Tag: Dead

Episode NT45 – Peter, Aeneas & Tabitha

Story 45 – Peter, Aeneas & Tabitha

Based on Acts chapter 9 verses 32 – 43

So the church had a period of peace and growth throughout the region. And as it grew, Peter left Jerusalem and started an itinerant ministry, going from place to place encouraging the believers and telling those who hadn’t heard – about Jesus.

And, as he moved around, he eventually came to a place called Lydda, at the intersection of a couple of extremely important trade routes, up to the north west of Israel. His purpose for coming was to encourage and build up the believers there. However, while he was in Lydda, he came across a man named Aeneas who was paralysed – and had been for at least 8 years.

Maybe Peter was reminded of another paralysed man confined to his mattress? It had been during the time when Jesus was with them and He’d been teaching in a house jam-packed to overflowing. The friends of the paralysed man had been so insistent that he reached Jesus that they’d literally taken part of the roof off in order to lower their friend down in front of Jesus so that Jesus could heal him. It hadn’t gone quite as they’d expected because, instead of instantly curing their friend as they’d hoped, they’d watched as Jesus had not offered healing – but forgiveness – because Jesus had seen past the paralysis to the real deep-felt need of the man.

Then, to prove to the doubting Jewish leaders present that He had the authority to forgive sins, Jesus had gone on to heal the man – much to the delight of his friends – and told him to pick up his mat and go home! An instant healing, undeniable and truly miraculous.

Now here was poor Aeneas who, like that other man, was confined to his mattress. He’d been like if for 8 years with no hope whatsoever of freedom or change. No doubt filled with compassion for Aeneas, Peter looked at him and spoke to him directly, in very much the same way Jesus had spoken directly to that other paralytic once the issue of sin had been sorted. But Peter didn’t rely on his own power or for a moment think he could change Aeneas’ condition. Instead, Peter pointed to the real source of power by saying, ‘Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you.’

Quite what Aeneas felt I don’t know, but Peter wasn’t happy to leave it at that. Jesus hadn’t healed the paralytic lowered through the roof and then left him on his mat! Instead, Jesus had commanded the man to respond to the healing – an undeniable proof of the miracle that had taken place as well as being undeniable proof of Jesus’ ability and willingness to forgive sin! So, in the same way, Peter spoke again to Aeneas, ‘Now get up, and make your own bed’ – a task sounding so simple, but which had been impossible for him for 8 years. And, like the paralytic that Jesus had healed, who’d got up, picked up his mat and walked home, Aeneas also got up – no doubt both overwhelmed and overjoyed by what had happened to him.

When Jesus had healed that paralytic, it had been obvious to all, and the reaction of those present at that time had been to glorify God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this before.’ And, in a similar way, the story of what had happened to Aeneas spread like wildfire throughout the whole of Lydda and the plain of Sharon. People saw the once paralysed man walking about and living his life by the power of Jesus working through Peter. They met him, spoke to him and no doubt the story was told over and over again about how wonderful and merciful the Lord had been to him. And, as people heard, the Holy Spirit moved in an incredibly powerful and deep way, as everyone responded by turning away from their old way of life and towards Jesus, believing in Him and accepting Him as their Saviour. (PAUSE)

Now, during the time Peter was in Lydda, an incident happened in Joppa which was about 11 miles away up to the north east, on the coast. The believers in Joppa must have heard about Peter’s visit to Lydda and the news of what’d happened to Aeneas. So, when the incident happened, the believers in Joppa didn’t hesitate to call for Peter, knowing that his proximity to them was no coincidence.

What had happened was that a dearly loved member of their church had died. Her name was Tabitha and she was the kind of person whose love for Jesus simply shone through in the love she had for the destitute widows and the poor and needy people in the church at Joppa. That love caused her to work hard to meet their needs as she was best able which, in her case, involved making and providing essential clothing such as undergarments and cloaks that the needy and vulnerable simply couldn’t afford. Although I don’t know for certain, I suspect that Tabitha’s death had caught the church by surprise, that maybe she wasn’t of an age when they would’ve expected her to die. Whatever the cause, when she died, the believers at Joppa realised that Peter was nearby and so they washed and prepared Tabitha’s body for burial but, instead of burying her, they placed her on a bed in an upper room and sent a couple of men to hurriedly get Peter and return without delay.

These people realised that God had moved in such a way that Peter was close enough to get to them quickly and that God had used Peter to do many miracles – not least the latest one everyone was talking about when he’d healed Aeneas, the paralytic. And so, they trusted God that, if He wanted, He could work again through Peter in this sad situation.

No doubt Peter was a busy man. Many, many people had turned to Jesus in Lydda and Sharon but, instead of thinking he had to stay there, Peter trusted God and the church in Lydda and Sharon to help these new believers, and made himself available to respond to this urgent invitation to go to Joppa. So, he got up and went with the men as quickly as he could.

