Lesson 11 - Acts 9:36-43 - PETER'S BOLD WITNESS IN JUDEA
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Acts 9:1-20, the chapter began with Saul of Tarsus, the Sanhedrin's most zealous persecutor of the early church, when he encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus and was converted, essentially a complete reversal of his former self. Once his sight was restored by a Christian disciple named Ananias, Saul was informed that he was destined to be the Lord's instrument "to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel" (v. 15). And after meeting with the Christian disciples in Damascus, Saul immediately began proclaiming the name of Jesus in the synagogues there. The main truth we learned from this lesson was that God can convert the most unlikely sinners and use them as His chosen instruments in the cause of the gospel.
We will skip Chapter 9, verses 23-34, but here's a summary: Verses 23-25 report that many of the Jews in Damascus, infuriated by Saul's preaching in their synagogues, plotted to kill him, but learning of it, Paul managed to escape with the aid of the Christian disciples there. Verse 26-20, report that Saul traveled to Jerusalem next, where the Christians were very afraid of him at first, until he was introduced to the apostles by Barnabas. But afterward, when he angered many Hellenistic Jews by preaching the gospel of Jesus in their synagogues, these Jews also tried to kill him; but with the help of the Christian brethren in Jerusalem, he was able to make a safe escape to Tarsus.
Next, in vv. 32-35, we catch up with Peter while he's traveling through the Judean countryside and stops at Lydda (see map), where Christian disciples take him to the house of a man named Aeneas, who's been bedridden for eight years due to paralysis. Once there, Peter entered the man's room and declared "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed" (v. 34), and at once, the man got up. Verse 35 goes on to report that all the people in Lydda and Sharon (the plain between Lydda an Joppa) who saw him, turned to Jesus as Lord (i.e., Judean Jews). In today's text, Acts 9:36-43, we follow Peter to Joppa, where he learns that a Christian woman there has just died.
Read Acts 9:36-38 - TABITHA, A WOMAN ABOUNDING WITH DEEDS OF KINDNESS
36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did. 37 And it happened at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room. 38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, "Do not delay in coming to us."
Note: Luke connected these two accounts as a story pair. We should notice that in both instances, Peter, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter, simply issues the command, "get up" or "arise."
v. 36a: "Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas);" - Joppa is the second of three stops on Peter's Judean mission (Caesarea will be the third). Luke establishes first that "Tabitha," as a "disciple," was a believing Christian. "Tabitha," her Aramaic name, means Gazelle, a species of antelope, which Luke translates to "Dorcas" in consideration for many readers in his audience who only spoke Greek.
v. 36b: "this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did." - We will learn that Tabitha was a skilled seamstress who made clothing for the impoverished widows of her community, but the term "charity" strongly suggests that she also was also generous with her other resources -food, money, etc.-to help others in need.
v. 37a: "And it happened at that time that she fell sick and died;" - We shouldn't assume Tabitha is an old women-average life expectancy was much lower in those times. Luke doesn't disclose the nature of her illness, but he implies that she had died from it on this (present tense) very same day.
v. 37b: "and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room." - Immediately after death, it was Jewish practice to wash the body, anoint it with fragrant spices, and wrap it in cloths. And since Jews didn't believe in embalming, burial was normally accomplished by sundown the same day. Here, apparently, the same day she died, the body has been prepared and placed in an "upper room" for a visitation by those who knew and loved her.
v. 38a: "Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there," - Joppa was 11 miles from Lydda, ordinarily a three-hour walk by foot. Some of the Christians in Joppa apparently received word that Peter was still ministering in Lydda, where he had just finished healing Aeneas.
v. 38b: sent two men to him, imploring him, "Do not delay in coming to us." - In Jewish practice, the testimony of two men is required to verify a fact. When they located Peter in Lydda, they implored him to accompany them to Joppa ASAP!. Scholars speculate that the dire urgency of the situation-to get there before Tabitha had to be buried-strongly suggests that they made better than average time, both coming and going.
Read Acts 9:39-41 - SHE OPENED HER EYES AND SAT UP
39 So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. 40 But Peter sent them all out 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.
v. 39a: "So Peter arose and went with them." - Peter was apparently resting but when beckoned by the urgency these two men, he gets up and departs without hesitation. This seems to be indicative of the life of a caring pastor, leaving one hospital room only to be suddenly summoned to another one.
v. 39b: "When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room;" - They had made it on time; Tabitha's body still remained in the upper room.
v. 39c: "and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them." - Luke tells this story with interesting detail. He reports that the room was filled to overflowing with all of the widows whom Tabitha's ministry had touched. As if to confirm Tabitha/Dorcas' unselfish generosity with both her talents and her means, the assembled widows (and I can visualize a packed room), brought all the many garments that this dear women had made for them with her own hands over the years.
Note: Concern for "widows" occupies a special place in both OT and NT Scripture. A woman who lost her husband in these times was easily left destitute with no other means of support. Torah Law made a specific provision for widows (Lev. 22:13), and this practice was continued by the early church. We studied a practical example of it several weeks back when the Seven diakanos were appointed to oversee distribution food to the Hellenist widows (Acts 6:1-10).
v. 40a: "But Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed," - Despite everything he had experienced since coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, Peter knew full well that he could do nothing for this poor woman on his own, so when the people left the room, he got down on his knees, humbled himself before God, and prayed.
v. 40b: "and turning to the body, he said, "Tabitha, arise." - Getting up and turning toward the body, Peter calls the woman by name and speaks the speaks the same word command he gave to Aeneas in v. 34 (Gk. anistémi [an-is'-tay-mee,), which can translate either to "get up"' or "arise," which is a little softer. There is a strong correlation between this story, when using the very same words, 'Child, arise!," Jesus raised Jairus' daughter from the dead (Luke 8:49-56).
v. 40c: "And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up." - By the power of the Holy Spirit, Tabitha "opened her eyes" and saw Peter gazing down at her, then as sure proof that this woman had come back from death to life, "she sat up."
