Acts 9


Saul's Conversion

¹Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest ²and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. ³As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
⁵"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.
⁶"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
⁷The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. ⁸Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
¹⁰In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!"
"Yes, Lord," he answered.
¹¹The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. ¹²In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."
¹³"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. ¹⁴And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."
¹⁵But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. ¹⁶I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."
¹⁷Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord--Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here--has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." ¹⁸Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, ¹⁹and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Acts 9:1-19

Explanation:

Paul's Conversion and Early Ministry (9:1-31)
The church's mission is indeed unstoppable if the risen Lord can reach down to save the movement's chief enemy, Paul. We know Paul's conversion is important to Luke because he relates it three times (see 22:6-16; 26:9-18). After its first telling Luke gives us two episodes from Paul's early ministry and a summary statement of the church's stability, vitality and growth in Judea, Galilee and Samaria. This concludes Luke's account of the advance of the Jerusalem church through the first two steps of Acts 1:8. And with this demonstration of the genuineness of Paul's conversion and call to Jew and Gentile, recognized by the Jerusalem apostles, everything is now in place for the church's next great advance: taking the gospel to the Gentiles, to the ends of the earth.



Paul's Conversion (9:1-19)

The most important event in human history apart from the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is the conversion to Christianity of Saul of Tarsus. If Saul had remained a Jewish rabbi, we would be missing thirteen of twenty-seven books of the New Testament and Christianity's early major expansion to the Gentiles. Humanly speaking, without Paul Christianity would probably be of only antiquarian or arcane interest, like the Dead Sea Scrolls community or the Samaritans.

Saul the Enemy (9:1-2)

With Old Testament imagery for anger--snorting through distended nostrils (Ps 18:8, 15)--Luke builds up the picture of Saul as a rampaging wild beast in his hateful opposition to the disciples of the Lord (compare Acts 8:3; Gal 1:13, 23). When the NIV renders "threats and murder" as murderous threats, something is lost of the reference to the two-part Jewish judicial process (Longenecker 1981:368) and the highlighting of Saul's violence (Lake and Cadbury 1979:99). Saul does not just make threats (compare Acts 4:17, 29); he helps bring about actual executions (8:1; 26:10). Aside from this initial note, Luke gives us no indication of Saul's inner thoughts and motives before, during or after his conversion (but see 7:54-8:1; 26:9-11; Rom 7:7-12; Gal 1:13, 14; Phil 3:4-11).

Saul takes action. He goes to Caiaphas (4:6) and receives letters of introduction to the synagogues in Damascus, some 140 miles northeast. He seeks to enlist their aid, or at least permission, to arrest any fugitive Hellenistic Jewish Christians and return them to Jerusalem for trial (22:5).

The hostility to Christianity of pre-Christian Saul presents both challenge and hope to any non-Christian. The hope is that if God can turn the fiercest opponent of the Lord into his most willing servant, he has the ability to save anyone. The challenge is not to be deceived by self-satisfaction. Saul was quite content with his life spiritually. But God's sovereign grace arrested him.

Saul's Encounter with Christ (9:3-9)

As Saul travels to Damascus at midday, he experiences the divine presence: a light from heaven flashing around him and a voice addressing him (compare 7:31/Ex 3:4-10). The descent from Mt. Hermon to Damascus in the plain goes through a region known for violent electrical storms. Though this flashing light may have had the effects of lightning, however, it was a supernatural midday phenomenon.

Saul and his traveling companions see the light, but Saul sees more: the risen Lord Jesus in all his resplendent glory (9:17, 27; 22:14; 26:16; 1 Cor 9:1; 15:8). So overwhelming is the sight that Saul falls to the ground (compare Ezek 1:28; Dan 8:17). The sound or voice probably reminds him of the bat-qol ("daughter of the voice"), the way pious Jews believed God had directly communicated with human beings since the gift of prophecy had ceased with Malachi (Longenecker 1981:370). But the divine presence creates confusion for Saul, for if God is speaking with him, who is this heavenly figure addressing him?

