1. The stories of Peter healing Aeneas and Tabitha interrupt the Saul/Paul story-line (in fact, Saul has not yet become Paul when the story cuts back to Peter). It may in fact be a collision of stories -- the Pauline story and the Peter story battling for importance in the early church.
2. within the two stories, the need for healing also seems to interrupt the flow of things: "peter went here and there among all the believers" and suddenly he finds Aeneas who needs healing; in Joppa Tabitha has a pretty good ministry going among the poor (witness the widows showing the tunics and clothing she had made for them), when she suddenly dies. In both instances, the need for healing interrupts the flow, and Peter responds by healing.
3. Interesting tidbit -- Tabitha is the only woman in the New Testament who is called a disciples using the feminine from of the word (Interpretation:Acts, William Willimon, 84)
4. these healing stories remind me of the word Jesus sends back to John the Baptist in reply to the question: "Are you the one who is to come?" Jesus basically says, "Look around -- healing is taking place." The proof of Jesus' authority and presence is found in the way his life-saving, life-giving touch is offered to others.
5. There are parallels in the two stories -- Peter saying "get up;" both persons are named (rather rare for healing stories); and the Christians in both stories are called "saints," which is rarely done in Acts -- that suggest they are intended to be read in tandem. This also follows a pattern taht Luke uses to pair narrative stories of a man and a woman. this may be Luke's deliberate way of making the point that the good news is for both men and women. In fact, Luke seems to go out of the way to make the story of Tabitha more detailed than the story of Aeneas (The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, Ben Witherington, III1998, Eerdman Publishing, 3227-328.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment