John Calvin Commentary Acts 9:37

"And it came to pass in those days, that she fell sick, and died: and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper chamber." — Acts 9:37 (ASV)

It happened that she was sick. He says in plain words that she was sick, so that he may more plainly express her death that followed. To the same end, he says that the corpse was washed and laid in an upper chamber; therefore, these circumstances serve to make the miracle believed.

Since they do not carry her immediately to the grave, but lay her in the upper part of the house to keep her there, we may gather from this that they had some hope of her life being recovered.

It is likely that the rite of washing, which Luke mentions, was very ancient. I do not doubt that it came from the holy fathers through the continual course of time, as if passed from hand to hand, so that in death itself some visible sign of the resurrection might comfort the minds of the godly and lift them up to some good hope.

Namely, since the manifestation of eternal life was not so evident, and indeed, since Christ, the pledge and substance of eternal life, had not yet been revealed, it was necessary that such aids compensate for both the obscurity of doctrine and the absence of Christ.

Therefore, they washed the bodies of the dead so that they might one day stand clean before the judgment seat of God. Finally, the reason for washing the dead was the same as for the living; the daily washing reminded them of this: that no one can please God unless he is purged from his filthiness.

So, in the rite of burying, God intended for there to be some existing sign by which people might be admonished that they departed this life polluted, because of the filthiness they had gathered in the world.

Washing no more helped those who were dead than burial did, but it was used to teach the living. For since death has some appearance of destruction, lest it extinguish the faith of the resurrection, it was necessary that contrary appearances be set against it, so that they might represent life in death.

The Gentiles also adopted this ceremony, for which reason Ennius says,, A good woman did wash and anoint Tarquinius’s corpse. But (their) imitation was merely slavish in this matter, as in all other ceremonies. Christians also have adopted this example unwisely, as if the observance of a symbol used under the law ought to continue always.

For at the beginning of the gospel, although the necessity was abolished, yet its use was lawful, until such time as it might fall out of use over time. But the monks today imitate Judaism no less than the Gentiles did in times past, without discretion and judgment, for they wash corpses so that they may bury Christ in shadows, which, being buried with Him in His grave, ought never to have been used anymore.