Saul’s Escape; Peter’s Healing of Aeneas and Tabitha
Acts 9:23–43
The brief narratives in this section may seem to lack a unifying theme, yet together they provide a transition from one crucial event—the conversion of Saul—to one that is equally crucial—the conversion of Cornelius. Cornelius’s conversion will be a major pivot point in the plot of Acts, for it will mark a shift from evangelization of Jews directed by the apostles to evangelization of Gentiles spearheaded by Paul. Thus the episodes in this short section bring us to the brink of the Church’s historic development from being entirely Jewish to embracing all peoples of the world.
Saul Visits Jerusalem (9:23–30)
23After a long time had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him, 24but their plot became known to Saul. Now they were keeping watch on the gates day and night so as to kill him, 25but his disciples took him one night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.
26When he arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. 27Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles, and he reported to them how on the way he had seen the Lord and that he had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. 28He moved about freely with them in Jerusalem, and spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord. 29He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists, but they tried to kill him. 30And when the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him on his way to Tarsus.
OT: Judg 16:2; 1 Sam 19:12
NT: 2 Cor 11:32–33; Gal 1:15–24; 1 Pet 3:15
Catechism: persecution, 769, 1808, 1816; bearing witness to Christ, 2471–74
Lectionary: Acts 9:26–31: Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year B)
[9:23]
After his conversion Saul spent a long time in Damascus, seeking to convince the †Hellenistic Jews who lived there that Jesus was the Messiah (v. 22). Because of this, those Jews conspired to kill him, as Saul himself and the Hellenistic Jews of Jerusalem had killed Stephen. Paul himself reports in Gal 1:17–18 that after his conversion, “I went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem.” Paul does not say why he went to Arabia, but a common conjecture is that he went for solitude to pray over his meeting with the risen Jesus and to revise everything he understood in light of his discovery that Jesus is the Messiah. Others speculate that Paul continued his preaching there. Paul does not say where in Arabia he went or how long he was there before returning to Damascus. Although most commentators seem to presume Paul was there almost the whole three years, his statement could even more naturally be understood as referring to a short time in Arabia and then a stay in Damascus of almost three years.
[9:24–25]
The novelistic details of Paul’s enemies watching the city gates day and night so as to kill him, and his escape through a lowered basket, are confirmed as factual by Paul himself in 2 Cor 11:32–33, though he names the “governor under King Aretas” as the one guarding the city gates. Both accounts agree that Paul escaped when his disciples took him to an opening in the wall of the city, lowering him in a basket in humiliating helpless flight. Paul’s flight is reminiscent of the Israelite spies’ escape from Jericho with the help of Rahab, who let them down by a rope through a window in the city wall (Josh 2:15).
[9:26–28]
After his arrival in Jerusalem, Saul tried to join the disciples. The Jerusalem disciples naturally avoided him out of fear, not believing that he was a disciple. It took the mediation of Barnabas to incorporate Saul into the Jerusalem church. Barnabas took charge of Saul to facilitate his acceptance and introduced him to the apostles, who were still leaders in Jerusalem. He related to them the story of Saul’s vision of the Lord and his subsequent bold witness in the name of Jesus. Paul considered it essential to remain in unity with the original apostles (see especially Acts 15 and Paul’s collection from Gentile Christians for the poor of the Jerusalem community in 1 Cor 16:1–3). Because of Barnabas, Saul was thereafter able to associate freely with them in Jerusalem. There he spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord, as he had done in Damascus.
The focus of this account, which highlights Paul’s acceptance by the apostles in Jerusalem, differs from Paul’s emphasis in Gal 1:15–20, where to some degree he minimizes his contact with the apostles in Jerusalem in order to emphasize that his apostleship came directly from Christ and was therefore as authentic as that of the Twelve. Although details of the accounts here and in Galatians 1 are difficult to harmonize, the main facts of the two reports can in general be reconciled. It is unclear to what extent Paul’s fifteen-day private visit with Peter and James (Gal 1:18) may coincide with Barnabas’s introduction of Saul to the apostles and Saul’s witness to Jesus in Jerusalem described here in Acts 9. In any case, Saul’s bold speech in Jerusalem was not to last long, as the following verses make clear.
