Acts 9:32-43 New International Version (NIV)
Aeneas and Dorcas
32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); 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 for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.
In verse 32, Luke continues the story about Peter. The church was not in danger now. So, Peter could leave Jerusalem. He could preach in other places. Lydda was a town about 30 miles north-west from Jerusalem.
Jesus had cured a paralyzed man in the town called Capernaum (Mark 2:1-12). Here, Luke describes how God cured another paralyzed man called Aeneas. This time, God did it by means of Peter’s prayers. Peter did not say, ‘I am curing you’ to Aeneas. Peter said, ‘Jesus Christ is curing you.’ Peter knew that he (Peter) did not have the power to cure. Jesus has that power. Jesus cured people when he was on the earth. And he continued to cure people after he went to be with God, his Father. He cures people today when Christians pray in his name.
Jesus told the paralyzed man in Capernaum to pick up his bed (Mark 2:11). Peter told Aeneas, ‘Get up and roll up your mat’. Aeneas would need his bed only at night now!
Sharon was the northern plain near the coast. The news about Aeneas spread round the neighborhood. Many Gentiles lived there. Joppa is called Jaffa today. It is on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is about 10 miles north-west from Lydda.
The Greek name ‘Dorcas’ means ‘gazelle’. (A gazelle is a beautiful wild animal with feet like a horse has. It runs fast and it jumps high.) Perhaps Dorcas was always running fast because she was busy! She helped many people. So, she was very popular. But she died suddenly. Everyone was very upset.
Many widows of this time were very poor. They had no money. So, they needed people to help them. Dorcas made clothes for them. When Jesus made Jairus’s daughter become alive again, he had sent most people out of the room (Mark 5:38-42). Only Peter, John, James, Jairus and his wife stayed. Peter remembered this. Now he sent the people here outside. He kneeled down and he prayed. He said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ Jesus had said to Jairus’s daughter, ‘Little girl, get up.’ The same thing had happened then too. Dorcas, like Jairus’s daughter, became alive again! Then Peter showed her to two groups of people. He showed her to the believers. He did this to make their faith even stronger. He also showed her to the widows. So, then they would know that they still had help.
When Jesus had made Lazarus become alive again, more people believed in him (John 12:10-11). The same thing happened here. Peter probably stayed in Joppa to teach the new believers. He even stayed with Simon, a man whom the Jews rejected. They rejected him because he did a dirty job. He touched skins from dead animals when he worked. The Jews said that he was ‘unclean’. But Peter did not seem to care about this. Perhaps God was preparing Peter for what happened next.