Dwell in the Word: Acts 9:32-43

Consider these questions as we dwell in Acts 9:32-43:

1. In the healing of Aeneas and the resurrection of Dorcas, Peter attributes the miracles to the power of Jesus, emphasizing that he is merely a messenger. How does this highlight the central role of Jesus in the acts of healing? What does this reveal about Peter's understanding of his own authority and the source of true healing?

2. The stories of Aeneas and Dorcas serve as powerful metaphors for the spiritual condition of humanity apart from Christ. How does Aeneas' condition parallel our need for spiritual healing, and how does Dorcas' resurrection symbolize the new life found in Christ? How does this message of restoration and newness apply to our own lives?

3. These miracles not only affirm Peter's authority to teach but also validate the message of the gospel he proclaims. How do these specific miracles reinforce the truth of Christ's redemptive work and the promise of new life in Him? In what ways can we draw inspiration and assurance from these accounts in our own walk of faith?

Transcript:

 So, we find the story here in Acts shifting back to Peter for a while. Remember we started in Jerusalem and the gospel went out after Pentecost. We've seen Peter and John doing healing, but then we had this detour. We had the death of Stephen, then we had Saul who was approving of this, then we had the conversion of Saul, then we had Saul proclaiming the gospel coming to Jerusalem, and then the last part that we looked at on Monday.

Had this talk of the church expanding well So we come to Peter and we're hearing some stories here about Peter doing some healing now This is Aeneas who cannot walk and someone named Dorcas who or Tabitha who has died Well first with the healing of Aeneas he goes there and he had been paralyzed for eight years  eight years But yet, by praying in the name of Jesus, he is able to walk.

This is an amazing thing. Think about this. The, it's not just that whatever was wrong with Aeneas was repaired.  The miracle is also that he was able to stand and walk.  He had strength where he needed it. Not just rewiring the different things in his body that needed to work. He had the strength that was needed to walk.

What an amazing miracle! And then we move on to an even more amazing miracle. So we have Tabitha, or Dorcas, who, well, that is an interesting name. Her name means, as you can see here, if you are watching on video, Her name means gazelle in both languages. So, Dorcas has died.  And so, the disciples hear that Peter is around.

Obviously, there is a legacy here that Peter has Peter has a reputation and so they bring him in and he prays and she is brought back to life. She rises up again. This is more than just everything being rewired. She sits up. She looks. She does all of these things. This is an amazing miracle.  Now, we have to remember here, as we think about what these miracles do and what they mean, when we look at the miracles of Jesus, He was doing them by His own power.

He was doing them to show that He was the one who was bringing this new message of salvation, that He was bringing in the Kingdom of God. Well, now, as we look at how the story is told about Peter, you’ll notice it's different. How is he doing it?  With Aeneas. Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. It's not that Peter is healing them.

He's not, he's not making claims of having this power himself. We see him praying.  And he is praying. He is not saying, putting his hands on him, saying, I'm healing you. What is he, what he is doing is he is praying that God would heal them. And so that everyone knows that the power is not within Peter himself.

Now, I'm sure there were issues with Peter, you know, wanting to, uh, people wanting to, uh, worship Peter or other things like that. But he is, he would refuse that because it is not him. That is the one who is giving this healing. It is Jesus. He is simply the messenger. He is simply the one who is bringing this message of salvation in Christ.

And to confirm that this is a new thing that God is doing, it is accompanied by these healings. And so as we look at what this means for us, As we look at these stories, we need to think, do we, do we think maybe Peter did other healings? I've mentioned this when we were looking at the Gospel of Mark. It's likely, and we're certain, we know because of what the Gospel of John says, we know that Jesus did more healings.

Then just were being talked about in the book of Mark or the book of John or the book of Matthew or Luke,  Peter was likely doing the same thing. Why? Why is Luke telling us this these stories here about Aeneas and Dorcas?  What does it tell us about who Jesus is?  Well, it's the same thing we saw in the Gospels when Aeneas gets up and walks, it lets us know we cannot move towards God on our own.

We need him to bring us to life. This story is told for a reason because it shows us a picture of how Jesus comes to us and gives us the ability to move towards him.  We can't do it on our own. We can't come to salvation apart from Christ. And so, this lame man is a picture for us of the gospel. And then it's amplified even more when we're told the story of Dorcas, right?

What is our state apart from Christ? We are dead in trespasses and sins. We, yeah, we're not sick and, uh, maybe we need some medicine from Jesus. That's not it.  Our state of affairs, apart from Christ, is that we are dead in our trespasses and sins, and we need Jesus to bring us to life. And so these miracles show us that Peter has the authority to teach, and this message of Christ and him crucified that he is proclaiming is the true message of the gospel.

But these specific miracles, and so, may we get up today and walk in newness of life. May we get up remembering that we were dead in our sins. May we remember the miracle of being saved from that being dead in our trespasses, passes and sins. May we live with the joy of our salvation because just as these people were healed, we have been healed as well to the uttermost.

Because we have salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.