Sermon Idea: The Lord Jesus lives and acts to make all things new.
Introduction: Is there anything we wouldn’t do, any place we wouldn’t go, any person we wouldn’t seek if it meant our hurting child might be made well?
Jairus has little time to waste, but he knows where to go and whom to seek. The urgency of the moment is vividly described in the Gospel According to Mark through dialogue.
The worried father rushes to Jesus, “… and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” (Mk 5:22–23)
Jesus agrees to go to Jairus only for someone to meet them on the way to inform them that she has died. Why bother the teacher any further? It is suggested. She’s dead already. Leave Jesus alone.
Jesus presses on with Jairus, but only takes Peter, James, and John into the house. This is what we read in Mark 5:41-42 after Jesus enters the room.
. 41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. (Mk 5:40–42)
This is a miracle. It is not random or arbitrary; it is purposeful. It is a miraculous sign that not only testifies to Jesus’ divinity—He is God, but also that the Kingdom of God is coming on earth as it is in heaven. God’s new creation has begun with the arrival of the Son.
As a sign, it signifies a truth beyond itself. Those who saw it and those who now hear of it are to believe in Jesus Christ.
This is how the miracles of Christ function in the gospels. Whether it is a healing, an exorcism, or a resuscitation, they are signs of God’s kingdom in Jesus Christ.
What about the miraculous signs in the books of Acts? The Apostles perform miraculous signs in the name of Jesus. For example, Peter heals the lame beggar in the name of Jesus in Acts 3:6 and performs many signs and wonders in Acts 5:12-16.
Our text this morning includes two more miraculous signs performed by the apostles, with, surprisingly, more details than before. Not only do we know their conditions and where they live, but we also know their names, Aeneas and Dorcas, also called Tabitha. It is worth noting that only a letter separates Jesus’ statement, “Talitha cumi” in Mark 5, from Peter’s “Tabitha, arise” in Acts 9:40. Surely, we are meant to notice the similarities and reflect on them.
In Acts, the miraculous signs serve in the same way they do in the gospels, but with an important added element. Jesus has been crucified, buried, and risen. He is the ascended Lord, but he is not physically present.
In Acts, the miraculous signs bear witness to the fact that the risen Christ is living and active. With every miracle, the risen Christ validates the apostles’ preaching and demonstrates that he reigns. The ascension of Christ does not mean the absence of Christ nor the irrelevance of his kingdom.
On the contrary, Christ is risen and lives. His kingdom will know no end, and everyone, everywhere, should repent and believe in Christ.
Peter lives and does ministry with a vivid awareness of Christ’s Lordship. Jesus’ rule and reign inform Peter’s thoughts, words, and actions.
Now, the miraculous nature of these signs, as a gift through human servants, ended with the apostolic era. God still heals and performs miracles in accordance with his will, but these signs were for a particular purpose at a particular time in redemptive history.
That said, is there not something we can learn from the apostles living with such a vivid awareness of Christ’s lordship? Perhaps I can say it this way.
To what degree does Jesus being alive and reigning inform your thought life, words, and actions? Do you believe that if the reigning Christ can heal a paralyzed man, he can tend to the heaviest burdens of your heart?
In your battle against temptation and sin, do you fight with an awareness that Christ lives, reigns, and is for you?
Are you trying to improve your marriage apart from the astonishing reality that Christ lives, reigns, and is at work to make all things new?
The Lord Jesus lives and acts to make all things new. The sign of raising Aeneas bears witness to that, the sign of raising Tabitha bears witness to that, and every person who repents and believes the gospel bears witness to that. Let’s take them one at a time.
I.) The sign of raising Aeneas (Acts 9:32-35)
The story of Saul is interuppted and Luke returns to the ministry of Peter, who is traveling here and there. He makes his way down to Lydda, where he comes upon Aeneas.
33 There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. 34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. 35 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. (Ac 9:33–35)
Aeneas has been bedridden for nearly a decade. Perhaps he has a stroke and has been paralyzed since. The text tells us that he is found after Peter came to the “saints who lived in Lydda,” suggesting that Aeneas is a brother in Christ. Beyond that, we have few details, and the narrative is rather brief.
The fundamental truth we are to draw from this healing is that Jesus restores Aeneas to health. Peter does not heal him, nor does he do anything by his own power. Peter is merely a faithful conduit for the grace and power of Christ. Listen to his words, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you…”
At the risk of belaboring this point, the ascension of Christ does not mean the absence of Christ. He lives and acts to make all things new.
