and mouth. He coughs, chokes, and gasps for breath.
Ananias continues: "For he has chosen you to change the world in his name."
Slowly, Paul brings his hands up to his own face. A calm has come over him. "Why me?"
Ananias shrugs.
Paul stands. "Please forgive me for what I have done to you."
"You are already forgiven."
Caiaphas stands in the sacrificial courtyard of the Temple. The other members of the Sanhedrin have just approached the high priest with the most outrageous news. "Saul has done what?"
"He's joined Jesus' followers," his servant Malchus informs him. "He has even changed his name. They now call him Paul."
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Caiaphas stares at Malchus. He says nothing.
Malchus is once again eager to take on the role of henchman. "I'll find him for you," he says, eager to get away from the Temple and be granted autonomous power. "I'll assemble the men."
Caiaphas's eyes flash with hope. He rounds on Malchus, as if to hand over the mission to him, as he has done so many times before. But not this time.
"And then...?" asks Caiaphas. "What happens when you join them? Will I have to send someone after you? And then someone after him?" Caiaphas looks to heaven. He sighs.
"Let them be," Caiaphas speaks softly the words of the Sanhedrin leader, Gamaliel: "If this is man's work it will not succeed. If it is God's we cannot fight it." With all eyes on him, Caiaphas climbs the enormous steps of the Temple. He walks inside and closes the door behind them. Life had once been so simple here, so orderly. It was a world that he controlled. But now everything is changing. Caiaphas shuts out that world and all its new confusions. He will never be the same man again.
But the threat to Jesus' followers does not end with Caiaphas. The Romans and Herod Agrippa are stamping out all challenges to the status quo. The elder brother of the disciple John, James--also a disciple--is arrested and sentenced to death by Herod. His beheading is meant to be a word of caution to all who follow Jesus--and it succeeds.
The apostles meet secretly to regroup. Along with Mary Magdalene, they assemble in the small upper room that has marked their gatherings so many times. But this is not a time of peace or even connection. The disciples are engaged in a heated debate as to their future. A frightened Thomas can't take the conflict, and he is on the verge of leaving just moments after his arrival. John, on the other hand, is in a particularly foul mood, eager to do battle.
"It's getting too dangerous," says Thomas. "If we stay in Jerusalem we will die--all