Philip in Samaria: Courage, Conviction, and the Spread of the Gospel
Acts 8:1-8: Philip in Samaria,
The death of Stephen triggered an outbreak of persecution which compelled the Christians to scatter and to seek safety in the remoter districts of the country such as Judea and Samaria. This was providential in the sense that it helped to spread the good news about Jesus far and wide. It is well worth noting that Saul, a fanatical pharisee, who would later become the apostle to the Gentiles, was among those who not only approved of the stoning of Stephen, he also persecuted the followers of Jesus in a systematic and brutal way and had them imprisoned. There are two especially interesting points in this short section. The apostles stood firm. Others might flee, but they braved whatever dangers might come in Jerusalem; and they did this for two reasons. Firstly, through the strengthening power of the Spirit they were men of courage. Secondly, they were men motivated by deep conviction. Christians they might be, but there was something about them that won the respect of all. The beauty and the power of the lives of the apostles was so impressive that, even at a time of persecution, the authorities hesitated to lay their hands upon them.
At this point Luke introduces us to Philip. He appears in the New Testament as one of the seven Hellenistic men chosen by the apostles to serve the growing Christian community in Jerusalem. They were appointed to ensure fair distribution of food and resources so the apostles could focus on preaching. Philip is listed second after Stephen, which may indicate his prominence. Because of this role, he is often called Philip the Deacon, though later in the New Testament he is referred to as “Philip the Evangelist” (Acts 21:8). We are told that during the dispersion, Philip went to Samaria. His message was about a God who was not confined to a particular place or people. Like Stephen, he had a more catholic, universal point of view. Philip probably visited a city in Samaria which was near Mount Gerizim, the holy mountain of the Samaritans. They claimed descent from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Levi, seeing themselves as the true preservers of ancient Israel’s faith. Their origins trace back to the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom (722 BC), after which remaining Israelites intermarried with foreign settlers. This mixed population developed into the Samaritan people. They accepted only the Pentateuch (first five books of Moses) as Scripture. They rejected the rest of the Hebrew Bible and all later Jewish traditions. Their central sanctuary was Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem. They believed this was the true place chosen by God for worship. It is worth recalling that Jesus said in no uncertain terms to the Samaritan woman as the well, “You Samaritans do not really know whom you worship; but we Jews know whom we worship, because it is from the Jews that salvation comes” (Jn 4:22). Their religion emphasized strict observance of Mosaic law, a hereditary priesthood, and pilgrimage festivals—especially Passover. Jews viewed Samaritans as ethnically mixed and religiously compromised. So, it was significant that Philip wanted to evangelise the Samaritans.
It is worth noting that Luke sees the Acts as the story of the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the world. Philip’s ministry meant that the gospel was spreading to the heretical Jews. Soon it would move out to the Gentiles in the person of the centurion Cornelious and his household. From the point of view of evangelization it is well worth noting that Philip’s proclamation of the kerygma was associated with deeds of power such as exorcism and healing, both of which were mentioned in Mk 16:16 which recounts how Jesus said to the apostles before his ascension to his Father, “believers will be given the power to perform miracles, they will drive out demons.”
It is interesting to note that when he talked about the proclamation of the Gospel, which comes from God, St Thomas Aquinas said in his commentary on 1 Cor 12:8-10, “But matters pertaining to the teaching of salvation cannot be confirmed or proved by reason, because they transcend human reason . . . They are confirmed or proved by a divine sign. . . Which is based on something God alone can do, such as miracle, which the Apostle here distinguishes into two kinds. For he says first: to another is given the gift of healing . . . Secondly, he says: To another the working of miracles, by which a person is persuaded solely by the greatness of the deed.” In his Summa Theologica, St Thomas said, “The knowledge a prophet receives from God, must be communicated to others through the gifts of utterance, and that utterance must be confirmed as believable by the working of miracles: God confirming the message with attendant signs.” Although he wasn’t an apostle, this is what Philip did. Modern evangelizers should aspire to do the same.
