BEAUTIFUL ACTS (PART 2)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.

Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.”

She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

Acts 9:36-43

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

“Take care of My sheep.” John 21:16

These were some of the final words that Jesus shared with Peter, the disciple He said He would build His church upon.

Peter took those words to heart after receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. From the second chapter of Acts on, we see him playing a prominent role in preaching and teaching as well as performing miraculous healings of the lame and afflicted, and exorcisms of demons from the possessed while in Jerusalem.

Then, in yesterday’s message from the latter part of Acts, chapter 9, we found Peter visiting Lydda, a town located a little more than twenty miles to the northwest of Jerusalem. There, he encountered and healed a man who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years, making sure the man knew it happened by the will and power of Jesus. Amazed by the beautiful act they had witnessed, the scriptures tell us that all residents of Lydda and the surrounding area of the plain of Sharon chose to believe in the Lord.   

As a result of his work in Lydda and elsewhere in Judea, Peter’s name and reputation began to spread.

We know this as we look at the closing verses of Acts 9 and the second beautiful act which forms the theme for this second of two devotions on the subject.

The scriptures tell us about a woman named Tabitha (or Dorcas in Greek) who lived in Joppa, a city in the western side of Judea and right on the Mediterranean Sea. We learn she was a Christian and very well known in the community for her selfless sacrifice in doing good and helping the less fortunate, two things that Jesus followers were called to do.

Well, sadly the charitable woman fell ill and died, her body washed and placed in an upstairs room. Distressed over the loss, other disciples in Joppa had received word that Peter was just eleven miles to the southeast in Lydda and so two men were dispatched to find him and urge him to come to Joppa at once.

We read where Peter complied with the request and when he arrived in Joppa, he was ushered to the room where Tabitha was laid. He found himself surrounded by widows who showed Peter all the cloths that Tabitha had made for them while she was alive, evidence of her beautiful acts of kindness toward them.

Peter had to be deeply moved by it all. Perhaps he had flashbacks to the three times Jesus had brought people back from the dead, remembering the widow’s son of Nain, Jairus’ daughter, or Jesus’ close friend, Lazarus. Knowing he now possessed very similar power, Peter, moved by the will of His Lord and the Holy Spirit, dismissed everyone from the room before falling to his knees and praying. We read where he then gave the command, “Tabitha, get up!” and immediately, her eyes were opened and she say up, very much alive.

Imagine the sheer amazement and joy that all the believers, especially the widows, felt when Peter came out of the room with Tabitha walking with him. The news of the miracle resurrection spread across Joppa like wildfire and as a result, “many people believed in the Lord”. It had to be very gratifying and satisfying for Peter who was ever increasingly being used by Jesus as an instrument of His will to grow the Christian church, first in Jerusalem and then Judea.

Beautiful acts were leading to a bountiful harvest of new believers and as a result, the Christian church continued to grow. Peter was a key player in this growth and as we’ll see in Acts, chapter 10, he would once again be in demand in another Judean city to the north of Joppa.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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