Acts 9

Acts 9: The Damascus Road: Saul Converted

1 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting... Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

"Not content with carrying his hateful inquisition into the homes of the Christians in Jerusalem, he will follow the fugitives to Damascus. The extension of the persectution was his own thought. He was not the tool of the Sanhedrin, but their mover. They would probably have been content to cleanse Jerusalem, but the young zealot would not rest till he had followed the dispersed poison into every corner where it might have trickled. The high priest would not discourage such useful zeal, however he might smile at its excess.

So Saul got the letters he asked, and some attendants, apparently, to help him in his hunt, and set off for Damascus." (Alexander MacLaren)

"He came near should be it came to pass, about noon (Act 22:6), that he drew nigh, a Hebraistic form of expression. A light from ( ἀπό) should be a light out of ( ἐκ) heaven.—This was the 'glory' of Jesus (Act 22:6)... " (Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary), by Paul's own testimony.

Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting..."

"I admire the very blessed manner, and I think that the Reader will admire it also, in which the Lord Jesus spake to Saul, in calling himself Jesus. Had he said, as he might have said, I am the God of thy Fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob; Saul might have pleaded, that his persecution of the Church of Christ was out of zeal for the Lord's glory. But when from this Shechinah, Jesus himself spake to him as Abraham's God, and called himself Jesus, the weapons of all warfare fell at once from his hands and all self-defense was taken away. And no doubt he lay trembling on the earth, expecting that the next words of the Lord would be to sentence him to hell." (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)

"Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? - This indicates a subdued soul, a humbled spirit. Just before, he had sought only to do his own will; now he inquired what was the will of the Saviour. Just before he was acting under a commission from the Sanhedrin; now he renounced their authority, and asked what the Lord Jesus would have him to do. Just before he had been engaged in a career of opposition to the Lord Jesus; now he sought at once to do his will. This indicates the usual change in the mind of the sinner when he is converted. The great controversy between him and God is, whose will shall be followed. The sinner follows his own; the first act of the Christian is to surrender his own will to that of God, and to resolve to do what he requires. We may further remark here that this indicates the true nature of conversion. It is decided, prompt immediate. Paul did not debate the matter Galatians 1:16; he did not inquire what the scribes and Pharisees would say; he did not consult his own reputation; he did not ask what the world would think." (Barnes)

Arise and go to the city (of Damascus), and you will be told what you must do. This conversion is good news to Jews of every age for though the priesthood was given to all believers in Jesus, they could still have a lot with them under His terms.

7 And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. 8 Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one… “hearing the noise - but not an articulate voice. And seeing the light, but not Jesus himself, Acts 26:13

And he was three days without sight - an important season! So long he seems to have been in the pangs of the new birth. Without sight - by scales growing over his eyes, to intimate to him the blindness of the state he had been in, to impress him with a deeper sense of the almighty power of Christ, and to turn his thoughts inward, while he was less capable of conversing with outward objects. This was likewise a manifest token to others, of what had happened to him in his journey, and ought to have humbled and convinced those bigoted Jews, to whom he had been sent from the sanhedrim." (Wesley's Explanatory Notes)

10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” 13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” 17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.

God sent Ananias to Paul.. "for behold he is praying." "Prayer is the breath of the spirit, Romans 8:26; 1:20. And prayer without the spirit is but an empty ring, a tinkling cymbal." (Trapp)

And this time Anania- not an apostle- laid his hands on Paul to restored his sight and impart the Holy Spirit, here before baptism. Who will advise the Lord? And Ananias gave no guidance or instructions. It had been said on the road that he would be told what to do, as Philip had to instruct the Ethiopian, but we are left to suppose that this zealous Jew by birth, being full of the Word of God, was guided by the Spirit of Christ into the waters of baptism.

19 So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.

Acts 9: Saul Preaches Christ is the Son of God

20 Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

Immediately Saul preached Christ, as His chosen vessel to bear His name "before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel." And he likely planned to use synagogues as a platform to these various groups, as a righteous sect of Judaism.

But the rulers of the synagogues would have no part of it.

He preached that Jesus is "the Son of God." Saul, "fresh from the vision of the glory, puts the emphasis on His Deity. Peter's charge was that the Jews had crucified the Son of David Acts 2:25-30 Paul's that they had crucified the Lord of glory 1 Corinthians 2:8." (Scofield's Reference Notes) Yet they could not be convinced of the Person of Jesus for the fullness of the Gentiles had come.

