Life Project Blog

Acts 8:26-40

In this scene, Phillip has gone from Samaria, and is travelling south on the “desert” road between Jerusalem and Gaza. While many scholars would use this as a time to float theories about which road he took toward Gaza, we might find it more interesting to look at why he went on this particular road trip: An angel of the Lord came to him and told him to go. There are plenty of instances recorded in the Scriptures that tell of an angel of the Lord coming to someone and telling them to do something, and we might even see this often enough not to question it, but if we step back and take another look, we will realize that this really doesn’t happen very often; in fact, it is rare enough that these incidents are recorded in Scripture. To put it another way, this was a big deal.

Phillip obeys the angel’s command and heads south.

While on the road, Phillip sees an Ethiopian royal official, a eunuch as it happens. In many ancient cultures, palace officials above a certain rank were made eunuchs so that they could not father a child, and thus were not able to be a challenger for the throne, so great was their authority over the kingdom. We can infer that this may well have been a royal procession with many servants, guards and chariots. Once again, the angel speaks to Phillip, and once again he obeys and approaches the chariot.

Walking alongside, Phillip discovers that the official is reading from Isaiah 53, the “suffering servant” passage (Is. 53:7-8). Let’s think about this for a moment; if you are on an evangelistic expedition, and you come upon someone reading that particular passage of Scripture, earnestly trying to comprehend its meaning, wouldn’t you see an almost unbelievable opportunity?

That angel was pretty smart, wouldn’t you say?

The eunuch actually asks Phillip to tell him who Isaiah was talking about, and invites him to ride in the chariot with him, and Phillip is only too happy to help. In the course of their conversation, Phillip just happens to tell the man all about Jesus…

The text doesn’t give us the details of this conversation, instead it skips to the thrill-packed conclusion: The man requests that Phillip baptize him when a body of water comes into view, and orders the procession halted. They step out of the chariot and into the water where the Ethiopian official is immersed in the waters of baptism. Then, Luke offers us a somewhat cryptic text:

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. (8:39-40)

What just happened here?

What we know for certain is that Phillip baptized the man into Christ, and then left the scene. The eunuch went on his way rejoicing, that is clear, and Phillip was next seen in Azotus. Was Phillip transported there supernaturally? Many scholars think so. Did the Spirit lead him to be on his way immediately, and Phillip left under his own power? Many other scholars think so.

As for me, I don’t know how Phillip got to Azotus, but I do know that all through this passage, Phillip was responsive to God’s leading, and that as a result, others came to salvation in Jesus Christ, and God was glorified. The inference I take from this story is that we too, must be responsive to God’s leading so that others will be saved and God will be glorified though us.

Acts 8:9-23

Luke tells us about a man named Simon who had gained quite a following because of his sorcery; it would seem that he was a master of the arts of magic. When Phillip and others came into the region, having been forced to flee the persecution in Jerusalem, and so many people accepted the Gospel, Simon came to believe in Jesus along with so many others. When the news reached the apostles, still in Jerusalem, Peter and John were dispatched to Samaria to investigate, and when they arrive, our story gets rolling in earnest.

Phillip had baptized those who came to accept the Gospel, but in spite of this, they hadn’t received the Holy Spirit even though Peter taught that if we hear the Gospel, believe in Jesus, acknowledge that Jesus is Lord repent and are baptized, we will then receive the Spirit (Acts 2:38). Why hadn’t this happened in Samaria; could it be that these unclean Samaritans can’t have the Spirit? The two apostles began laying hands upon the people, and then they received the Spirit, and of course this brings us to another question: Did the Spirit actually come through the laying on of the apostles’ hands? Did this only apply to Samaritans? Was there some other reason for this?

Then our friend Simon enters the narrative:

When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” (8:18-19)

My, oh my, what an enterprising businessman this Simon was! Do you suppose he wanted to add the gift of the Spirit to his magical repertoire? I can’t say what he was really thinking for sure, but it seems interesting that he wanted to pay for the ability to dispense the Spirit rather than asking for the Spirit. Ever the diplomat, Peter replied to this offer:

Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” (8:20-23)

It’s a little hard for us to grasp this story since we live in an age when people, at least in the West, usually don’t believe there is such a thing as sorcery or magic, other than in a Las Vegas lounge act. Apparently, this Simon dude was the real deal as a sorcerer, and if that’s true, where did he get his magic? Clearly it wasn’t a gift from God, like the signs and wonders of Phillip and the apostles, so what was its source? I only know of one other place such things could have come from, and like Simon, Satan and the demons of hell believe in Jesus Christ, but they certainly do not follow Him, and it is fairly obvious from the text that Simon hadn’t even thought about repentance.

