³²Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. ³³There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed. ³⁴Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed.” Immediately he got up. ³⁵And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

Paul’s primary ministry was not to the Jews, and therefore not to be in Jerusalem and nearby areas. His ministry was to the Gentile world away from Israel. The author Luke records in historical sequence Saul’s conversion and early attempts in evangelizing, but only enough to illustrate his zeal. Saul’s presence was a catalyst for persecution, both before and after his conversion. Ironically, Saul was a primary cause of the gospel going out beyond Jerusalem, as Jesus had commanded (Acts 1:8). His pre-conversion persecution of believers had forced many of them out of Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1), and now, as a Christian, his assigned mission was to personally take the gospel message widely to the Gentile world. So it is instructive that we do not see much success in his winning Jews to Christ. In fact, he now became a lightning rod for attracting persecution to not only himself but the entire Christian community. At his departure, they began to enjoy peace from harassment (Acts 9:31).

Meanwhile, we turn back to the movements of the apostle Peter, outside of Jerusalem. His Spirit-guided actions are positioning him to begin the momentous task of preaching the gospel to the Gentile world. This is so significant that Luke takes up all of chapter 11 detailing the story of the conversion of the Roman centurion (a Gentile) and Peter’s subsequent explanation and defense of his actions to the believers back in Jerusalem, as recorded in chapter 12. At issue was whether believing Gentiles were to be accepted into the church in full fellowship, seeing that this movement had been mainly Jewish in nature. This is what theologians call a huge transitional issue. Was the gospel Jewish, or was it for all people? The apostles in Jerusalem had to wrestle with this question.

So we see Peter’s movement eastward to the town of Lydda, where he heals one of the “saints,” most likely Jews who were the fruit of Philip’s gospel ministry (Acts 8:40). The city was located on a coastal roadway going toward Gaza and Egypt, northeast of Jerusalem about twenty-five miles, with the town of Joppa another ten miles beyond. In contrast to Saul’s ministry, the response to Peter’s healing the man was overwhelmingly positive, as Luke describes it,  by “all who lived” there and in the surrounding area.

Lord, help me not doubt the power of the gospel to save many people.