Saul was not a closet Christian. He immediately made himself deserving of death in the eyes of his brethren- the Jews. "This is the only mention in Acts of someone proclaiming Jesus as the 'Son of God' (but cf. Acts 13:33." (Constable) "Son of God- Term used to express the deity of Jesus of Nazareth as the unique divine Son." (Tyndale Bible Dictionary) When the high priest questioned Jesus, he said to Him, “'Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?' But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, 'I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!' Jesus said to him, 'It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.' Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, 'He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! What do you think?' They answered and said, 'He is deserving of death.'" (Matthew 26:62-66)

Concerning the deity of Christ, C. S. Lewis— a former atheist— said, ”Then comes the real shock. Among these Jews there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God. He claims to forgive sins. He says He always existed. He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time. Now let us get this clear. Among Pantheists, like the Indians, anyone might say that he was a part of God, or one with God … But this man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God. God, in their language, meant the Being outside the world, who had made it and was infinitely different from anything else. And when you have grasped that, you will see that what this man said was, quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips.” (Mere Christianity , 51.)

"'We preach not ourselves,' he said some years afterwards, 'but Christ Jesus the Lord.' St. Paul (Saul) never found it necessary to change his subject. It lasted him for his life. But what was it? The dry monotonous repetition of one doctrine? Need I ask this of any reader of his Epistles? Well may he speak there of 'the unsearchable riches of Christ'; of 'all the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in Christ bodily.' He found in Christ an inexhaustible wealth of comfort, of sympathy, of help, an unlimited supply of grace. And this was what he sought to communicate. That is true preaching; the endeavour to unfold a reality and a happiness first felt within. And he could do this at once--'straightway.' He could tell, as a matter of plain proof, that he who had come out to persecute had been arrested by a stronger hand, and constrained to confess that One whom he had scouted as a crucified and dead man was indeed living in the fulness of strength at the right hand of God." (Dean Vaughn)

21 Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?” 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

23 Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him. 24 But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him. 25 Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket.

This band protected their new spokesman. They agreed with Saul's theology of Christ. Do you? -"When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, 'Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?' So they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'" (Matthew 16:13-16) And Jesus builds His church on this very revelation.

Acts 9: Saul at Jerusalem

26 And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. 28 So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. 29 And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him. 30 When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus.

After escaping death in Damascus, Saul went to Jerusalem- the seat of the persecution, “to 'see Peter;' not to learn anything from him (for this he is very careful to repudiate, Galatians 1:11-12;16-20), but to inform him, as the leading apostle, of his conversion and calling, but more particularly the specific sphere to which his labours were to be directed-namely, to the Gentiles pre-eminently; and to confer with him in brotherly fellowship on the things of the kingdom.

He assayed to join himself to the disciples - simply as one of them, leaving his high commission to manifest itself." (Jamieson Fausset-Brown)

Consider his position to Judaism. Saul "had left a conquering hero of Pharisaism. He returns distrusted by the disciples and regarded by the Pharisees as a renegade and a turncoat." (Robertson's Word Pictures) "He had decided that what Jesus had to offer was worth more than the whole world put together!!!" (The Bible Study New Testament) "He now returns,... his bright worldly prospects all forfeited, an outcast from his own nation, persecuted and hated." (People's New Testament)

And Saul "tried' to join the disciples- "to be in religious fellowship with them." (Adam Clarke) But they believed not that he was a disciple. Surely they had heard of his conversion. Yet, he ”was somewhile a probationer ere he could be admitted." (John Trapp)

"He who has been an enemy to the truth ought not to be trusted till he gives proof that he is changed." (John Wesley) "They did not suppose it possible that such a person could be converted to the faith of Christ. The full power of Divine grace, in the conversion of the soul, was not yet completely known." (Adam Clarke) "It would seem that he had no letters of commendation from Damascus, owing to the hurried manner of his escape. So that we are not surprised at the panic here." (J Eadie, D.D.)

Lack of favor with brethren- flesh nor spirit- is not an authentication of lack of blessing with God. "But Paul had a friend who knew and understood. We read, 'Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.' The testimony of Barnabas authenticated the testimony of Saul. In other words Barnabas said, 'Yes, I know all about it. You do not need to be afraid of him now. He was once the enemy of the truth, but a great change has taken place. Saul of Tarsus has been born again.” (Ironside's Notes)

"We have seen how at crucial moments in his career certain people were instrumental in winning Paul for the Church. First, the Church owed Paul to the prayer of Stephen. Then the Church owed Paul to the forgiving spirit of Ananias. Now we see the Church owing Paul to the large-hearted charity of Barnabas. When everyone else was steering clear of him, Barnabas took him by the hand and stood sponsor for him." (William Barclay)

"Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles - that is, to Peter and James; for 'other of the apostles saw I none,' says he to the Galatians (Galatians 1:18-19). Probably none of the other apostles were there at that time." (Jamieson Fausset-Brown) "We may never know until the judgment day how much is owed by all men to the loving trust of Barnabas, not merely for his advocating the case of Saul of Tarsus here, but also for his advocating that of John Mark, whom Paul was so ready to reject, following that defection of the young Mark in Perga of Pamphylia (Acts 13:13; 15:38,39). All that is revealed of Barnabas in the New Testament justifies the affirmation that he was a good man full of wisdom and of the Holy Spirit. In his espousal of Paul's sincerity in this episode, there is an illustration of the truth that it is better to trust than to distrust; it is better to believe the best of men than it to believe the worst of them." (Coffman)

Because of Barnabas's words, Saul obtained entrance. And he was with them going in and going out of Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord, "living amongst them, and freely conversing with them [for fifteen days]; that is, with Peter, and James, and the rest of the believers, who had now no suspicion of him…” (Matthew Poole) And he spake and disputed against the Grecian Jews; "preached mainly in the synagogues of the Hellenists as Stephen had done (Acts 8:9)... It was intolerable to these Hellenistic Jews now to hear Saul taking the place of Stephen and using the very arguments that Stephen had employed. [And they went about to kill him too.] They offer to Saul the same conclusive answer that he gave to Stephen, death." (Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament)

And when the Jerusalem brethren knew it, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus.... "Here again we see Paul in peril of his life. For him life had become a thing of hairbreadth escapes. Out of Jerusalem he was smuggled to Caesarea and thence to Tarsus. Once again he is following the consistent policy of his life, for he goes back to his native city to tell them that he is a changed man and that the one who changed him is Jesus Christ." (William Barclay's Daily Study Bible)

Acts 9: The Church Prospers

31 Then the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.

Then the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria ... "for by means of the dispersion, on account of persecution, the Gospel was preached in these several places, and churches gathered..." (John Gill) These had peace- "The principal persecutor had just been converted, and that would somewhat damp the zeal of his followers. Saul having gone over to the enemy, it would be difficult to go on harrying the Church with the same spirit, when the chief actor was turned traitor." (Alexander MacLaren)

And thus were they edified by the witness of Christ in Paul, walking in the fear of the Lord Jesus and the comfort of His Holy Spirit, they grew, "an excellent mixture of inward and outward peace, tempered with filial fear." (John Wesley) They were "edified; or built up on the foundation Christ, and their most holy faith, through the ministry of the word and ordinances, and their mutual love and holy conversation; and had an increase of members, and of grace, and of spiritual knowledge." (John Gill)

"God sends his church sun-shine after showers, a calm after a storm, health after an hectic, and a Canaan's rest after a wilderness journey." (Burkitt) It's Friday but Sunday's coming. "As when Paul was converted, the Churches rested; so, much more, when sin and Satan shall be destroyed, shall the state of the saints be most restful and blissful in heaven." (John Trapp)

"Mid toil and tribulation,

and tumult of her war,

she waits the consummation

of peace forevermore;

till, with the vision glorious,

her longing eyes are blest,

and the great church victorious

shall be the church at rest." (from The Church's One Foundation)

Let us follow this model for the church, being edified and led by the Holy Spirit during similar times. But beware that your peace is not the result of a lack of Christian activity. And be careful not to participate in the wrong type of warfare, looking to the book of Acts. "The battles we fight, however, are not battles of blood, but battles of love and mercy. We are sent to carry, not the sword and the spear, not rude violence, but conceptions of higher justice, nobler purity, wiser laws, and more beneficent customs. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. With these we contest, and we will contest, against rage and wrath and bitterness, knowing that He that called us and sent us is the God of battles, and will guide us and give us that victory which, if worth anything, is worth achieving in the severest conflict. For victories that are cheap, are cheap. Those only are worth having which come as the result of hard fighting." (H. W. Beecher)

Acts 9: The Highway of Holiness Opened

32 Now it came to pass, as Peter went through all parts of the country, that he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda. 33 There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed. 34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed.” Then he arose immediately.

