Acts 9:36 - Meaning and Application

Here we see another miracle Peter performed to confirm the gospel, and this one went beyond the first. He raised Tabitha to life after she had been dead for some time. The account begins with her life, death, and character, because the miracle was worked on her, not on a stranger.

Tabitha lived in Joppa, a seaport town in the tribe of Dan, the same place from which Jonah sailed to Tarshish, now called Joppa. Her name was Tabitha, a Hebrew name, and in Greek Dorcas. Both names mean a doe, a hind, or a deer, a gentle and pleasant creature. Naphtali is compared to a hind let loose, giving beautiful words, and a loving wife is compared to a pleasant doe (Proverbs 5:19).

She was a disciple, a believer in Christ who had been baptized. More than that, she stood out for her acts of kindness. She showed her faith by her works, and she was full of good works, meaning she did them often and abundantly. Her mind was busy planning how to do good, and her hands were always at work. She had learned to keep doing good works in a steady way (Titus 3:8). She was like a tree full of fruit.

Many people are full of good talk but empty when it comes to real help. Tabitha was a doer, not just a speaker. She did not merely talk about generous things, she lived them. Among her good works, she was especially known for her acts of mercy. These were not only deeds of piety, which are the fruits of faith, but also deeds of charity and kindness toward others, flowing from love for her neighbor and a holy disregard for this world.

Notice that she is praised not only for the alms she gave, but for the alms-deeds she did. People who do not have money to give may still do acts of kindness by using their hands or their feet to help the poor. And those who will not do a charitable act, even if they claim they would, would not truly give even if they were rich. The phrase “alms-deeds she made” shows how strongly she labored in this. Whatever she could do in this kind of service, she did with all her strength, and she kept at it. These were not merely things she planned or promised. They were things she actually carried through and completed (2 Corinthians 8:11; 2 Corinthians 9:7).

This is the life and character of one disciple, and it should be the character of all Christ’s disciples. If we bear much fruit, then we are truly his disciples (John 15:8).

She died while still useful. In those days she became sick and died. God has promised those who care for the poor, not that they will never be sick, but that the Lord will strengthen them on their sickbed, at least with strength in their soul, and make their bed easier in their sickness (Psalm 41:1, Psalm 41:3). They cannot expect never to die, for merciful men and women are taken away, and Tabitha was one of them. But they may trust that they will find mercy from the Lord on that day (2 Timothy 1:18).

Her friends did not bury her right away, as was usual, because they hoped Peter would come and raise her to life. They washed the body according to custom, likely with warm water, which would show that she was truly dead. They tried the ordinary means and found no life left. They laid her out in her grave clothes in an upper room, which Dr. Lightfoot thought may have been the public meeting room for believers in that town. They placed her there so Peter, if he came, could raise her there in a more solemn way.

Her Christian friends then sent word to Peter quickly, not to attend the funeral, but, if possible, to prevent it. Lydda, where Peter was staying, was near Joppa, and the believers there had heard that he had raised Aeneas from his sickbed. So they sent two men, both to make the message more respectful and to urge him not to delay. They did not tell him why they wanted him, perhaps because they did not want him to refuse out of humility, if the request seemed too great. Their friend was dead, and it was too late to send for a doctor, but not too late to send for Peter. A doctor after death would make no sense, but an apostle after death was not impossible.

When Peter came, he found the survivors in a posture that showed both grief and faith. He went with the men, even though they had not told him the reason, because he was willing to go wherever there was likely some good to be done. Ministers should not complain if people call for their help often, as far as they are able, since the great apostle made himself the servant of all (1 Corinthians 9:19).

He found the body laid in the upper room and attended by widows, likely poor women in the fellowship of the church. They were doing a good thing by honoring someone who was truly worthy of praise, and they did it modestly and without flattery. Tabitha’s praise was not spoken in speeches or poems, but shown in the things she had done. The widows displayed the coats and garments she had made for them while she was alive. Job had once said that the poor blessed him because they were warmed by the fleece of his sheep (Job 31:20). In the same way, Tabitha’s credit after death was that the widows’ backs praised her for the clothes she had made for them.

Those are best praised whose own works speak for them. It is far more honorable to clothe needy widows with useful clothing for both night and day, clothes they will remember with prayer, than to dress idle servants in costly uniforms, who may even curse the people who clothe them (Ecclesiastes 7:21). Wise and good people will value this kind of goodness more, because goodness is true greatness, and it will matter most in the end.

