Acts 9:32-43

All right, we are continuing our study through the Book of Acts here on the listeners commentary. And in this session we will be looking at Acts chapter 9 verses 32 through 43. This scene is the opening scene in the third major section of the Book of Acts. The previous section ended by noting that a time of peace came up on the church, appropriately since the chief persecutor Paul was now a Christian and that it continued the church and the gospel continued to grow and increase. Here in this short little section we meet some Christians in the surrounding area around Jerusalem and we see that Peter's ministry is expanding outward beyond Jerusalem. Not only that this scene is also an important transition scene to show how Peter gets from Jerusalem to a town called Japa for the events of chapter 10 which are a really important story in the Book of Acts. So here we have a short little transitional scene that introduces us to some fascinating Christians and other parts of Judea. The first story within this scene is about a man named Anius and it reads like this. Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions and so again we're introduced to the fact that Peter is beginning to expand his ministry outside of Jerusalem. He's traveling through the regions, the towns and the cities of Judea. He also came down to the saints who lived at Lida. We noted this word saints in our last recording as a way to describe God's people. In our modern context there's so much church history and baggage that fills that word. We tend to think of saints as like these super holy, super special, you know super great Christians but the word saints simply means those who belong to God. It's a belonging term. It's those set apart for they're the holy ones consecrated to dedicated to the Lord. They're God's people and so Peter is traveling through Judea through all those regions and he came down to the saints who lived in a city or town known as Lida. Lida is about 25 miles north west of Jerusalem in the plain of Sharon area and so Peter has arrived at Lida and there he found a man by the name of Anias who had been bedridden for eight years because he was paralyzed so he meets a paralyzed believer whose name is Anias and Peter said to him, "Anias Jesus Christ heals you, get up and make your bed. Making your bed probably means roll up your mat. Don't picture a bed like we have with a mattress and blankets but a mat and so get up and roll up your mat. Make your bed." And immediately he got up and all who lived at Lida and Sharon saw him and they turned to the Lord and so this miracle here leads to an opportunity for people to come to faith in Jesus and so we see again how the gospel and the good news about Jesus is expanding outward into areas that are beyond Jerusalem in Judea and all of that. Well this event then precipitates another event that's part of the scene as well, verse 36. Now in Japa there was a disciple named Tabitha which when translated means Dorcas and this woman was excelling in acts of kindness and charity which he did habitually. So Luke introduces us to another believer named Tabitha outside of Jerusalem. She's in the city of Japa. Japa is on the coast not far from Lida only about 10 miles and we're given both her names. Tabitha is her Hebrew name when translated into Greek it's Dorcas. Both of these names mean gazelle. So if we were going to translate it into English we would translate it as gazelle. So Tabitha, Dorcas, gazelle. This is her name and this woman is excelling in acts of kindness and charity which she did habitually which she was regularly doing. We learned later exactly what her deeds of kindness and charity were. This woman Tabitha could sew and sew very well and she was constantly making clothes for people and she's well-loved and well-respected because of that. And so here's what happens to Tabitha verse 37. But it happened at that time that she became sick and died and when they washed her body they laid it in an upstairs room and so Tabitha gets sick. She dies. She's well-loved, well-respected. They wash her body and are beginning to prepare it for burial. They lay it out in an upstairs room but then they hear that Peter is nearby and so verse 38. Since Liddah was near Japa the disciples having heard that Peter was there sent to men to him, urging him, "Do not delay come to us." And so the believers in the city of Japa sent Liddah to get Peter because they love Tabitha so much they think maybe Peter can do something for Tabitha. And so Peter got ready and went with them. When he arrived they brought him into the room upstairs 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. And so Tabitha's dead the people are weeping and wailing and mourning. All the widows are gathered around notice. She's apparently been making tunics and garments for widows for needy widows who don't have much and Tabitha is making them close and out of her own generosity providing them with clothes to wear. And they're weeping and wailing. They're showing Peter her clothes. Look she made me this robe. She made me this tunic right. And so here's what happens. Verse 40. But Peter sent them all out. So he sends everyone out of the room and he knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said Tabitha arrives and she opened her eyes and when she saw Peter she sat up. Now this is fascinating for obviously a number of reasons one is this is the first time we've had a resurrection from the dead by Peter here in the book of Acts. That's fascinating. And obviously it demonstrates his apostolic power. But what's even more fascinating about this is the parallels to a story from the gospel of Luke that about Jesus. And Luke chapter 8 Luke tells a story that's very similar to the story Luke just told about Peter. And in that story about Jesus in Luke chapter 8 Peter is there. And so it seems as if Peter learned some things from this episode in Luke 8 that now he's doing something similar here in Acts chapter 9. Here's what happens in Luke 8. There is a synagogue official who has a little girl and his daughter is sick. He sends for Jesus by the time Jesus arrives at his house. His daughter has died. And the people say don't bother any more. She's dead. But here's what Jesus does. Luke chapter 8 verse 51. When Jesus came to the house he didn't allow anyone to enter with him except Peter, John and James and the girl's mom and dad. So like Peter he gets rid of all the mourners and keeps people from going into the room except for just a few people. And then he says this verse 54 Luke 8. However, he took the girl by the hand and spoke forcefully to her saying child arise. Well the word child literally in Hebrew is Talitha. It's one letter different than the word Tabitha in Acts chapter 9. Tabitha arise. Talitha arise. There's only one letter different than the L and the B. But other than that they're exactly the same. And so the parallel is very fascinating. And her spirit returns. She got up immediately and he ordered that something be given to her and her parents were amazed. But he instructed them to tell no one what just happened. Well here in Acts chapter 8 Peter does this something similar. He sends everyone out. He prays. He says to the body Tabitha arise. Not Talitha arise, but Tabitha arise. She opens her eyes. And when she saw Peter she sat up. He gave her his hand and he raised her up and calling the saints and widows. He presented her alive to them. And so Tabitha is raised from the dead. Peter presents her to the Christians there in the area and it spread and became known all over the city of Japa. And many people believed in the Lord there in the city of Japa because of this great miracle. And Peter stayed in Japa many days with a Tanner by the name of Simon. Simon the Tanner. And a Tanner here is somebody who tans animal hides which would make Simon the Tanner somewhat ritually unclean on a permanent basis. He's constantly handling dead animals and tanning their hides. And so this indicates that Peter's already beginning to loosen up some of maybe his Jewish customs and his Jewish scruples and the fact that he's going to go and he's going to stay at Simon the Tanner's house, and this then becomes the setup for the very next story that takes place in Acts chapter 10 because Peter is at Simon the Tanner's house when those events take place and so now we have Peter in the right place for the key moment that happens in Acts chapter 10.