Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
August 2025
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. (Acts 9:32-34 NIV)
Today, we want to talk about miracles. The Book of Acts is all about miracles. We are going to see the purpose of miracles today.
Today we come to a chapter that is all about miracles. There are at least four miracles in this chapter and more, depending on what you count.
There are three physical miracles in this chapter. Saul is healed of physical blindness. He could not see. Aeneas is healed of paralysis. He could not walk. Tabitha is raised from the dead. She couldn’t breathe. She had no pulse. She had no heartbeat, and she was healed.
There are three physical miracles but there is also a spiritual miracle in the chapter. Saul received a miraculous conversion. He was radically transformed instantly. He became a completely different person.
The persecutor became a preacher. The murderer instantly became a missionary. Tabitha received a physical resurrection. Saul received spiritual resurrection. He was spiritually dead. He wasn’t just spiritually weak. He was spiritually dead, and he came to life.
In one sense every conversion is a miracle, but Saul’s was even more spectacular than an ordinary conversion. It was different from most conversions today.
This one involved bright blinding lights and loud voices from heaven. It involved a personal appearance of Jesus, which most of us have never had.
Two Forms of Skepticism
We have said many times that there are two big problems with miracles today. One problem comes inside the church, and one problem comes outside the church.
One form of skepticism is unbelief in the world. It is the main form of skepticism.
Many unbelievers do not believe in miracles. They do not believe in God. They do not believe in the supernatural. They only believe in science. They only believe in natural laws.
They mock the very idea of miracles. They call them myths. They say that miracles do not take place. In fact, they miracles can’t take place. They say that miracles are impossible.
As we have said before, the only way to prove that miracles are impossible is to prove that God does not exist and that is not possible. No one has ever disproven the existence of God. If God exists, miracles are possible.
Many reject miracles despite the evidence. Jesus went around doing all kinds of miracle while he was on earth. He healed the sick. He raised the dead. He cast out demons and many still did not believe.
There is not just unbelief in the world, there is unbelief in the church. We saw this after the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus rose from the dead but many of the first disciples didn’t believe it happened. They first heard it from the women who went to the tomb.
They were the first to hear about it. They were the first who preached the resurrection, but the men did not believe them. They were male chauvinists. They were just women. Their testimony could not be trusted.
They not only did not believe them; they thought what they were saying was nonsense. They thought it was ridiculous. They were believers who did not believe. Jesus rebuked the eleven for their unbelief (Mark 16:14).
That must have been embarrassing. Jesus rebuked his own apostles for their unbelief. The question we have to ask ourselves is this. Would Jesus rebuke Christians today for their unbelief.
The truth is that we are no different today. We believe that Jesus rose from the dead, but we still have plenty of unbelief. Most of us could use more faith in our life. We could grow in that area of our life.
Some churches that teach that God does not even do miracles anymore. He did amazing things in the days of the apostles but there are no more apostles around to do the miracles. That limits God to the apostles. It limits God to the first century.
It is refuted by Acts 9. Saul was blind. Someone in the church needed to lay their hands on him and heal him. The problem is that there were no apostles in the city of Damascus. Most of them were in Jerusalem a hundred and fifty miles away.
God did not need apostles then and he does not need apostles today to do miracles. He asked an ordinary believer named Ananias to come and lay hands on Brother Saul and heal him.
That is not to negate the incredible miracles the apostles performed. We are going to look at two apostolic miracles today. They were both healing miracles.
One involved a man, and one involved a woman. One happened in Joppa and one happened in Lydda about ten miles away. They were performed by the Apostle Peter. Both were spectacular. The second one was more amazing than the first one.
Miracle Summary
Let’s do a summary of this passage. These verses are all about Peter and his incredible healing ministry. Acts 7 is all devoted to Stephen. The whole chapter was on Stephen. Acts 8 is all devoted to Philip. The whole chapter is about Philip.
Most of Acts 9 is all about on Saul, his amazing conversion, his healing, his preaching in the synagogue, debating with fellow Jews and his persecution.
The end of Acts 9 is all about Peter. We call this book “The Acts of the Apostles.” Most of the book deals with two apostles – Paul and Peter.
In Acts 9, Peter travels to the city of Lydda. It is 40 miles northwest of Jerusalem. It is the modern village of Ludd or Lod.
There he encounters a man who is paralyzed and heals him. It was the second time in Acts that Peter healed someone who was paralyzed. He did it in Acts 3 and in Acts 9. He specialized in this problem.
