Chapter 9
The conversion of Saul of Tarsus. In Romans chapter 9 we have the attitude of Saul of Tarsus when he became the apostle Paul. In verses 1ff he expresses his desire for his own kinsmen, the Jewish people. He wants all Jews to do what he did: accept Christ as saviour. In Acts 9:1-9 we have the historical circumstances of his salvation.
Verse 1 – Saul, the chief persecutor of Christianity. “And Saul” – the word “and” is literally “but,” the conjunction of contrast. There’s a contrast between the study of Philip in the previous chapter and that of Saul of Tarsus in this chapter. Saul is persecuting the church at this time; Philip is adding to the church through evangelism. The word “Saul” is a very fitting one for this man. He is like king Saul from the same tribe of Benjamin, a powerful, vigorous individual, a Jew by physical birth, a Roman citizen, and he had a great Greek education. “yet breathing out” – this is not breathing out at all, it is inhaling. “But Saul, inhaling threatenings and slaughter.” In other words, the very breath of his life. Inhaling was an idiom which meant whatever occupied one in life. Saul’s whole life now was threatening and slaughter.
“went unto the high priest” – it is obvious that the high priest is not the leader in this persecution, but Saul of Tarsus. Saul has heard that there are Christians 150 miles away in Damascus and he wants to go up there hunting.
Verse 2 – due to his efforts there is a spread of the persecution. “And desired from him” – this was his request. The word “desire” means to make a request. The middle voice: Saul asked the high priest as a favour to himself; “letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way” literally, “being in the way.” This is the way the Christians were first described. Christ was said to be the way, the truth, and the life; so when they accepted the road or the way, the Christ way, they were said to be in the way/road.
“whether they were men or women” – this was an extreme statement; “he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” He wanted to go up and capture any of these people who had become Christians and bring them down to Jerusalem for trial.
Verse 3 – “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus.” The Greek says, he began to draw near to Damascus.
“and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven” – this light from heaven is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Cf. John 8:12.
2. This light is described several times: verses 4, 7, 8. The light was literal but the light is also the Lord Jesus Christ who will speak to Saul of Tarsus.
3. In verse 8 it was a blinding light. It was so bright that it blinded Saul temporarily, and he was helpless in his blindness.
4. It was an arresting light, according to verse 7. The entire party was halted and no one moved while Jesus Christ spoke personally with Saul.
5. It was an awesome light. The entire party was speechless—no rebuttal, no one had anything to say.
6. It was a powerful light, verse 4. It knocked Saul down.
7. Also in verse 4, it was a revealing light. Jesus Christ revealed Himself to Saul at this point.
Verse 4 – “And he fell to the earth” should be “And having been knocked down” – aorist active participle; “and heard a voice.” The action of the aorist
participle precedes the action of the main verb. He didn’t hear any voice until he was flat on his back.
“and he heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” This is a very unusual statement, for this reason: Saul knows immediately, because he has been knocked down, that someone is speaking to him who is God.
Verse 5 – “Who art thou Lord?” The word “Lord” is kurioj which is used for deity. “And the Lord said, I am” – “I am” is present linear aktionsart of the absolute status quo verb—“I keep on being Jesus.” He uses the word “Jesus” because this is the title for the humanity of Christ; “it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks [goads]” is not found in the original.
Actually, verse 5 ends with the word “persecutest.” Then verse 6 begins, “Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” Every believer is in union with Christ. Saul hadn’t persecuted Christ personally, but he had been persecuting believers, and since these believers were in union with Christ he was actually persecuting Christ. So here was the first introduction to the doctrine of positional truth.[1]
The actual sentence of verses 5 & 6 is, “I am Jesus whom you keep on persecuting: get up and go into the city, and it shall be told you what you must do.” That is all we have in those two verses. “What you must do” is a present active infinitive, indicating phase two. The present tense is linear aktionsart. The infinitive: it is God’s purpose for the believer to operate in phase two. Paul trusted in Christ while he was flat on his back and is saved now. The first thing he is going to have to do now is wait.
Verse 7 – the reaction of Saul’s army. Jesus Christ dealt with Saul only; He did not deal with the men of his army.
Verses 8-9, Saul’s response. He is now completely helpless. He has been blinded temporarily and instructed to go into the city, and to sit down and wait. There is a principle here. Too often, when a person gets saved people want to push him on the bandwagon and use him. They want him to give his testimony, use him for fund-raising, etc. This ruins more believers than anything else. No new believer is to be trotted out in front of people. Whatever success he has gained as a person, to use that person’s success, good name, is to be used or traded on. God doesn’t need human ability and success to get the job done. No novice should be shoved up in front of others, and this ruins many people. Jesus Himself deals with Saul of Tarsus, and now Saul is to wait. The first thing you do as a Christian is to do nothing. He needs to get some doctrine and to grow before anything else. The issue is learn sone doctrine first, and then communicate it.
Verse 10 – “And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananaias. Behold, I am here, Lord.” What Ananias actually said was, “Behold, I Lord?” Which means, “Who, me Lord?” A “certain disciple” means one who is prepared to do anything for the Lord. The reason he is prepared is because he knows the Word of God. His name is a Hebrew word which means “protected by the Lord.”
1. The ordinary Christian life is the most difficult.
2. It has fewer outward stimulants and requires a deeper and steadier faith-rest.
3. The common place of life, the routine of life, is always underrated—for the very reason that it is commonplace and routine. This common routine of life fills all the gaps in the Christian life.
4. The obscure and wonderful service that Ananias renders for Paul has world-wide repercussions.
5. To the believer who experiences disappointment and frustration because his life is filled with monotony and he reads a wonderful missionary biography, or hears about some glamorous testimony, and makes a comparison, is disappointed unless he understands Bible doctrine. Bible doctrine causes Mr Ordinary Believer to orient to his importance in phase two.
6. There is something extraordinary about the ordinary life which is faithful, learning doctrine, and orienting to grace. This is the most unusual life of all and the one that requires the most dedication.
7. Under operation grace there is no such thing as an ordinary life, even though every life is composed of numerous monotonous details.
8. Ananias demonstrates the importance of faithfulness in the little things: the importance of orientation to grace, the importance of the ordinary believer knowing a lot of doctrine. When Jesus wanted Saul of Tarsus off to a good start He didn’t send him to a preacher in Jerusalem. It would have ruined Saul to be sent to Jerusalem. In fact, Saul had to leave Jerusalem before God the Son would even deal with him. The worst place to get saved from about a year after Pentecost was Jerusalem, because there they would learn legalism.
Verse 11 – Judas, apparently, is a VIP in Judaism, a well-known individual. Ananias is to “enquire for one called Saul, of Tarsus; for, behold, he prayeth” – “he keeps on praying,” present linear aktionsart. Saul is saved now, but he doesn’t have enough doctrine to go anywhere, so he’s praying. There is a key in Acts 22:12 where there are two things said about Ananias which are not said here: “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there.” He is said to be devout according to the norm or standard of the law. The word “law” actually means the Old Testament Scriptures. “Torah” which is translated into the Greek nomoj means “law,” and it is sometimes a title for the Old Testament canon. Ananias is a born-again believer but he has been studying what Scripture existed at that time: the Old Testament. He also had a good report of all the Jews who lived there, so his life was a sermon. As a result of knowing Bible doctrine and being oriented to the grace of God he was well prepared to meet the problem of Saul of Tarsus. Saul is now waiting. Physically and spiritually he is blind and he is now waiting on the Lord to take it from there.
Verse 12 – “And hath seen a vision, a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.” There are two kinds of blindness here. The words “might receive” is an aorist tense, an active voice, but a subjunctive mood. The key is the subjunctive mood, which is potential. Obviously Saul is going to receive his physical sight, but it is his spiritual sight that is so important. The aorist tense has two concepts: an occurrence which can be a point of time or an occurrence in eternity, and it can gather up into a single whole a process. In receiving spiritual sight Saul is going to have a number of session with Ananias who is going to teach, teach, teach. The active voice means that Saul’s volition must be involved. You have to want the Word of God to get the Word of God. There is no easy way to get the Word of God, it requires concentration and learning, setting aside the things that you might ordinarily enjoy, and a lot of sacrifice. Saul is going to receive his physical sight by being touched, so there is no active voice in receiving his physical sight. The active voice indicates that Saul of Tarsus is involved in the spiritual sight. Whenever a person learns doctrine he does so because he wants to learn doctrine.
