"Peter Was Involved" (Acts 9:32-33)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/7/2018 10:06 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Peter Was Involved

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 9:32-33

            Message of the verses:  “32 Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions; he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed.”

            It has been mentioned that the central figure for the book of Acts is Peter through the first twelve chapters, and then Paul from 13-28, and so the scene shifts back to Peter at this point in Acts chapter nine beginning with verse 32.

            When we were commenting on the eighth chapter of Acts beginning at the beginning (vs. 1-2) we sat the persecution drove the believers out of Jerusalem and this required movement on Peter’s part.  Peter began to follow where the believers were and thus he would then end up where non-believers were so he could preach to them then heal one of them to get the attention of other unbelievers.  In our verses today we learn about Peter’s ministry in Lydda.  As we mentioned in our last SD Peter was getting out to be among the masses, and not just sitting in some hierarchical office, but he was moving and being involved in the ministry.

            John MacArthur writes “Lydda, known in the Old Testament as Lod, was located about ten miles southeast of the seacoast city of Joppa.  It was an important place, since the roads from Egypt to Syria and from Joppa to Jerusalem passed through it.  Today it is the location of Israel’s international airport.  When Peter arrived there, ‘he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed. The use of the term ‘a certain man’ to describe him, when contrasted with description of Dorcas as ‘a certain disciple,’ suggests he was not a believer.  There are no examples in the New Testament of believers being healed (though Lazarus, Dorcas, and Eutychus were raised from the dead).”

            Luke who was a doctor does not really get into what it was that caused Aeneas’ condition only that he had been bedridden eight years and was facing the prospect of being there for a long time, probably the rest of his life.

            So as Peter was moving around the area he became involved which would give him an open door to ministry, and that is what he would be doing as we move on in our next set of verses.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Mary” (Luke 10:41-42).

Today’s Bible question:  “What is the devil called in Mark?”

Answer in our next SD.  1/7/2018 10:29 PM