Death’s Vigil
If you should pause briefly near death’s vigil, you may see some soul precariously perched on a precipice above the dark shadows of hades; yet.. lifted to light of life after death.. another resurrection in Christ to eternal glory with God Who Saves.
Peter and another resurrection as witness
Even as Peter travels some distance to Lydda and Joppa, somewhere back in towns nearer to Jerusalem a disciple named Lazarus witnesses another resurrection than that of the Lord Jesus Christ: his own.
So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!”
It’s one of the tenderest lines in Scripture. Roger@talkofJESUS.com
– on witnesses of Jesus at Lazarus’ funeral John 11:36
In the ever so brief time prior to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection Peter, the Apostles and many disciples of the Lord Jesus had witnessed this powerful sign of the Messiah as Jesus called out to Lazarus to come out of the grave!
Earlier in Jesus ministry the Apostle also had witnessed yet another resurrection of a young man sitting up in his coffin about to be carried to his funeral wake in Nain!
Resurrection of a body which has fallen from life into the valley of death is nothing new to the Apostles. To Peter another resurrection would be completely possible IF it is the will of the Lord.
Acts 9:
Click above for Gevurot 9:35-43 Orthodox Jewish Bible; Living Bible; Living Bible; Living Bible; Arabic Bible:
Death’s appeal from Joppa
A young woman has died..
Her friends prepared her for burial and laid her in an upstairs room. 38 But when they learned that Peter was nearby at Lydda, they sent two men to beg him to return with them to Joppa.
Peter responds and ACTS
Aeneas who had been bedridden for eight years, because he was paralyzed, has been at Peter’s side; just as a lame man in Jerusalem who was healed also had stood with him and John as witness in the Temple.
35 And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord..
37 But it happened [in those days] at that time that she [the young woman in Joppa] became sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upstairs room.
“Do not delay in coming to us.”
So Peter got ready and went with them.
ACTS of Peter 9:38b-39a NASB20
Might a Gazelle Leap once more?
36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which when translated means [Gk. for gazelle] Dorcas);
this woman was excelling in acts of kindness and charity which she did habitually.
Peter arrives in Joppa
39 .. as soon as he [Peter] arrived [from Lydda with the two men who had summoned the Apostle to Joppa], they took him upstairs where Dorcas lay.
It’s the scene of grief – mourning the loss of a beloved servant of all, a friend, a young woman once vibrant in life who succumbs to one of the many maladies of this fragile flesh.
Like those Peter had seen — the boy in a bier in Nain and Lazarus wrapped in death’s cloths behind a closed tomb in Bethany — here the Apostle takes in the vigil of those watching this Gazelle’s lifeless body, as well as the Apostle’s own entry into their sad scene in an upper room perched above the the shadows of valley of death.
The room was filled with weeping widows who were showing one another the coats and other garments Dorcas had made for them.
40 But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed.
(Like in Nain, Joppa will cancel its funeral procession today,
DUE TO this next resurrection.)
Another Resurrection!
.. and turning to the body, he [the Apostle Peter] said, “
Ταβιθά ἀνίστημι
“Tabitha, arise.”
The familiar command of Peter (to a dead woman) in ACTS 9:40
And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
41 Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive.
He Raised Her Up
DEATH.. and all hope for flesh and blood lost.. except for the hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ! And once again, here and now, another resurrection — by the Apostle and not the Lord Incarnate.
Luke continues with the resurrection theme [45x] in his second account of the Gospel of Jesus Christ:
ἀνίστημι – Strong’s G450 – anistēmi – an-is’-tay-mee – to cause to rise up, raise up
42 The news raced through the town, and many believed in the Lord.
43 And Peter stayed a long time in Joppa, living with Simon, the tanner.
ACTS of the Missionary Journeys of Peter: To be continued...
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