The book of Acts relates more than one stirring experience. Such is the account of the Christian disciple Peter's visit to a man named Aeneas. See Acts 9:32—35 . Since Aeneas had been bedfast for eight years with paralysis, one might wonder what the reaction of observers may have been when Peter said, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed."
Unless Peter's expectation had proved to be more substantial than Aeneas's condition, ridicule and scorn of Christianity would have swept the town of Lydda. But the bedfast man "arose immediately," healed! And the townspeople turned to God.
Peter's words alone could not have brought about such a marvel. His faith had grown through the years of his association with Christ Jesus into a demonstrable understanding of man's wholeness as God's image. Spiritual understanding enabled Peter and enables us, also, to see beyond the senses' claim that matter is substance—beyond the supposedly fixed or incurable conditions that seem to forbid or prolong healing. Gradually we learn that regardless of outward appearances, the Life of man—divine Love, or Spirit—is substance that is always intact. Then we, too, are able to stand, as Peter stood beside Aeneas, and to declare with healing effect the wholeness of manhood that reflects the intactness of true substance.