The voice gives the divine perspective on Paul's activity. With a repeated address (compare Gen 22:11; Ex 3:4; 1 Sam 3:10; Lk 10:41; 22:31) the voice asks, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Jesus identifies with his disciples, his body (see Lk 10:16; Acts 1:1; 9:1; 1 Cor 12:27; Eph 4:12). In doing so he reveals that Saul's teacher Gamaliel's worst fears have materialized (Acts 5:39).

Saul grapples with his dawning realization that his life, though lived in zeal for the one true God even to the point of persecuting the church, has in reality been one of "ignorance in unbelief" (1 Tim 1:13). Through the question "why?" he begins to see that in proving his commitment to God by persecuting the church, he has actually been proving himself an enemy of God. As Saul deeply considers that "why?" and accepts the divine perspective on his actions, his whole spiritual world will be turned upside down. What was gain will become loss (Phil 3:6-9). What was a badge of honor will become a lifelong shameful blot on his character (1 Cor 15:9; 1 Tim 1:13, 15).

Out of his confusion, Saul calls, Who are you, Lord? Is he simply addressing the heavenly being with respect (Marshall 1980:169), or is he for the first time confessing Jesus as his Lord (compare Rom 10:9-10; 1 Cor 12:3; Kistemaker 1990:332)? His inquiry about the person's identity may indicate the former. He receives a divine disclosure in the clear reply, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." Jesus of Nazareth is risen from the dead! Stephen was telling the truth when he bore witness to the Son of Man standing at God's right hand (Acts 7:56). Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior, the Lord (9:20, 28).

Immediately Jesus issues a divine demand that requires Saul's trust and obedience. In the city he will learn what he must do to fulfill God's purposes (compare 9:16; 14:22).

Saul's companions probably include a number of wayfarers banded together in a caravan for protection against the hazards of the journey, as well as temple police to aid Saul in his work (Lake and Cadbury 1979:101; Bruce 1988:185). At this encounter they stand speechless, hearing a voice or the sound of a voice but not understanding the words (9:7/22:9). They do not see Jesus, though they see the light (22:9).

Thus Saul's conversion experience is an objective event with third-party witnesses. It is also a very personal event. The witnesses do not participate in the theophany the way Saul does (compare Jn 12:29-30; Acts 7:56).

For Saul the physical effects are devastating. Getting up from the ground, he opens his eyes and discovers he is blind! Led by the hand (Judg 16:26; Tobit 11:16) into the city, he neither eats nor drinks for three days.

But the spiritual effects on Saul will last a lifetime. The spiritual significance of a Jewish rabbi's being physically blinded by the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is not lost on Saul or Luke (2 Cor 4:4-6). Major themes in Luke-Acts are God's final salvation as a recovery of sight to the blind and as a light to the nations (Is 40:5/Lk 3:6; Is 61:1-2/Lk 4:18-19; Is 42:6/Lk 2:30-32; Is 49:6/Acts 13:47; compare 26:23; Lk 7:21-22; 18:35-43--last miracle before the cross; 14:21; Acts 26:18-23; Hamm 1990:68). The Jews, especially the rabbis, used the image "guide to the blind" to describe their God-given role among the Gentiles and the am haares (1 Enoch 105:1; Sibylline Oracles 3:194; Josephus Against Apion 2.41; Rom 2:19). As Saul meditates on the light during those three days of darkness, then, the greatness of the divinely promised final salvation available only in the last person he saw must become more and more clear and precious (Acts 26:18). And the role he is to play in becoming a light to the Gentiles must become increasingly evident (26:17).

What is Saul to make of his blindness? It is not a punishment (as Hamm 1990:70) nor an indication of divine disfavor (as Hedrick 1981:419) nor simply a concrete proof of the vision (as Haenchen 1971:323). An acted parable, it shows Saul the spiritual bankruptcy of his pre-Christian condition.

Saul's fast may be caused by the shock. Eye doctor John Bullock notes that the electrical shock from being struck by lightning causes violent muscular contractions; the throat can be so affected that it is hard to swallow (see notes for 9:8, 18). Or the fast may be a conscious act of penance for past sins (Haenchen 1971:323). The former seems more likely, since in 9:19, after his healing, Saul takes nourishment and is strengthened.

All conversion experiences are unique to the individual. What of Saul's experience does Luke intend us to take as normative? We should focus on the dynamic pattern of conversion, which includes a personal encounter with Jesus Christ via a witness to the gospel, a response of surrender in penitence and faith, and the reception of salvation blessings and incorporation into the church.

Saul the Chosen Vessel (9:10-19)

In a vision the Lord speaks to Ananias, sending him on a mission to restore the new convert. The mission serves to preserve Paul's apostleship as by "revelation from Jesus Christ" (Gal 1:12), to bring him into the church, despite his notorious reputation, and to ensure that the Gentile mission will take place with the approval of the church (Acts 13:1-4; compare other visions that guide the church's advance: 10:3, 17; 16:9-10: 18:9-10).

Ananias, a resident of Damascus and a devout disciple (22:12), is part of a "double vision" divine encounter (9:12) in which both he and Paul are made aware of the next step. Ananias should proceed to the main east-west thoroughfare of Damascus, Straight Street. With great porches and gates at each end and colonnades for commerce running along each side, this fashionable address would be as well known in its day as Regent Street in London or Fifth Avenue in New York is today. He is to look for Saul of Tarsus in Judas's house. Tradition locates Saul's abode at the west end (Lake and Cadbury 1979:102). Saul is praying, probably in preparation for his restoration (compare 1:14).

To be converted means to move from self-centered independence to dependence on the Lord and interdependence with fellow disciples. Saul the convert needs the support and encouragement of the church. Today too the gospel witness should emphasize by word and deed that being born again is being born into the family of God, the church.

Ananias protests. He has misgivings grounded in the convert's past reputation. All the Lord has told him is that this Saul is blind and praying. When Ananias puts that together with the harm Saul has perpetrated against the saints (9:21; 26:10) in Jerusalem, he is not sure he wants the assignment. Besides, Saul's mission in Damascus, with the authority of the high priests (either Annas and Caiaphas [Kistemaker 1990:329] or the high-priestly families [Bruce 1990:238]), is to arrest all who call on [the Lord's] name. By negative example, at this point, Ananias teaches us that reluctant gospel messengers must not only love their enemies but also trust that the gospel has such redemptive power that a praying converted persecutor is a persecutor no more.

The Lord does not directly answer Ananias's misgivings; he simply repeats his command: "Go!" The sovereign Lord has spoken. That is all the rationale Ananias or we need. Yet in his mercy the Lord also tells Ananias Saul's new status as my chosen instrument (Jer 18:1-11; 2 Cor 4:7; 2 Tim 2:20-21), his new mission, to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel, and new relationship to persecution, to suffer for Jesus' name. These new realities mean Ananias has nothing to fear from Saul.

Though Paul later seems to practice a "to the Jews first" strategy (Rom 1:16; for example, Acts 13:5, 14, 46; 14:1; 16:13; 17:1, 10; 18:4; 19:8; 28:23-28), he will remain aware of his definite calling to the Gentiles (18:6; 22:21; 26:17, 20; also 13:46-47/Is 49:6). Suffering for the Lord Jesus' name will indeed be his portion (Acts 20:23-24; 21:11; 26:17; 2 Cor 11:23-27; Phil 1:12-14; 3:10; Col 1:24).

Every convert then and now needs to know "it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him" (Phil 1:29). This verse was used to charge inquirers in Russian churches in the days of active persecution under atheistic communism. New Christians must know that discipleship is purposeful and costly.