[9:29–30]
When Saul spoke and debated with the Hellenists, they reacted the same way as those in Damascus: they tried to kill him. But also as in Damascus, this plot against Saul became known. Therefore his fellow Christians took him down to Caesarea, and in that port city they put him on a ship to Tarsus, his hometown in the province of Cilicia in Asia Minor.
The Church at Peace (9:31)
31The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace. It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord, and with the consolation of the holy Spirit it grew in numbers.
OT: Josh 21:44; 1 Chron 22:18; Ps 111:10
NT: Acts 6:7; Rom 15:13; 1 Cor 3:9; Col 1:10; Jude 20
Catechism: peace, 1829, 1832; consolation, 769; fear of the Lord, 1303, 2144–45
[9:31]
After reporting that Saul had been sent away safely to his home city of Tarsus following plots against his life, Luke inserts a summary. The church has now been freed from the hostility of †Hellenistic Jews aroused by Paul’s preaching. In all three regions of Palestine—Judea, Galilee, and Samaria—the church enjoys a time of peace and of being built up and living in the fear of the Lord Jesus. This is the first and only mention of the existence of the church in Galilee (which illustrates the selective nature of Luke’s history). Until this point, Luke has reported on the growth of the Church in Jerusalem and Samaria; only now will he report on Peter’s ministry in Judea (vv. 32–43).
Luke attributes the fact that the church in these regions grew in numbers to the consolation of the holy Spirit. The Greek term for consolation (paraklēsis) is related to Paraclete, the title Jesus gives the Holy Spirit in John 14:16, and expresses the Spirit’s work of aiding, comforting, and encouraging the church. The numerical growth of the church through the work of the Spirit is a major recurring theme in Acts.
Peter Heals Aeneas at Lydda (9:32–35)
32As Peter was passing through every region, he went down to the holy ones living in Lydda. 33There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been confined to bed for eight years, for he was paralyzed. 34Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed.” He got up at once. 35And all the inhabitants of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.
OT: 1 Kings 17:17–24; 2 Kings 4:32–37
NT: Luke 5:17–26; 7:11–16; 8:49–56; Acts 3:6–10
Catechism: evangelization, 2044, 2472; healing the sick, 1506–10
After Luke’s summary about the peace and growth of the church, he abruptly shifts focus from Paul to Peter, giving accounts of Peter’s healing and preaching in Lydda, Sharon, and Joppa—Judean towns and regions near the Mediterranean Sea. The risen Jesus continues to act through his disciples by the Holy Spirit, which he has poured out on them (Acts 2:33).
[9:32–34]
The occasion for Peter’s healing activity is his visitation of Christian churches through every region of Judea. When the Jerusalem Christians were scattered by persecution (as by Saul in Acts 8:1–3), the apostles remained in Jerusalem. But now, perhaps because the church in Jerusalem is at peace (Acts 9:31), Peter and the other apostles feel that the Jerusalem community is secure enough that they can now venture out to attend to the needs of the churches in the surrounding area. Luke refers to the disciples in Lydda as the holy ones (or “saints,” RSV, NRSV; “God’s holy people,” NJB). This ancient way of Christians referring to one another is a reminder that through faith, baptism, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Christians belong to God and need to conduct themselves in a manner that corresponds to this fact.
In the church in Lydda, Peter meets Aeneas, a man who is paralyzed and has been confined to bed for eight years. Peter boldly declares to him: “Jesus Christ heals you.” Then he simply commands him, “Get up and make your bed,” which Aeneas does at once. Peter speaks with a conviction that Jesus is present and acting through him. His direct command to Aeneas is similar to Jesus’ healing commands, but his preceding statement “Jesus Christ heals you” makes clear that he is speaking not by his own initiative but in the name of Jesus. Here as elsewhere, Luke makes clear that whereas Jesus heals by his own authority (Luke 5:20–25), his disciples do so by his authority (Acts 3:12–13).
[9:35]
Luke emphasizes that this healing of Aeneas had an extraordinary evangelizing impact in Judea. When all the inhabitants of Lydda and Sharon saw the healed Aeneas, they turned to the Lord Jesus.
