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Philip and the Beginning of Christian Missions

Last week we discussed Stephen: a Grecian Jew who argued so convincingly that Jesus was the Messiah that no Jews could defeat him in debate. But as a result, Stephen was stoned to death for blasphemy . . . and afterward the Jewish Sanhedrin began an aggressive persecution of Christians. They commissioned a Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus to "destroy the church." He went from "house to house, dragg(ing) off (Christians to) put them in prison" (Acts 8:3). As a result of this persecution, most of the 5000 or so Christians fled from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria . . . and beyond.

Stephen's murder was the culmination of an escalating campaign by the Sanhedrin to suppress Christians after Pentecost . . . because the signs and miracles performed by Christians in the name of Jesus made them more and more popular among Jews. First the Sahnedrin tried verbal threats and intimidation. When that didn’t work, they flogged some of the apostles: a brutal punishment. When flogging failed, they murdered Stephen and began arresting people whose only crime was to believe in Jesus as Messiah. The Sanhedrin thought they were finally successful: there were no more Christians healing the sick and challenging their authority in the temple.

But in reality, they failed utterly. The "virus" of Christianity—which had been contained in Jerusalem—now contaminated all of Israel . . . because:

This week's lesson tells two stories about this missionary work. The main character is Philip . . . another of the first deacons named in Acts 6. The first mission field is Samaria . . . so we'll begin with a thumbnail sketch of the Samaritans.

In 722 BC, the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, and carried the people into captivity. These captives are called the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel, because in captivity they lost their identity, and they never returned to their homeland. The Assyrians resettled the land with foreigners, who intermarried with lower class Israelites who had not been deported. We learn from 2 Kings 17 that these newcomers did not worship God—duuhh!—and as a result, God sent lions to terrorize them. (And, yes, these were lions like we see in the Cincinnati zoo, according to Assyrian reliefs of lions we can see in the British Museum.) When the Assyrians realized God was causing the lion problem, they allowed an Israelite priest to return to Bethel and instruct the foreign settlers on proper worship of the LORD God of Israel. This solved the lion problem, yet "even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols" (2 Kings 17:41). In other words, these half-breed foreigners and Israelites—who became known as Samaritans—evolved a new religion which was a combination of Judaism and pagan idol worship.

Just over 100 years later, the "southern" Jews were conquered by the Babylonians, and they, too, were carried into captivity. However, in an event unique in the annals of history, the "southern" Jews retained their identity in captivity, and they returned home. But upon their return, the people occupying in the land—including the Samaritans (Neh 4:2)—opposed efforts to rebuild the Jewish temple and the wall of Jerusalem. The Samaritans built a temple on Mt. Gerizim to compete with the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, but the Samaritan temple was destroyed by a Jewish army in the 2^nd century BC, when the Maccabees established an independent Jewish nation. It was never rebuilt.

It’s easy to see why there was such mutual hatred between Samaritans and Jews. Jewish society since Nehemiah had been based on being pure-blooded, but the Samaritans were half-breeds. Jewish culture was based on the Jewish religion, but the Samaritans had a competing religion—with a Torah that was slightly different from the Jewish Torah, and with pagan practices that probably upset the Jews. And the Jewish army had destroyed a sacred site of the Samaritan religion.

But despite all this, the Samaritans were an ideal mission field for two reasons:

• The Samaritans—through their Torah—believed in the Jewish Messiah.
• Jesus preached to the Samaritans of Sychar early in His ministry, and many of the people became believers—according to the story of the "woman at the well" (John 4).

But despite the obvious opportunities, the Hebraic Jews have a hard time getting past their anti-Samaritan prejudices. So . . . who undertakes a mission to the Samaritans? Stephen’s buddy Philip: fellow deacon . . . and fellow Grecian Jew. If Philip is anything like Stephen, he is a very devout Jew; but as a Grecian Jew, he is accustomed to dealing with Gentiles, and he knows how to do it without breaking Jewish law. He may think the Samaritans are a piece of cake!

