Acts 9:32-43
This will be the fifth year we have preached from Acts in the period after Easter until summer. Over the past four years we have moved through nine and a half chapters of Acts. We ended last year with Paul being sent off to Tarsus because of threats on his life in Jerusalem and we begin this year by picking up again the story of Peter.
When Luke sat down to write the history of Jesus, he did this by writing two books. The first, Luke, is the history of the earthly life of Jesus. The second, Acts, is the history of the work of Jesus through his followers.
Acts 1-3 begins with the ascension of Jesus into heaven and then the long promised coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. With the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the disciples became different men and women. Peter and John performed miracles in the name of Jesus and taught in the Temple courtyard with authority.
The Jewish religious leaders were dismayed because they thought they had dealt effectively with Jesus who threatened their religious establishment. They left Jesus dead on the cross and then a month or so afterwards received reports that the disciples of Jesus were teaching that Jesus had risen from the dead.
So the religious leaders went into action and Acts 4-7 focuses primarily on the persecution of the fledgling church and ends with the stoning of Stephen.
Acts 8 introduces Saul who approved of Stephen’s death and then goes on to talk about the spread of the believers – and the Gospel – into Samaria where many believers went to escape the persecution in Jerusalem.
Acts 9 tells the story of Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus and his 180? turn from persecutor of the followers of Jesus to evangelist for Jesus. After three years in the wilderness of the Arabian Peninsula, he returned to Damascus and then Jerusalem where his life was threatened and so the disciples sent him off to Tarsus.
That is where we have been and today we pick up the story of Peter.
When I think of the book of Acts, I tend to think of Paul as the main character. I think of this as his book. But Luke is clear that Peter was the leader of the early church. It is Peter who preached the first sermon after Pentecost and three thousand responded by becoming followers of Jesus.
It is Peter who, in the name of Jesus, healed the man born lame at the gate called Beautiful. It is Peter along with John who went to Samaria to investigate the reports that the Samaritans were believing in Jesus. It is Peter along with John who laid hands on these followers of Jesus and they received the Holy Spirit.
It is clear that Peter was the leader of the early church. In the next few weeks we will look at the account of the conversion of Cornelius, who was the first Gentile or non-Jewish believer. This again happened under the ministry of Peter.
After this account Peter disappears in Acts and Paul takes over. And at the end of Acts when Peter is again mentioned, it seems that James, the half-brother of Jesus, is now the leader of the church in Jerusalem. I will come back to this in a later sermon, how oftentimes those who start as leaders of ministries need to step aside as the ministry grows.
But for now it is enough to see that Peter is the one who led the church out of its focus on Jews only to the Samaritans, the half-brothers of the Jews, and then to the Gentiles, the non-Jewish world.
As Luke picks up the account, the persecution of the church had eased and the early church experienced some years of peace. This allowed Peter to visit the growing number of communities of believers spread around Jerusalem.
Luke picks up the story of Peter by talking about his experiences in Lydda, a town west of Jerusalem, about 20 kilometers inland from the port city of Joppa on the Mediterranean Sea and in Joppa itself.
Luke tells of two miracles, the first in Lydda and then the second in Joppa. Were these the only two miracles in Peter’s ministry? That does not seem likely. In Acts 5 Luke records that
The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people… people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.
So it is not likely that these two recorded miracles were the only ones, but Luke wanted to highlight these two as an introduction to Peter’s acceptance of Cornelius as a brother in Christ.
The first miracle was to 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.
Now, when you hear this, doesn’t this sound familiar? Doesn’t it seem that you have read this somewhere else?
Do you remember the story, recorded in all three gospels, of a man who was paralyzed being lowered through a hole in the roof made by his four friends? Do you remember what it is Jesus said to him? Luke 5
He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.
Two men were paralyzed. Each was told to get up and take his mat. That is the detail that tells me Peter is copying Jesus. Why tell someone to take their mat? It is not something I would think of if I were praying for the healing of someone. But Peter, just like Jesus, told the paralyzed man to “get up and don’t forget to take your mat.”
If this seems to be a coincidence, take a look at the second miracle Luke records.
In the port city of Joppa there was a woman who was much loved because she
was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38 Lydda 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!”
39 Peter 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.
40 Peter 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. 41 He 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. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.
Does this remind you of one of the miracles of Jesus? In Mark 5 Jesus was on his way to the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler, to help his sick daughter when he was interrupted by the woman who touched his robe to be healed of her bleeding. At this point men came from the house of Jairus with the news that his daughter had died.
Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.
Notice that Peter was an eyewitness to what happened next.
38 When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him.
After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.
There are so many similarities between these two accounts: Messengers came to Jesus and messengers came to Peter bringing news of a death; Jesus and Peter arrived with the funeral in progress with the mourners weeping and crying; Jesus and Peter sent everyone out of the room, although Jesus kept Peter, James and John and the girl’s parents with him. But the point is both sent all the mourners out of the room.
What did Jesus say? “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!
What did Peter say? Tabitha, get up. Or in Aramaic, Tabitha koum!
If Peter spoke to her in Aramaic, there was only one consonant different, a b rather than a l. Tabitha koum rather than Talitha koum.
When someone commits a terrible crime that is reported by the news, there are sometimes similar crimes committed which were inspired by the original crime and are called copycat crimes.
These seem to be copycat miracles. Jesus did it, Peter watched and then Peter did what Jesus did.
Of all the miracles that could have been recorded, why did Luke record these two miracles that seem copies of miracles of Jesus? It seems to me that Luke wanted to make clear that Peter was the leader appointed by Jesus to lead his church and these miracles were offered to his readers as proof that Peter was the leader appointed by Jesus. Peter was able to do what Jesus had done because Jesus was now working through him.
Miracles are acts of compassion. Over and over again the Gospels record that Jesus had compassion and then healed or fed the people. Miracles are an indication that God loves us and is active in the world.
But miracles also serve a strategic purpose. Miracles offer proof of the truth about God. Jesus said in John 10:38
even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.
Miracles were proof that Jesus was the Messiah. When the disciples of John the Baptist came to ask Jesus if he was the Messiah, Jesus told them (Luke 7:22)
“Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
“Do you want to know if I am the Messiah? Then look at my miracles,” Jesus said.
“Do you want to know if Peter was chosen by Jesus to lead the church?” Luke asks, “Then look at his miracles, the same as those of Jesus.”
The miracles Peter performed in the name of Jesus served the strategic purpose of supporting his leadership of the early church.
In thinking about this, I wondered why it is we don’t see these miracles in our ministries. We want our friends and neighbors to know that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if he would offer proof of this by healing people in his name? I’ll come back to this, but first my thoughts went in a second direction.
A couple weeks ago in the adult Sunday School we were looking at the miracle of Jesus when he healed the paralytic lowered through the roof by his four friends.
As we were talking about this, one woman mentioned that if it were her, she would have taken her friend to the hospital, not to Jesus.
And so I asked myself this week: If Jesus were here today, in our culture, would he take sick people to the hospital?
Which leads to the question: Is it more spiritual to take a friend to a faith healer to be healed by Jesus or to the hospital to be healed by doctors?
Let me make a few observations relating to these questions.
First, it is important to remember that Jesus did not live in a culture with good medical care. Hospitals were simply not an option.
I was talking with a couple friends who have worked in parts of Africa where there are not hospitals or doctors. They told me that when someone needs to be healed it is not a question of going to a doctor or a hospital. These are too far away and too expensive. So either Jesus heals or they do not get better. If someone needs counseling for their marriage, there are no marriage counselors so either Jesus heals the marriage or the marriage does not get better.
Jesus had no hospitals or doctors to which he could take people who were sick or needed counseling. He saw these people and had compassion and did what no one else could do.
Secondly, where do doctors get their skills, their knowledge, their technology, their medicine? As Christians we believe that God leads us into our understanding of the created world and how it functions. Not all those who make progress in our knowledge of the created world are Christians nor do they necessarily acknowledge that this is a created world, but nevertheless we believe it is God who leads us in the use of our minds.
So God heals us whether someone prays for us and we are healed or if we go to a doctor and hospital. One may be more dramatic and make for a better testimony in church, but God healed us either way.
Thirdly, there are two mistakes Christians make with regard to healing. One is that they resist going to the doctor and endure pain and suffering longer than they need to because they would prefer God heal them divinely than to go to a doctor. The other is that they go to the doctor and neglect to pray for healing.
The first mistake of preferring a divine healing in response to prayer has its roots in the fact that we believe in a God we cannot smell, touch, taste, see or hear. Because we cannot know God with our five senses, our temptation is to search for material proof that God exists. So if I can be healed dramatically by prayer, then that serves as proof that God exists and my faith (we mistakenly believe) is strengthened.
Our first mistake is to search for the dramatic and throw away common sense.
On the other hand we can also make the mistake of putting all our trust and confidence in the medical system and neglecting to pray for healing.
