Context No. 1645 of 4322 · Acts
Context · Reflection
Acts 9:31-35: in context
31So the assemblies throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were built up. They were multiplied, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. 32As Peter went throughout all those parts, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. 33There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years because he was paralyzed. 34Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed!” Immediately he arose. 35All who lived at Lydda and in Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.
The churches through Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoy a season of peace, growing and being built up, walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Spirit. As Peter travels among them, he comes to Lydda and meets Aeneas, a man paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. Peter says to him: Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed. And at once the man rises. All who lived in Lydda and Sharon see him and turn to the Lord.
The words Peter speaks are worth noticing: Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Peter does not say I heal you, or watch what I can do; he names Christ as the healer, directing all the credit and attention to Jesus, not himself. The power that raised the paralyzed man was Christ's, and Peter was careful to say so, pointing past himself to his Lord. There is a right humility in that, and a right theology. Whatever good is done through us, healing, help, any blessing to others, is finally Christ's work and not our own; and the faithful servant points to Christ rather than taking the credit. Peter could have basked in the amazement of the crowd, could have let them marvel at him; instead he named Jesus as the one who healed, so that the glory went where it belonged. And notice the result: the people who saw it turned to the Lord, not to Peter. Because Peter pointed to Christ, the crowd's attention went to Christ, and they turned to him. Had Peter taken the credit, the people might have marveled at Peter; because he directed it to Jesus, they turned to Jesus. There is a lesson in this for how we do whatever good God works through us. The temptation is to let the credit rest on ourselves, to enjoy being seen as the one who helped or healed or blessed; but the faithful servant, like Peter, points past himself to Christ, so that the attention and the glory go to the Lord, and people are drawn to him and not to us. Jesus Christ heals you, Peter said; and the people turned to the Lord.
When good is done through me, help or blessing to others, do I let the credit rest on myself, enjoying being seen as the one who did it, or do I, like Peter, point past myself to Christ, so that the glory and the attention go to the Lord and people are drawn to him and not to me?