The Bible doesn’t say exactly where Philip goes . . . just that he goes to "a city in Samaria." He tells the people Jesus is the Messiah. This is language Samaritans understand, but they probably know many false Messiahs have appeared in Israel. So Philip builds credibility for Jesus by performing miracles . . . and healings . . . and casting out evil spirits in His name. The Samaritans respond with "great joy."

But the city already has a major religious leader—someone else able to give the appearance of performing miracles. This leader is a sorcerer named Simon, described as "the divine power known as the Great Power" (Acts 8:11). That description sounds almost God-like . . . but in reality it's more like the Wizard of OZ—"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." Simon "amazed (the people) for a long time with his magic" (Acts 8:12). Sorcery is condemned by the Jewish Torah—and presumably by the Samaritan Torah as well—yett in the strange Samaritan mix of the Judaism and paganism, the people apparently accept and believe in Simon the sorcerer.

But the power of Jesus’ name is greater than the magic of Simon, and Philip’s claim of Jesus as Messiah must makes sense in the context of the Samaritan Torah. The people believed and were baptized (Acts 8:12).

Simon also believes in Jesus and is baptized. Why? He sees that Philip’s power in the name of Jesus is stronger than his magic. He starts following Philip around, "astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw" (Acts 8:13). Simon is acting like Philip’s disciple; he probably decides he had better study and learn to do what Philip does, or he will lose his status as "wizard" of the people.

In the meantime, word reaches the "Mother Church" in Jerusalem that large numbers of Samaritans are becoming Christians, and Peter and John go there to investigate. When they arrive, they apparently verify everything is "on the level," because they pray over the people and lay on hands . . . and the people receive the Holy Spirit.

One of the discussion questions is: Why did the Samaritans have to wait for a visit from Peter and John to receive the Holy Spirit . . . and for whom was this a lesson? Did the Holy Spirit need human help to come into the hearts of believers? And, if so, wasn’t Philip properly "ordained" when the apostles "laid hands" on him earlier (Acts 6:6)?

That’s one of those "questions to make you think"; no one really knows the answer . . . but that doesn't keep me from offering an opinion. I think it’s because this is the first time the Holy Spirit has come upon non-Jews . . . and that's a major "paradigm shift." If Philip—one of those "2^nd class" Grecian Jews—had presided over this event, Pharisee-Christians in the Jerusalem church might have questioned it's validity. However, when it happens in the presence of Peter and John—Hebraic Jews and acknowledged leaders of the church—few can challenge it . . . now or in the future.

Simon offers to buy the power to have the Holy Spirit come upon people when he lays on hands, which brings about this sharp rebuke from Peter: "Your heart is not right before God. . . . You are full of bitterness and captive to sin" (Acts 8: 21b-23). Simon is bitter because he has become rich by being the "wizard" of the city—but now Jews have come with greater power . . . which they offer for free. Simon is a captive to sin because he became a follower of Jesus for the "wrong reasons": so that he might tap into Jesus’ power and use it to re-establish his religious leadership . . . and his income stream.

"Simon answered, ‘Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me’" (Acts 8: 24). We are left to wonder whether or not Simon really meant this . . . and that’s one question on which I’m not going to offer an opinion. We know Simon’s objective up to this point. But if we really believe in the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus, we must believe in the possibility that Peter’s condemnation forced Simon into a sincere conversion. A footnote in the NIV Study Bible says early Christian literature describes Simon as the father of Gnostic Christianity.

But what happens with Simon later may be less important to us than understanding the significance of what has happened to Simon up until now. Why? Because whenever a narrative like this appears in scripture—focussing on one man's relationship to God—we assume God intends it as a "case study" in our Christian education. That means we should look for ways to apply the facts in this story to similar situations.

You can do this as well as I . . . but there some observations I’d like to make. First, Simon did all the right things to become a Christian: he publicly proclaimed his faith in Jesus, and he was baptized. If this was all we knew about Simon, most of us would say Simon was "saved." But that’s not all we know about him. We know Simon’s comment to Peter, which showed that in his heart, Simon had personal motives of greed and power . . . and we know Peter’s response, which was, in essence: "Simon, you’re not one of us; you need to get your heart right with God."