The first paralyzed man was unnamed. We don’t know who he was. The second man was given a name (Aeneas). He is only mentioned one time in the Bible in this chapter in Acts.
Aeneas was not born paralyzed like the man in Acts 3. He had only been paralyzed for eight years. He had an accident. It was not a car accident. He had some accident and became paralyzed. Peter tells him that he is healed and to get up.
The second story is about a godly woman. She is the only woman who is explicitly called a disciple in the NT (Acts 9:36). This is the only time we see the feminine form of the Greek word for disciple (μαθήτρια).
This godly woman got sick and died. Her name was Dorcas. Now, when some people die, you don’t miss them at ll. In fact, you are relieved that they are gone. You breathe a sigh of relief (Adolf Hitler, Osama Bin Laden). When other people die, you miss them.[1]
Dorcas was greatly missed. People missed her. They mourned for her.
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 (Acts 9:39 NIV)
After she died, her body was not buried but washed and put in a bed in an upper room. Two men walked three hours to find Peter at Lydda to see dead Dorcas. Lydda is nine or ten miles away from Joppa.
Joppa was the place that Jonah fled to when he heard God’s call to Nineveh. It was a port city. It was a trade city. Tel Aviv is a suburb of Joppa today.
They brought him to Joppa, and he raised Dorcas from the dead. He did not just pray for her to be raised from the dead. He COMMANDED her to be raised. He commanded a dead body to come back to life, and it did.
What Peter said was very similar to what Jesus said. Jesus said, “Talitha Koum.” Peter said, “Tabitha koum.” It was a difference of one letter.
Resurrections in the BiblePeter is not the only one in the Bible to raise someone from the dead. It happened in the OT. It happened in the NT. There are five people in the Bible who raised someone from the dead. Elijah (I Kings 17) and Elisha (II Kings 4), Jesus (Luke 7; Luke 8; John 11), Peter (Acts 9), Paul (Acts 20) all did it. Prophets did it. Apostles did it. Jesus did it. Two are in Acts. Two are in Kings and three in the Gospels. Jesus was the only one to raise more than one person from the dead, unless you count the time when someone raised from the dead who fell into Elisha’s tomb (II Kings 13). He raised three people. He raised one while his body was being carried out to the cemetery. He raised another after the man had been dead for three days. Peter was with Jesus when all three people were raised. He witnessed them and now he is raising someone from the dead himself. Of the seven people raised, five were male. Two were female. Three were children. Four were adults. What does this passage in Acts 9 say to us today? |
Lessons for Today
1) God still does miracles today
Miracles didn’t stop in 70 AD. They didn’t stop in the first century. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. The age of miracles is not over. The exact opposite is true.
Peter quotes the Book of Joel in Acts 2. Joel predicted that in the last days, God would pour out His Spirit on people and incredible things would happen.
Young people will prophesy (sons and daughter). Young men will see visions. Old men will dream dreams. Old men don’t see visions. They dream dreams, because they like to sleep. I can testify.
Joel predicted that incredible miracles would take place in the last days, not just in the first century and in the days of the apostles.
Does that mean that everyone who is sick is healed? No. Do they happen every day? No. If miracles happened every day, they would not be miracles.
We would not be impressed with them. They would be common. There would be nothing unusual about them, but God still performs miracles.
We should believe that they still take place and that God still does them. What about raising people from the dead? Does he still do that? Yes. Jesus said that the works I do you will do (John 14:12). That includes resurrections
Now, resurrections don’t happen every day. They are extraordinary events, but they still happen today. You never hear about them, but they do happen.
One biblical scholar named Craig Keener wrote a two-volume book on miracles in 2011. He shares twenty-nine pages of modern-day, documented resurrections on multiple continents.
One of them was one of his own family members. His sister-in-law was raised from the dead in the Congo in 1960. She stopped breathing for three hours before an evangelist prayed for her and she came back to life.[2]
Dr. Chauncey W. Crandall describes another one. He is a cardiologist at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Palm Beach, Florida. A man named Jeff Markin had a massive heart attack and died in the ER. His body was being prepared for the morgue.
He left the room. God told him to go back and pray for that man. He ignored the voice and kept walking and then he heard the words again, “Turn around and pray for that man.”
He went back and prayed “Father God, I cry out for this man’s soul. If he does not know you as Lord and Savior, raise him from the dead now in Jesus name.”
