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Now 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. 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." 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. 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. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.
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This is the mandatory reading selection from Acts to be read aloud on the fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. It will precede a singing of Psalm 23, which famously begins by saying, “Yahweh is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.” That will be followed by a reading from Revelation, where John wrote: “I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”’ All will accompany the Gospel selection from John, where he told of Jesus telling the leaders of Jerusalem, “The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.”
When one realizes the Easter season is about oneself being raised from the dead, as Jesus’ soul resurrected within one’s soul, it makes perfect sense that a reading from Acts would involve someone being raised from the dead, as is seen here in the story of Peter raising Dorcas. This must be seen, however, not as Peter raising Dorcas but Jesus. Because Jesus was raised within the soul of Peter, then Jesus was able to use the flesh of his Saints to continue his ministry that was the spread of salvation to the lost souls of the world.
It should be seen that this story is similar to that of Elijah, who raised the widow’s son in Zarephath of Sidon. In First Kings 17:21 we read, “Then [Elijah] stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to Yahweh, “Yahweh elohay, let this child's soul come into him again.” That must now be compared to this story, where Peter “knelt down and prayed.”
It is also very similar to the story told in Mark’s Gospel, when Jesus went to the home of Jarius (a leader of a synagogue), because his daughter was sick. By the time Jesus and Jarius arrived at the house, the girl had died. Similarly, where we read here: “Peter put all of them outside,” Mark wrote, “After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was.” (NIV)
In all cases, it must be understood that only Yahweh can return a soul to its body of flesh. When Jesus raised Lazarus from death in his tomb, Jesus had said prior, “He is only sleeping.” When Jesus arrived at the home of Jarius, after told the girl was dead, Jesus told them, “The child is not dead but asleep;” at which point those whom Jesus told laughed at him. They laughed because they knew the difference between sleep and death; and, the girl was indeed dead.
In the stories of Elijah’s miracle and Jesus healing a little girl from death, no names were listed. Here, we are told the name of “a disciple,” which is Tabitha. That name means either “Gazelle” or “Beauty.” Her name in Greek (Dorcas) means either “Deer” of “Seer.” Interestingly, when Jesus spoke to the dead body that was Jarius’ daughter, he spoke Aramaic, calling her “Talitha.” That word means “Little girl,” which Mark then said in Greek Jesus called her “Korasion.” The comparison that should be taken from that and placed upon this similar healing done by Peter (raised as Jesus) is a “Little girl” is as close to purity as a soul in a body of human flesh can be, when not in possession of the soul of Jesus, granted eternal life.
When we are told Tabitha-Dorcas “was devoted to good works and acts of charity,” as well as being a disciple of Jesus through his ministry in Apostles, Tabitha-Dorcas was in essence like a “Little girl.” Her death placed her soul before the judgment of Yahweh; and, that becomes why Peter (as Jesus reborn) was sent to say Tabitha-Dorcas would be raised from the dead.
It should be understood that death is a known event in a mortal existence. When we read that Tabitha-Dorcas “became ill and died,” this shows how anyone can die, basically at any time. There are no guarantees that one will die of old age. Accidents and illnesses are a part of life. Thus, “the disciples, who heard that Peter was” in nearby Joppa were not calling him to come raise Tabitha-Dorcas from death. They would want Peter to come pray for her soul to ascend to Yahweh. When Peter arrived, it was Jesus within his soul that knew the time for Tabitha-Dorcas’ ascension had not yet come. She still had more good works (the point of the Book of Acts) to achieve, now for Yahweh.
The lesson of this story is being raised from the dead is not to be seen as some parlor trick or magic act that atheists and those who bow down and worship at the temple of science, where many declare Tabitha-Dorcas was not actually dead, but in a catatonic state. Her return to life had nothing to do with Peter praying for her. While all those naysayers will loudly deny a miracle, none of them will demonstrate how such ‘natural’ acts are done, by having someone place them artificially in such a state of ‘fake death,’ so they can show how this is always a possibility. Their beliefs in science and logic betray them when it becomes time to ‘put up or shut up.’
Still, as with the lesson of Lazarus, who was known to have shown signs of physical decay (stinking badly), the purpose of being raised from the dead was not so Lazarus could go on tour with Jesus and show a living body to paying customers, expecting them to actually believe that living body was once a decomposing corpse. Being raised from the dead is not about self. It is about one’s soul having proved a love of Yahweh, so divine marriage can allow one to be raised as Jesus – a Christ. That makes the lesson be the unwritten story of Tabitha-Dorcas the Saint, who went forth into ministry (as had Peter). The spread of Christianity is about every soul touched by Jesus (those healed, like the story of Aeneas, told just before this story) becoming raised from the dead and sent into ministry as Jesus reborn. The lesson says, “You do not receive the touch of Jesus and not become forever indebted to Yahweh for His sending one’s soul Salvation."