Verse 13 – “Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem.”
Verse 14 – the conclusion of the human viewpoint of the situation.
Verse 15 – the divine viewpoint. “But the Lord said unto him, God thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and unto kings, and the children of Israel.” Here Ananias gets some information that will not be realised by other believers for ten or fifteen years: that Saul of Tarsus has the major project of carrying biblical information to all kinds of people in the Roman empire. And when you cover these particular categories—Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel—you have the primary constituents for the beginning of Christianity. There is a conjunction of contrast here between Saul of Tarsus as an unbeliever and the born-again individual, Paul, who is now mentioned—“But.” “Go thy way”—in other words, Don’t question my command. There is a principle here. All of the time that Saul of Tarsus was the worst unbeliever who ever lived, God knew what he was going to be like in the future. We can understand, therefore, that Gold would have longsuffering toward Saul, knowing some of the great decisions, knowing his great thirst for doctrine, knowing how he would live by doctrine, and knowing what a tremendous dynamic impact his life would have on the human race. The word “chosen” indicates the plan of God because it stands for the principle of election.[2] The word “vessel” has to do with the concept of service and there is a principle involved here. “Chosen” vessel has to do with positional truth. As a result of our position in Christ we now have some bona fide experience which includes many things such as rebound, prayer, witnessing, and so on. But here we have the general concept of service. Vessels in the ancient world were used for service, cf. Romans 9:21-23; 2 Corinthians 4:7; 1 Timothy 2:21. With Saul of Tarsus doctrine became his life, and everything else in life was simply a detail. The words “to bear” is bastazw and means to carry a message, to carry a principle, to carry something that is important. This is an aorist active infinitive, it was God’s purpose that he would be His messenger. Then there are three phrases to describe the Roman world in which Saul would operate: “before Gentiles”—the Romans and those whom they had conquered; “and kings”—the VIPs of the Roman empire; “and the children of Israel”—always there is the emphasis on the message to Israel, they have a right to the gospel as much as anyone else.
Verse 16 – “For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” “My name’s sake” is Jesus Christ. Before Saul of Tarsus ever took one step into the ministry which the Lord had for him he knew ahead of time that he would suffer as few people in the human race have suffered. “I will show” is u(poeiknumi [u(po = the preposition of authority; deiknumi = to teach, to show] which means he would be shown from the authority. The authority is God. God would use Ananias, and later on others, in Paul’s preparation. But the thing that he knew right from the start was how much he was going to have to suffer. Some of the greatest blessings in life come through suffering. Even though Paul would have maximum suffering conditions throughout his life as a believer he would also have maximum blessing in those sufferings. The link between happiness and suffering is Bible doctrine.
Verses 17-18, the ministry of Ananias. Verse 17 – “putting his hands on him” is identification. “Brother Saul” – Saul of Tarsus is already saved. Ananias is ministering to a new believer. He ministers on the principle of grace, he does not mention Saul’s past or hold Saul’s past against him. He doesn’t ask Saul to come out and give his testimony, i.e. put him on the spot and put him to work. There is no hint of legalism here and the approach is very simple. He communicates Bible doctrine.
The word “receive sight” here really isn’t receiving sight at all. It is the Greek word a)nablepw [a)na = up; blepw = to look] which means to look up. Physical sight wasn’t as important as spiritual sight. Taking scales off of his eyes, as it were, giving him physical sight back is inconsequential; it is the spiritual site that counts. He does receive the restoration of his physical sight but the word which is used here indicates that it was much more than the restoration of his physical sight. It is his spiritual insight that counts. Then spiritually he was to receive the filling of the Spirit. This is contrary to the procedure which occurs today. We receive the filling of the Spirit at the same that we receive the indwelling of the Spirit in the post-canon period of the Church Age. We only lose the filling of the Spirit when we sin and get out of fellowship, and we regain it by restoration—rebound, 1 John 1:9.
1. In the transitional days of the early church the filling of the Spirit was received by identification with an apostle, as in the case in Samaria.
2. There is an exception. Saul of Tarsus is the twelfth apostle and he receives the filling of the Spirit through identification with an ordinary believer. This emphasises the fact that the ordinary believer is the most important.
