by Rev. Canon Don Beatty                <--previous     next -->

Session 4
The Jewish Persecution and the Dispersion of the Christians from
Jerusalem (Acts 8-11:18)

Last week we ended with the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. This set in motion several events, which helped to shape the future church.

First is the persecution of the Christians in Jerusalem. Luke tells us that a great persecution broke out and many Christians scatter throughout Judea and Samaria. Only the apostles remained in Jerusalem, and they were probably in hiding. They would not be safe anywhere in Judea and the thought of leaving Palestine comes much later.

With this dispersion, Christians, other than the apostles, start to share the word with the people they met along the way. They were still preaching to the Jews, but at least they had started to get out from Jerusalem.

Saul is at the centre of much of the persecution, as he searched the homes and arrested all who even appeared to have some Christian tendencies. His first reaction to being present fro the stoning of Stephen seems to be one of anger and frustration. This was a frightening time for the young church, and the fiercest persecution by the Jewish authorities to date.

Philip who had been elected as a deacon with Stephen, went to Samaria and preached in that city. The Samaritans were the remnants of the ten northern tribes of Israel who had been left behind during the exile in 722 B.C. They had intermarried with the Canaanites and were considered unclean and impure by the Jews. The northern tribes disappear from the pages of history. When the Jews in the south returned from their exile in 480 B.C., they treated the Samaritans rather shabbily. For more than four hundred years, this hostility continued to simmer, so by the time of Jesus, the Samaritans were the hated enemies of the Jews. They would have nothing to do with each other. So much so that if a Jew was going from Jerusalem to Galilee, he would walk several miles out of his way to avoid going through the land of the Samaritans.

Jesus' special treatment of the Samaritans was very unusual and he was often criticized for his involvement with them. Remember, they were still Jews although not of pure bloodlines.

So here we have Philip following the Lord's example and taking the Gospel into Samaria. He preaches and heals, just as Stephen had done and many miracles are occurring in that city, As Luke tells us, there was much 'joy in the city'. (This was the theme of the first Charismatic conference I have ever attended. It was held in Convocation Hall at the University and I can't even remember the speakers, only the music and the beautiful praise time and of course the theme.)

In Samaria there was a magician called Simon Magus (which means magician) who did great feats of magic and was very popular. He and several of his followers heard the words of Philip and saw his miracles, and were baptized by him.

The Apostles hiding in Jerusalem receive word about the work of Philip and send Peter and John to check it out. This seems to be a common occurrence in the early part of Acts. The apostles made sure that anything done in the name of the church was right and proper. After all, Philip was only a deacon!

Peter and John liked what they saw. Philip's evangelism was reaping a great harvest. So they laid hands on the heads of the believers and they received the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Here is yet another Pentecostal experience in Acts. What did the Samaritans do? We are not sure, but their reaction was so significant that poor Simon Magus wanted to buy that power. This magician who supposedly had great power of his own, wanted this power possessed by the Apostles. He wanted to buy the power accorded the Apostles in confirming the faith on the believers.

A loose translation of Peter's answer was 'go to hell with your money.' One cannot buy the apostolic gift. God freely gives it upon those He has chosen.

Peter confronts Simon with these words, “Your heart is so evil you will have no part of this gift until you repent and ask his forgiveness. If you do so, perhaps God will forgive you, but right now your heart is too full of bitterness and caught up in sin.@ Peter again confronts evil and prevents it from becoming part of the church. (Like Ananias and Sapphira)

Simon Magnus does seek forgiveness and is not struck down dead, and we don't know if he became part of the church in Samaria. I think he did. Legend suggests that he later became a Gnostic and led the attack on the church from within.

This passage has been used for many years by the church as the basis of Confirmation. Notice, it is the Apostles who do the laying on of hands. The bishops are the successors of the Apostles. We believe that the Holy Spirit is given at Baptism but it has yet to manifest itself with the believers at Samaria. As Peter and John lay hands on them, the Holy Spirit starts to make his presence known. The Holy Spirit within us needs to be released. Confirmation should be a release of this Holy Spirit. The church has not taught this very well, has it!

The bishops are the sign of unity within the church. Thus, the bishop is necessary in Confirmation, to join this Christian believer with the whole church of Jesus Christ. Confirmation is taking on this adult responsibility of church membership. This theology of Confirmation still needs to be rethought in this 21st century. It is not as clear as it was 25 years ago and hopefully the next 25 years will see much more thought and prayers about its role in the church. Some churches no longer have confirmation. Young children and communion have made it unnecessary for them. That is not good theology either!