He told another doctor, “Shock this man one more time.” He argued with him but went ahead and did it and he came back to life; he got an instant heartbeat. He was an unbeliever. He said he was in complete darkness before he came back. [3]
2) We should look for people in need
We should care about people. We should be sensitive to their needs. That is what Peter did. He went to Lydda, and he noticed a man in need. The man did not reach out to Peter and ask him to heal him. Aeneas did not find Peter. The text says that Peter found Aeneas (Acts 9:33).
Aeneas had a big problem. His legs did not work. He could not walk. He could not get out of bed. He was like the people in Willie Wonka.
Now, Peter could have ignored Aeneas and walked right past him. Instead, he stopped, talked to him and healed him. He ministered to people that many would say are hopeless.
No one could help him. No one could fix him. No doctor could do anything for him. He was a hopeless cripple. He was completely dependent on others, but he did not give up on people, even though others had. He ministered to people in impossible situations.
Does that describe us? Do we have compassion for people who are hurting? Are we willing to help people that no one else will?
Do we try to help them any way we can, or do we ignore them? Do we look for people in need like Peter did or do we walk right past them and pretend that we didn’t see them.
3) Don’t draw attention to yourself
This is very interesting. In both of these miracles of Peter, he does not draw attention to himself. He does not bring the spotlight on himself.
In the first miracle, he walked right up to Aeneas and said, “Jesus Christ heals you.” He did not say, “I heal you. An apostle of Jesus Christ heals you. This is an apostolic miracle.”
Peter does not take the credit at all. He does not say “I heal you.” He says, “Jesus Christ heals you.” Jesus is the healer, not Peter. That means that Jesus is not dead. He is alive and doing miracles. Peter did not point people to himself; he pointed people to Jesus.
The second miracle was a much bigger miracle. Making a dead person alive is a greater miracle than giving someone the ability to stand up and walk and yet what did Peter do?
Before he performed the miracle, he told everyone to leave the room. He told everyone to get out. That is strange. That is not what preachers would do today.
They would tell everyone to come in and watch this amazing display of supernatural power. They would invite the media in to see it. Do we draw attention to yourself?
Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips. (Proverbs 27:2 ESV)
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people IN ORDER TO BE SEEN BY THEM, for then you will have NO REWARD from your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 6:1 ESV)
Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10 NIV)
4) Live a life of good works
The Bible says that faith without works is dead. Every Christian should have some fruit in his or her life. Jesus said that a good tree brings forth good fruit.
We have several examples of that in Acts 9. After Paul came to faith, there was fruit in his life. He began preaching Christ. He did evangelism. He debated fellow Jews about Jesus.
The woman Tabitha also had good works. She did not just have good words but good works. She was known for them. She had a reputation for them.
Saul had a bad reputation before he got saved. He tried to destroy the church. Tabitha had a good reputation. Tabitha made a difference by her good works.
She made an impact on people’s lives. She made a difference in her community. She wasn’t a preacher or church leader. She was just a seamstress.
She did not do anything spectacular. She didn’t heal the sick or cast out demons. She didn’t raise the dead or speak in tongues, as far as we know.
She is not known for her charismatic gifts. She is known for her compassion. She had the gift of mercy. She had the gift of helps.
She had the gift to sew. She changed people’s lives with some thread and a sewing needle. She made clothes for the poor and needy. She is a powerful example to us today. Are we doing anything to make a difference in people’s lives? Are we like Tabitha in any way?
5) Recognize the purpose of miracles
This is interesting. We like to think that miracles are for us. We focus on ourselves but that is often not the purpose. God has other plans for miracles.
We are told that Peter came to Lydda. He saw Aeneas. He said that Christ healed him. Then we are told, “All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.” (Acts 9:35 NIV).
That was the purpose of the miracle. This miracle was not really about Aeneas. It was a means to reach people for Jesus.
The same thing happened with the second miracle. Peter came to Joppa, laid hands on Dorcas, and raised her from the dead. Then we are told “This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord” (Acts 9:42 NIV).
Many today focus on physical miracles. Make no mistake. The physical miracle was great. It was spectacular. It helped people but the ultimate goal is for God to be glorified through the salvation of souls. Our greatest need is not physical but spiritual.[4]
[1] Jerry Vines, “The Church with a Helping Hand” (1986). Spoken Recording.
[2] https://mycharisma.com/spiritled-living/supernaturaldreams/proof-of-resurrection/
[3] https://www.facebook.com/groups/faithclinicministry/posts/7929468383791147/
[4] Jerry Vines, “The Church with a Helping Hand” (1986). Spoken Recording.