3. This reminds us of the principle of teamwork. Behind the greatest of believers are the ministries of ordinary believers.
4. These ministries are both physical and spiritual—fellowship, giving, prayer.
5. Today, the post-canon period of the Church Age, believers are filled with the Spirit at the point of salvation.
Verse 18 – his physical sight was restored, and because he understood the principle involved he received baptism (aorist passive indicative).
Verse 19 – Paul’s progress. “And when he had received food.” After all these others things had occurred. In other words, he took in spiritual food before
Physical; “he was strengthened” – he had gone three days now without food. Food is a detail—“Man shall not live by bread alone.” It is doctrine that is important.
“Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus” – “certain days” meant that during this time they communicated doctrine to him. Apparently Ananias was his first teacher, and here again is the impact of the ordinary life. It is not necessary to live in the spotlight to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Service in then large field is often determined by faithfulness in the small field of service.
2. Ananias was faithful in teaching one man but the dividends were fantastic.
3. The ordinary Christian only becomes bored when he is a slave to circumstances when circumstances are magnified beyond the detail stage.
4. But if he learns doctrine and possesses inner happiness then circumstances can never enslave him or bore him.
5. Like Ananias, the believer must be ready for team contribution.
6. Monotony becomes inner happiness and difficulties are transformed into opportunities when Bible doctrine is first.
7. But it isn’t what we do for Christ that counts, it is what Bible doctrine does for us. Serving Christ is just the result.
8. Christian service is not doing, but transmitting, communicating. This brings in the power of the Spirit plus doctrine.
9. Under the principle of grace everything in the Christian life depends on who and what God is, never who and what the believer is.
10. Unbelievers do not need us, they need the gospel. Therefore we need to transmit the gospel. Believers do not need us, they need doctrine. When life is related to doctrine it has impact.
Verse 20 – “And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.” The word “synagogue” is not a Hebrew word, it is a Greek
Word—sunagwghj. It simply means a place of assembly. As the Jews began to scatter throughout the world and found that it was difficult to have access to their temple met in groups to conduct their services. Primarily they met at first to read the Torah, the law. Then they added other things to it as they were authorised to do so apart from the modus operandi of the Levitical priesthood and animal sacrifices. So Saul of Tarsus goes to a synagogue.
“he preached” is the imperfect tense, which means that he kept on preaching. However the word for preaching means to communicate good news, to announce good news. The active voice: he did the preaching. The indicative mood is the reality of his communication. He did not preach “Christ,’ it says literally, he preached “the Jesus.” Wherever we find the word “Jesus” it refers to the humanity of Jesus Christ. Son of God refers to His deity, and it is obvious that Paul’s first messages dealt with the uniqueness of the person of Jesus Christ. This is the key that unlocks doctrine; doctrine in turn is the key that unlocks more information with regard to Christ.
Verse 21 – the reaction to Paul’s first messages. “But all that heard him were amazed.” They were utterly astounded for two reasons. Saul of Tarsus had a world-wide reputation. He was not only a ruler in his own land but in addition to this he was famous for his persecution of Christians. Now they hear this one who has been so vigorous in the earliest persecutions of Christians and who now is declaring that he himself is a captive of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that Jesus Christ is the unique person of the universe. “Were amazed” is imperfect linear aktionsart, which means their amazement continued.
“and said” – kept on saying; “Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?” In other words, they recognised him by his reputation and they were utterly astounded at the complete change of pace which had occurred in such a short time. This emphasises the principle that no matter how vigorous one is in anti-Christianity, no matter one is opposed to God, once he is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ the change is complete that he is now just as vigorous in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. For the Jews this was a constant source of amazement.
Verse 22 – the record of his rapid development. “But Saul increased more in strength.” The word for increasing means to gain more power, and the literal translation would be that Saul gained more power in strength. In other words, strength always begets strength. The original strength by which Saul of Tarsus became great was the fact that Ananias communicated to him doctrine, and doctrine became his strength. As he learned basic doctrine he then built on doctrine, and he kept doing it all of his life. For this reason he has impact. He is a prepared man in the field of speaking because he has something to say.