There were doubtless other acts of charity in her life, but this one is now brought forward. It seems that she used her own hands to make coats and garments for poor widows. These women may have earned enough to feed themselves, but not enough to buy clothing. This was excellent charity, to see the naked and cover them (Isaiah 58:7), instead of only saying, “Be warmed” (James 2:15, 16).

The poor showed a grateful sense of her kindness. They showed the coats, and were not ashamed to admit that they owed her the clothes they wore. People who receive help should not hide it so carefully that they never thank the one who helped them. Those who are poor and receive alms are not the ones who must be most careful to keep it secret. Those who complain that the rich are unkind should also ask whether they themselves are unthankful and ungrateful.

Their showing the coats and garments Dorcas made also praised her industry. She was like the virtuous woman in Proverbs, who works with her hands, lays her hands to the spindle, and then stretches out her hand to the poor, reaching out her hands to the needy with what she has made (Proverbs 31:19-22). When God and the poor have both received their due, she has her own clothing, even silk and purple.

They were also grieving the loss of her. The widows stood beside Peter, weeping. When merciful people are taken away, it should be deeply felt, especially by those they helped in special ways. They did not need to weep for her, since she had been taken from coming trouble, rests from her labor, and her works follow her. But they wept for themselves and for their children, who would soon feel the loss of such a good woman.

Notice that they remembered the good Dorcas had done while she was still with them, but now that she was gone, their grief was strong. The poor always have the charitable with them, if they are truly charitable at all. We should make good use of the helpers who are with us for a little while, because they will not always be here. After they are gone, we think again about what they did while they were with us.

It seems the widows wept before Peter as well, hoping that if he could do anything, he would take pity on them and restore to them the one who had shown them pity. When charitable people have died, no one can pray them back to life. But when they are sick, gratitude should lead us to pray for their recovery, if it is God’s will, so that those who can hardly be spared in death may be spared to live.

The raising of Dorcas to life happened privately. She was laid in the upper room where the believers had met together, and there was likely a crowd around her body, waiting to see what would happen. But Peter sent them all out, except perhaps a few close relatives or church leaders who could pray with him. In this he followed Christ, who did the same with the ruler’s dead daughter (Matthew 9:25). Peter avoided anything that might look like pride or show. They had come to watch, but he had not come to be watched.

He put them all out so he could pour out his soul to God in prayer without disturbance. This miracle was greater than the healing of Aeneas, where prayer was only implied. Here Peter addressed God with solemn prayer, as Christ did when He raised Lazarus. But Christ prayed with the authority of the Son, who gives life to whom He chooses. Peter prayed as a servant under orders, so he knelt and prayed.

Then came the word of life. Peter turned to the body, which shows that while he prayed, he turned away from it. He did not want the sight of death to weaken his faith. He looked away, teaching us, like Abraham, to believe in hope against hope and not let visible difficulty rule our thinking (Romans 4:19-20). After he prayed, he turned back and spoke in his Master’s name, following His example: “Tabitha, arise.” That word carried power, and she came to life and opened her eyes, which death had closed.

This also pictures the raising of dead souls to spiritual life. The first sign of life is the opening of the eyes of the mind (Acts 26:18). When Dorcas saw Peter, she sat up, proving she was truly alive. Then, in Acts 9:41, he took her by the hand and lifted her up, not because she still lacked strength, but to welcome her back to life and, as it were, give her the right hand of fellowship among the living.

Peter then called the saints and widows, who had all been grieving her death, and presented her alive to them, to their great comfort, especially the widows who felt her loss most deeply (Acts 9:41). In this he followed Elijah, Elisha, and Christ, who each gave life back to the dead and returned a son alive to his mother (1 Kings 17:23; 2 Kings 4:36; Luke 7:15). Nothing brings greater joy than life from the dead.

This miracle had a good effect. Many were convinced by it that the gospel was true, that it came from heaven and not from men, and they believed in the Lord (Acts 9:42). The news spread throughout all Joppa. Since Joppa was a seaport, word would quickly travel from there to other countries. Some ignored it, but many were changed by it. That was the purpose of miracles, to confirm God’s message.

Peter was also led to stay in that city for some time (Acts 9:43). Since a door of opportunity was open there, he remained many days until he was sent elsewhere and later called away for other work. He did not stay in Dorcas’s house, though she had been wealthy, lest anyone think he sought his own honor. Instead, he lodged with Simon, a tanner, an ordinary tradesman. This showed his humility and willingness to stoop to lowly company, as Romans 12:16 teaches.

Though Peter seemed hidden away in the house of a poor tanner by the sea, God later called him from there to an important work, one recorded in the next chapter. Those who humble themselves will be lifted up.