Acts Chapters 9 to 12:25

Aeneas and Dorcas – Read Acts 9:32-43

With the sailing of Saul from Caesarea home to Tarsus, Luke shifts his story back to Peter who is now traveling and preaching in the countryside around Jerusalem. In Lydda Peter encounters Aeneas, a paralytic who has been bedridden for 8 years. Peter heals the man in the name of Jesus Christ, and Aeneas is able to immediately walk again. As a result “all those who lived in Lydda and Sharon … turned to the Lord.”

In nearby Joppa there was a believer named Tabitha (also known as Dorcas) who suddenly took sick and died. Her friends immediately send for Peter, knowing that he was close by and hoping that he could help. The wake for Tabitha had already commenced in the upper room of her home by the time Peter arrives. He dismisses all from the room and begins to pray” “Tabitha, get up.” And she does! Peter leads her downstairs and as a result “many people believed in the Lord.”


Cornelius Calls for Peter – Read Acts 10

While Peter is staying in Joppa after raising Tabitha, a man named Cornelius in nearby Caesarea is visited by an angel. Cornelius is a centurion in the Roman army and was “God-fearing” - a gentile who believes in God. The angel commands Cornelius to send for Peter and Cornelius complies, sending three servants to Joppa. The following day in Joppa, while Peter is waiting for dinner, he falls into a deep trance. A vision appears and Peter sees “something like a large sheet” being lowered from heaven containing all sorts of birds, reptiles and other creatures. A voice calls out to Peter to “Get up … kill and eat.” Peter is repulsed as it would violate Jewish dietary laws, and he refuses. The vision occurs twice more leaving Peter confused and wondering. At just this moment, the servants of Cornelius arrive and finding Peter, explain the purpose of their visit.

The next day Peter, the servants from Cornelius and some local believers start back to Caesarea. On arriving at the house of Cornelius Peter explains that it is normally against Jewish law for him to associate with gentiles but that he has recently had a vision from God showing that “I should not call any man impure or unclean.” Cornelius describes his visit from the angel and Peter concludes: “I now realize how true it is that God shows no favoritism, but accepts men from every nation…”

As Peter is explaining to everyone about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus “the Holy Spirit came upon all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.” Some of them were even speaking in tongues. (Acts 10:44-46) As a result, Peter is convinced that gentiles should be baptized and that they could become believers, no different from Jews. So Peter orders all “be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.”


Peter Explains His Actions – Read Acts 11:1-18

Peter’s actions at Cornelius’ house, however, have consequences. When Peter arrives back in Jerusalem he is criticized by some of the circumcised believers for associating with gentiles and baptizing them. Peter relates his vision and the events in Caesarea. At the end of this explanation Peter’s critics “.. had no further objections and praised God, saying, ‘So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.’” (Acts 11:18).


The Church at Antioch – Read Acts 11:19-30

Luke again shifts his narrative outside of Jerusalem. The persecution of the church in Jerusalem that had resulted in the stoning of Stephen caused the believers to scatter about the countryside and some made their way up to Antioch, a city in what is now Syria. Antioch was culturally different from Jerusalem and Palestine, being more Greek and cosmopolitan. Antioch stood on important east-west trade routes and had a considerable Jewish population. So it is natural that the early believers, seeking a new home after being persecuted in Jerusalem, would gravitate towards Antioch.

Luke reports that the believers first preached to the Jews in Antioch, but it was not long before they began “to speak to the Greeks also, telling them about the good news of the Lord Jesus.” Many Greeks were subsequently converted and “a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” Again, the conversion of non-Jews has consequences and the apostles, still in Jerusalem, send Barnabas to Antioch to investigate. Luke is careful to give Barnabas high praise, as a “good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.” Barnabas finds the actions of the Christians (as they are called in Antioch, for the first time ever) to be correct and he encourages them.

Barnabas also searches out Saul in nearby Tarsus who had been absent from the scene for several years. Barnabas and Saul work together in Antioch for an entire year and this now becomes a focal point of Christian activity. Christianity is thus firmly established outside of Jerusalem and in one of the Empire’s great cities of trade and commerce. This would bring natural opportunities for travel and for preaching to many different people from all over the Roman world.


Peter Escapes from Prison – Read Acts 12:1-25

Luke changes the scene again in chapter 12, this time back to the apostles in Jerusalem. The persecution of the church is intensifying, and the leadership is now targeted by King Herod. Herod is trying to consolidate his political alliances with Jewish leaders and so has James, the brother of John executed. This is the James who once asked Jesus for a place at His right hand – something Jesus cautioned against (see Mark 10:35-40).

The death of James pleases the Jews and so Herod seizes Peter, intending to bring him to public trial after the Passover feast. Peter is placed under close guard – he is chained to two soldiers inside a cell in the prison overnight. But an angel appears and frees Peter who returns to a house where the other believers are praying for him. (This house is the home of Mary, the mother of Mark the evangelist. This is the first time Mark is mentioned by name in Acts.) When Peter knocks at the door the others at first refuse to believe that he has escaped from such a secure jail. Luke reports that Peter leaves town, for obvious reasons, and Herod has the unfortunate guards executed. Luke also reports, in characteristically grim fashion, that Herod - a bad guy - was struck down by an angel of the Lord (Acts 12:23) and “eaten by worms.” More happily the “word of God continued to increase and spread.”


Links of Interest

Here are detailed commentaries on Acts

Chapter 9: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/mcgarvey/acts.ch9.html

Chapter 10: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/mcgarvey/acts.ch10.html

Chapter 11: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/mcgarvey/acts.ch11.html

Chapter 12: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/mcgarvey/acts.ch12.html

Antioch, as it appears today: http://www.ourfatherlutheran.net/biblehomelands/paul%27s%201st/paul%202-antioch/paul2antioch.htm

Study/Discussion Questions


1. Why does Peter resist the animals in his vision?

2. What is the significance of Cornelius’ profession and his social position?

3. What is the significance of the coming of the Holy Spirit to everyone meeting in the house of Cornelius to Luke’s audience?

4. Why would the believers in Jerusalem object to the baptizing of gentiles in Caesarea?

5. Do you think that the issue of Jew vs Gentile Christian has been settled by Peter’s explanation?

6. When describing some conversions, Luke generalizes, using phrases such as “thousands were converted that day..” (Acts 2:40-47, Acts 4:4, Acts 6:7 for example). But elsewhere Luke often gives us great detail on individual conversions or conversions in small groups (Acts 8:34-38, Acts 10:44-47, for example). Why do you think this is so?

7. Why does Luke describe the activities of the believers in Antioch in such detail?

8. What did Herod intend to do to Peter? What was the result for the church in Jerusalem?