Acts 9, Part 19

I think this transition is interesting, we go from Saul’s transformation, his vigorous telling of the gospel, and now we transition back to Peter. The last time Peter is mentioned is in 8:25 when he was returning to Jerusalem from Samaria with John. After describing the conversion of Saul, Luke provided a summary of the church flourishing and growing “throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria” (9:31). In this narrative on the ministry of Peter, we see the church’s mission extending into greater Judea and, most importantly, “to the end of the earth” through the conversion of the Gentile Cornelius in Caesarea. Thus, the Acts 1:8 commission sees fulfillment.

Acts 1:8 “8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.””

Two miracles are described:

Aeneas

Acts 9:32–35 ESV

32 Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. 34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. 35 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

Lydda NT name for Lod, a town located SW of Jerusalem in the Shephelah. Lod - A town in Canaan founded by the sons of Elpaal of the tribe of Benjamin.

Look at the “E” in “GREAT”, Joppa is on the shore, Lydda is almost due south (straight down below it).

Having already witnessed God’s working of miracles through Peter, we may wonder why these two miracles are included here. First, they reinforce the authenticity of Peter’s apostleship. They remind us of who Peter is and that he is running in the footsteps of Jesus. Second, they demonstrate the power of Jesus. Peter’s mission to the nations (and ours) is propelled by the resurrection power of Jesus. Third, these miracles provide signs of the coming kingdom of Jesus, who will heal the sick and raise the dead. Finally, these miracles aren’t ends in themselves; in both stories people turn to the Lord for salvation as a result of them (9:35, 42).

The first miracle, involving Aeneas, highlights Christ’s power over disease. Peter is traveling about, preaching the gospel and visiting the believers in Lydda (9:32). Since these believers were living in a transitional period, they surely had lots of questions about how to apply the law and live out their faith. While in Lydda, some twenty-five miles northwest of Jerusalem and about twelve miles southeast of Joppa, Peter met Aeneas. The man had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years.

I can only imagine the longings of this guy’s heart. Maybe he desperately wished to feel his wife’s feet snuggled beside him under their blankets, to be able to feed himself, to experience the satisfaction of a hard day’s work, to feel the Mediterranean splash against his ankles on a summer day. Whatever dreams he cherished, he was about to see them come true.

When Peter sees Aeneas, he simply says, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed” (9:34). In doing this Peter points to the power, Jesus, who had a history of healing paralytics (cf. Luke 5:24–25). And Aeneas just got up and walked in response to Peter’s words. Just imagine the joy in this man’s heart!

Assuming this story follows the pattern of Acts 3, the miracle attracted a crowd, and Peter preached the gospel to them. Thus, many people were converted (9:35).

Dorcas

Acts 9:36–43 ESV

36 Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. 37 In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” 39 So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. 40 But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner.

Next we see Christ’s power over death displayed in the story of Dorcas. This saint fell ill and died, and Luke tells us what had made her so special: verse 36 says, “She was always doing good works and acts of charity.” (What a great epitaph!) The widows for whom she had made clothes mourned for her deeply (v. 39). The disciples in Joppa promptly sent for Peter, hoping he might raise her up. They didn’t even bury her; they placed the woman’s body in a room, hoping for a miracle. And they weren’t disappointed: God used Peter to display Christ’s power over death.

Peter stands in the tradition of Elijah and Elisha, and especially of Jesus. Like Jesus and Elisha, Peter sends everyone out of the room when he shows up to call the dead back to life; he’s left alone with the corpse (cf. 2 Kgs 4:33; Mark 5:40). Like Elisha, Peter falls to his knees in prayer, looking to the One with resurrection power as his help. (Jesus didn’t have to pray in Mark 5 because he is the resurrection and the life!) Peter then calls Dorcas by her Aramaic name: “Tabitha,” he says, “get up!” This is almost an echo of Jesus’s Aramaic command to Jarius’s daughter, “Talitha koum” (Mark 5:41). In response Dorcas opens her eyes like the Shumammite woman’s son did in 2 Kings 4:35 as he awakened. Dorcas then sits up, as did the widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:15). Then, as Elijah and Jesus gave sons back to the widowed mothers (1 Kgs 17:23; Luke 7:15), so Peter gives the widow back to the saints.

Both of these miracles set the stage for the next one. Having shown us Christ’s power over disease and death, Dr. Luke has prepared us to see Christ’s power over discrimination.

Luke concludes the chapter by noting that Peter is in Joppa, staying with Simon, a tanner (9:43). This is significant. Clearly God was already overcoming some of Peter’s cultural biases. A tanner was rendered perpetually unclean by the Jews because he dealt with dead animals in order to convert their skins into leather.

Cornelius (10:1–8). Caesarea was the capital of the Roman occupation of Israel. It was a military town. It’s right on the coast, thirty-one miles north of Joppa. It’s important to know that the Jews hated Caesarea. They called it the daughter of Edom, a place of ungodliness, that is a symbolic name for Rome.

Cornelius is a captain of the occupying Roman army. As a centurion, he would have commanded about a hundred Roman soldiers posted in Caesarea, and he would have been paid as much as five times more than an ordinary soldier. So he’s a wealthy and influential man. Jews, however, surely resented him.

In this intensely Gentile place Peter comes to terms with his own prejudices. The gospel is about to shatter an antigospel tradition lurking in the apostle’s heart.

What is the most despised location in the world to you? Which nation, city, or part of town could you do without? Take a moment to consider why you feel that way. Now, imagine traveling to that location, working to befriend those you meet there, and offering them the good news. That’s Peter’s assignment.

Luke doesn’t want us to miss Cornelius’s religious devotion (10:2). The man “feared God.” The term “God fearer” was applied to Gentiles who adhered to Judaism’s faith in one God as they obeyed the Ten Commandments while balking at the idea of submitting to circumcision or to following the kosher dietary restrictions of Leviticus (Johnson, Let’s Study Acts, 124). Jews tended to respect such people, though they kept them at arm’s length because of their practices. Luke also notes that the man’s piety involved the giving of alms and prayer. Such generosity explains why he was well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation (v. 22). In some ways he is like the centurion at Capernaum, who had a respectable relationship with the Jewish people, supporting their work (Luke 7:4–5).

Importantly, though Cornelius was a religious man, he wasn’t a regenerate one. Cornelius was like Nicodemus—the man to whom Jesus spoke the words of John 3:16—in that he was pious and respected. Jesus told the latter, “You must be born again.” That is, even a “good” man must be radically converted. The gospel isn’t just for irreligious people; it’s for religious people too.

Merida, Tony. 2017. Exalting Jesus in Acts. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference.