Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 9:35

"And all that dwelt at Lydda and in Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord." — Acts 9:35 (ASV)

Peter’s words, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat,” express in Greek the idea that “this moment Jesus Christ heals you.” Aeneas responded immediately to Peter’s command. News of his healing spread throughout Lydda and northward into the Plain of Sharon (the largest of the maritime plains of northern Palestine, stretching from Joppa to Mount Carmel). Rather hyperbolically Luke says that “all those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.” So, Luke tells us, there was a further widening of the Christian mission within the Jewish nation, preparing the way geographically and ideologically for the accounts of Peter’s ministry at Joppa in 9:36–43 and at Caesarea in 10:1–48.