Tabitha Coum
Acts 9:36–43 NKJV
At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did. But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord. So it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner.
When you heard the title of this morning’s sermon, you might wonder where the title came from. Then upon musing on this, we might remember the words Jesus spoke to Jairus daughter before raising her from the dead in Mark 5:41 which is “Talita Cumi” which Mark translates for us as “Little girl, I say to you, arise” from the Aramaic language. So, what is the connection here to the raising of Tabitha other than a woman was raised from death? Let us see.
The text from this morning’s sermon comes from the Book of Acts. Luke introduces us to a disciple named Dorcas, whose Aramaic name was Tabitha. We should note that Peter was a native Aramaic speaker and would have most probably addressed Tabitha in Aramaic, the name Dorcas being provided to Luke’s Greek speaking readers as the translation. The meaning of “dorcas” is “gazelle” which is a graceful animal. Tabitha seems to have been a graceful woman whose character fit her name. She made garments for the widows in the church and may have been a widow herself. We see that in the early church that widows who had no family to look after them were cared for by the church. We saw an example of this in Acts 6. Paul in 1 Timothy 5 also mentions that widows who had no family to support them were to be honored and cared for. But they were not to be idle. They were prayer warriors, and we might surmise from this passage that they might have been involved in other means of work such as the making of garments. The widows were put to work that they might be able to provide some degree of their own support so as to not burden the church with their care. It was also good for them to have some means of purpose and means to glorify God.
Dorcas became well respected. She must have done good weaving work as the other widows displayed the fine work she had done. She was a valuable asset to the community. So, the church community was deeply grieved when she got sick and died. Her body was washed and laid in an upper room. The church grieved and pondered what to do next. the normal procedure for death in a Hebrew family was to bury the body after washing and wrapping it the same day. But at some point, they remembered that Peter was nearby. Word had gotten out about Peter healing a paralytic named Aeneas. He told Aeneas to rise and roll up his mattress. It is interesting that the word for arise (aneste) is also used for rising from the dead. Peter had done may other miracles, so they sent two men to come to him and urge Peter to come quickly to Dorcas in a similar way that Jairus had sent men to urge Jesus to come to save his daughter who was at the point of death.
Peter arrived to see the widows mourning. They showed Peter the garments Dorcas had made. Peter then goes up to the upper room alone. We remember that Jesus came to Jairus’ house that he did not allow the mourners to come to the place that his daughter lay. Although the widow women were not cynics like the professional mourners at Jairus’ house, they probably lacked faith. So they could not go up with Peter.
If Peter spoke Aramaic, what would he have said to Tabitha? The Aramaic word for “arise” is “coum.” And her name was Tabitha. So Peter would have said “Tabitha Coum.” This sounds very similar to the words Jesus spoke to Jairus’ daughter. I don’t necessarily state that the play on words is intentional, but even so, there is a strong connection here between the works that Jesus did and that the early church did. This connection is implied from the very beginning of the Book of Acts in which Luke tells Theophilus that his gospel was just the beginning of what Jesus did and taught before the resurrection. the works and teaching of the church is a continuation of the works of Jesus. We have noted this throughout our study on the Book of Acts. Jesus raised up Jairus’ daughter from the dead, and Peter raises Tabitha. Jesus did His works by the power of the Holy Spirit, even though He could have done His works in His own authority as God, the Son. Jesus taught what the Father sent Him to teach. The church continues in this mission. We will discover many more examples of how the early church continued the ministry which Jesus began.
We have also mentioned throughout the study that our church today is the continuation of what Jesus began to do and to teach. the mission of the church has not changed. The mission of Jesus was prefigured in the Scripture of the “Old” Testament. We see Elijah and Elisha, for example, raising people from the dead. They serve as a type of the future ministry of Jesus, pointing the way in the distant past to the coming ministry of Christ. The Old Testament speaks of the Incarnation, virgin birth, teaching, miracles, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. This is something which Jesus taught. The Gospels show how the person, teaching, and works of Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled these prophesies. The work of the church is a typology which points back to what Jesus did and taught. The prophets point forward and we back to the days of Christ. This is why it is important for the church to model the ministry of Jesus as it points to and testifies to Jesus of Nazareth.
So, how does the church do this in today’s world. We can start by preaching that humanity is totally lost at both the individual and societal level. From this reality, the church is to continue to call people and peoples to repentance. The prophets of old preached repentance. John the Baptist preached repentance. Jesus taught that we ought to repent because the Kingdom of God is at hand. Peter and the Apostles preached repentance. If we are to follow in this stream, we must also preach repentance from dead works.
The prophets of old taught that one was coming whose foot would be bruised and in turn would bruise the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). The prophets focused their message toward the coming of Christ who would redeem us from our sin. the Gospel record these events.
In addition to this, we are to call people to faith, that they might believe on Jesus, that He died for our sins and rose again for our justification. He is our hope for redemption and eternal life. This is what the Apostles preached. This, too, must we preach.
We read the following from the Gospel of Mark:
Mark 16:17–18 NKJV
And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Please note that many modern translations omit the end of the Gospel of Mark including these verses or put them in footnotes. I am not going to argue with the critics who think these words are not original to the Gospel of Mark. There are also more than one ending to the Gospel of Mark. But I hold that this is integral to the Gospel of Mark and should be included, even if some believe that someone other than Mark wrote them. The Holy Spirit is able to add on to what was previously written. Moses probably did not write his own obituary in Deuteronomy either, but the Lord saw that these words would be added. At any rate. Mark tells us about the sighs and wonders following those who believe. These are in harmony with what Jesus Himself taught about the work of the Church. We read in John 14:12: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” We have the testimony of Acts which record these signs and wonders.
Whereas it is easy to see that we are to preach the Gospel to every nation and to the best of our ability confirm the truth of the Gospel in both our words and actions, there is much controversy about whether the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit to do healings, raising people from the dead, speaking in tongues, and the like are for the Church today. Many feel that these gifts were only for the age of the Apostles and not for today. There are many who claim otherwise today, particularly among the Pentecostals. In Peter’s Pentecost sermon, He stated by the inspiration of the Spirit that the gift of the Spirit was offered to all. It is summed up in the words “as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Would this not apply for today as well?
We must recognize that the Sovereign God rules over all of History as well as the Future. Whatever He does is according to His will, even when this does not seem to be in accord with our understanding. God is certainly able to raise the dead and heal the sick. This has not changed because God does not change. We should at least confirm that God is able to perform as well as refrain from the demonstration of signs and wonders in the church. We must not close our minds to this. Miracles can and do happen. But we also recognize that miracles even in Bible times were rare. We realize that signs and wonders can be faked. We have seen the works of charlatans who claim to possess great powers. But Pharaoh in Moses’s days had magicians who were temporarily given the power to do wonders. Acts also tells us about Simon Magus, Elymas the Sorcerer, and the seven sons of Sceva. So we should not be surprised to see false signs and wonders in our day. The sorceries of the false wonder workers in the days of the early church did not mean that all signs and wonders were magical.
The emphasis of the church today is whatever we do it done in accordance to the will of God, that we provide true and compelling witness to the Gospel. The world needs to see that the Holy Spirit is at work in us undeniably. We must take care not to discredit that Gospel by our lack of faithfulness. Even when we fail, the world needs to see the truth of the Gospel in our repentance, that God forgives us when we confess and forsake our sin. We pray that the power of the Gospel be made manifest to a lost and dying world.
