Acts 9:32-43
Thanks to a very unusual set of snowstorms this year, it has been a while since we met, but when we last met we finished the conversion of Paul and we were about to shift our focus back on to Peter for a bit longer. As we read Acts it is important to keep in mind it is primarily a history book, and as such the events are arranged topically more then chronologically.
Acts 9:31 is a summary statement that bridges from the end of Paul’s conversion all the way to Acts 11:22 which is around a decade later. Acts 9:33 connects back to Acts 8:25 to continue the story that was left off there. Acts 9:33 through the end of the chapter serve as a set up for chapter 10, which is arguably one of the most important chapters in the book of Acts, if not all of the New Testament. We will cover that next week.
This week we will look at Acts 9:32-43 and follow Peter as an example of personal ministry. Peter is likely the head of the original Apostles, and probably seen as the head of Christendom in general. The exact leadership structure of the church at this time is not spelled out anywhere, but it appears to be run by the twelve that were closest to Jesus when Jesus walked on the Earth. If that is true, the Peter does appear to be like a chairman to that group. Whatever his actual position was, what we should see here is that Peter was a very important man, and would have had a lot of demands on his time.
In Acts 9:92 we read that Peter was traveling through out the area and stopped to visit the “saints in Lydda”. Some translations will differ on the word saint, TNIV for example says “the Lord’s people” while The Message says “believers.” These are all attempts to translate τοὺς ἁγίους , which in its simplest translation is “the holy ones.”
The idea wrapped up in this Greek word is one of separation. It not just separation for the sake of being separate, but set apart for God. At the time of the writing of the New Testament the word was used among the Greeks to mean, “dedicated to a god.” Perhaps the easiest way to get the concept across is to quote Vine’s here:
It [τοὺς ἁγίους] is used of men and things in so far as they are devoted to God. Indeed the quality, as attributed to God, is often presented in a way which involves divine demands upon the conduct of believers. These are called hagioi, “saints,” i.e., “sanctified” or “holy” ones.
This sainthood is not an attainment, it is a state into which God in grace calls men; yet believers are called to sanctify themselves (consistently with their calling, 2 Tim. 1:9), cleansing themselves from all defilement, forsaking sin, living a “holy” manner of life, 1 Pet. 1:15; 2 Pet. 3:11, and experiencing fellowship with God in His holiness. The saints are thus figuratively spoken of as “a holy temple”, 1 Cor. 3:17 (a local church); Eph. 2:21 (the whole Church), cp. 5:27; “a holy priesthood,” 1 Pet. 2:5; “a holy nation,” 2:9. [1]
As you can see there is a lot wrapped up in that little word, and that is why there are differences in how each translation deals with it. It is probably best to see here that all believers are saints by the virtue of their salvation, and are called to live like they are holy ones of God.
What we then see here in context is Peter is out touring the area, probably on preaching everywhere he goes in order to further his Lord’s message, and takes time to stop in Lydda to visit Christians there. These Christians might have been the result of Philip’s ministry, or might be some of the Christians that fled Jerusalem under the persecution of Saul. The text does not say, but it is clear that there are Christians there when Peter arrives.
When Peter arrives he most likely had the local Christians all demanding his time, asking him to come preach, and likely asking him to clear up areas of doctrine they were not sure on. Peter would be the foremost expert in their city, and in high demand. During all this important flurry of activity Peter notices a certain man. As far as we can tell from the text there was nothing special about this man, and there is no indication that he was a believer, but Peter noticed him.
Peter would have likely been in a flurry of important duties with lots of people making demands of his time. Think about a modern day famous person entering your city, would they have time to stop by your house and have tea? Would you even expect them too? Of course not, they have more important things to do. However, Peter in the midst all of this important activity still was keeping his eyes open and because of this he saw a need. A certain man needed help, and Peter stopped to help him. How often in our own busy lives are we too busy to notice just one person that needs our help?
From there Peter is called to Joppa because a great worker of the church there had died. It is unclear from the text if the believers there called Peter to raise her from the dead, or just to work the funeral. Some commentators suggest the reason the body was placed in the upper room was because they knew the story from Mark 5:34-43 where Jesus raised the dead girl and hoped Peter would also, while others point out that the body was prepared for a funeral and this was more like a modern day wake then a call for healing.
Which ever way it was does not matter as much for our application of this story today. What I want to look at is how Peter goes about what he does. Notice the first thing he does is clear the room. While doing this he never promises them any healing, he just asks them all to leave. This is markedly different then our modern day traveling healers that would have brought the body up on center stage and made a big deal about what they were doing. Along these lines also notice how Peter raises the dead, he stops and prays, then asks her to rise. He did not stand there and call out in his own power; instead he went to the Lord.
So what can we learn from all of this? First and foremost is that we are called to live like the “holy ones” that we were made into at our rebirth. This is critical. As a Christian you should be different then the world around you, you should stick out. We are aliens here, ambassadors for Christ, and we need to embrace that instead of hide from it. The world around you should be able to look at you and know that you belong to Christ with out you ever having to claim it.
Second we should see that no matter how busy we are, no matter how important we get, we must stop and take time for personal ministry. Look at the results of Peter stopping to help just one single person. The text says “all those who dwelt in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.” (Acts 9:35) When we take the time to work at the personal level, like Peter did here, the impact will be multiplied greatly by God. Notice that the text does not say that Peter’s great preaching and revival camp meetings converted anyone at all, only that stopping to heal this one man did. There is a place and a need for the large events, but we as God’s holy ones need to remember to take time for personal ministry.
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[1] W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger and William White, Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville: T. Nelson, 1996).