Read Acts 9:41-43 - PETER STAYED IN JOPPA WITH SIMON, A TANNER
41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.
v. 41: "And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive." - The extraordinary faith shown by Tabitha's friends in the power of Jesus Christ was rewarded when Peter called them to come into the room so they can see this kind woman sitting up alive and well. This passage also signifies that the apostles were not only endowed with the power to heal, but were also equipped by the Spirit to raise people from the dead.
v. 42: "It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord." - This seemingly matter-of-fact verse is infused with powerful theological and evangelical statement. The miracles demonstrated the glory of God through the witness of Jesus Christ, and when people experience it by sight or hearing, they believe. In this instance, the raising of Tabitha gave authentication to the message Peter was spreading in Judea about Jesus Christ, and in response to it, many were saved. We don't really know how the gospel originally came to the believers in Lydda and Joppa. It could very well have been Philip after he departed from the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40) and traveled north from Azotus, preaching the gospel in various cities on his way to Caesarea.
v. 43a: "And Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon." - This verse provides a geographical and theological transition to Peter's forthcoming encounter with the Roman centurion Cornelius in Caesarea in Acts 10 and 11. Peter evidently remained in Joppa for a while to help the new Christians there to establish and organize their new church.
v. 43b: "with a tanner named Simon" - Peter's willingness to stay at the house of a "tanner" shows that he was more broad-minded in his fellowship than many other Jews. In addition to being a very dirty and smelly occupation (e.g., using animal dung rub down the hides), many Jews considered tanners to be 'unclean' due to their contact with dead animals. However, Peter was about to receive a challenge to his convictions similar to that of Saul on the road to Damascus. So, stay tuned.
APPLICATION-Calling on God's Mighty Power:
1. Incapacitating sickness and death are pictures of the spiritual condition of lost people. It's clear that Dorcas (Greek), or Tabitha (Aramaic), whose name means "Gazelle," was a believer. She is called a disciple (the only time this word occurs in the feminine form in the Greek New Testament). We don't not know about Aeneas' background, but the fact that he is only referred to as "a certain man," not "a disciple," seems to indicate that he was not a believer. But the physical condition of both Dorcas and Aeneas represent different pictures of the spiritual condition of every person outside of Christ. By nature we all are born as sinners, spiritually paralyzed and dead. On our own, we are as unable as a paralyzed man to take a step toward God. We are as unable as a corpse to free ourselves from our many sins and to live in a manner pleasing to God (Eph. 2:1-3).
2. The Lord uses His servants to bring His powerful cure to spiritually incapacitated people. Peter was God's instrument to bring healing to Aeneas and resurrection to Dorcas. From Peter, we can learn important truths about the servants whom God uses to bring His powerful cure of salvation to those who are spiritually incapacitated/dead. For example Peter did not say, "Aeneas, in the name of Jesus Christ, I heal you." Instead, he said, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you." He gave all the glory to Jesus and took none of it for himself. With Dorcas, Peter did not claim to have any power to perform such a miracle, but humbly knelt down and prayed, depending totally on God's power to do what only God can do. Peter was able to imitate Jesus because he had been with Jesus when He performed similar miracles. Although we have not been physically present with Jesus, if we have spent much time with Him in His Word, He will use us to be His instruments in bringing His saving power to those who are spiritually dead.
3. Human disabilities and death are not limitations to God's mighty power. The name of Jesus is able to do what no amount of human persuasion or human power can ever do. He alone can impart strength and sensation to paralyzed legs. His power alone can raise a corpse from the dead. He alone can call a soul out of spiritual bondage and impart eternal life. We are only His instruments, and if we think that any of the power depends on us, we misunderstand how He works. In fact, it is only when we sense our complete inability, as Peter surely did when he knelt and prayed for Dorcas to be raised, that we are in the place God wants us. If you have any confidence in your ability to lead a soul to faith in Christ, it is misplaced confidence. But if you cry out, "O Lord, who am I to raise the dead? Or "O Lord, can You do something humanly impossible through me"-then, God can work wonders.
4. Those healed by God's mighty power always give evidence of their healing. Peter commanded Aeneas to get up and make his bed, and Aeneas did it! Then "All who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him" (v. 35). They saw the evidence of the miracle: this man who had been bedridden for eight years now walked. The people around Joppa heard about Dorcas being raised from the dead. It's pretty difficult to keep something like that secret! She now resumed doing the many good deeds that she had done before. In fact, he now knew from experience how short life can be, and so she probably abounded even more in doing all that she could for her Savior while there was time. Notice that the first sign of life in Dorcas was that God opened her eyes.
5. God's power in saving lost people should encourage us to proclaim the gospel. These two miracles must have taken everyone by surprise. There was no human hope in either situation. But where there was no human hope, God miraculously broke in with His power and accomplished in an instant what no human could ever do. Sometimes we might see a person who seems so far gone in sin that we despair, thinking, there's no way that he or she will ever come to Christ! It's true, that there is no human way. But God's mighty power can save any sinner. Whether the corpse is washed and dressed in clean clothes or whether it is smelly and dirty, dressed in rags, it's still a corpse. But it makes no difference to God what the corpse is wearing! He alone has the power to impart new life to dead sinners. So we should be encouraged boldly to share the gospel with others, knowing that it is not our power or the other person's will power that will bring about the change: it's God's mighty power. If, for His divine purposes, God desires to raise the dead, the dead will be raised!
