Day Forty-Five

If you have 5 minutes!

Read Acts 9:32-43

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.

Philip’s Journey’s (Acts 8)

Probable route of Philip’s journey’s in Acts 8 (from www.ccel.org)

It is likely that “the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda” were those who had responded to Philip’s proclamation. Thus just as Peter had gone to Samaria to see what God was doing up there, so too he comes to Lydda and to great effect as a man called Aeneas is miraculously healed and many turn to the Lord. Luke’s focus then moves from one individual to another, this time a lady called Tabitha (or Dorcas in Greek) who, incredibly, is raised from the dead!

• Is it surprising that in such a brief summary of historical events (Acts covers a period of over 30 years in just 28 chapters) there are so many stories that focus in on particular individuals? Is there anything we can learn from this?
• What do we learn about the early church from the fact that, when this lady died, her community immediately sends a couple of men out to get Peter?
• Is it significant that Peter sends everyone else out of the room before he prays for Dorcas? If so, is there anything we can learn from this?

If you have a bit longer :-)

Professor Blaiklock (this week’s commentator of choice!) notes:

“Strict Jewry held the trade of a tanner (43) as unclean, because of the constant handling of dead animals it necessarily involved. The fact that Peter is found at the close of this chapter lodging with Simon the tanner, indicates that a measure of Jewish prejudice was already banished from his thinking. We have noticed the subtlety with which Luke suggested Paul’s mental preparation for the catastrophic experience of chapter ix. Within similar significance the closing verse of the chapter prepares the way for the narrative of chapter x. Indeed reflection upon his position and the calling of his host may have provided the raw material for Peter’s dream.”[1]

In other words, he argues, just as there is the strong suggestion that God had been preparing Saul for his dramatic encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, so too does God seem to be working in Peter’s heart preparing him for the dramatic events about to unfold in the next chapter.

• What do we learn about God from this? Does God’s patience with people, and the time he takes to prepare them for his calling, challenge us at all in our relationships with one another? (i.e. Are we similarly as patient both with others and ourselves?)
• Is there anything in particular at the moment that you feel God is nudging you towards? If so, what makes you think this?

From gardenofpraise.com

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[1] Professor E.M. Blaiklock, “Acts,” pg. 90.

Day Forty-Four

If you have 5 minutes!

Read Acts 9:26-31

26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

I imagine that this must have been a difficult time for Saul. He has bravely taken on Jesus’ call with great zeal, alienating himself from those he must previously have been close to in the process. Now he has come to Jerusalem, still the main base for the group he has joined and, understandable, they are too frightened to meet him. Imagine, then, how grateful he must have been for the boldness and faithfulness of Barnabas – the encourager – as he takes the risk of not only welcoming Paul but recommending him to others too. 

• Do you, like Barnabas, tend to give others the benefit of the doubt or do you generally assume the worst until proved otherwise? Is there anyone in your life at the moment that, if you’re really honest, you’re quite suspicious towards? If so, pray for this person and ask God to help you see more clearly the good things within them.
• What do you think would have happened if Barnabas hadn’t intervened here?

If you have a bit longer :-)

It is easy to assume that, having met with Jesus, Paul immediately plants lots of different churches, writes lots of incredible letters and becomes arguably the most influential Christian there has ever been… all overnight! 

Importantly, however, having fled Jerusalem and headed back home, he then spends a lengthy period of time ministering in his hometown and surrounding regions. It is, in fact, not until over a decade has passed since his Damascus road experience that Paul goes out on his first “missionary journey.” He doesn’t then write his first, now canonized, letter for quite some time after that!

Regarding this lengthy period of preparation (albeit that he was still serving God, just more locally), a theologian called Blaiklock notes:

“The splendid deliberateness with which God forged His human tool is the great lesson of these years. Impatient men forget that God is not bound by time. His conversion was by far the most vital influence in Paul’s life. Ancestry, Pharisaic training, Hellenistic education, were fused by it into the character which the Holy Spirit formed and fashioned over the fourteen years of training. At length, in God’s good time, the door opened, and the events of half a lifetime assumed final and complete significance. So often with man’s days in Christ. The traveler breasts a last rise, looks back and sees the road behind, the reason for its bends and turnings, and its unerring movement to a goal. And in the vision the crooked places become straight and the rough places plain.”[1]

•  Do you ever feel frustrated because God doesn’t seem to be doing things as fast as you would like? Is there anything we can learn from Paul’s story in this regard?

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[1] Professor E.M. Blaiklock, “Acts,” pg. 90.