When Peter arrived, he was hurriedly shown to the upper room where Tabitha’s body was laid out and where a crowd of widows wept and showed Peter all the garments Tabitha had made for them. Clearly Tabitha was a dearly loved and sorely missed woman.

I wonder if this situation reminded Peter of another incident that had happened when he’d been with Jesus? Another time when there had been a house full of weeping people and, not a woman, but a little girl of 12, lying dead on her bed? At that time, Jesus had put everyone else out of the house except for Peter, James and John and the girl’s parents. In a similar way, Peter ushered out the weeping widows until he was alone with the dead body of Tabitha laid out on the bed.

Peter knew he needed Jesus’ help to deal with this situation. With the little girl, Jesus had simply said, ‘Talitha koum’ which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you – get up!’. But Peter wasn’t Jesus and so he did what had become so natural and easy for him to do, he knelt down at the bedside and prayed to the Lord he loved and trusted. Then, turning to the body on the bed, Peter said, ‘Tabitha koum’. Almost the same words Jesus had spoken to the little girl except for one letter difference.

The little girl had got up at once and begun to walk around, and Jesus had instructed her parents to give her something to eat. But Tabitha simply opened her eyes as if from a long sleep. Then, seeing Peter there beside her, she sat up and Peter held out his hand to help her get up.

Well, as you can imagine, there was a great deal of rejoicing when Peter presented Tabitha alive again to the believers and widows. And, of course, the news of what had happened spread like wildfire around all Joppa and many people believed in the Lord Jesus because of what had happened. (PAUSE)

And after that? Well, even though Peter was an apostle, God was still very much at work in his life. He’d been brought up as a strict Jew and that meant he’d been taught what the Jews considered to be right and wrong. However, Jesus had started the process of showing Peter that what he’d been brought up to believe – wasn’t quite as straightforward as he’d thought. For example, when Philip had told Samaritans (whom Jews hated and avoided at all costs) about Jesus, many Samaritans believed. Then, Peter himself, along with John, had visited these Samaritan believers to see what was happening, and the Lord had allowed those people to receive the Holy Spirit in the same way the Jewish believers in Jerusalem had done. This was unthinkable for a Jew – that anyone outside of the Jewish faith could be added to the church. But Peter could not deny what Jesus was doing and so the new church now consisted of BOTH Jews and Samaritans.

And, maybe because of this, because Peter realised that Jesus was breaking down barriers and challenging his prejudices, he was able to do something that just a few years ago would have seemed unthinkable.

A tanner had become a believer in Joppa and had invited Peter to say at his house. Now, tanners ‘tan’ animal skins to create leather. Therefore, they have to deal with dead animals which, according to the Jews, made them unclean. A Jewish synagogue at that time would not have allowed a tanner to join them and, if you had dealings with a tanner, you would be considered to be unclean. But, obviously, Peter saw that this tanner, also named Simon, was a real believer because, rather than rejecting him and his offer, Peter stayed at his house for a long time as the Lord continued His work in Joppa and beyond.

Episode NT40 – Ananias and Sapphira

Story 40 – Ananias and Sapphira

Based on Acts chapter 4 verses 32 to 37 & chapter 5 verse 1 to 16

The thing about praying is that God answers your prayers – and the new church in Jerusalem had just prayed for great boldness when speaking about Jesus and the Kingdom of God. They had also asked for healing power and for signs and wonders to be done in the name of Jesus. And, in answer to that prayer and as confirmation that the Lord had heard and would give them what they’d asked for, the building they were in was shaken. As that happened, once again, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and went out preaching about Jesus with great boldness.

They also found that they were one in heart and mind – they belonged to each other as brothers and sisters. No one felt that what they owned was theirs alone, but was to be shared by everyone in the church as needed. This meant that, at times, some in the church would sell houses or land and bring the proceeds from that sale to the apostles so that they could distribute it as required, with the result that there were no needy people in the church.

An example of this was a man known as Barnabas. His real name was Joseph and he was from the tribe of Israel called the Levites who helped in the Temple, although his family was actually from Cyprus! He was known as Barnabas because it means ‘son of encouragement’ and that seemed to sum up who he was – so the nickname had stuck! One day Barnabas sold some land he owned, probably back in Cyprus and, when the money arrived, he brought it to the apostles and laid it at their feet to indicate that he was happy for them to use it in any way they saw fit.

However, when the enemy of the church, the devil, saw what Barnabas and many others were doing, he saw an opportunity to destroy the church, to make it rotten from the inside out and he looked for – and found – a couple in the church who he could use for his wicked purposes.

The idea was simple, destroy the church by destroying its integrity. Make one person a liar and the whole testimony of the church would be rubbished, with conflict and mayhem following in its wake.

The enemy prepared his attack well by playing on the pride and vanity of Ananias and his wife, Sapphira. They had watched as people like Barnabas had brought the money from the sale of land and houses to the apostles. No doubt the devil had encouraged them to feel envious of the way Barnabas was thanked, trying to make them believe that there was some kind of spiritual elite they could be part of. He must have reminded them that they also had some land they could sell and, just as they were about to sell the land so that they could look good in the eyes of people, the devil must have caused them to doubt the faithfulness of God. After all, selling a piece of land and giving the money away was a big thing to do – you couldn’t just get it back later! So the devil encouraged them to come up with a plan that would give them the best of both worlds: the security of a nice little hidden nest-egg from the sale of the land, while at the same time appearing to be one of the supposed spiritual elite by their giving. All they had to do was tell the apostles their plan to sell the piece of land, but not tell them the truth about the actual price they were going to get for it. It seemed such a small lie. They were going to give MOST of the money away and only keep back SOME for themselves. No one else need know except them. The buyer wasn’t part of the church and so they felt their secret would be safe.

When the transaction was completed, the day arrived when Ananias brought the money to the apostles. He brought most of what the land had actually sold for – and the exact amount he’d told the apostles it had sold for! So, walking up to Peter, knowing that all eyes were on him, Ananias swelled with pride. He was part of the elite now, they would look up to him after such sacrificial giving. No doubt with a pious and holy expression on his face, he placed the money at Peter’s feet. But that’s when it all went wrong, for you can hide nothing from God!

‘Ananias,’ asked Peter, ‘why have you let Satan fill your heart? You’ve lied to the Holy Spirit and kept back some of the money you got from selling the land for yourself!’

This was not going the way Ananias had expected. His holy expression dropped and a look of horror and shame fell across his face.

Then Peter continued, ‘The property was yours before you sold it – you didn’t have to sell it. And, after you’d sold it, didn’t the money from the sale belong to you to do whatever you wanted with it? How could you do something like this? Don’t you realise that you aren’t lying to us, but to God?’

No sooner had Peter stopped speaking than Ananias fell to the floor and died. (P) As you can imagine, everyone who heard what had happened was terrified! Some of the young men quickly wrapped up his body in a sheet and took it out to bury.

Satan’s plan was failing – and worse, the exact opposite to his intention was happening. Instead of others becoming hypocrites, saying one thing and doing another, everyone realised that God was watching them and they needed to be careful to continue to please and honour Him, knowing that you can’t hide ANYTHING from God.

About three hours later, Sapphira, Ananias’ wife, arrived, not knowing what’d happened to her husband. No doubt she too was excited about how holy the others would think she was and was eager to accept thanks from those they’d helped. But, instead of the smiles and gratitude she’d expected, she found herself face to face with Peter while the others looked on, serious expressions etched on their faces.

‘Tell me, Sapphira,’ Peter asked straight away, showing her the money he’d received from her husband, ‘was this the price you and your husband received for your land?’

Although alarm bells were ringing in her head, her course of action had been set in stone when she’d agreed with her husband to lie to the apostles about the full figure they’d got for the land. To change her story now was to drop herself and her husband into very hot water and so the lie continued. ‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘that is the price we got for the land.’

Peter’s heart must have been breaking as he heard Sapphira’s reply. The Lord Himself had revealed to him that it wasn’t true – that this was an attempt by the devil to get in and corrupt the church. And then the Lord also revealed to Peter what would happen next. Looking Sapphira in the eye, he shook his head and said, ‘How could the two of you even think of plotting together to test the Spirit of the Lord like this?’ Then, with a deep sigh he added, ‘The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will also carry you out and bury you.’

At that moment, Sapphira fell to the floor and died, just as her husband had done. Then, as Peter had said, the young men who’d buried her husband came back through the door and found her dead body. They picked her up and buried her beside her husband.

Such fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard about these things. The devil’s plans had failed and, instead of weakening the church, had strengthened it in line with the prayer they’d prayed. They’d asked for boldness, healings and signs and wonders – maybe not realising that ‘wonders’ could come in many different ways. And, these ‘wonders’ caused the church to stay pure.

The apostles performed many more miraculous signs and wonders in addition to what had happened to Ananias and Sapphira. The church, growing at a tremendous rate, met regularly at the Temple in an area know as ‘Solomon’s Colonnade’. No one else dared to disturb or join them there, no doubt mindful of what had happened to Ananias and Sapphira. But even so, in answer to their prayer, more and more people believed what the apostles boldly preached about Jesus and were brought to the Lord – crowds of them, both men and women.

In fact, as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit through the apostles, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across them as he passed by. It wasn’t superstition, but an acknowledgement that God was powerfully at work through His people. Of course, this kind of news couldn’t stay hidden and spread to the villages around Jerusalem so that many people were brought from the villages who were sick or demon possessed and every one of them was healed!