The Kingdom of God is Bigger Than Us part 3 - Acts 8 - The Good News to Samaritans

(Click here to read Acts 8)

Just as the Gospel of Luke recorded the exciting expansion of Jesus' ministry from his hometown of Galilee to the cultural centre of Jerusalem City, Luke's follow-up, Acts continues the story of this expansion through his followers from Jerusalem City to the heart of the Roman Empire. Acts 6-12 tells the story of the first steps of this early community toward an inclusive and universal message and practice.
 
(please see the introduction to Acts 6-12)

Acts 8:1b-3 (ESV)
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Increased persecution is the catalyst for further spread of the gospel in chapter 8. After Stephen's murder, the followers of Jesus are pursued from Jerusalem to the outer regions of Palestine, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank today). Jesus' prophecy and command that his followers carry the message of the Kingdom of God to "Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8) is being fulfilled.

Saul, a zealous young disciple of Rabbi Gamaliel, believes these new communities of free and equal believers are a threat, and captures them as heretics wherever he finds them. Even his own Rabbi showed restraint in persecuting the Jesus People where Saul does not. Gamaliel had reasonably suggested that these loving and generous Jesus followers may represent a new thing God is doing. He suggested the council wait and see. If it is just another resistance group, they could allow the movement to die out quietly on its own.

Acts 5:38-39 (ESV)

38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice

But Saul was not so reasonable. Against the original counsel of his own Rabbi, he takes them right out of their houses where they gathered and shared meals (Acts 2:46). There was no singular consensus on how to deal with this upstart movement, but Saul represented the worst of the persecution at the beginning.

The Gospel to Samaria

Acts 8:4-5,12 (ESV)

4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5  Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.

12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

The rest of the chapter follows Philip, the second (after Stephen) of the people chosen by the Jerusalem congregation to help serve the growing needs of the community (Acts 6:1-6). The murder of his comrade Stephen and subsequent persecution of the community drives Philip to Samaria, where he boldly declares the Kingdom of God. This bold move by Philip is one more step toward the opening of the community to all people. Most of the Jesus People so far were mainstream Jewish followers. Greek-speaking Hellenist Jews had joined them, but the Samaritans, long excluded socially and religiously, had yet to hear the good news of the resurrection.

So when even Samaritans began to believe and follow in the way of the Kingdom, Peter and John were sent to confirm that it was so.

Acts 8:14-17 (ESV)

14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

These Samaritans had believed the message and been baptized. They followed Jesus in the way as Philip had taught them. But it was when Peter and John laid hands on them that they received the Holy Spirit. Though the passage does not say how this manifest, it must have been dramatic and observable, because one former magician (Simon) was so impressed that he wanted to purchase the ability to impart the Holy Spirit (vv18-19). He is soundly rebuked.

Peter and John also clearly saw that Holy Spirit had filled the Samaritan believers. Whatever their previous disagreements, the authority of the manifestation of Holy Spirit in their life spoke of God's broader purpose. This must have been some challenge for them, having grown up learning that these people were outsiders and strangers to their faith. But Peter and John receive in faith that these once strangers could now be brothers and sisters because of Jesus.

The Kingdom was big enough for Samaritans, Hellenists, and Hebrews. The apostles joyfully took this good news to the Samaritan villages as they traveled back to Jerusalem (v25).

The Ethiopian Eunuch (vv26-40)

After dramatically reaching beyond his borders to the Samaritans, Philip is led by the Holy Spirit to Gaza, another marginal region far from the religious and cultural centre of Jerusalem.

This leading of the Spirit is strongly present throughout this passage. Philip comes upon an Ethiopian eunuch, a servant of the Ethiopian Queen. The Ethiopian had traveled to Jerusalem to worship. He was a likely a convert to Judaism. Philip is given opportunity to see the Holy Spirit welcome a foreigner and a wealthy, high-ranking citizen of another nation come to faith in Jesus.

Holy Spirit has led the man to read from Isaiah, in a passage that poetically foretells the suffering of Jesus (vv32-33, Isaiah 53). As Philip explains the meaning of the scripture, the man believes. Just as he asks to receive the Good News, Holy Spirit provides them opportunity for the man to be baptized in a rare lake in the middle of the desert (vv36-38, v26b). Without hesitation he is baptized by Philip at the very outer border of the Hebrew region. Holy Spirit carries Philip away. The man rejoiced in his new freedom.

It is not for human beings to decide who may be allowed in or out of God's Kingdom. God welcomes people outside of our cultural or regional boundaries. He provides for anyone to hear and receive the message of the Kingdom, even outside of our ability to share. He transcends language, culture, class and distance. He leads people to welcome strangers as brothers and sisters. He enables diverse communities to live in unity.

He uses all circumstances, even persecution, to expand the borders of his Kingdom and set people free. There is no circumstance that will stop the Holy Spirit from moving in the world. The living Kingdom grows and moves and develops by Holy Spirit's will and according to Holy Spirit's purposes. Our agendas and plans and prejudices are forfeit to the sovereign will of our Just King.


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Acts 6-12 series intro
part 1 - Acts 6
part 2 - Acts 7
part 4 - Acts 9

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The beginning of the church-wide persecution
vv2-3 – the end of Stephen is the beginning of Saul (Paul)
v4 – People were scattered by the persecution, which spread the gospel.
vv15-17 – This verse should be considered when discussing the baptism of the Holy Spirit. What is the baptism of John? Were these believers that still hadn’t been baptized in the Holy Spirit, making it a separate event, or people waiting in faith for the Messiah who had not yet believed, making it an event concurrent with Salvation?
v20 – Go to hell, and take your money with you
v25 – Samaritans! The gospel really is spreading. Samaritans were seen as “lesser Jews” by the Jewish people because of their racial lineage, and they often avoided each other.
v26 – The leading of the Spirit brings Philip an opportunity to preach the gospel
v35 – The Old Testament testifies of Jesus – see Luke 24:45-47
v38 – Was this Ethiopian a Jew, or the first Gentile convert? He was probably Jewish, as the story of the Gentile convert Cornelius in Acts 10 is given so much emphasis.

(Click here to read Acts 8)

The Kingdom of God is Bigger Than Us – series intro - Acts 6-12

The Kingdom of God is bigger than us. In fact, the story of the message, demonstration, and growth of the gospel in Luke and Acts is one of explosive power that simply cannot be contained to one people group or region, whatever the consequences. The good news is that the Good News is for everyone. Our lives are lived out for the justice and love of others, a community facing outward to neighbours, strangers, and even enemies.

It is hard to be inclusive. It is hard to invite someone new into your family. Adoption is emotionally complicated. In-laws are sometimes cause awkward relationships. Our communities and families have histories - shared memories both good and bad. With those we are closest we have experienced the same joys and the same sorrows.

When Jesus spoke to his neighbours and comrades about loving their enemies, he spoke to people whose very identity was formed as a people rescued from slavery. Their nation as a nation was birthed from deliverance out of an oppressive empire that had held them enslaved.

The history of Jesus and all the Jewish people was one of wrestling. They wrestled with God as their forefather Jacob had wrestled with the angel of the Lord until he'd been blessed. His name was changed to Israel that night, which means the one who contends with God.

These Israelites, the God-wrestlers, knew what it meant to follow and honour their deliverer. Yahweh had delivered them from slavery in Egypt, and then clearly defined their relationship by his covenant law. When Israel disobeyed that covenant, they would become enslaved by empire, the Babylonians or the Persians. But then they would repent, and God would deliver them again.

Jesus now spoke to these people, with this rich history, under oppressive and violent occupation by Rome, the new empire and world power. This was a people who knew well who their enemies were. Their enemies had power. They had armies and kings and land upon land. They saw their enemies in uniforms. They were forced by their enemies to carry heavy loads without pay. They were taxed and abused.

It is no surprise that the Pharisees would emerge, this sect of religious people that taught the people to obey every aspect of the law code to the finest detail. They believed that God would rescue them from their enemies, as he had many times before, when Israel would just show their repentance and turn back to their faith, as they had many times before.

The sort of inclusion and universality of love that Jesus preached was so far beyond anything his people had ever imagined, even his disciples did not fully understand until long after Jesus was gone. When Jesus said they should love their enemies, he was including Romans. He was including forgiveness for all those who had ever done them wrong.