I personally feel confirmation is necessary and essential. It needs to be taught differently. I believe the Holy Spirit is given to each person in baptism. Then that person needs to grow in the faith and be nurtured until he or she is ready to make an adult profession of their faith. Confirmation then becomes a reaffirmation of what we believe and a release of the power of the Holy Spirit so we can do the work of a Christian. It becomes our empowerment, or our baptism in the Holy Spirit. We have not done a good job of teaching confirmation over the years. (Myself included)

Peter and John return to Jerusalem preaching throughout the villages of Samaria as they go and the Christian faith takes root in that part of the country.

Philip meanwhile, being led by an angel, heads south to the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. Here he encounters and Ethiopian Eunuch. The Ethiopian had been to Jerusalem to worship. He is obviously a Jew and he has made his pilgrimage to the Holy City. He is reading from Isaiah as he travels. The Holy Spirit tells Philip to go up to the chariot and preach to this Ethiopian. As he interprets the prophet Isaiah for him, he starts to explain how Isaiah was really talking about Jesus and he shares the good news with him. They come to a pool of water, the Ethiopian asks to be baptized and he was. The Holy Spirit leads Philip away and the Ethiopian goes on his way, singing praises to God. This is also a Pentecostal experience, not quite as vivid as some others are, but Luke does suggest that the Eunuch in praising God is demonstrating that he too is filled with the Holy Spirit

Now this Eunuch was not just any old Eunuch! He was in charge of the treasurery for Queen Candace. Thus, he had an important post in the Ethiopian government. Did he go home and establish a Christian Church there? We don't know, but we do know that by 300 A.D. Christians in Ethiopia outnumbered the Jews!

Philip went to Azotus which is due west on the Mediterranean coast, and from there up to Caesarea on the coast. Philip next appears in Acts 21:8 and he is still in Caesarea. Did he stay there for the whole twenty years? We don't know, but he does remain very much a part of the Christian community.

Meanwhile Paul continues to persecute the church and more and more Christians are fleeing the holy city. Finally, he goes to the High Priest to receive letters of permission to chase the Christians as far as Damascus and to arrest any he finds there.

Here we see the use of the term 'the way' to describe Christianity. They are followers of the way. (Acts 9:2)

Paul pursues them to Damascus but he does not quite make it all the way. A blinding light from heaven strikes him, he falls from his horse and as he lay there, he meets the resurrected Jesus. This was not a vision for Paul. This is reality. Paul later uses this experience to prove that he is an apostle. One of the marks of the apostle was to be a witness to the resurrected Jesus. If Paul met him, as he said he did, then he is indeed a witness to the resurrected Jesus. Are you going to dispute Paul on this? I'm not!

Paul was led into Damascus by the hand and he fasts for three days. Meanwhile, God tells Ananias, a local Christian leader, to go to Paul and heal him and baptism him because he has been chosen by God to become the evangelist to the Gentiles. This is not the same Ananias we meet in Acts 5 who died because he tried to deceive the Church of Jesus Christ! Paul got his marching orders right from the beginning. It would be sometime before he put it into practice.

Paul is healed, receives the Holy Spirit and then is baptized. Paul begins at once to preach in the Synagogue in Damascus. There goes his career as an up and coming rabbi!

Paul grew more powerful in his preaching and he baffled the Jews as he continued to prove that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. After about three years in Damascus and other parts of Arabia (see Galatians 1:17-18) Paul has to flee Damascus and heads to Jerusalem

Here the disciples are afraid of him and he is cut off from the Christian community. Finally, it is Barnabas who comes to his aid and trusting Paul, he leads him to the Apostles' hideout. Barnabas was taking quite a chance. Here was the man who had been persecuting the Church in Jerusalem and suddenly he has a change of heart! This must be suspect. His trust is rewarded and Paul begins to preach in the synagogues in Jerusalem. He especially goes to the Greek speaking Jews. The apostles were all Palestinian Jews, so Paul figures he might as well go to the other group. But it is still to the Jews.

Again he must escape Jerusalem and he is whisked off to Caesarea, (with Philip?). Then he is sent to Tarsus his home. He spends the next several years there before he begins his mission to the Gentiles. (We will come back to Paul next week, and in fact, he will dominate the rest of this course. Next week I will look at the man Paul, and his theology)

Luke tells us there is a brief period of peace in Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit strengthens and encourages the church. It continued to grow. Another little marker inserted by Luke.

Meanwhile, back to Peter: he is travelling about the countryside, sharing the stories and trying to support and strengthen the church. He heals Aeneas who had been a paralytic for eight years. He lived in Lydda. Many who saw this miracle turn to Jesus. Next he heads to Joppa, present day Jaffa, a suburb of Tel Aviv. Here he goes to the house of Tabitha, a woman who is called a disciple (the only woman in the Bible who has this title). She does many good works and helps the poor. She is also a maker of fine clothes. Her other name is Dorcas and many church groups use this name for a group of women who sew altar hangings etc.