Ananias obeys and performs his ministry to Paul. Laying hands on Saul, he declares that he has been sent by the Lord Jesus so that Saul may see again and be filled with the Spirit (Acts 9:17). Saul's vision (v. 12) linked only the healing and the laying on of hands, consistent with other passages in Luke-Acts (Lk 4:40; 13:13; Acts 28:8). Ananias also seems to link it with Paul's being filled with the Spirit (Williams [1985:157] and Marshall [1980:172] say no). Saul's filling with the Spirit is not a delayed reception of the baptism of the Spirit as a salvation blessing, but is the first of many empowerments for apostolic witness (compare 13:9; also see 2:4; 4:8, 31). This is Paul's "Pentecost," further validating his apostleship.

Ananias ministers to Saul as a convert. He heals him--sight is regained as something like scales (film or scar tissue) falls from Saul's eyes. He instructs Saul, confirming that the Jesus whom Saul saw on the road is indeed the Lord. He comforts Saul, addressing him as a Christian brother. He baptizes Saul, formally incorporating him into the body of Christ. Finally Saul knows full physical restoration as he takes nourishment. In all, Ananias's ministry models for us the supportive, restorative role the church is to play in the lives of newly converted Christians.

Acts 9


Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

²⁰Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. ²¹All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?" ²²Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
²³After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him, ²⁴but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. ²⁵But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
²⁶When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. ²⁷But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. ²⁸So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him. ³⁰When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
³¹Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.

Acts 9:20-31

Explanation:

Paul's Witness in Damascus and Jerusalem (9:20-31)

Reports of "foxhole religion" and deathbed conversions leave us uneasy. And having just read about Saul's conversion, we might be wondering about him. How do we know his and others' experiences are genuine?

Witness in Damascus (9:20-25)

For several days Saul is "in the company of" Damascus disciples, probably both refugees from Jerusalem and Damascus Christians. His reception by the community and his desire to share in fellowship with them are certainly signs of a genuine conversion. "True conversion always issues in church membership" (Stott 1990:178).

Yet Saul does not bask exclusively in the church's fellowship for long. Immediately he embarks on a mission of powerful Christ-centered preaching in the synagogues. Just as instantaneous as his healing is his fulfillment of his calling (vv. 15, 18). Filled with the Spirit, without training or a probationary period, he proclaims on numerous occasions (Haenchen 1971:331; not began to as NIV) that Jesus is the Son of God. The historical Jesus is central to his proclamation (v. 27; 17:7, 18; 19:13; 20:21; 28:23, 31). Saul consistently argues for Jesus' messiahship and boldly declares that he is the only source of salvation (17:3; 18:5; 19:4; 13:23; 16:31).

Only here and at Acts 13:33 (quoting Psalm 2:7) does Saul proclaim Jesus the Son of God. Within a messianic and monotheistic framework (2 Sam 7:14-16; Ps 2:7) this title is like "Son of Man" (compare Acts 7:56). For Jews, "Son of God" both conceals and reveals who Jesus is. For them it may be nothing more than a messianic title (compare 4QFlor 1:10-11; 1 Enoch 105:2; 4 Ezra 7:28-29). Yet when understood literally it implies participation in the divine nature, having a unique relationship and fellowship with God the Father (Lk 22:69/Ps 110:1; Dan 7:13; Lk 22:70). Saul, who has just seen Jesus in all his glory as the risen and exalted Lord, makes this the theme of his first sermons (9:3-5; compare Rom 1:1-4; Gal 1:16).

All who hear Saul are beside themselves with "astonishment" (see comment at Acts 2:7). The radical conversion of one who raised havoc against Christians is clearly a miracle. Saul's activity had been as humanly devastating to God's people as the sacking of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 10.135; compare Gal 1:13, 23; Menoud [1978a] sees it as only spiritual harm). What a turnabout that he should now be declaring that same Jesus to be the very Son of God!