On the bulletin cover there is a picture of Jesus standing next to a surgeon as he operates. I found this picture on a blog written by a Peace Corps worker in Guatemala whose appendix ruptured and had to have an emergency appendectomy. As he was lying in his hospital bed he saw this picture on the wall.
I like this as an image for us to remember. The modern version of the paralytic being lowered through the roof to Jesus would be for four friends to raise money for the medical care needed for their friend, pray for his healing and then take him to the hospital.
Now, let me come back to what I mentioned earlier. Why don’t we see miracles like those in Acts in our ministries? It is not that healing never takes place. But when we hear stories of someone who has been healed, it seems muted a bit from the power of the miracles recorded in Acts.
We share our faith in Jesus but it would be wonderful to have miraculous validation of what we say is true.
A woman might say, “You believe in Jesus and I follow the Hindu gods.” Wouldn’t it be powerful to be able to pray for this woman’s crippled son and say, “In the name of Jesus, get up and walk and give your crutches to someone else who needs them.”
We long for this powerful validation of our message but taking someone to the hospital is not without redeeming value in our witness to Christ.
A few years ago when I went to the Hilton forêt, I discovered that the old man who was one of the guardians at the gate we used had a sore on his leg. It was infected and a couple centimeters deep. I went home and got some hydrogen peroxide, sterile bandages and some antiseptic ointment and came back to the forêt. I dressed his wound and when I poured on the hydrogen peroxide there was an eruption of puss. As I dressed his wound, he said over and over again, Barak allah fik. God bless you. I bandaged it up and over the course of the next few weeks, I kept treating his wound until it was healed.
I don’t speak Arabic and he spoke nothing else. But I prayed for him as I dressed his wound and only God knows how he used this act of kindness in this man’s life.
Caring for people, taking them to the doctor, helping them with medical care is a way in which we witness to people the love of Jesus. When we love people in the name of Jesus we present an opportunity for God to work in the lives of the people for whom we have cared.
Caring for the needs of people is not without power but more direct divine miracles are a lot more powerful.
So what can we take from this?
The first lesson is a caution that we are not to go out seeking miracles. That is not and never should be the goal. I don’t think Peter set out for Lydda seeking to do a miracle. The old Peter, the Peter before the crucifixion of Jesus might have done this. Peter used to be bold and brash, stepping out of the boat to walk on water -and then nearly drowning, or fervently declaring that he would stand by Jesus and then denying him three times. The post-Pentecost Peter is a different man, full of boldness but also carrying a sense of humility. After trying to stand on his own strength and then denying Jesus, Peter knew where the power to perform the miracles in his ministry came from.
Peter went to Lydda and then when the Spirit encouraged him to pray for the healing of the paralyzed man, he did so in faith and told him to get up and take his mat.
Peter went to Joppa and when the Spirit encouraged him to pray for Tabitha to rise from the dead, he did so.
Peter responded to what God told him to do. Peter did not have his own agenda to perform miracles.
What should we do?
Jesus healed out of compassion for people and so we should pray for compassion for people who are ill and then pray for their healing.
A few years ago there was a little seven year old girl named Lamnia. She was a beautiful, intelligent little girl who lived a tough life and then was brought to the Children’s Haven in Azrou. About a year after she came it was discovered she had leukimia and we prayed for her.
She came to Rabat to the Children’s Hospital and was lovingly cared for by two Christian women. I received word one night that she had died and I went to the hospital and found the room where her still warm body lay on a stretcher. I laid hands on her and prayed as earnestly as I could that she would get up and be alive and healed, but nothing happened.
It is not up to us who is healed and who is not healed. We can only pray in faith and then wait for God to work out his purposes which are far beyond our comprehension.
We should pray for healing and if it is appropriate, we should help people get the medical care they need.
We would love to see God work in dramatic ways, offering proof that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life but this is not something we can manufacture. This is not in our power to do.
So we care for people, love them in his name and trust that when it fits God’s strategic purposes, he will unleash the power of the Holy Spirit to heal in the name of Jesus and declare with acts of power that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords.
The dynamics of the early church emerging from a dominant Jewish culture and the dynamics of the church emerging in any country where there is a dominant, non-Christian religious culture are very similar. There are many hurdles to jump over to become a follower of Jesus and I pray for the Holy Spirit to work with signs and wonders that will testify to the truth of Jesus.
And I pray that God will prepare the hearts and minds of those to whom the gift of healing and other gifts will be given so they will be used with humility and the glory will go to Jesus as his church is built.
