Acts 9:36-43 English Standard Version Dorcas Restored to Life 36 Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. 37 In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” 39 So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. 40 But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner. We have seen mostly men mentioned so far in the historical narrative that is the book of Acts, but Luke makes sure to add this story to show that the Church was a place where women were welcomed as disciples. Jesus encouraged the women and children and all the other outcasts of society to draw near to Him and follow after Him, just the same as He did to the men, and many of the women and children were able to follow him day and night for years where as their husbands and fathers may only have been able to see Jesus for a day or two when he was close to town, as most of the adult males had to work six days a week in order to support their families.
Tabitha, who was also called Dorcas, was known for being a person full of good works and charity. Likely she had the gifts of service, hospitality, and giving among others for her to have gained such a reputation among the early Church. News of her illness and death rose to the attention of Peter as the believers in Joppa knew that Peter was nearby in Lydda and they sent two messengers to run to Lydda to ask Peter to come to Joppa without delay. When Peter arrived, the funeral had already started. All the widows of the town were gathered in the room and were mourning her loss. We have seen similar scenes in the gospels when Jesus was called to help and someone died before He arrived and He would have to clear the room. In like manner, Peter tells all the mourners to go outside and he kneels down and prays and then says, “Tabitha, arise.” (Compare this passage with Mark 5:35-43 to see how this is similar to what Jesus did). When she had opened her eyes, she sat up and Peter gave her a hand standing up. He then called everyone that had been there to mourn her death to come in and see that she was now alive, and the news spread throughout Joppa so that many believed. See, there it is! There was a greater purpose in this miracle than simply brining Dorcas back to life, and Peter would stay many days in Joppa in the house of Simon, the tanner. This is where we will meet Peter next time when he is going to have a vision telling him to take the gospel to a Gentile by the name of Cornelius. We've already seen the gospel going to the Gentiles with Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch and that Jesus told Saul that he would be the apostle to the Gentiles, but we have yet to see a pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles in the same way that we saw the Spirit being poured out on the Jews at Pentecost and on the Samaritans in chapter 8. We often try to read things into this passage coming up that are not there, specifically about dietary code and what is allowable for us to eat as Christians versus what the Law told the Jews that they could and could not eat. There is a message about clean and unclean, but it is clear in the interpretation of the vision that follows that God is telling Peter to not call "unclean" the Gentile people that He has made to be "clean." This would be a lesson that the Church would struggle with throughout the years and that we struggle with today as we find it hard to worship with people from different cultures and backgrounds, but we'll see that this is something that the church in Syrian Antioch will be doing well and it is why they will be such a missions-sending church, this is the church that will send out Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, and later they will send out Barnabas with John Mark, and Paul with Silas on additional missionary journeys so that they could reach people from all around the world with the gospel. This is going to be a turning point in the book of Acts. Comments are closed.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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