Acts 9:36-43 - Tabitha Awakens
Acts 9:36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. 37At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. 38Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, ‘Please come to us without delay.’ 39So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. 40Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. 41He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. 42This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.
Background: The book of Acts is part two of Luke’s gospel. It details the amazing movement of the gospel after the resurrection and the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost. It is a glorious moment in our family story, filled with power and newness of life. As a matter of fact, Acts is in large measure a book set down to explain the radical new quality of life that the Christians experienced.
Context: The first section of Acts chapter 9 gives us the powerful story of the conversion of Saul and his new name Paul. Lest we leap too quickly into his story, which takes up the balance of the book beginning in chapter 13, we return to stories about Peter and his amazing spiritual power after the Pentecost experience. Peter’s transformation from denier of Jesus on the night of his arrest, his subsequent abandonment at the cross and confusion at the empty tomb, into a man whose very shadow on the road healed people is one of the most remarkable in the Bible. It gives us all hope for our own spiritual growth and power. Scholars have no idea why these stories are inserted in the narrative at this point. What is clear is that Luke believed they told us something important about the spiritual power of the early movement. Immediately before we pick up the story today, we are told that Peter was going here and there among the converts. He comes to Lydda and meets a paralyzed man named Aeneas. He heals him. Remember that paralysis in the symbolism of the Bible indicated someone who was stuck, helpless or in bondage. So in Aeneas’ story, Peter reminds us that in Christ there are fresh possibilities even when we feel most stuck. When the people saw this miracle, many turned to the Lord. Peter moves on to Joppa in today’s story. Here he meets Tabitha, the only woman in the Bible to be given the name disciple equal to the men.
Turing the World Upside Down: Notice in this passage how the norms of society are once again disrupted by the power of life in Christ. The use of the word disciple for a woman reminds us that the old order has passed away. Fishermen preach. Woman are elevated to status of equals with men. The poorest of the poor (widows) form powerful spiritual communities and a woman named Tabitha (which means Gazelle) has formed a welfare program to lift up the lowly and despised.
About the Widows: Widows occupied the lowest rung of ancient society. They were poor and had no one to represent or protect them. With Tabitha’s death, the whole community is thrown into crisis. They have no one now. Their cloaks and garments are the tangible signs of the dignity Tabitha’s life and ministry offered them. This was a matter of life and death for them as well.
Word Study
Vs. 36 – Joppa – A beautiful and rugged Mediterranean seaport in Judea, just south of the Samaritan border.
Disciple – This is the feminine form of the word that is usually used of Jesus closest followers. It means ‘learner.’
Tabitha – an Aramaic name that means gazelle.
Devoted – this is a word that indicates single-minded devotion. Think of the concentration of a dog when you are offering a special treat.
Good works – this refers to active acts of generosity and kindness.
Charity – this word refers to concrete acts of loving, elevating, mercy.
Vs 37 – ill – this is the word for someone who becomes weak or feeble. It is what happens when the life force of a person begins to ebb.
Washed her – this refers to the ritual preparation of the body for burial. Burial would occur withing 24 hours.
Vs. 38 – two men – these were messengers. If at all possible messengers were sent in pairs for safety and to attest to the message.
Please come to us without delay – not only is time of the essence due
to burial practices, but this phrase lets us know that the whole community is in crisis. Notice that the messengers do not tell Peter what has happened. They just tell him he is urgently needed and he responds.
Vs. 39 – widows – see above. It is interesting to note that in later, but still early, Christianity, organizations of widows became a special ordained office in charge of charitable works in a church community. As is still the case today, the majority of the world’s poor were women.
Tunics and cloaks – these were inner and outer garments. They garments gave protection and dignity to the wearers.
Vs 40 – opened – this is an interesting word that usually means break, or to break open. I think that is significant because it reinforces that a whole new community and way of life is breaking into the world in Christ. This inbreaking includes the amazing truth that death never has the last word and the vulnerable will not be left without resources.
Vs. 42 – believed – trusted, placed their trust into Christ.
Vs. 43 – tanner – if, after all of this, we needed further proof that everything had changed and a radical equality was afoot, here it is. It was strictly forbidden in Jewish law to be, or associate with, a tanner.
Questions for Personal Reflection
1. Can you think of times when you felt helpless or stuck and could see no way out? Did your faith, or the faith of others, play a role in you ‘getting up’ again?
2. Can you think of a time when you ran to meet a need, not knowing exactly what you were getting into? How did that go? In what ways was God active? Could you see that at the time? Did it become clearer later?
3. Tabitha did not wait for someone to do something for those who were defenseless. Take a moment now to consider who the defenseless are in your life and community? Is there a way for you personally to reach out?
4. Tabitha started her work by restoring dignity for the widows. In what ways might your help someone regain a sense of dignity and worth?
5. Peter, representing the church itself, brought life to Tabitha and to all of the ones who benefited from Tabitha’s care. In what ways do you think your church brings life to helpers, to those who are struggling physically, to self-developed ministries of justice?