As Saul grows more and more powerful spiritually (Williams 1985:160; Longenecker 1981:376 thinks this also includes his apologetic skills), his apologetic for Jesus as the Messiah produces bafflement among non-Christian Jews (Acts 6:10). His method is to set details of Jesus' life and the Old Testament messianic prophecies side by side in order to prove that Jesus is indeed the Christ (9:22; compare 17:3; 18:5; 26:23). What moral courage it takes for Saul to speak the gospel to the very persons who had been asked to help in his anti-Christian crusade! What more powerful evidence could be needed to persuade Theophilus--and us--that the conversion is genuine?

After time in Arabia (Gal 1:17; in New Testament times the region east of Palestine) Saul returns to Damascus, takes up his witness in the synagogues and faces a plot against his life. In collusion with forces of the governor under Nabatean King Aretas IV, the Jews seek to ambush Saul when he leaves the city (see 2 Cor 11:32-33). Saul escapes with the help of his followers, converts under his ministry (mathetai; all other uses are of "followers, disciples, of Christ"; see Metzger 1971:366). They locate a house built in the city wall, with a window facing out (2 Cor 11:33). At night they put Paul in a large hamper, possibly of rope ("a large woven or network bag or basket suitable for hay, straw . . . or for bales of wood," Lake and Cadbury 1979:106) and lower him through the window (compare Josh 2:15). He flees to Jerusalem, where he again takes up his witness for Christ in the Hellenistic Jewish synagogues.

George Bernard Shaw once said that the biggest compliment you can pay an author is to burn his books. Luke would add, the biggest compliment to a preacher is to conspire to silence him (compare Lk 22:2; Acts 2:23; 5:33, 36; 10:39; 13:28; 23:15, 21, 27; 25:3). Paul's persistent stand in persecution was a strong proof of a genuine conversion and fruitful life and ministry.

Witness in Jerusalem (9:26-30)

Saul arrives at Jerusalem a true outsider. His old compatriots, non-Christian Jews, are now his adversaries. His old enemies, the Christians, are not yet his "brothers." He may be staying with his sister while he tries to make contact and associate with the disciples. The church is afraid. So notorious are this persecutor's past deeds that even after several years they continue to place a cloud over the reports of his conversion.

What a contrast this fearful band of disciples is to that fearless group that only a few years earlier boldly defied its persecutors (4:19-20, 31; 5:12-14, 29)! Opposition can take its toll. Still, one of them, Barnabas, has courage (4:36). Being a "bridge person" (11:22, 25; 15:22, 25, 35), Barnabas takes Saul to the apostles (literally as NIV, not figuratively--"take an interest in"--as Kistemaker 1990:355) and tells them of Saul's conversion, call and subsequent ministry (grammatically it could be Saul who does the telling [Marshall 1980:175], but context indicates it is Barnabas, as in NIV; Haenchen 1971:332).

Increasingly in Acts the apostles fulfill the role of guarantors of the church's message and mission (8:14-15; 11:1-17; 15:1-29). Here they receive Saul and validate his call to preach the gospel of grace to the Gentiles. Barnabas summarizes the marks of Saul's call, which are congruent with the marks of the apostleship of the Twelve: Saul has seen the risen Lord, although he did not accompany him during his earthly ministry (22:14; 1 Cor 9:1; Gal 1:12; compare Acts 1:21-22). Saul has received a commission (the Lord had spoken to him), although it was not during preascension resurrection appearances (Lk 24:46-47; Acts 1:8). Like the apostles, Saul has been filled with the Spirit and has preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus (4:8, 13, 31, 33).

In a day when we often elevate individualistic, personal, subjective experience over communal, ecclesial, corporate judgments, Saul's example shines. His call is "for real" because it stands up to the test of the apostles, those charged with guaranteeing the message and mission of Christ's church. Any contemporary claims to God's call must similarly be tested by the deposit of the apostles and prophets: the Scriptures.

