Lives of Scripture

Aeneas was a man in Lydda who had been paralyzed and confined to his bed for eight years (Acts 9:33). As Peter traveled among the young churches during "a season of peace" for believers throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria (9:31), he came to Lydda and found Aeneas. Peter's words were direct and Christ-centered: "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed" (9:34) -- Peter was careful to credit the healing to Jesus, not to himself. Aeneas got up immediately, fully restored after nearly a decade of paralysis. The effect rippled outward: "all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord" (9:35). Aeneas's healing is one of several miracles in Acts (alongside Tabitha's resurrection in the same chapter) that confirmed the apostles' preaching with the same kind of power Jesus Himself had shown, and drew a whole region to faith -- evidence that the risen Christ was still actively at work through His apostles after His ascension.