Aeneas
Aeneas, paralyzed for eight years, was healed by Peter in Lydda. (Act.9.33,34)
Biography
Aeneas was a resident of Lydda, a town on the coastal plain of Palestine, who had been bedridden and paralyzed for eight years (Acts 9:33–34). When the apostle Peter visited Lydda during his ministry tour through the region, he encountered Aeneas and healed him with the simple declaration: "Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed." Aeneas rose immediately. The miracle was not private, it was witnessed by the broader community, and the text records that all the residents of Lydda and Sharon who saw Aeneas turned to the Lord. Though nothing further is recorded about Aeneas himself, his healing became a catalyst for mass conversion throughout the surrounding region.
Significance
The healing of Aeneas is one of several miraculous signs in Acts 9 that demonstrate the continuing work of the risen Christ through his apostles. Peter's words: "Jesus Christ heals you", deliberately attribute the power not to himself but to the ascended Lord, functioning as a theological proclamation as much as a physical cure. The communal impact of the miracle is paramount: the sight of a man healed after eight years of paralysis prompted entire towns to faith. Aeneas thus becomes an instrument of evangelism, his body a living sign of the kingdom breaking into the world. His story anticipates the pattern recurring throughout Acts: miraculous healing as a bridge to the proclamation of the gospel and the expansion of the church.
Verse Appearances (2)
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]