Saul moves about freely, . . . speaking boldly in the name of the Lord (v. 28; compare v. 27; see comment at 4:29). In Luke's understanding and Paul's, bold speaking is both characteristic of Christian witness and the result of a supernatural filling with the Spirit (4:8, 13, 31; 9:17, 27-28; 13:46; 14:3; 18:26; Eph 6:19-20; Phil 1:20; 1 Thess 2:2).

Saul's preaching again involves apologetic to Jews. A Hellenistic Jew himself, Paul picks up where Stephen left off, disputing in the Hellenistic synagogues (Acts 6:9). The church's mission has come full circle: its chief opponent has become its chief protagonist!

As with Stephen, the Grecian Jews try to do away with Paul. "Suffering . . . is the badge of true discipleship," said twentieth-century martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1963:100). The church gets wind of the plot and spirits Saul out of Jerusalem, to the seaport Caesarea and off by ship to Tarsus in Cilicia, East Asia Minor (22:3). In a vision God lets Saul know that his departure is according to divine plan (22:17-21). The church is not personally rebuffing Saul, nor self-interestedly removing him as a flash point for potential persecution (22:17-20).

The persecution and divine preservation are further evidences of the genuineness of Saul's call. Through his experience we also learn that avoidance of known trouble is not necessarily a sign of cowardice (Krodel 1986:181). If undergoing a known danger, especially a life-threatening one, will prevent a Christian missionary from fulfilling the known plan of God, then he or she should avoid it by every legitimate means possible.

The State of the Church in Palestine (9:31)

Looking both backward and forward, Luke summarizes the outward condition and the inner health of the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria. In a reverse parallelism, Luke begins and ends with the qualitative and quantitative outward circumstances: peace and growth (Lk 1:79; 2:14; 19:42; Acts 2:41, 47; 4:4; 6:1, 7; 12:24). This is a foretaste of what heirs of the messianic kingdom will one day enjoy (Jer 3:16; 23:3; 33:6; Ezek 37:26). In between Luke notes the characteristics of inner health that make this possible: godliness and Spirit-empowered encouragement. Peace has come primarily through the conversion of the chief persecutor and through changing political realities in the Empire (Williams 1985:164), but Luke also points to the strengthening the church has experienced (compare Acts 20:32). The church's growth is due in no small part to the Christians' godliness, living in the fear of the Lord. The Holy Spirit also has a role, empowering the preaching that encouraged (paraklesis, meaning "exhortation," Schneider 1980-1982:2:41; not comfort or protection after persecution, as Haenchen 1971:333) unbelievers to come to Christ.

Is the Christian church for real? When it fits the description of Acts 9:31, the watching world has evidence that the church is authentic and its message true.

Acts 9

Aeneas and Dorcas

³²As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the saints in Lydda. ³³There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. ³⁴"Aeneas," Peter said to him, "Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat." Immediately Aeneas got up. ³⁵All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
³⁶In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor. ³⁷About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. ³⁸Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, "Please come at once!"
³⁹Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
⁴⁰Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. ⁴¹He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive. ⁴²This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. ⁴³Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

Acts 9:32-43

Explanation:

THE JERUSALEM CHURCH: ITS MISSION TO THE GENTILES (9:32--12:25)

After two thousand years of the successful spread of Christianity among nearly every major ethnic group except the Jews, the natural question for us is, Will the Jews ever come to Christ in large numbers? In the church's earliest days the opposite question was the obvious one: Will the Gentiles ever be saved? Jewish Christians did believe that God had a saving purpose for the Gentiles, but it would be fulfilled at the very end of time (Is 2:1-4; 42:6; 49:6; Tobit 14:5-7). So deeply ingrained was the abhorrence of any contact with the ritually unclean that if it had been up to Hebraic Jewish Christians to take the first step toward Gentiles with the gospel, that initiative might never have occurred.