We need to take note of what the sign leads to. Those who saw Aeneas turn to the Lord. This is the language of repentance. To turn to the Lord is to turn from ourselves and the idols of our hearts to God in repentance and faith.
One question worth asking is why Jesus leaves some of us as we are—sick, disabled, frail. An honest reading of the Gospels must lead us to conclude that Jesus and the apostles likely did not heal every single person.
We can learn a lot from listening to the godly voices of disabled brothers and sisters in this regard. One voice worth listening to is Joni Eareckson Tada’s. At the age of 17, she dived into shallow water, breaking her neck, resulting in her becoming quadriplegic. She is now 76 years old and has spent the vast majority of her life in a wheelchair. She has spoken and written extensively about disability and the Christian life.
In one piece of writing, she hopes for the possibility of taking her wheelchair to heaven.
I sure hope I can bring this wheelchair to heaven.Now, I know that’s not theologically correct.
But I hope to bring it and put it in a little corner of heaven, and then in my new, perfect, glorified body, standing on grateful glorified legs, I’ll stand next to my Savior, holding his nail-pierced hands.
I’ll say, “Thank you, Jesus,” and he will know that I mean it, because he knows me.
He’ll recognize me from the fellowship we’re now sharing in his sufferings.
And I will say, ”Jesus, do you see that wheelchair? You were right when you said that in this world we would have trouble, because that thing was a lot of trouble. But the weaker I was in that thing, the harder I leaned on you. And the harder I leaned on you, the stronger I discovered you to be. It never would have happened had you not given me the bruising of the blessing of that wheelchair.”
Joni’s perspective regarding her own experience has a lot to teach us about suffering. In God’s sovereign providence, he gives us— the bruisings of the blessing— a greater good which comes through suffering and a greater intimacy with God than we would have had otherwise.
II.) The sign of raising Tabitha (Acts 9:36-41)
The text changes scenes in verse 36, and we learn of a female disciple named Tabitha. That was her Aramaic name, and her Greek name was Dorcas. She was a woman of good works and acts of charity, beloved by her community. When she passes, they wash her body and lay her in the upper room, perhaps showing their hope that God may miraculously restore her life. They learn that Peter is nearby and seek him out. Look with me at verse 38.
38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.”
39 So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. (Ac 9:37–39)
Before we get to the miracle itself, we need to listen to the details that Like shares with us. Why does he give us this picture of a deceased woman surrounded by widows whom she cared for? The tunics and garments were made by Dorcas and given to the widows
We are given these details, I think, to take note of what the grace of God looks like in the life of a believer. Tabitha lived in such a way that her death was a loss felt in the community of faith. People surrounded her dead body with tears in their eyes because of how she cared for them.
What result does your presence have on the community of faith? Would people take a deep breath if you left, because you’re that difficult? Would your absence be felt? Is your presence edifying, enriching, Christ-exalting?
Dorcas was a sister touched by the grace of God in Christ, and it overflowed, so that her practice of religion was pure and undefiled as James describes.
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (Jas 1:27)
Just as Jesus ushered everyone out of the room when he raised Talitha, so Peter ushers out these widows. Once alone, Peter kneels, prays, and then commands Tabitha to arise.
40 But Peter put them all outside, 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. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner. (Ac 9:40–43)
Just as before, it is Jesus, not Peter, who resuscitates Tabitha. She is restored to life, leading many to believe in the Lord. That is the point. Your Jesus is the one who raises the dead. We are to believe and put our trust in him.
28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. (Jn 5:28–29)
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (Jn 11:25–26)
These miraculous signs of Christ anticipate a greater act. One day Christ will raise the dead in Christ to life. Will you be among them? Or will you be resurrected to judgment?
The good news of the gospel, for those who believe, is that God judges their sin sufficiently in the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross. Since the judgment has already happened, the only thing awaiting the saints in resurrection is life.
But for all who clutch their fist, love themselves, and die at enmity with God, the only thing that awaits them is a resurrection to judgment.
III.) The sign of repentance and believing in the Lord (Acts 9:35, 42)
35 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. (Ac 9:35)
42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. (Ac 9:42.)
The most evident and clear witness to Christ’s lordship and his act to bring about the new creation is the salvation of sinners.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Co 5:17)
Each one of you is a walking, talking witness that Christ lives, reigns, and is making all things new. Isn’t that good? Every repentant sinner who places their faith in Christ is a witness that Christ lives, reigns, and is making all things new.
It is not necessarily true that we no longer see miracles. We are walking miracles of grace, whose dead hearts were raised to new life in Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus lives and acts to make all things new
Nathaniel R. Martin 