Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends and welcome to the weekend!
Because I’m preparing this edition of “Walking with Jesus” a few days ahead, I wonder what the news headlines from around the world will be on this weekend as we enter this new month of May? Yesterday we considered the public murder of Stephen, one of the 7 selected to care for the practical needs of widows and others, in the great ‘spiritual movement’ which was gaining great momentum in Jerusalem, in the weeks and months following Jesus’ return to heaven. Stephen was stoned to death under the watchful and approving eye of several religious leaders in Jerusalem who were totally opposed to anything related to Jesus.
Acts 8:1 introduces us to a man who from that moment forward was going to quickly rise to become the most prominent figure in this “Jesus movement”, even though at that moment he was totally opposed to it. Luke writes: “Saul was there, giving his approval to Stephen’s death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at 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 men and women and put them in prison.” (Acts 8:1-3) It’s only one brief paragraph but oh my, the significance of this paragraph in history!
We later learn this man Saul was from Tarsus and a very zealous Jewish student who became one of the Pharisees. (Gal. 1:13-23; Phil. 3:4,5) It’s probably safe for us to assume Saul had seen Jesus, heard Him speak, perhaps even seen a miracle or two, especially in the last few months of Jesus’ earthly life. Especially when Jesus was there in Jerusalem. While we don’t know for sure, it seems Saul may have been part of the Sanhedrin, or at least he was a rising star on track to become part of the Sanhedrin. Here in this paragraph in Acts 8 Saul was evidently given some oversight authority for the execution of Stephen, and then authority to lead a purging of Christians in Jerusalem! It was a vicious, violent, ruthless effort by Saul and the Sanhedrin to rid Jerusalem, Israel, Palestine and the entire Roman empire from any presence of Jesus followers or Jesus’ teachings!
Please notice the word “church“ is used not once but twice in this paragraph, in Acts 8. Jesus had introduced that word to describe His followers, who He knew would become what I’ve been calling a ‘spiritual movement’. Jesus had said “I will build My church and the gates of Hades will not prevail.” (Matt. 16:18) This word ‘church‘ in English is the word ‘ekklesia’ in Greek, which is the language Luke used for writing both his Gospel and this book of Acts. ‘Ekklesia’ means ‘called out people’. It’s a beautiful description of the mission of Jesus. Jesus, God the Son, came to earth to ‘call people out’ of the darkness of their deep confusion resulting from their rejection of God. Also, to ‘call people out’ of their bondage to sin and wickedness.
But Jesus did much more than simply ‘call people out’, Jesus made it possible, by His death and resurrection, for people to be rescued from their darkness as their minds and hearts were illuminated by God’s truth, as explained by Jesus! He made it possible for them to leave their bondage to sin and wickedness, as Jesus broke the stronghold of sin and set them free! Jesus also made it possible for people to be ransomed from their eternal sin condemnation, and be given the assurance of eternal life with God in heaven! Yes, Jesus verbally called people to trust Him and follow Him out of the darkness, but Jesus also made their rescue and ransom possible by His death and resurrection. Thus as the apostles proclaimed this good news, the Gospel of Jesus, people by the thousands were finding it to be true in their lives, as they trusted and followed Jesus! Jesus’ ‘church‘ was born and rapidly growing, and His church was standing strong against all opposition, despite the imprisonment and flogging of the apostles, and now the bloody, stoning execution of Stephen! Jesus was building His church, a great ‘spiritual movement, just as He had promised.
But Saul and others were determined and impassioned to silence this ‘church‘, persecute this ‘church‘ and eventually destroy this ‘church of Jesus‘ in Jerusalem, and anywhere else it could be found. In great fear the people scattered, running to nearby towns and villages, where they likely had friends and family, to escape the unbridled violence and religious cleansing Saul was leading. Of course this vicious treatment of followers of Jesus has not ceased since that day. In recent years it has been particularly evident in places like the Sudan, Yemen, parts of India and China just to name a few. Christians have experienced exactly what Acts 8 describes and yet Jesus’ promise prevails, as His church continues to grow despite great opposition.
With one brief but powerful paragraph Luke describes what the Holy Spirit did as Christians fled for their lives from Jerusalem. And this too is happening in our day, all around the world, where great persecution is unleashed against followers of Jesus. Luke wrote: “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many people and many paralytics and cripples were healed. So there was great joy in that city.” (Acts 8:4-8)
It shouldn’t be difficult for us to imagine this. Philip was unknown in that town, as far as we know, yet it didn’t take long for word to spread of what Philip was doing in helping people, and what he was proclaiming as a passionate follower of Jesus. We believe Philip to be one of those 7 in Acts 6:5, just as Stephen was, thus Philip was filled with the Holy Spirit of God and wisdom. As he spoke of Jesus and did the amazing things the Holy Spirit led him to do, the power of the Holy Spirit unleashed in Philip was clearly evident, and crowds assembled, and then spread the word of amazing things God was doing, and a ‘spiritual movement’ was launching in that Samaritan city, as it had been in Jerusalem!
We see some of the Spirit empowered miracles named by Luke. Demons bound and expelled from people, illnesses healed etc. And then this great summary statement: “So there was great joy in that city.” My friends, that statement begs the question of all of us, doesn’t it? Are there people like Philip in your city and mine? People who know Jesus, are filled by the Holy Spirit of God and wisdom, are led to speak and do amazing things by the Spirit of God, and are thereby impacting the city in a significant way? If so, can you name those people, do you know them? What is it about them that is causing the stir in your city? Are you one of those people like Philip? What is the Holy Spirit doing IN you to use you in such a way for the glory of Jesus? How is Jesus building a ‘spiritual movement’ in your city?
If you look over your city and conclude, ‘No, sorry, I don’t see any evidence of a person like Philip in my city. I don’t see any such spiritual movement happening in my city. I must admit, I don’t even see the ‘great joy’ in my city that Luke reports was in Philip’s town.” If those are words you can say, my friends, may I ask WHY? As you evaluate your city and the history of your city as you know it, I’m sure there are several churches in your city, right? So what’s missing? Why is Acts 8:8 not true of your city or mine?
May I invite us all to spend time, maybe significant time this weekend…wherever you live in the world, and look closely at your city, the history of your city, the churches of your city, the “Christians” of your city. And ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand why Acts 8:8 is not true of your city? If you desire, I’d love to hear from you… what is Jesus’ assessment of the spiritual condition of your city? And… what do you think Jesus would like to do in the future of your city to fulfill His promise: “I will build My church and the gates of Hades will not prevail…”
What will it take friends? In what generation will it begin… those older ones among us who’ve known Jesus for decades, or those in their middle years busy with family and jobs, or maybe among the younger ones with hope filled hearts? No matter who it is, it will require a great moving of the Holy Spirit of God among a hungry, desperate people...right? Do you know some people like that? Here’s a song which may help you consider your city at this time in history:
Today’s Scripture is Acts 8:1-8.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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