The text doesn’t say, in spite of the confidence of vast enlightenment on the part of some commentators, but I would have to suggest that the Holy Spirit had not come upon those people in Samaria yet because so many of them were actually followers of Simon, who, whether he knew it or not, was a follower of the Deceiver who directly or indirectly was the source of his power, and so naturally, they could not receive the Spirit until that situation had been rectified.

Of course, that’s only my theory; what’s yours?

When Stephen was being murdered for speaking the truth to the Sanhedrin, a young man named Saul was on hand for the festivities; he seemed to be watching over the cloaks of those who wanted to free up their throwing arms to really let Stephen have it, and according to 8:1 he fully approved of what was going on that day:

And Saul approved of their killing him.

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

Acts 8:1-3

It would seem that not only did Saul fully approve of Stephen’s cold-blooded murder, but he also took the murder to the next step, dragging believers from their homes in an effort to thwart God’s purpose. Of course, he had been blinded so thoroughly to the truth that he actually thought he was doing God a favor, as hard as that might be to fathom. As a result of this raging persecution of the fledgling church, believers began to flee from Jerusalem, moving out into both neighboring Judea and Samaria.

Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city.

Acts 8:4-8

Notice that wherever those who fled the Jerusalem persecution went, they proclaimed the Gospel; this is an important contextual statement, for if “those who had been scattered” were proclaiming the Gospel, then the account of Phillip in Samaria actually serves as an example of what they were all (or at least most of them) were doing: Can we even begin to imagine the dramatic impact this would have had in the surrounding areas?

From the point of view of the Jewish leadership, this was a total disaster. Not only had they murdered a man in their “righteous” indignation, but the result was that they had caused his message to explode across the countryside around them; yet as a political leadership, because of their foolish treatment of Stephen and the believers of Jerusalem, they were now in so deep that there was now no going back. In essence, they had added an exclamation mark to their own ultimate doom.

From the point of view of the Jerusalem believers, the persecution was terrible, especially for the ones swept up by Saul, yet they were sustained in their ordeal by the Holy Spirit. For those who escaped, they were participating as never before in God’s eternal purpose as more and more people came to believe, to the glory of God.

From God’s point of view, the Gospel was not intended to be a local phenomenon, but as a worldwide movement of the Holy Spirit for the redemption not just of one town, but of all Mankind; things were moving along according to plan.

From our point of view, what could possibly be more inspiring than these verses? Let’s not forget that persecution is still in the world today, and all too often we see this from a purely human point of view, asking God to take it away and feeling sorry for our brothers and sisters who suffer. While there is nothing wrong with this reaction, we must also recognize that it is incomplete, because when persecution is taking place, we need to see that it is happening because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is actually making headway; it’s become a threat to an entrenched spiritual adversary, and that is a very good thing.

Acts 7

The narrative of chapter six continues into chapter seven without interruption despite the chapter break: Stephen stands falsely accused before the Sanhedrin, and these false accusations have been made against him, probably at the prompting of his judges. The fateful question is asked in 7:1, “Are these charges true?”

Any lawyer would tell you that the only possible responses to such a question are: yes, no, I can’t recall or I don’t know, for this is not the time for a speech. Stephen, not being a cautious man, made a speech instead…

His speech is recorded in 7:2-33. In it, he recounts the long history of Israel, beginning with Abraham and the Patriarchs, and continuing through the Prophets and ending with charges of his own leveled directly at the very Sanhedrin before whom he stood: They, like their ancestors, had murdered the One whom their God had sent to them, for they did not care to hear God’s message − and they went mad with rage.

Scholars, teachers and preachers have told this story in many ways, some focusing on the academic aspects of Stephen’s words and theology, others centering on the presence and work of the Spirit in the story, and many others have taken various other tacts to suit the present needs of their students or congregations, and I would not presume to criticize any of these approaches. Yet it strikes me that there is something at work in this case that deserves mention and which is often overlooked, which is the fact that Stephen, in his speech, that was so unwise by human standards, is actually playing a divinely inspired role as a prophet, as he leveled God’s indictment upon the very men who were responsible for the murder of His Son.