"The Holy Ghost now leaves the relation of St. Paul's life and actions for the present, and returns to give a farther account of St. Peter, what he said, what he did, and what he suffered." (Burkitt) When persecution waxed strong, “the twelve stood firm in Jerusalem. (See note on Acts 8:1.) Yet they still held central communication with all quarters, and occasionally visited special points. (See note on Acts 8:14.) Peace opens, and Peter makes a general circuit." (Whedon's Commentary on the Bible)

"Lydda- The Lod of the Old Testament (Ezra 2:33); about a day's journey from Jerusalem..." (Vincent), "located southwest of Jerusalem in the Shephelah...." (Tyndale) It is “a town in the tribe of Ephraim, almost on the border of Judea, and nigh unto Joppa." (Clarke) "It was once the seat of a rabbinical school celebrated for its learning." (Whedon)

Yet: "It was called by the Greeks Diospolis, or city of Jupiter, probably because a temple was at some period erected to Jupiter in that city. It is now so entirely ruined as to be a miserable village." (Albert Barnes' Notes) It was full of pagan theology; but the church, by the spreading of the persecuted Christians, kindled a fire there.

As Peter passed throughout all parts of the country - Δια παντων, Bp. Pearce thinks, should be translated, not through all quarters, but through all the saints.” (Adam Clarke) So, perhaps this miracle was in the church and Aenais was already a believer in Jesus, Peter "being notably active for Christ, according as it was charged upon him, Luke 22:32; 'When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.' The most that the saints can do for Christ is not the one half of that which they could beteem him." (Trapp) God was honoring the promise of Jesus that mighty signs should follow the preaching of the apostles "confirming the word." (Mark 16:17)

Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you… Compare to the healing ministry of Jesus, ”The language of Peter to the palsied sufferer is very different from his Master’s in similar cases. The disciple performed his miracle of mercy in the name and power of Jesus Christ. The Redeemer, on the other hand, commanded with Kingly Majesty in such terms as, ‘I will, be thou clean;’ ‘Take up thy bed and walk;’ ‘Damsel, I say unto thee, Arise;’ ‘Lazarus, come forth.’” (Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament)

Jesus the Messiah heals you, “not Peter, for he had no power but what was given him from above." (Adam Clarke) Arise and make your bed… Just as our Saviour bid “the sick of the palsy to arise, and take up his bed, Mark 2:11; and so he commands the impotent man, John 5:8. Here St. Peter bids this paralytic to make his bed." (Poole) "‘That bed of thine, which hitherto others have made for thee, poor crippled one, from henceforth, restored by the power of my Master, Jesus, MAKE for thyself.’” (Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament) Then he rose immediately.

What audacity! Peter could have no such boldness, “unless he had been in such constant and close touch with his Master that he was sure that his Master was working through him. And is it not beautiful to see how absolutely confident he is that Jesus Christ’s work was not ended when He went up into heaven; but that there, in that little stuffy room, where the man had lain motionless for eight long years, Jesus Christ was present, and working? O brethren, the Christian Church does not half enough believe in the actual presence and operation of Jesus Christ, here and now, in and through all His servants! We are ready enough to believe that He worked when He was in the world long ago, that He is going to work when He comes back to the world, at some far-off future period. But do we believe that He is verily putting forth His power, in no metaphor, but in simple reality, at present and here, and, if we will, through us?

‘Jesus Christ maketh thee whole.’ Be sure that if you keep near Christ, if you will try to mould yourselves after His likeness, if you expect Him to work through you, and do not hinder His work by self-conceit and self-consciousness of any sort, then it will be no presumption, but simple faith which He delights in and will vindicate, if you, too, go and stand by a paralytic and say, ‘Jesus Christ maketh thee whole,’ or go and stand by people dead in trespasses and sins and say, after you have prayed, ‘Arise.’

We are here for the very purpose for which Peter was in Lydda and Joppa-to carry on and copy the healing and the quickening work of Christ, by His present power, and after His blessed example." (Alexander MacLaren)

35 So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

This was perhaps prophetic. And perhaps ALL that were in the church at Lydda and the plains of Sharon turned to the Lord.

“I do believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Of Jesus, it is written: “I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. Like a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.” (Song of Solomon 2:1-2)

So Isaiah speaks of the “excellency of Sharon” (Isaiah 35:2) and the future glory of Zion with these words:

“They shall see the glory of Yahweh , the excellency of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes. A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; it shall not be found there.

But the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isaiah 35:2b-10)

Acts 9: The Dead Raised on the Highway of Holiness

36 At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did. 37 But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room.

