Tuesday, July 30, 2024

ST. PETER goes to LYDDA and JOPPA

St. Peter goes to Lydda and Joppa

The Passage: Acts 9:32-43

Structure:

a. 9:32, Travel of St. Peter

  b. 9:33-35, Healing of Aeneas, people turned to the Lord

    c. 9:36, she is occupied with good works and almsgiving

      d. 9:37a, she died, and was brough to the upper room. 

    c’. 9:38-39, showing the tunics and cloaks that Dorcas made

  b’. 9:40-42, Healing of Tabitha, people turned to the Lord  

a’. 9:43, Stay of St. Peter

Historical and geographical context:

Interesting fact, St. Peter undertakes his trip when Jerusalem congregation together with the churches in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria reached peace. Then the apostle decided to visit them all (v.31). [On singularity of this decision see below…]. Going around the land – again, visiting all – the author of Acts paid attention only to two accidents – in Lydda and Joppa.     

Lydda – modern Lod and Joppa – Jaffa in Israel. Lod is a city within the boundaries of the tribe of Benjamin. Interesting, it is not mentioned in a list of cities given to the tribe during the Conquest (Josh. 18:11-28). It is one of the dominant places for the returnees from the Exile (Ezra 2:33). Jaffa is technically a part of modern Tel-Aviv. Historically, it is believed that Joppa was built by one of the sons of Noan – Japheth (cp. Gen. 10:2-5). It is the city that prophet Jonah ran into for his attempted escape to Tarshish (Jonah 1:1-3).          

Theology:

Trip of St. Peter. Worthy to note that the apostle makes his trip singlehandedly. Lenski noted the work was so abundant that apostles had to spread themselves so thin – take the tours one by one (Lenski, Acts, p. 381-382). It does not sound convincing. The mission field of St. Paul is even widespread, yet he is always accompanied by other people (cp. 2 Tim. 4:11). Honestly, I don’t know what to make out that. Personal gain? Unlikely. Pride? He is not maintaining his fame. Being first among the even ones? Don’t know…     

Healing. St. Peter did not exercise his own healing abilities. He states: Jesus Christ heals you. Two things should be remembered here. First, Luke from the very beginning carries the idea that the Book of Acts is a continuation of the work of Jesus Christ. Second, the healing is similar to the healing in 3rd chapter, where the apostle heals the lame in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.    

Aeneas and Dorcas’ healing and (her) resurrection – double stories. This is not the first parallel (or sandwich-type) story. Mark tells us (5:21-43) how Jesus goes to heal Jairus’ daughter. His attempt is intervened by a woman who suffered for 12 years of a blood discharge who is healed. Then the story returns to the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter. She is raised by Jesus’ command – Talitha cumi (Mark 5:41), while Dorcas is raised by St/ Peter’s command – Tabitha cumi (9:40). Note the similarity of beth and lamed in Hebrew/Aramean letters.    

Resurrection of Tabitha. First, a disciple is not an apostle or a minister. Tabitha is called a disciple. It does not mean that she should be “labeled” as a “worship leader” of their church. Second, her Aramaic name has a Hebrew parallel – Zibiah (2 Kings 12:1; 2 Chr. 24:1). Historical books mention Beersheba in both passages. Michael Kochman believes that it was given as a sign to gather control over all the land by Judean kings. If it is true, Tabitha’s death and resurrection consolidates and invites more believers into the fellowship of the saints.           

Other themes:

Burial customs – bringing a person to the upper room and having “criers” in the room for a period of time. Usually, in a warm climate people are buried fast (cp. John 11). Yet, Bible has a few stories of falling asleep “ascending to the upper room” (1 Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:32-37). The resemblance with these stories leads us to believe that the resurrection of Tabitha is done not for her sake but for the sake of the community. In the similar way it forces us to rethink the Upper Room dinner of Jesus and apostles – He did everything for their (and our) sake.

Luke uses an ambiguous phrase – for many days – to identify how long of St. Peter lived in Joppa (cp. St. Paul’s stay in Damascus, 9:19,23). IMHO, Luke wants to make an impression of a prolonged period of time of peace and tranquility for the Church.

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