As a reminder, the prophets of old were sent to the people to bring God’s message; they were His messengers. Those minor and major prophets of the Old Testament were bringing a message of indictment, playing the role we might say, of a prosecuting attorney, letting the people know just exactly what God saw that was objectionable in their conduct of His Nation; they were not merely there to predict the future, as many today seem to think. Thus, if we look at Stephen’s words in Acts 7, we cannot help but recognize a prophet at work, and just as with the prophets of old, the leaders of the people who were at fault for what was going on, went out of their minds with rage.

There is nothing new under the sun.

We might also note that nobody in this august group of great men even stopped to consider that their Roman overlords might object to their execution of Stephen without Roman approval. They were so desperate to silence the truth Stephen had spoken to them, they acted impulsively, and the persecution of the Church began, and along with it, the rising of political tensions between the Jews and the Romans that would ultimately result in the complete destruction not only of the their beloved Temple, but of the ceremonial practices of the Old Covenant that Jesus had already made utterly obsolete. In the process, the preaching of the Gospel would also be forced outside of Jerusalem, and it would spread to the far corners of the earth, just as God had planned it, with the eternal irony that the very Jewish leaders, who were acting to silence the Good News, caused its spread.

Acts 6:8-15

Having mentioned his name for the first time in the previous section as one of the seven to be placed over the widows’ ministry, Luke now turns to the story of Stephen. It would appear that Stephen had been doing great work in his ministry, even including wondrous signs among the people, and a certain group of Jews became unhappy with his God-inspired work. Here, for the first time, Luke tells of opposition that had not come from the priests or the teachers of the Law, but this time from among the people.

The source of the opposition was certain members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen, which in those days was a center of Jewish social, educational and cultural life. The Freedmen were emancipated slaves, or their descendants from provinces in North Africa and Asia Minor, thus they were Hellenistic Jews. The synagogues were largely influenced by Pharisees rather than Sadducees, who were usually more interested in temple operations than synagogic operations.

From the text, it would seem that these people had interpreted Stephen’s teaching about salvation coming from Christ alone as a repudiation of the temple and the Law… which in a certain sense it is. They debated with Stephen on these themes, and Stephen more than held his own, surprising them with the knowledge that the Spirit had given to him. So, in the end, these good folks did what any God-fearing and righteous person would do, they accused Stephen before the Sanhedrin, and gave false testimony against him.

As this criminal behavior on the part of the good and righteous men of the Synagogue of the Freedmen was taking place, everyone who looked at Stephen saw a man without a care in the world, so unconcerned was he about the proceedings, for he appeared to them to be in the very presence of God; in the realm of angels.

Acts 6:1-7

As the early church grew rapidly, conditions required that steps be taken to meet the needs that arose in the congregation; in this text we see needs, responses to needs, and two all-time firsts. The main problem that came up was ministering to the needs of widows. In these times, to become a widow was very often a complete economic disaster, for without a husband or family to provide, a woman was unable to keep body and soul together, particularly an older woman. A young widow would find a man to marry, and he would provide for her, but an older widow would often be destitute. Jewish custom had made allowances for their needs, and the early church had also done so. Yet as the church was growing so rapidly, some widows began to be overlooked and something needed to be done about it.

At the same time, there were two groups within the church which had often been in conflict in the Jewish community, the Hellenistic Jews and the Hebraic Jews. The Hellenistic Jews had adopted Greek manners and customs over the years since the conquests of Alexander the Great, and many of them had moved to Judea from widely dispersed regions of the known world. The Hebraic Jews were largely descendants of those who returned to Jerusalem after the captivity and who had retained the traditional Jewish ways. You can easily see how friction would be the result of these cultural differences, and they can be compared to differences in today’s church between traditionalist and non-traditionalist approaches to things like worship style and church organization.

The first recorded division within the church is described in 6:1 as these two groups became conflicted about the ministry to widows; apparently some Hellenistic widows had been overlooked. Notice that the apostles responded very quickly to this problem and came up with a solution: they would create the first ever ministry team comprised of seven men of high character who were to be selected by the congregation at large (6:2-4).

The apostles seem to have become stretched too thin as their preaching and ministry “of the Word” had grown, and since they were the ones who were eyewitnesses of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, they were the ones who needed to attend to it, and others were needed to handle the benevolent ministries, and the issue was promptly resolved to everyone’s satisfaction (6:5-6).

