Respect Everyone

Acts 9:43: "Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon."


Despite the persecution that Peter received from the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, Peter's ministry was a powerful display of God's glory working through him. The account of the healing of the crippled beggar in Acts 3 is tremendously impactful, for one sees Peter telling the beggar that he has nothing to give to him but the Name of Jesus Christ. As Peter reached out to grab the right hand of the handicapped man, he commanded that the man be healed through the power of the Name of Jesus; instantly, the man was healed and followed the apostle to the temple "walking, leaping, and praising God" (Acts 3:8). The people at the temple were amazed at such a miraculous healing of a man who had been crippled since his birth.


In Acts 9, we again find Peter engaged in ministry, now with the people in Lydda (a city about 30 miles north of Jerusalem). As Peter walked through the community, he encountered a man who was disabled and bedridden. Peter called out to the man, named Aeneas, and said to him, "Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat." Instantly, the man arose, to the astonishment of the people there. The Scripture tells us that many in the towns of Lydda and Sharon saw the evidence of the healing and "turned to the Lord."


Peter then was summoned to Joppa, a seaport city about 11 miles northwest of Lydda, by two disciples concerned for the life of a dear disciple named Tabitha (Dorcas). After making the three hour journey to the city, Peter found that Dorcas had died, and her body had been prepared for burial. As the friends and family of Dorcas wept for the loss of Dorcas, Peter sent everyone out of the room and called out to the Lord for supernatural healing. Knowing in his spirit that it was God's will to raise Dorcas from the dead, Peter called out to the woman to rise from the dead. Immediately, she opened her eyes and sat up. Peter then called out to Dorcas' friends to come and see what God had done in raising their dear friend from the dead. In response, "many people believed in the Lord" (Acts 9:42).


What is fascinating is the brief account that follows in verse 42, for we find that the apostle Peter stayed "for some time with a tanner named Simon." Joachim Jeremias in his book, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus, states that a tanner was one of the most despised trades at that time. The reason for its disrepute was the involvement of animal waste used in the tanning process. So repugnant was the profession, that a wife of a tanner had the right to divorce her husband due to the intolerable environment in which the tanner worked. In fact, the oral tradition permitted the wife to divorce her husband even if she went into the marriage knowing that her husband was a tanner. This "exception" was rather profound given that women had little right to divorce their husbands; it was the husbands who were given that "right" by the oral law of that time.


We can assume that Peter had become a highly respected person in the community, due to the miraculous healings that had occurred in the area. And Joppa was a fairly prosperous area, due to its port trading. Thus, Peter likely would have had a number of offerings to stay in the more prominent homes of the region. He could have had the choicest lodging and food while he ministered in the region; however, he instead chose to reside with one of the most despised people in the area. This says a lot about how Peter had matured in His relations with the Lord. Peter was not in need of the perks that went along with ministry; rather, he saw the opportunity to minister to one who would have been shunned by many in the community. And the fact that he stayed with Simon the Tanner for "some time" leads us to believe that this was not just an overnight publicity stunt. Peter genuinely desired to fellowship with this outcast, and he wanted the people in the community to know that the power of Christ working through him was not for his own glory but ultimately for the glory of the One True God. He also wanted the people to understand that everyone has intrinsic value and is important in the kingdom of God.


There is a good word for us here. As we are ministering to others, we need to be mindful of everyone within the kingdom, and not play favorites based upon their prominence in culture. We are called to love everyone and not necessarily gravitate to those who might have more to offer us personally. As God does not show favoritism, so too we are called to treat everyone with respect and value all irrespective of the circumstances in which we find them. In the next chapter of Acts (10), Peter would leave Joppa for Caesarea and would encounter a Roman centurion named Cornelius; rather than separating himself from the gentile (a common practice in Judaism), Peter would share the gospel with this Roman soldier, leading to his salvation. Peter again interjected the truth that God desires all men to come to a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right" (10:34-35). May we remember that all men are loved by God, and may we be ever determined to be an agent of blessing to all by respecting everyone with whom we come in contact.