The Gospel, the good news of the New Kingdom wasn't only good news for the oppressed and the poor. If they would receive it, the Gospel was also for the oppressor. The good news was that they no longer needed to oppress. They could leave the empire. The good news meant that the rich didn't have to be rich anymore. The uncertain and transient foundation of wealth could be traded for the sure foundation of true, God-empowered life in the Eternal Kingdom. The Great Reversal was good news for any who would receive it, no matter what it cost them. Their power and riches were nothing.

Jesus died an innocent man, betrayed and accused of insurrection, executed unjustly by an oppressive empire like all the ones that had oppressed his people before them. And from the cross, he forgave them. He forgave those agents of the old empire that put him up there on the cross, beat and mocked him, the agents that had refused his message of love.

No injustice had ever been more severe than the one that was incurred by Jesus that day. In forgiving these outsiders, these enemies, Jesus opened the door for every one of those enemies and nations that had come before them. He opened the door to all who would come after.

He recognized the machine. He condemned the machine. He even raged against it. But he forgave the machinists.

This must have been unimaginably difficult for the early Jewish believers to accept. Even on the night of his betrayal and arrest, the followers of Jesus had shared Passover with him. They remembered vividly that they were a people who had been many times oppressed by other nations. Their history, their memory, their everyday experience, their very law code all told them that they must be exclusive to survive.

But Luke, the Greek doctor, writes his letters to the ranking Roman official, Theophilus, because from the first stroke of his pen, the story had already become universal. The code wasn't restricted to the words on stone carried from the mountain by Moses. Moses' first five books, the Torah, the Pentateuch, the Law, were celebrated every year at Pentecost. These boundaries defined in these books made it clear exactly who was in and who was out. They gave foundation for a history that bound families together tightly. But God's story was bigger than one people's history or one ethnicity or one country or piece of land.

This is the radical story of that great expansion of the boundaries of God's covenant. This is the last days, and the Holy Spirit is being poured out on all flesh (Acts 2). The new Pentecost is the law written on the hearts of humankind. The Holy Spirit is the living presence of God that could now speak directly to all people, without priests or veils or temples required. There is now only one mediator necessary, and no other human being or tradition can come between Jesus and those who put their trust in him.

We must never forget as Christians that the revolutionary and even offensively difficult challenge of radically inclusive love is the foundation of our faith. The early church in Acts was continuously challenged with how they may change to include others. They consistently denounced as heretics any who would place traditions or legal restrictions on people who would come to Jesus. The pattern of Luke through Acts is arms opened wider and wider, not boundaries strictly drawn.

Let us never forget how good our Good News is. Let us never forget the spirit in which our faith was planted. God's is a love big enough to include even his enemies. That includes us. The early church were challenged and rejoiced when they realized how wide the saving grace of God was. Let us do the same, welcoming and rejoicing when challenged with God's love for our enemies.

Who is beyond salvation? Who is beyond the love of God? 

Where are the limits of our own love?

I believe the challenge for each of us, and for us as a body is to ask this of ourselves. Is it a people group? A nation with which our empire is at war? Is it a certain people we've judged as especially sinful? Is it the ruling class? The military? The poor? Perhaps our challenge is the same as these early Christians. Let us rejoice to know that freedom from judgment and oppression and fear and even death has been offered as freely to those who we would call our enemies as to us.

Let us find ourselves among tax collectors and sinners and outcasts. Let us share our healing and our love with soldiers as much as widows. Let us live contrary to empire, and see it crumble from the roots of God's love through us. 

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part 1 - Acts 6 - The Hellenist Controversy
part 2 - Acts 7 - Stephen's Witness of a God who Loves Outsiders 
part 3  - Acts 8 - The Gospel to Samaritans 
part 4 - Acts 9 - Saul the Murderer Meets Jesus
**part 5 - Acts 10 - The Gospel to Gentiles. The Last Boundary Imaginable.**
part 6 - Acts 11 - The Gentile Controversy
part 7 - Acts 12 - The Authority of the Kingdom vs Powers of the Empire

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The Kingdom of God is Bigger Than Us
I'll be posting all this week on challenges of inclusivity in community growth and outreach, diversity, and the Gospel as a personal or corporate experience.
Acts 6-12

New entries in this seven-part series will be posted each day this week at 8am.