Sermon Tone Analysis

Focal Text: NRSV

36Now 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.

37 At that time she became ill and died.

When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs.

38 Since 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.”

39 So 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.

40 Peter 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.

37 At that time she became ill and died.

When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs.

Since 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.”

39 So 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.

40 Peter 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.

Since 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.”

39 So 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.

40 Peter 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.

38 Since 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.”

39 So 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.

40 Peter 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.

Introduction

Regardless of one’s life path, stage, or age, anyone can find themselves in need of a miracle.

Sometimes miracles appear at the height of human suffering and adversity.

Sometimes miracles appear at the height of human suffering and adversity.

Today’s lesson exposes a woman3 Dorcas is this woman’s Greek name.

Her name is Tabitha in Aramaic and it means gazelle.

who was “devoted to good works and acts of charity.”

Today’s lesson exposes a woman3 who was “devoted to good works and acts of charity.”

Our good works do not exempt us from pain, sickness, or crises.

Our good works do not exempt us from pain, sickness, or crises.

Our lesson presents a picture of the growth and miracles which take place in the Spirit- empowered church.

Our lesson presents a picture of the growth and miracles which take place in the Spirit-

Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up.

Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

empowered church.

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), .

In the Spirit-empowered church, our pain and our problems make us prime candidates for God’s miracle of healing.

In the Spirit-empowered church, our pain and our problems make us prime candidates for God’s

miracle of healing.

The Big Idea: God performs miracles in complex situations and against impossible odds.

I. Situation: Dorcas Was Saved, Yet She Endured Suffering.

36Now 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.

37 At that time she became ill and died.

When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs.

The story takes place in Joppa, the main port city of Judea, located on the Philistine coast some ten or eleven miles northwest of Lydda.

In Joppa was a “female disciple” named Tabitha.

The story takes place in Joppa, the main port city of Judea, located on the Philistine coast some ten or eleven miles northwest of Lydda.

In Joppa was a “female disciple” named Tabitha.

Luke provided the translation “Dorcas” for his Greek readers.

Both terms mean gazelle in English.

She is described as “always doing good and helping the poor,” which enhances the pathos of her death.

While Peter was still in Lydda, Tabitha became sick and died.

According to custom, her body was washed for burial.

It was then placed in an upper room, which was not particularly the custom.

Perhaps this was the most available room.

It could also be that the Christians of Joppa were performing, as it were, a symbolic act, indicating their faith that she would rise

Luke provided the translation “Dorcas” for his Greek readers.

Both terms mean gazelle in English.

She is described as “always doing good and helping the poor,” which enhances the pathos of her death.

A.Our salvation does not exempt us from suffering.

A.Our salvation does not exempt us from suffering.

B. We are saved by grace, not by our knowledge of the scriptures and our actions alone.

C. Dorcas had friends who fought for her miracle.

4 Peter healed Aeneas, a man who was bedridden for eight years.

I. Situation: Dorcas Was Saved, Yet She Endured Suffering.

II.

Complication: Peter arrived after Dorcas died.

38 Since 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.”

39 So 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.

40 Peter 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.

In any event, knowing that Peter was close by—a distance of three hours journey by foot—they sent two men to Lydda to urge Peter to hasten to Joppa without delay.

When Peter arrived at Joppa, he was taken to the upper room and there greeted by a group of widows who were in mourning.

already evidenced numerous Jewish Christian widows.

In the later Pauline churches a special order of “senior” widows looked after the other widows in the congregations (.).

Though such a degree of organization probably had not developed in the churches of Dorcas’s day, her charity to the widows would qualify her as a genuine precursor of those women who helped widows so that the church would not be burdened ().

The helplessness of these widows further heightens the pathos of the story.

Their neediness is exemplified in their showing Peter the tunics and robes Dorcas had made, which they probably were wearing.

9:40 Peter requested that they leave him alone in the room with the body, just as Jesus had sent everyone from the room except the girl’s parents and his three most trusted disciples when he raised Jairus’s daughter ().

Falling to his knees before the body, Peter prayed, turned to the body, and said, “Tabitha, arise.”

Naturally Peter addressed her by the Aramaic form of her name, and Luke was careful to preserve the distinction.

He had used the Greek form Dorcas in his narrative (v.

39).

But Luke was perhaps aware of more than a linguistic nicety.

Jesus’ words to Jairus’s daughter were, “Little girl, arise,” which Mark preserved in the original Aramaic form, “Talitha koum” ().

In Aramaic, Peter’s words would have been almost identical, “Tabitha koum”—only a single consonant’s difference.

In the Aramaic churches who cherished the story of Tabitha, the similarity would not be missed.