After a preparatory account of Peter's healing ministry in an ethnically mixed area (Acts 9:32-43), Luke uses four episodes to describe how God took the initiative to bring Gentile seeker Cornelius and Jewish Christian apostle Peter together, thus inaugurating the Jerusalem church's mission to the Gentiles (10:1--11:18). The Jerusalem church's confirmation, through Barnabas, of Hellenistic Jewish Christians' successful evangelistic initiatives among Gentiles at Antioch manifest the continuity and extension of that mission (11:19-30). God's miraculous intervention to rescue Peter from death and the subsequent divinely ordained death of the persecutor Herod strongly emphasize how important and how unstoppable the mission to the Gentiles is (12:1-25).



The Mission Is Inaugurated Through Peter (9:32--11:18)
When does God "outflank" and when does he make a "frontal assault" to advance the gospel? It depends on whether those who stand in the way are essential to its success. The Jerusalem church, as the mother church and guarantor, is essential to the inauguration of a successful, sustainable Gentile mission that will preserve the church's unity and its continuity of mission. So after strategically placing Peter near Caesarea (9:32-43), God through a combination of visions and acts of human obedience brings Cornelius and Peter together so that the Gentile might hear the gospel and be saved (chapter 10). When challenged by the church at Jerusalem, Peter so defends the Gentile mission that all the church can do is break out in praise of God (11:18).



Peter's Healing Ministry at Lydda and Joppa (9:32-43)

When Jews use the all-purpose greeting/farewell "Shalom!" (peace), they are wishing that your life be more than hassle-free. They desire for you that sense of well-being born of full health. The church too "enjoyed peace" (9:31), the shalom of a formerly bedridden Aeneas walking about in the Lydda Christian assembly and a once deceased Dorcas again busily sewing garments for the needy.

These transitional episodes flesh out the summary statement of 9:31, demonstrating that the mission to the Jews in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria (1:8) has been completed all the way to the coast. They are preparatory for the next great advance of the church: the Jerusalem church's Gentile mission (10:1--11:18). They place Peter in an advantageous geographical position to respond to the summons of Cornelius.

Peter and Aeneas (9:32-35)

We last saw Peter evangelizing Samaritan villages (8:25). Now he appears itinerating about the countryside, probably the regions mentioned in 9:31 (Haenchen 1971:338) as opposed to the territory between Jerusalem and Lydda (Bruce 1990:246). We are not told whether he is providing edificatory oversight to believers (Haenchen 1971:338) or evangelizing the unreached (Bruce 1990:246 calls it missionary work) or both.

The apostle arrives at Lydda, twenty-five miles northwest of Jerusalem at the intersection of highways from Egypt to Syria and from Jerusalem to coastal Joppa. It was the capital of a toparchy, or administrative district, and had a predominantly Jewish population in an ethnically mixed region. It is the Old Testament city of Lod, near which modern Israel's international airport of the same name is located (1 Chron 8:12; Ezra 2:33; Neh 11:35). There Peter finds saints (compare 9:13) who were converted under the witness of pilgrims returning from Pentecost or of Hellenistic Jewish Christians dispersed by persecution or of Philip (Acts 8:1, 40; Longenecker 1981:381; E. F. Harrison 1986:171; Kistemaker 1990:358).

Among the saints there--not Lydda's population in general, and therefore a Christian, not a non-Christian, gathering--Peter meets the Hellenistic Jewish Christian Aeneas. For eight years he has had a chronic ailment that has left the lower part of his body paralyzed. One such type of paraplegia is tuberculosis spondylitis, a paralysis that results from compression of the spinal chord (R. K. Harrison 1979:958). Aeneas has been confined to his mat, which is his bed.

Peter declares, Jesus Christ heals you (compare 1:1; simple action present--"this moment Jesus Christ heals you," Longenecker 1981:381). Then follows the command Get up and take care of your mat. As a sign of instantaneous and full recovery Aeneas immediately gets up (compare 3:7-8; Is 35:6). Luke points to the great impact this miracle has for the advance of the church. All who see Aeneas in Lydda and the coastal plain of Sharon, stretching from Joppa to Mt. Carmel beyond Caesarea, [turn] to the Lord.