“Joppa - This was a sea-port town on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, about a day's journey from Jerusalem. It is supposed to be the same which is called in the Old Testament Japho, which belonged to the tribe of Dan, Joshua 19:46. It is at present called Jaffa, and is still a place of considerable note." (Clarke) It was located “about 35 miles NW of Jerusalem [but only nine miles from Lydda]. Prior to the building of Caesarea by Herod the Great, Joppa had served as Israel’s only port in OT times.” (Mark Dunagan)

A certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas… She was a disciple of Jesus. “‘Tabitha’ which is her Aramaic name. ‘Dorcas’ the Greek translation of her name. Both names mean [little] ‘antelope or gazelle’. ‘It is not unusual in the East to give daughters the names of beautiful animals’ (Reese p. 373). ‘The beauty and grace of the gazelle made it an appropriate name for a woman’ (P.P. Comm. p. 287).“ (Mark Dunagan Commentary) “The sad scene which emerges here was one of grief on the part of the whole Christian community for the death of the ‘little gazelle’ whose flying fingers had so often labored for the relief of human want and distress.” (Coffman Commentary)

This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did…. being the best evidence of her saving faith in Jesus. “For there are other good works besides alms deeds, though many Papists, and some as silly, have shrunk up charity to a hand breadth, to giving of alms. Let our works be done in God, John 3:21, and for God, 1 Corinthians 10:31. Let there be good actions and good aims; and then they shall be the works of God, John 6:28.” (John Trapp Complete Commentary) She spent her new life in Christ “in acts of kindness and charity. Her soul was full of love to God and man; and her whole time was filled up with works of piety and mercy... [Yet] Even her holiness and usefulness could not prevent her from sickness and death. Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return, is a decree that must be fulfilled, even on the saints; for the body is dead, sentenced to death, because of sin, though the spirit be life because of righteousness.” (Adam Clarke Commentary)

They washed her. They did this out of decency and affection. But also “to show their hope of a joyful resurrection. The heathens also, though their lives and hopes ended together, yet they washed their dead in an apish imitation of this Church custom. Faciunt et vespae faves; simlae imitantur homines.” (John Trapp Complete Commentary)

And laid her in an upper room. “There were many Christian recollections of an ‘upper chamber’; but in this there appeared a new dimension.... as her decease was the first to be recorded of any Christian who died of natural causes, it was appropriate that God should take note of it with a purpose of encouraging and strengthening his church; and so it proved to be. Just as in the case of the first martyr, there had occurred phenomena of the utmost value to believers in all ages, so it was to be here. It may be that the Christians sensed this, as indicated by their next move.” (Coffman Commentary)

38 And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them.

Peter was not called to conduct a funeral. They implored him “not to delay in coming.” There was urgency in this first natural death for the church. Surely there was exception of a miracle. As Lydda, the place of the last miracle, “was only nine miles from Joppa, the report of Aeneas’ recovery might well have travelled from the one city to the other, and led to the hope that the power which St. Peter had thus put forth might extend even to the farther work of raising from the dead.” (Ellicott’s Commentary)

39 Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. 40 But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord. 43 So it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner.

The widows presented proof of this disciple’s piety. But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. He put them all out, “that he might have the better opportunity of wrestling with God in prayer.” (Wesley) This work of Peter’s “was one not to be accomplished by the mere utterance of a name, nor as by his ‘own power or holiness’ (Acts 3:12), but by the power of the prayer of faith…” (Ellicott) All authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Jesus (Matthew 28:18) So, when He gave the signal of approval on the hopeful miracle, “Peter used the very words that Jesus had used [in raising Jarius’ daughter], except for substituting the name of Tabitha, the word ‘Tabitha, arise’ being quite similar to ‘Damsel, I say unto thee arise’ (Mark 5:41). The wonder of wonders is that God in heaven answered the prayer of the faithful apostle, and Dorcas was recalled from the dead…” (Coffman Commentary) This is the faith of Jesus and His holy apostles and disciples.

Peter presented her alive, “to her own loss for a little while; but so God might be glorified and the Church gratified, she was well contented.” (Trapp) And many believed on the Lord… “the Lord Jesus, whom Peter preached, and by whose power he wrought this miracle.” (Justin Edwards) Thus was the Highway of Holiness broadened that day. “A similar effect followed when Jesus raised up Lazarus. See John 12:11. This was the first miracle of this kind that was performed by the apostles. The effect was that many believed. It was not merely a work of benevolence, in restoring to life one who contributed largely to the comfort of the poor, but it was a means of extending and establishing, as it was designed doubtless to do, the kingdom of the Saviour.” (Barnes Notes)

Dorcas was raised up but one day she died again. “After a while all these womanly friends of Christ will put down their needle forever. After making garments for others, someone will make the last robe for them. Then, one day there will be sky rending, and that Christian woman will rise from the dust, and will be surrounded by the wanderers whom she reclaimed, by the wounded souls to whom she administered. The reward has come. Dorcas is resurrected! (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)