Day 48 — Peter Raises Dorcas (Acts 9:36-43) | June 12

This story introduces us to a woman whose life embodied the gospel in very practical ways, and whose death prompted one of the most remarkable miracles in all of Acts. Let's read Acts nine, thirty six through forty three. In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorka. She was always doing good works and acts of charity and At about that time she became sick and died. After washing her body they placed her in a room upstairs.

And since Lida was near Joppa, the disciples heard that Peter was there, and they sent two men to him who urged him, Don't delay in coming with us. So Peter got up and went with them. And when he arrived they led him to the room upstairs, and all the widows approached him, weeping and showing him the robes and the clothes that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter sent them all out of the room, and he knelt down, prayed, and turning toward the body, said, Tabitha, get up.

She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up. He gave her his hand, he helped her up. He called the saints and widows and presented her alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. Peter stayed for some time in Jopp with Simon, a leather tanner. All right, so Tabitha, also called Dorcas, was always doing good works and acts of charity, and both her Aramaic name, which is Tabitha, and her Greek name, Dorcas, they mean gazelle, perhaps suggesting her energetic service.

And Luke makes clear that this woman's faith expressed itself in practical action. Like she made robes, she made clothes for widows, that the most vulnerable members of society In in a culture without any social safety nets, widows often face destitution. And Dorcas met their needs with her needle and thread. She was like an ancient mother Teresa. And so when she died the community was devastated. And so they washed her body according to Jewish custom, they placed her in an upper room.

They sent urgently for Peter. Don't delay, they beg. And the implication is clear, like they had hoped for a miracle. News of Aeneas' healing had reached Joppa, and now they wondered if Peter might be the man for an even bigger challenge. And so when Peter arrived he found a room full of weeping widows, each one holding up clothes that Dorcas had made for them. Such a poignant image.

They they were displaying these practical evidences of love, proof that this woman had seen them and cared for them and invested hours of labor for their benefit. Widows were mourning a loss of a friend, yes, but but more importantly, they were mourning someone who had embodied the compassion of Christ to them.

So Peter takes a deliberate approach. He sends everyone out of the room, and and it kinda echoes what Jesus did when he raided raised Jairus's daughter. He refused the temptation to make this a spectacle. This is a private act of faith and dependence on God. Then Peter knelt and prayed. Notice he knelt in humility, he was seeking God's will before he even spoke. Only after praying did he turn to the body and say Tabitha Gidda.

And like the last miracle, the parallel here to Jesus is so striking. When Jesus raised Jairus' daughter, he said, Talatha kumi, little girl, get up. Peter says Tabitha cooling, Tabitha, get up. And the similarity is surely intentional. Peter's just emulating what he had seen Jesus do. And more than that, he's continuing the very ministry of Jesus through the Spirit's power.

The same Lord who raised the dead in Galilee is now raising the dead through his apostle in Joppa. And so she opens her eyes and she sees Peter and she sits up. He gave her his hand and helped her up, and then he called the saints and the widows and presented her alive to the children. It's so weird to realize that Dorcas wasn't resurrected in the ultimate sense. She was resuscitated to her old life again, where she would eventually die again.

You know, the fact that God raised her while Stephen and others remain dead reflects j just God's unknowable ways. We have to trust his greater wisdom in such matters. One clue may be the gospel impact that this miracle would have on the regions that are away from Jerusalem during the inaugural days of this new movement called. Because the result here, as with Aeneas, was evangelistic. Throughout Joppa, many believed in the Lord. One woman's life had.

uh and and restoration to health had become a catalyst for citywide faith.

And so Peter stayed in Joppa for some time. And and here Luke adds a detail that that seems almost offhand, but it's actually significant. He stayed with Simon, a leather tanner. Now tanners worked with dead animals. They were considered unclean by strict Jewish standards. No devout Jew would stay in a tanner's house. But Peter did. And God is already now beginning to stretch Peter's categories, breaking down barriers in preparation for what's about to happen in the next chapter.

So what might a step of ordinary obedience look like today? Let me offer you a take. A life spent in humble service, doing small things faithfully, a needle and thread for widows. Can echo louder in eternity than you'll ever know on earth. Like Dorcas never preached a sermon, but her funeral became a Ordinary faithfulness.