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02 Acts 08 05-08 PHILIP PREACHES IN SAMARIA 01 Acts 08 05 United under the Kingship of Jesus
📖 Acts 08:05-08
01 – 17Dec2023 – *United under the Kingship of Jesus* - _Acts 08:05-08_ - PHILIP PREACHES IN SAMARIA – _Acts 01:08/Acts 08:01_
_Acts 8:5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them._
It is important to note that in the mandate given to the church in _Act 1:8_, Samaria is included in the list of places where the disciples were called to be witnesses. _But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."_ Samaria has been included in this list in purpose and the purpose is thrilling to understand.
The Lord had commanded the twelve not to go to the cities of Samaria. _Matthew 10:5-6 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "*Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.* (6) But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel._ The Lord had also told them not to go to the Gentiles but only to the people of Israel, the Jews.
This brings us back to the pivotal understanding that the Lord had chosen His people to be His representatives to the whole world. God’s character had to be manifested through them. _Exodus 19:5-6 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. (6) And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."_
The Lord Jesus came to His own. _John 1:11 *He came to His own*, and His own did not receive Him._
We know that our Lord Himself went to Samaria and many in Samaria believed in Him. _John 4:42 Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."_
We can thus construe that the Gospel had to reach the people of Samaria, though, for a season in the Lord’s ministry, the Gospel of His kingdom had to remain with the Jews. The Gospel is of His kingdom but the core of the Gospel is His death, burial, and resurrection. This was for the Jews to decipher first since they were exposed to the Scriptures every Sabbath.
Understanding the core and the manifestation of the Gospel, which is His kingdom, it was for the Jews to take the message of the Gospel to the rest of the world. The disciples were now entrusted to take the message of the Gospel of His kingdom to the ends of the earth and they must surely take the message to Samaria.
For the disciples, to take the Gospel to Samaria would require them to go through a conversion of their attitude towards Samaritans.
Why did the Jews look down on the Samaritans?
Not all the Jews were carried off during the Babylonian captivity. The king of Assyria brought mixed races of people from Babylon and had them live in Samaria. _II Kings 17:24 Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities._
These people of mixed descent married the Jews who were left behind during the captivity. The Samaritans were no longer a pure Jewish race.
Seventy years later, when the Jews returned, the Samaritans came to help rebuild Jerusalem. The Jews called them "half-breeds" and sent them home. The Samaritans built their own temple which the Jews considered pagan. The Jews hold that God chose Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and Samaritans believe He chose Mount Gerizim near Shechem.
The matter of the place of worship of God had deeper historical roots. Immediately after the division of Israel and Judah, Jeroboam changed the worship of the Israelites in _I Kings 12:25-33_. No longer did the inhabitants of the north (Israel) travel to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice and worship _(Deuteronomy 12:5-14)_. Instead, Jeroboam set up idols in Dan and Bethel. The people of Samaria chose Mount Gerizim as their place for worship of God. _Deuteronomy 27:11-12 And Moses commanded the people on the same day, saying, (12) “These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin;
Eventually, the religion of the Samaritans evolved to the point that they held only the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) as being the law of God, rejecting all the books of poetry and prophecy. Furthermore, they claimed their copy of the Pentateuch was the only original copy. This was/is a claim rejected by the Jews.
The feud between the Jews and the Samaritans grew, and by the time of Christ, the Jews hated the Samaritans to such an extent that they crossed the Jordan River rather than travel through Samaria.
Now, due to the persecution, the church fled to all the regions of Judea as well as to all the cities of Samaria. _Acts 8:1 Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and *they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria*, except the apostles._
The persecution of the church caused another long-standing hurdle to be overcome and God’s kingdom was being established by the church. ```Under the kingship of Jesus, we are all reconciled.```