Now—bear with me—if someone is not a Christian and doesn’t have his heart right with God, we would say he is not "saved"—at least not yet. That’s what Peter said about Simon—even though Simon went through all the motions according to our modern "Plan of Salvation." Hence, we are forced to conclude that a public proclamation of faith in Jesus and baptism are not sufficient to ensure our salvation . . . and these are Peter’s words, not mine. Peter says motive is all-important . . . our heart must be right with God.

Furthermore, the "case study" of Simon may be especially important to us, because belief in Jesus had become the "in thing" to do in this Samaritan city. There was no persecution . . . no consequences to being a Christian. And that’s the situation in 21^st century America. We all know people like Simon, who profess Jesus with their lips out of inappropriate personal motives—including greed, power, peer pressure, etc—but deny Him with their lifestyle. The Christian rock Group DCTalk says this is what an "unbelieving world finds unbelievable" . . . and Peter says such people are not "saved"—at least not yet. We should all give this some thought.

Concluding the lesson . . . Peter and John are now comfortable witnessing to Samaritans, and they preach in towns and villages all the way home. Meanwhile, an angel sends Philip from Samaria to Judea: to the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza. There he meets an important official, the treasurer of the nation of Ethiopia, returning from a trip to Jerusalem to worship.

Why has an Ethiopian been worshiping in Jerusalem? Most commentaries suggest he was what the bible calls a "God-fearing Gentile": someone who believes in the God of Israel, but hasn’t converted to Judaism. However, I’m going to propose a second possibility.

In 1976, the Israeli military airlifted people called Falashas from Ethiopia to Israel. They were blacks who practiced an ancient form of Judaism, and they were proclaimed Jewish. According to an account preserved in the Ethiopian royal chronicles, when the Queen of Sheba—the Queen of Ethiopia—visited King Solomon of Israel (cf 1 Kings 10), the two had sexual relations and produced a son named Menelik. Many years later, Menelik removed the Ark of the Covenant from the temple in Jerusalem and took it to Ethiopia for safe keeping. And there, some believe, the Ark of the Covenant remains to this day.

Whether or not the Falashas are descended from Solomon, the nation of Israel considers them legitimate Jews . . . which makes it likely there were black Jews in Ethiopia at the time of this story. Therefore, it is possible the Ethiopian treasurer on the Gaza road was one of those black Ethiopian Jews, worshiping in Jerusalem as required by the Torah.

But whether this official he is a God-fearing Gentile, a black Ethiopian Jew, or something else is less important than the fact that the man is interested in Jewish scripture. When the Holy Spirit tells Philip to approach him, the man is studying the book of Isaiah . . . right in the Messianic prophesy section around chapters 52-53. Timing, so they say, is everything.

"Do you understand?" says Philip. "I need someone to explain it," says the Ethiopian. "Glad you asked," says Philip.

Philip starts with the passage of Isaiah 53 that the Ethiopian was reading, and explains it as prophesy of Jesus. Then he explains other Messianic prophesy in the context of Jesus. This causes the Ethiopian to believe, and he asks to be baptized. Philip complies.

In terms of "case studies," the contrast between the immediate understanding of the Ethiopian and the lack of understanding of Simon is striking . . . but we won’t go there tonight.

Philip leaves, and the official returns to Ethiopia. But what’s the rest of the story? The highlands of Ethiopia have been Christian for at least 1600 years; today it’s a Christian island in a Muslim sea. Was a Christian community there 350 years earlier . . . and was it founded by this treasurer of Ethiopia? We don’t know. But I like to think so.

Next week we’ll discuss another familiar story. The Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, who is leading the persecution of Christians, meets Jesus in a vision on the road to Damascus. We’ll discuss Saul’s dramatic conversion . . . and it’s aftereffects, as Saul changes from firebrand Pharisee to firebrand Christian—overnight. How do his old friends and his old enemies react? We’ll see.