Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, June 15, 2013 Read – Acts 8:4-25 The martyrdom of Stephen ended with the followers of Jesus scattered from place to place outside of the city of Jerusalem. What likely was a trying time gives way to the proclamation of the gospel to those in the next ring around Jerusalem – Judea and Samaria. The first two episodes of that activity are centered on the work of Philip – likely we should understand this to be the Philip who was one of the Seven Hellenist Jews, a partner of Stephen. A word needs to be said about the Samaritans. A great deal of animosity had arisen between the Jews and the Samaritans in the time prior to the coming of Jesus. The Samaritans were the remnants of the Northern Kingdom of Israel which had been destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 BC. Over the course of time they had intermingled with foreigners who were brought in by the Assyrians – yet they had maintained a form of religious faith that paralleled that of the main group who returned to Judea following the exile of the Southern Kingdom to Babylon. Two of the main differences between the Jews of Judea and the Samaritans were that the Samaritans accepted only the first five books of the Bible as scripture and they understood that the worship of God was to be centered on Mount Gerazim near the ancient town of Shechem where Jacob’s well was located. The Jews despised the Samaritans as half-breeds and not fully Israelites. Tensions were great between the two. That Christians should reach out to Samaritans was quite a dramatic occurrence. Of course Jesus had set the stage for this. Jesus did not despise the Samaritans and on at least two occasions it was Samaritans who were heroes – the story of the 10 lepers who were healed and only a Samaritan returned to give thanks and the parable of the Good Samaritan. Both of these stories are told only by Luke. More than any other writer Luke emphasizes Jesus outreach to and acceptance of Samaritans. Within the story of Philip’s ministry to the Samaritans are contained two important pieces of information that Luke wants his readers to hear. The first has to do with a man who lived in Samaria named Simon. Luke tells us that Simon was a magician and apparently had quite a following. While Luke does not mention anything about this, a century or so later the Christian church had identified this Simon as the founder of a religious system known as Gnosticism. It is likely however, that this is not really true – there is little evidence of Gnosticism prior to the second century when it flourished in both a Christian and non-Christian form. At any rate Luke wants to point out the fallacy of people like Simon and to distinguish between magic on the one hand and miraculous faith on the other. Magic is about attempting to control God. Miraculous faith is being controlled by God. Simon’s fault is that he wanted to be in control. The second thing that Luke wants to make clear is that the Samaritan mission is effective only when and because it is sanctioned by the Apostles who remain in Jerusalem. Philip has proclaimed the gospel and the Samaritans have responded positively but it is only when Peter and John arrive that the Holy Spirit comes upon the Samaritans. We will notice this in other ways as the mission goes forward. Verification by the Apostles is an important matter for Luke. One of the main reasons for that may well be the desire to have only one church. Just as unity between the Hebrew speaking Christians and the Greek speaking Christians was crucial, so here the Samaritans must be incorporated into the one church. And the way to insure that incorporation is through the verification of Peter and John, representative of the Apostles. How easy it may have been to have developed a Hebrew Christianity and then a Hellenist Christianity and now a Samaritan Christianity. Eventually there may have been a Gentile Christianity too. What is at stake in the authorization of ministry by the Apostles is the unity of the church. Finally, it is important to note again that reaching out to the Samaritans was a major hurdle to overcome within the early church. That hurdle could be crossed with the Samaritans because Jesus had opened the door and because the Samaritans were at least connected to Judaism from past heritage. The hurdle regarding gentiles remains in the future at this point in Luke’s story – but that hurdle is fast approaching.