Peter: What Can We Learn From Peter's Life?Sample

"Jesus Christ Heals You"

The church continued to spread in Judea and Samaria and even further north into Peter’s home region of Galilee. Peter now travelled among these new groups of believers, strengthening their knowledge and faith. In the town of Lydda, he met Aeneas.

As Peter performed yet another miracle in healing this man of paralysis, he firmly acknowledged that Jesus Christ was the healer. Despite his great success as a leader, preacher, and miracle-worker, he had not become prideful. Peter knew full well that Jesus was the One doing the healing, not him. Full of humility, he was continually happy for the glory to go back to God. He knew that the Holy Spirit was the source of any supernatural power he had been given and had no trouble acknowledging this.

Peter’s next stop was Joppa, where he was summoned after a beloved member of the church died. She had lovingly cared for widows in her community who would have struggled in their culture to financially provide for themselves. The author of Acts doesn’t tell us that her mourners were expecting her to be raised from the dead. Joppa was close to Lydda, and it appears that they had merely asked Peter to come help them through this difficult time. It is not recorded that any of the apostles had prayed for a dead person to be raised prior to this. Yet Peter’s faith was moved by the love-filled grief of the widows. Remembering the occasion when Jesus had raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead, Peter followed in His footsteps. He asked everyone to leave, just as Jesus had done, and he used similar words to Jesus as he called Tabitha back to life. What a moment that must have been for Peter as he saw Tabitha’s dead body start breathing again! It was a clear demonstration of his faith and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.

The outcome of Aeneas’s healing and Tabitha’s raising was the same: many came to believe in Good News about Jesus. This was Peter’s ultimate goal - never glory for himself but always glory to God.

Reflection:

What would it have been like to be Peter as he prayed for Tabitha to be raised from the dead?

How is your faith being demonstrated in your everyday life?