At Joppa Peter raised Dorcas from the dead. Notice how Peter's healing miracles parallel those of Jesus. For the healing of the paralytic see Luke 5:24; for the healing of Tabitha, compare the healing of the young girl in Luke 8:40-42, 49-56. The power of the Holy Spirit with Peter was indeed the power of Jesus Christ. Luke is telling us that the healings in the early church are the continuation of the healings of Jesus. It is obvious that he has passed on this ministry, along with many others, to the church.

Peter went next to stay with Simon the Tanner. The significance of this billet is that Simon is a tanner that is he dealt with dead animals. Anything dead was unclean to the Jew. Thus, Simon would be considered unclean and not fit company for a good Jew. Yet Peter stayed with him, thus breaking down some more barriers of the Jewish law.

It is at the house of Simon that Peter has his vision about eating unclean animals, another breaking with the laws of Judaism.

Cornelius at Caesarea, about thirty miles up the coast also has a vision. He is a god-fearing man, respected by the Jews but is obviously not one of them. He is a Roman centurion, an officer in the Imperial Army. The Centurion was in charge of 100 men and is the highest rank that an enlisted man could rise to in the Roman army. The Centurions were considered the backbone of the imperial army. The Holy Spirit tells him to send for Peter at Joppa and to hear his story.

Peter is up on the rooftop about noon. This would be an unusual time to be there. Usually you went on the housetop in the cool of the evening, to catch the evening breeze. Perhaps this was the only place Peter could find peace and quiet for his prayer time. As he prays, he sees a vision of a great sheet containing all kinds of unclean animals and God tells him to take and eat. This is so against his nature that it takes three times before he finally gets it. God told him that what he has made should never be considered unclean. Then he is told to go with the servants of Cornelius and share Jesus with that household. It was not just food; it was people who should never be considered unclean.

Peter takes some Christian Jews from Joppa to Caesarea with him and they go to the house of Cornelius. Here he finds a large gathering of people. The significance of this event is that they are all Gentiles. This is the first time in the Acts that we see the gospel being expressly preached to the Gentiles. Peter relates to them his vision giving him authority to be there for he could not have associated with them if God had not given him permission. Peter realizes that God does accept all people and then he preaches Jesus crucified and resurrected to them. He tells them of course that he is an eyewitness of this risen Christ.

Now a strange thing happens. As Peter is preaching, the Holy Spirit falls upon them and they start to speak in tongues and prophesy. This is another Pentecostal event in the Acts. Although they were Gentiles, the Holy Spirit came upon them and Peter asks can they deny these people baptism? They receive the Holy Spirit before they are even baptized! This is not the usual order, but then God can work in whatever order He choices.

However back in Jerusalem, the Christian Jews are angry with Peter. What right did he have to ignore the Jewish laws? And he has to explain his actions to them. He explains his position so forcefully that the leaders in Jerusalem had to accept his actions. This would be a constant source of trouble for the young church over the next twenty or thirty years. It led of course to the circumcision controversy in the early church, which was supposedly settled at the Council at Jerusalem in 50 A.D., but many of the Christian Jews especially in Palestine did not accept it.

Thoughts for consideration:

Who are the Tabitha's (workers of mercy) and the Barnabas's (encouragers) in this parish? Every church needs them. How do we help people discover their ministry?

Some theological thoughts to remember:

Acts is primarily about conversion. There are many kinds of conversion demonstrated on these pages. Conversions can be instantaneous as Paul's appears to be, or over a long process as with Peter.

Conversion in Acts is usually a symbol. Most people we never see again (with the exception of Paul, Peter and Barnabas) God is creating a community not based on human design but a divine one. He is doing a new thing, cutting across ethical barriers and cultural differences. Symbols show the power of God at work creating his church out of every race and people (Jew, Samaritan and Gentile).

There is no set pattern to conversion. Each is unique. Conversion is not an end in itself but adds a new dimension to the church. Conversion for Luke must be ratified by the church. That is why Jerusalem, the centre of Christianity for the very early church, had to send out people to check out the various missions. They must be sure that they were teaching orthodoxy and not some false gospel. Later this role is transferred to the Bishop.

For Luke the gospel had the power to change lives. He was not interested in how it happened, just that it did happen. Our faith should be an ongoing journey for us, but the journey must be within the Christian community.

What is our vision for this church and how do we help others to share this vision? How would you chart your conversion experience? You all have one! What still needs to be converted within you?