Part 27 (1/2)

Jesus not only knew Mary's name, he knew everything about her. He remembered the day he had cast the demons out of her. He remembered her many practical kindnesses. He saw how she suffered with him as she watched him die on the cross.

Just as Jesus knew the intimate details of Mary's life, he knows about you. When you are tempted to lose hope, when life seems too empty to go on, when grief overwhelms you -Jesus cares. When those you love have let you down, when you think you can't go on for another minute, when your problems crush you -Jesus cares. He calls your name, just as he called Mary's. And you, too, can go on like the women who went from the tomb, perhaps still a bit afraid yet ”filled with joy” (Matthew 28:8).

Promises in Scripture Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

- Isaiah 43:1 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

-Matthew 10:29 - 31 [Nothing ] will be able to separate us from the love of G.o.d that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

-Romans 8:39 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

- i Peter 5:7 Friday HER LEGACY OF PRAYER.

Jesus said to her, ”Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ”Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).

-John 20:16 Reflect On: John 20:1 - 18.

Praise G.o.d: That the Father has revealed his love so powerfully in Jesus.

Offer Thanks: For the death and resurrection of Jesus, his Son and our Savior.

Confess: Your doubts about G.o.d's power or willingness to deliver you from some evil in your life.

Ask G.o.d: For the grace of deliverance.

Lift Your Heart One day this week set your alarm clock so that you wake up a half hour before dawn. Find a spot where you can watch the sunrise. In the early morning shadows, tell G.o.d about some area of darkness in your own life or in the life of someone you love. Perhaps it's an illness, a persistent sin, loneliness, a troubled marriage, an addiction, or a wayward child. Whatever it is, surrender it by imagining yourself placing it in the garden tomb next to the body of Jesus. As the sun rises, meditate on that first Easter morning and remember that when Jesus walked out of the tomb, you walked out with him. Ask G.o.d for the faith to wait and watch for his delivering power.

Lord, make me a woman like Mary Magdalene, who follows you not because of a legalistic understanding of her faith, but because of an overwhelming sense of grat.i.tude and love for your own extravagant grace. Help me surrender my darkness to you and flood me with the light of your presence.

Dorcas HER NAME MEANS.

”Gazelle”; ”Tabitha” Is Its Hebrew Equivalent Her Character: An inhabitant of Joppa, a town on the Mediterranean coast, thirty-five miles northwest of Jerusalem, she belonged to one of the earliest Christian congregations. She was a disciple known for her practical works of mercy.

Her Sorrow: To have suffered a grave illness.

Her Joy: To serve Jesus by serving the poor.

Key Scripture: Acts 9:36 - 43 Monday HER STORY.

The winds roared over the coast, piling water in noisy heaps along the rocky sh.o.r.eline. But though she lay quietly in the upper room of her house near the sea, Dorcas did not hear them. Nor did she notice the waves of grief that spilled into the room from the heart of every woman present. For once she had nothing to offer, no word of comfort, no act of kindness to soften their suffering. Instead, she lay still as other women ministered to her, tenderly sponging her body clean to prepare it for burial.

As Peter approached the house, he could hear the noise of mourning, a sound more desolate than the tearing wind. Two men had summoned him from Lydda, where he had just healed a paralytic. They urged him to come quickly because one of the Lord's disciples in Joppa had died. He had come in haste, hoping to reach Dorcas before she had to be buried.

As soon as he entered the room where her body lay, the widows surrounded him with tangible evidence of the woman they had loved, weeping as they held up robes and other items Dorcas had sewn to clothe the poor. Quickly, Peter shooed them from the room, as though to clear the atmosphere of despair. Then he knelt beside her body.

As Peter prayed, he remembered a promise Jesus had made: ”I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” His faith rising like the wind outside, Peter addressed the dead woman, saying, ”Tabitha, get up.” Taking her by the hand, he actually helped her to her feet.