“and confounded the Jews” – the word “confound” means to fill with confusion. He confused those who rejected Christ; “proving that this one is the very [the true] Christ.” He proved/demonstrated to them that Jesus Christ is truly the Christ. The fact that he demonstrated to them that Jesus was the Messiah did not mean that they all accepted Christ as saviour, for they did not. But he was able to demonstrate this to them through Bible doctrine.
Between verses 22 & 23 we have Paul going to Arabia. Here is where he peels off. In other words, Ananias could take him so far—basic doctrine. Once that is completed he has a short ministry in Damascus during which time he sets the Jews back on their heels with his message. They were all amazed whether they responded by faith or not. At this point when he seems to be gathering so much momentum he stops and leaves for Arabia. He stops to learn more Bible doctrine. He realised that if his ministry was going to continue in its effectiveness he must know a great deal more than he knew then.
Verses 23-25, the return of Saul of Tarsus to Damascus and the continuation of the ministry which was interrupted for three years of study.
Verse 23 – he moves into action. “And after that many days were fulfilled” – the time when he was in Arabia, the time when he went out and studied. Now the first thing we notice is that there is a change. The Jews have now organised themselves in the three years (those who were unbelievers) and will resist him. His power and ability to communicate doctrine was great and the Jews therefore “took counsel to kill him.”
What did Judaism teach and advocate at the time that Saul of Tarsus came back to Damascus? Actually Judaism had gone in for the ritual but the ritual had lost its meaning. Many of these Jews were not even believers in God. Many of them did believe in God but the main thing now with the Jews, due to their rejection of Bible doctrine and the message which Saul of Tarsus taught concerning the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, they are no longer amazed as they were before, now they simply reject the message. Now they are filled with religion, ritual without reality. Negative volition created a vacuum into which religion has established itself. So when Saul comes back with the same message they now say no to him. But they say more than no. Religion is always an evil when it is opposed, and their desire is now to kill, to eliminate, to remove from the scene. Religion expresses itself by seeking to kill the opposition. Saul of Tarsus was religious before he was saved and he sought to kill the opposition.
Verse 24 – “But their laying await [their plot] was known to Saul. And they kept watching [imperfect linear aktionsart] the gates day and night to kill him.” Not only did he not get into their synagogues any longer but it was not longer safe for him to go through a gate in or out of the city.
Verse 25 – his deliverance. Literally, “through the wall.” They had little holes in the wall from which they sometimes fired arrows, threw spears, and other things, and which was simply a defence system on the walls; “in a basket” is not a basket at all. It was an invention for transporting someone from one ship to another in the ancient world. It was a rope hoist, not a basket. There is a principle here. Paul who had the highest gift anyone ever had in a local church—apostleship—was dependent upon believers who had inferior gifts, and here is the concept of teamwork again.
Verses 26-29, his first trip to Jerusalem.
Verse 26 – he has been saved for at least four years and during that time has not been near Jerusalem. As he approaches the city he is looking forward to meeting those believers whom he originally tried to kill. He anticipates having fellowship with them: “he assayed [attempted] to join himself to them” – imperfect linear aktionsart, he kept on trying; “but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.”
Verse 27 – Barnabaj plus de, a conjunction of contrast. This phrase occurs twice in Acts, though it is mistranslated the second time [15:37] “and Barnabas.” So on one side we now have the Jerusalem church, legalistic and afraid of Saul of Tarsus. Legalism always produces fear. But on the other side we have Barnabas, a grace believer, who makes the difference. Barnabas broke the ice and made it possible for Saul to be accepted.
Verse 28 – “And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem.” He didn’t preach. He accompanied them.
Verse 29 – “And he spake boldly [with confidence] in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians,” the Hellenistic Jews. The verb “disputed” is the same as used in Acts 6:9 for Stephen. Now Saul picks up the ministry of Stephen and disputes against the Hellenistic Jews.
Verse 30 – they immediately got him out of there when the Jews tried to kill him. In Acts 22:17-21 is a more detailed reason as to why he left Jerusalem. Tarsus now becomes his headquarters, and from here he has a great ministry, as taught in Galatians 1:21.