What is the relationship between miracle working and evangelism (9:35, 42)? In Acts, miracles accompany about half of the occasions of effective preaching of the gospel (2:4/14-41; 2:43/47; 3:1-10/11-26; 4:29, 30/33; 5:12-16; 6:8, 10/7:1-53; 8:5/6; 9:34/35; 9:40-41/42; 13:10-11/12; 14:1/3; 14:10/15-17); on the other occasions they do not (8:35-38; 9:22; 9:28-29; 10:34-43; 11:20-21; 13:16-41; 16:14-15; 16:31-34; 17:1-4; 17:22-34; 18:4-5; 19:8-10; 20:18-21).

We need to avoid two extremes. Rather than despising the role of the miraculous in evoking saving faith, we should recognize its legitimate role in giving credence to the preached word. In the end, saving faith must rest not on the impression the miracle has made but on the truth of the message to which it points. Furthermore, there is nothing superior about preaching that is accompanied by the miraculous. Luke knows well that experience of the miraculous can bring misunderstanding and confusion and even throw up a hindrance to saving faith. Those who interpret it according to an unregenerate worldview will be blind to its true origin and significance (Lk 11:15; 16:27-31; Acts 14:8-18; 16:16-21). When miracles do occur as the gospel is being preached, the evangelist must fearlessly interpret God's acts by his Word to the audience, so that misunderstanding is put down and Jesus Christ is exalted.

Peter and Dorcas (9:36-43)

Eleven miles farther northwest, in Joppa (the ancient seaport for Jerusalem, Josh 19:46; modern Jaffa), lives Tabitha, or Dorcas, a disciple famous for her kindness to the poor. She lives in the fear of the Lord (Acts 9:31) by adopting correct values concerning material things (compare Lk 12:33; Acts 10:2, 4; 20:35; 24:17). Dorcas becomes sick and dies. Funeral arrangements begin with the cleansing of the body with oil and rinsing it clean with water (m. Sabbat 23:5). Then she is placed in an upper room (compare Semahot 11:2). Outside Jerusalem, burial was not necessarily carried out on the same day, especially if the shroud or the coffin needed to be prepared (Safrai 1976:776). Luke notes Lydda's nearness to Joppa and the sending for Peter.

Out of honor to such a saint, Peter does come. As he is conducted to the upper room, the noisy wailing of widows greets him. They are probably among the Christian poor Dorcas had helped (Acts 6:1; compare Jesus' special interest in widows in his teaching and ministry: Lk 4:25-26; 7:12; 18:1-8; 20:47; 21:1-4). In fact they are wearing some of her handiwork. Dorcas customarily made (epoiei, customary use of the imperfect [Williams 1985:167], not pluperfect as NIV) undergarments and outer garments--cloaks--for them (NIV robes and other clothing is less precise).

In Dorcas Luke gives us a model of Christian charity to the marginalized in society. Then orphans and widows were the most economically vulnerable (Lk 20:47). No government safety net was there to catch them. And today too, Christians must bring as much "shalom" as possible to those on the margins.

Peter's actions show his total dependence on God. Ordering everyone out of the room (Mk 5:40) and falling on his knees in prayer, he asks the risen Lord to apply his resurrection power to this corpse. Then turning toward the dead woman (literally, "to the body"), he issues the simple command Tabitha, get up. In a reversal of the first act of preparation for burial, closing the eyes of the deceased (m. Sabbat 23:5; Semahot 1:4), Dorcas opens her eyes and, seeing Peter, sits up.

What joy there must be as Peter, helping her to her feet, calls through the door to the believers (literally "the saints"), and especially the widows, to whom he presents her alive (compare Acts 1:3). News of the resurrection leads many to saving faith in the Lord, and Peter remains quite awhile in Joppa, in the house of Simon the tanner.

The way God resurrected Dorcas apart from any actions by Peter which could be interpreted as magical manipulation shows us that prayer and the Word of God must be central to every healing God grants.