The next day, Dorcas stood alone on the roof of her house. The sh.o.r.e was littered with driftwood, trinkets from yesterday's storm. She breathed deeply, inhaling the sea's salty tang, soothed by the sound of waves lapping the rocks below. Strangely, the view looked somehow transparent, as though another world waited just behind the curtain of this one. Dorcas shaded her eyes with her hand, peering out at the sea. But she saw nothing other than the usual collection of fis.h.i.+ng boats bobbing in the waves.

Sighing, she turned and went inside. She had things to do-clothes to sew, bread to bake, the poor to feed and clothe. But even in the midst of her busy preparations, her longing for that other world increased, like hunger pangs before a feast. She fed that longing with her many practical acts of love.

Though we don't know what went through Peter's mind as he knelt and prayed at Dorcas's bedside, we do know that G.o.d worked through him in an extraordinary way. And though Scripture doesn't tell us how Dorcas responded to her incredible experience, it doesn't take much to imagine her joy. The story of her miracle spread throughout Joppa, leading many to believe.

Tuesday HER LIFE AND TIMES.

DISCIPLES.

In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated into Greek, is Dorcas) (Acts 9:36). She is the only woman in Scripture to be honored with the designation of ”disciple.” The presence of women in groups of disciples is implied at times, but Dorcas is the only woman specifically called a disciple.

The word disciple in both Greek and English has its roots in verbs that mean ”to learn.” Those two verbs describe the activity or posture of the disciple of the New Testament. The word disciple is used 296 times in the English Bible. Two of those times occur in Isaiah, and all of the rest are found in the Gospels and in the book of Acts. The Scriptures use the word almost exclusively to name someone who is a follower of Jesus.

A disciple is first of all a learner, a pupil. The disciples of Jesus sat at his feet, and he taught them. They listened and soaked up the knowledge and wisdom of Christ as he talked to them and to the crowds that inevitably gathered around him. Jesus taught them many things, but all of his teaching can be summed up in his command to love G.o.d and love others (Mark 12:31). As disciples, they accepted what Jesus taught as truth, trusting him as their teacher and willingly putting into practice all of his teachings.

Second, a disciple is a follower. The disciples followed Jesus wherever he went. Jesus' first words to Peter and his brother Simon were, ”Follow me.” When Jesus called to James and John in their boat, they quickly left the boat and their father and followed Jesus (Matthew 4:18 - 22).The word follow here doesn't just mean being willing to walk along with the teacher, it means being willing to adopt the views and way of life of the teacher. The twelve disciples left their families and incomes and former lifestyles to follow Jesus.

A true disciple, Dorcas had learned of Jesus and had decided to follow him. She had adopted his views and lifestyle, lovingly living out his commands by ministering to the poor around her. There was no mistaking it, no quibbling, no uncertainty - anyone who knew Dorcas knew who she was and whom she followed. Her devotion is recorded for all the generations to follow with those simple, yet profound words: ”In Joppa there was a disciple named . . . Dorcas.”

Wednesday HER LEGACY IN SCRIPTURE.

Read Acts 9:36 - 43.

1. What sorts of things do you think Dorcas was doing?

2. Describe what you think the scene was like when Peter brought Dorcas back to her friends and neighbors.

3. Dorcas was known for doing good and helping the poor. Where do these activities fit in your life?

4. Why do you suppose G.o.d chose to raise Dorcas but not any of the other disciples who presumably died in that year and the succeeding years?

5. G.o.d was definitely glorified through Dorcas's life, death, and resurrection. What if Dorcas had not been raised? Would G.o.d still have been glorified? How?

Thursday HER PROMISE.

G.o.d is glorified in the story of Dorcas, not only in her being raised from the dead, but through her acts of kindness, her generosity, and her willingness to go out of her way to offer help to others. Don't think you must do great and n.o.ble and noticeable acts for your life to glorify G.o.d. He will be glorified through your simple acts of love and obedience, whatever they are, wherever you are.

Promises in Scripture May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

-Psalm 19:14 Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors G.o.d.

-Proverbs 14:31 ”He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well.

Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the Lord.

-Jeremiah 22:16 When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

-Matthew 6:3 - 4 Friday HER LEGACY OF PRAYER.

Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.