As a result, the church continued to prosper and grow rapidly; even “a large number of priests” came to believe. Sadly, Luke doesn’t give us any more specific number so that we might have an idea what “a large number” looked like…

For us today, there is a lesson here, for a problem surfaces and it was timely solved by the creation of a ministry team in which the apostles delegated some of their activities to others who had demonstrated the wisdom and maturity to handle it. We can certainly gain insight by noting that the apostles did not wring their hands in despair at the idea of delegating, nor did they assume that they were the only ones who could possibly be trusted to get the job done, nor did they allow gossip or division to continue while they asked God to send them a professional. Instead they led the community decisively, responsively and wisely, and the Kingdom prospered as a result.

Yet, there were storm clouds on the horizon…

Acts 5:34-42

With the apostles standing before the Sanhedrin, having just infuriated everyone to the point of murder, something happens that is surprising to say the least. The greatest of the Pharisees in those days was a man named Gamaliel. He was highly respected by all, had descended from a line of Pharisaic superstars and was the greatest of the teachers of the law; most scholars believe that he was the mentor of a fellow called Saul of Tarsus, whom we will meet soon in Luke’s narrative.  Right at the moment of greatest fury, Gamaliel rises to speak…

He reminds the Sanhedrin that there have been false teachers before, and that they soon run out of steam and then are gone, for their teaching comes from men (5:35-37). After citing a couple of names, he comes to his point:

Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (5:38-39)

His argument carried the day; the high priest ordered the apostles flogged, gave them another warning and let them go. Luke mentions this almost as though it were nothing, but let’s remember that they would at minimum be scarred for life after this, and over the years many who received 39 lashes died from infection of the resulting wounds; this was no small matter, and as a result, the apostles rejoiced!

Upon release, they continued their teaching, even going from house to house in flagrant disregard of the Sanhedrin’s warning, for they were, at the leading of the Holy Spirit, moving forward with their purpose to do God’s will (5:41-42).

Soon, the Good News would spread into the surrounding regions…

When Peter and John had first appeared before the Sanhedrin (4:1-22), they were not guilty of any particular offense against the Jewish leadership, but this time they were guilty of continuing to preach Christ after they had been ordered to cease and desist. In addition, there was the matter of their little escape from custody; surely the Twelve had cause for concern, and ample reason to be very careful about what they said.

The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” (5:27-28)

So, here is the scene: They have been brought forward to be questioned by the high priest in front of the full leadership, only the high priest has no questions for them; look at what he said, there was no question asked at all. Any lawyer would tell the apostles to remain silent at this point.

The high priest, rather than ask a question, has made accusation without asking a question which I would suggest is a rather ominous sign that he has already made up his mind about what happens next. In fact, his accusation that the apostles have acted in disobedience to his previous command is accurate, for they have most assuredly disobeyed his order to cease and desist. Of course, there is a rather humorous note to all of this when he accuses the apostles of being “determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood” which of course everyone in the room knows that they are guilty of.

If you were in the apostles’ sandals, what would you do at this point?

Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” (5:29-32)

Well, “in for a penny, in for a pound” as the saying goes; Peter and the others fire a full broadside at their attackers, who by the way are also their judges. That they must obey God and not humans is about the equivalent of telling the court that it lacks competent jurisdiction to judge them, not usually a wise assertion for a defendant to make. Then, they make their assertion that the Jewish leaders were in fact guilty of Jesus’ blood, which in this instance would be essentially a guilty plea considering what they’ve been accused of. Finally, they claim that Jesus sits at the right hand of Almighty God and is ready to forgive the Jewish leaders of their sins if they will only repent of their misdeeds.

At this point, we must remember who these leaders are; they consider themselves the most righteous and holy of all Creation, they keep the Law of God best of all, just ask them. Forgiveness − they don’t need forgiveness; they keep the Law.

At this point, we must come to grips with the real facts of the matter, which are that the apostles have only just begun to carry out their Commission from our Lord, and that Commission is God’s eternal purpose to build up a Body of believers on the earth. As long as the apostles still have work to do on the earth, no human authority is going to stop them.

Yet if we look upon this scene from an earthly perspective, the apostles are doomed:

When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. (5:33)

It was now time for God to make His next move…