Verse 31 – the result of Saul’s conversion. The churches had rest and had a time of development. They were “edified and walking in the fear of the Lord”—the faith-rest technique perpetuated into occupation with Christ; they had “the comfort of the Holy Spirit,” which means they had the divine power, the production of divine good. All of these things added up to an expansion—“were multiplied.” This expansion was based upon the growth of believers.
Verse 32 – “it came to pass” indicates a change of pace from the study of the apostle Paul. Peter is mentioned now, along with Paul, as the top leadership in the church. In the verb “passed throughout” we are to understand that Peter’s job was not that of evangelism but following up on the evangelistic efforts of others. In this connection we find him moving around from place to place providing Bible doctrine for new believers.
“to the saints” – the word “saint” refers to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and it was one of the first technical words for believers used in the Church Age. It refers to the believer in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christianity we do not have a religion but a relationship, and the first designation of this was the word “saint” which means to be set apart unto God or in union with Christ. Peter is following Philip the evangelist around. Philip did the evangelising and Peter does the follow-up.
Verse 33 – “And there he found a certain man named Aeneas.” Peter contacts this one man in Lydda [the city of Lud in 1 Chronicles] and the first thing he does is to heal him. This is simply to establish himself as an apostle, not to alleviate suffering. The Greek word for palsy simply means having been paralysed. Everyone knows that his case is hopeless. He is confined to his bed and there is nothing that can be done about it until Peter comes along.
Verse 34 – “And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole.” The implication is that Aeneas has previously accepted Christ as his saviour and he knows exactly who Christ is. The Greek says, “Jesus Christ has now healed you.” So when he tells him to arise and make his bed he is already healed. All he has to do is to believe what has already occurred. This is indicative of the fact that Peter has a temporary gift known as the gift of healing.[3] The words “make whole” is simply the Greek word for healing.
Verse 35 – this miracle was very timely, there was a maximum group of people in Lydda. “And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron” [Sharon: there is no ‘h’ as a second letter in the Greek language]; “and turned to the Lord” – which means conversion. The Greek word is e)pistrefw which means to turn. It is in the aorist tense which means right after the healing of Aeneas. Apparently Peter preached a gospel message and people were converted. “they turned to the Lord” – the object of their faith.
Verse 36 – “a certain disciple [a woman believer] whose name was Tabitha [the Aramaic for gazelle], which by translation [into the Greek] is called Dorcus: this woman was full of good works” – good of intrinsic value, therefore divine good, she is performing her good in the power of the Holy Spirit. The word “almsdeeds” simply means grace in action, any type of grace, not simply giving; “which she did” – imperfect linear aktionsart, “which she kept on doing.”
Verse 37 – “she was sick, and died.” Aorist active infinitive: she was sick; aorist active participle: having become sick she suddenly died. She was actually lying in state when Peter arrives on the scene.
Verse 38 – the means whereby Peter extends his ministry into an area where there are many believers, where there is a strong church. Peter will stay there for some time.
Verse 39 – “Peter arose and went with them.” He took it as the Lord’s leading for him to move on at this time.
Verse 40 – “But Peter put them all forth.” The Greek word is e)kballw [ballw is the word from which we get the word “ball” and it means to throw; e)k means “out]. He threw them out, because they were hysterical and under operation cry-baby, and because God cannot use believers who are guilty of operation cry-baby; “and kneeled 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.”
Verse 42 – “And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord.” Peter’s job is primarily follow-up but there is also a great evangelistic push around follow-up.
Verse 43 – “And it came to pass, that he tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon a tanner.” It just so happened that under Jewish law no one stayed with a tanner. This was contact with a dead animal and the rabbis had passed a law that a tanner was unclean. Finally they developed a system of ostracism. Peter is really becoming oriented to the principle of grace.
1. Peter had to be trained by easy transitional steps.
2. The miracle at Lydda had prepared Peter for the greater ministry at Joppa, which in turn prepared Peter for the greater ministry of Caesarea.
3. Peter learned slowly and had to take a little at a time, and to digest it.
4. Paul learned rapidly. In three years in the Arabian desert Paul was a mature believer.
5. With Peter it took many years and hard knocks to understand doctrine. With Paul it took less time and more concentrated study.
6. Peter learned by experience; Paul learned by academic study.
7. Each arrived at maturity and maximum production, but in a different way.