The Book of Acts, Part I May 20 The Gospel Goes to the Samaritans and the Gentiles
In 722, after the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians and the northern tribes were taken away, the Assyrians settled foreigners in the land.
Background to the Samaritans Later in 586, the southern kingdom fell to the Babylonians, who also settled some of their own people in the old territory of the northern kingdom. They rebuilt Samaria, the capital city of the former Northern Kingdom. As time went on, the foreigners and the Jews who had stayed in married and intermingled. When the Jews returned from Babylon in 538 B.C., they came back as racial purists. They rejected the intermarried Jews/foreigners as being heretics and ethnic half-breeds.
Background to the Samaritans When the Jews refused to let these people help in the building of the walls and temple of Jerusalem, the Samaritans (people living in the land of Samaria or the old northern kingdom) decided to build their own temple, on Mount Gerizim, which became their sacred mountain. They rejected the Old Testament, except for the first 5 books. They rejected the idea of a Messiah, since he was supposed to come from David s line. They did believe in a future restorer (taheb); this person, the prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15 18, would restore the tabernacle and the Pentateuch on Mount Gerizim.
Samaria was part of the territory controlled by the Roman governor of Judea. The other parts of Herod s old kingdom were controlled by his sons.
The Incident at Mount Gerizim in A.D. 36/37 A religious fanatic called the Samaritans to their holy mountain of Mount Gerizim where he promised to show the sacred vessels that Moses had buried there. The Samaritans going to the mountain kept growing in numbers. Pontius Pilate sent a detachment of cavalry and heavily-armed infantry to block any more Samaritans. In the battle that followed many Samaritans were killed or taken prisoner and Pilate had the ringleaders put to death. The council of the Samaritans complained to the Governor of Syria, claiming that the participants at Mount Gerizim had not been rebels but religious pilgrims. Pilate was replaced and was ordered to Rome to face charges. But before he reached Rome the emperor had died.
The Jews and the Samaritans Samaritans were looked upon by the Jews as religiously unclean, because of their intermarriage with pagans, but more so as followers of heresy. Only Romans would befriend them. There was constant hostility between the Samaritans and the Jews. The hatred between Jews and Samaritans was always at its worst during the anniversaries of the national feasts; and it often broke into acts of open hostility. Thus, the caravans of Galilean pilgrims chose the route on the east side of the Jordan River.
Jesus Route through Samaraia versus Traditional Method
Philip Preaches to the Samaritans It is to these people that Philip goes. Philip goes to a city of Samaria and began to preach. 4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city. Philip began his ministry maybe without considering what the implications would be with the Jewish Christians back home. This was really a bold step if he had thought about it!
Philip Preaches to the Samaritans The Samaritans, on the other hand, would have been happy to receive Philip. After all, if he arrived and said that he had fled there because he was being persecuted by the temple priests and the orthodox Pharisees, the people would have been very happy to take him in! Philip didn t need the Samaritan-Jewish hatred to help him, though. Through his preaching and his cures of illnesses, he caused the Samaritans to accept him enthusiastically. The Samaritans rejoiced. This was an even more impressive evangelism than what we have seen so far. The Samaritans did not believe in a messiah!
Acts 8:14 17 14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
The Disciples Come to Samaria Why did the apostles in Jerusalem send two delegates to Samaria when they heard about Philip s ministry? It seems that the Jewish Christians were shocked, alarmed, unhappy, perhaps mad and jealous that the gospel was spreading to the hated Samaritans. This same pattern will be repeated: when Gentiles are converted in Antioch; when Peter baptizes the Roman centurion Cornelius; and when Paul converts the Gentiles. The Jerusalem church was conservative (reactionary?) and viewed any departure from the status quo with suspicion and great caution, especially if it involved non-jews.
The Disciples Come to Samaria We need to remember, however, that the Jerusalem church never rejected new converts, whether Gentile or Samaritan. The Jewish Christians in Jerusalem may have been slow to embrace the outreach to the Gentiles, but it is to their credit that they allowed the new Christians to become part of the body of Christ, despite life-long prejudices and hatreds. Peter and John arrive. They pray that the Samaritan converts might receive the Holy Spirit and they lay their hands on them so that they could receive it.
The Disciples Come to Samaria When Peter and John lay their hands on the Samaritans, this brings the fullness of the Holy Spirit and a sense of fully belonging to the church, even if that church is centered in Jerusalem and is run by Jews. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Samaritans knew at that moment that they too were partners with the Jewish Christians. Everyone, whether Samaritan and Jewish, now knew the basic truth: anyone can be a brother in faith if he or she believes in Jesus as Lord. These people may not have been brothers racially or nationally, but they are now brothers in the kingdom of God.
The Conversion of an Ethiopian 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Go south to the road the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means queen of the Ethiopians ). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, Go to that chariot and stay near it.
The Travels of Philip
The Conversion of the Ethiopian Philip has been in a city of Samaria. He was there because he had left Jerusalem because of the intense persecution there after Stephen s death. In the case of the conversion of the Ethiopian, Philip is specifically directed to the Ethiopian man to a specific meeting place, in a remote location in the desert: God clearly intends, by His divine plan, that this eunuch should be saved. Philip goes, even though he certainly would have wished to stay. After all, the Samaria ministry was going great. But Philip is told to go to the desert between Jerusalem and Gaza and hit the road between those cities. And he obeys.
The Ethiopian Who was this eunuch? Ethiopia describe all the land south of Egypt (modern Ethiopia and Sudan). Solomon had shared copies of sacred writings with the Queen of Sheba for her to give to her people. Perhaps over the course of hundreds of years, the Jewish religion took root in Ethiopia. Somehow this Ethiopian got the idea that Jerusalem, hundreds of miles away, had a religion that he needed to look into. This was a difficult trip: hard to travel and very costly. The Ethiopian had to have been very important and wealthy.
The Ethiopian This man had all sorts of barriers, in the eyes of righteous Jews, between him and Yahweh. Racial barrier, because of his black skin Political barrier, since he was an official of a foreign Gentile power Physical barrier, because of castration (hence a religious barrier).
The Conversion of the Ethiopian On this pilgrimage, the Ethiopian would have heard nothing else but news about Jesus, His supposed Messiahship, His death, and His burial; he certainly would have heard rumors about Jesus resurrection. He certainly would have heard about this Jesus disciples and their huge conflict with the Sanhedrin. All this news probably caused the eunuch to decide to check into this Messiah about whom everyone was talking about. This would explain why he had bought a copy of the book of Isaiah: this book has the most clear, most powerful, and detailed passages about the Messiah. In this way he could read for himself about the Messiah and try to make sense of what he had heard in Jerusalem.
The Conversion of the Ethiopian What a thrill it must have been for Philip to hear the eunuch reading aloud from the prophecy of Isaiah. (All reading in antiquity was done out loud, not silently.) While Philip runs alongside the eunuch s chariot (or ox cart), he asks if the eunuch understood what he was reading. The Ethiopian quickly says that he needed someone to guide him. The prophecy which the eunuch was reading included these words, words which greatly perplexed him: He was led as a sheep to slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he does not open his mouth. In humiliation his judgment was taken away; who shall relate his generation? For his life is removed from the earth.
The Conversion of the Ethiopian These words come from Isaiah 53:7 8. They were very perplexing to the eunuch. The question that the eunuch had was this: What is the identity of the one to whom Isaiah refers in the text? Himself? If so, then it was fulfilled by his own suffering and death (he was sawed in half in around 730 B.C. by the King of Judah). But how and why would Isaiah be speaking about himself? To add to the confusion: the eunuch had just read the previous verses (Isiah 53:3 6), which talk about a substitutionary death someone dying for the benefit of others. What did those verses mean?
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The Conversion of the Ethiopian The confusion of the eunuch: 34 The eunuch asked Philip, Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else? 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. Philip answers that Jesus was the person who was referred to, and that he was the Messiah promised by God. Using this text as a starting-point, Philip convinces the eunuch. (Note that Philip began with the text, but discussed other parts of scripture as well.) The eunuch joyfully accepts Philip s words. He sees water (a rare thing in this desert place), and asks to be baptized. When the chariot stops, both get out, and Philip baptizes him.
The Conversion of the Ethiopian Philip disappears as he is snatched away by the Holy Spirit to Azotus, some twenty or so miles distant; from there he goes on to other cities, preaching the gospel as he went on his way to Caesarea (Acts 9:40), where he will stay and preach, with his four daughters (who were prophetesses), for years to come. The Ethiopian, on the other hand, went on back to his native land. We are told no more of this man in the New Testament; early church tradition claimed that he begun a Christian ministry in Ethiopia. All we are told is that this man went his way rejoicing (8:39).
The Conversion of the Ethiopian There are a number of important points here. First, this Ethiopian s race, along with his physical deformity and his Gentile background, kept him from approaching God, but God approached him. As we will see next week, Peter will be sent to the house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion: he was a Gentile proselyte, a God-fearer. Because Cornelius already believed in Yahweh, Cornelius was in a way primed to be converted to Christianity.
The Conversion of the Ethiopian The Ethiopian is different: he is the first Gentile brought to God only by his faith in Jesus as the Christ. Note, too, that this man was not saved through the ministry of one of the 12 apostles, but rather through Philip, a Greek Jew whose claim to fame was the distribution of food to the poor. In other words, anyone can lead someone to Christ. This is not a job only for the minister and the missionary; it is a job for you and me.
The Conversion of the Ethiopian Second, the salvation of the Ethiopian eunuch should be viewed in the light of Stephen s trial. Stephen had been charged with speaking against the Law of Moses and against the holy place, that is, Jerusalem and the temple. But this city and this holy place had done nothing for the eunuch. He couldn t even go inside the temple grounds; he could only walk around the space surrounding the temple. The temple was closed off to him.
The Conversion of the Ethiopian Just as Stephen had argued, the temple and the worship of God had been restricted by the Jews to only a small group of people. This is why God brings the eunuch out into the desert: it is only here, away from Judaism, that salvation is possible. The Jews had done nothing but to throw up roadblocks to the Ethiopian s salvation; and so for him to be saved, the Ethiopian has to go out of Jerusalem and into the wilderness. Stephen was right when he claimed at his trial that God cannot be confined to one place or to one people: God is everywhere and in all places and is available to anyone who loves Him and receives the gospel. The eunuch is the proof!
The Conversion of the Ethiopian Finally, this conversion is the result of a one-on-one conversation. Up until this story, all conversions in the book of Acts had happened when the gospel was preached to groups of people: at Pentecost, in the temple courtyards, in the synagogues, in the cities of Samaria. But one-on-one conversion is the way that most Christians convert, and this is how Philip converts.
The Conversion of the Ethiopian Philip shows us how we should go about converting the unsaved: Look for an opening and for an appropriate time (here the eunuch asks Philip about a text). Talk about Jesus and what He did, about forgiveness, about eternal life. Be confident: God s spirit will always be there to help us out.