Peter Restores Tabitha to Life (9:36–43)
36Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated means Dorcas). She was completely occupied with good deeds and almsgiving. 37Now during those days she fell sick and died, so after washing her, they laid [her] out in a room upstairs. 38Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, “Please come to us without delay.” 39So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs where all the widows came to him weeping and showing him the tunics and cloaks that Dorcas had made while she was with them. 40Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed. Then he turned to her body and said, “Tabitha, rise up.” She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up. 41He gave her his hand and raised her up, and when he had called the holy ones and the widows, he presented her alive. 42This became known all over Joppa, and many came to believe in the Lord. 43And he stayed a long time in Joppa with Simon, a tanner.
OT: 1 Kings 17:17–24; 2 Kings 4:32–37; Tob 4:10; 12:8–9; Sir 29:12
NT: Mark 5:38–43; Luke 7:11–16; 8:51–56
Catechism: almsgiving, 1969, 2447, 2462–63
[9:36–37]
After the healing of Aeneas, Peter does an even greater miracle for a devout widow, whose name Luke gives in †Aramaic, Tabitha, and in its Greek translation, Dorcas. Both words mean “gazelle.” Luke emphasizes her good deeds and almsgiving, that is, sharing material goods with others as children of the same heavenly Father. After describing Tabitha’s sickness, death, and the washing of her body, Luke reports that they laid [her] out in a room upstairs (reminiscent of the “upper room” where the Holy Spirit first came in power: Acts 1:13; 2:1–4).
[9:38–39]
The disciples in Joppa heard that Peter was in nearby Lydda, so they sent two men to ask him to come to them without delay. Peter did so and was taken to the room upstairs. Luke focuses on the grief of the widows who were weeping and showing the clothes that Dorcas had made while alive—showing them to Peter or, more likely, to God as a way of interceding for Dorcas. The widows’ reaction to Dorcas’s death speaks eloquently of their love for her and of her generosity to the poor during her lifetime.
[9:40–41]
Peter’s actions are very similar to those of Jesus in raising the daughter of Jairus (Matt 9:24–25; Mark 5:40–41). Like Jesus, Peter sent the weeping bystanders out of the room, perhaps because they were a hindrance to an atmosphere of faith that was needed for the miracle. He then commanded the dead person to rise and presented her to those who were grieving their loved one. Whether or not Luke’s readers would have caught the wordplay, Peter’s command “Tabitha, rise up” (Tabitha qumi in Aramaic) sounds much like Jesus’ command in Mark 5:41, Talitha koum, “Little girl, rise up!” Luke continues to show that what the apostles do and say in Acts is continuing what “Jesus did and taught” in the Gospel (Acts 1:1). This occurs as they exercise great faith, confident in Jesus’ power and in their own authority to speak and act in his name under the leading of the Holy Spirit.
[9:42–43]
This account ends, as do many accounts of miracles in Luke-Acts, with mention that the deed became known, in this case, all over Joppa. The raising of this widow led many to come to believe in the Lord Jesus. This remarkable deed confirmed Peter’s testimony that Jesus is indeed alive and has power to save and even to raise from the dead. Meanwhile, Peter remained a long time in Joppa with Simon, a tanner.
Reflection and Application (9:36–43)
These short reports about Paul and Peter remind us that although the growth and spread of Christianity takes place through human instruments, on a deeper level it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Only the divine power of the Spirit could change Saul from persecutor to proclaimer of the gospel. Only by the power of the Spirit could Peter heal the lame Aeneas and raise the dead widow Tabitha to life. The Church’s ministry and growth takes place today through an enormous variety of human instruments, including ourselves. Still, the principal agent of the Church’s outreach remains the Holy Spirit. Only in the power of the Spirit are contemporary “apostles to the Gentiles” able to attract others to Christ by their preaching and their loving deeds, whether great or small. Our access to this power of the Spirit is grounded in the fact that Jesus is exalted at the right hand of God and has poured out his Spirit on us (Acts 2:33; Catechism 1266, 1274, 2017).
