But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women. Acts 8:12, NIV

 

Those of you who are regular readers of Verse-a-day might remember that in our June series, I wrote about how glad the apostles were when they heard the good news about the Samaritans, who also accepted the good news about Jesus Christ. Today, we go back in time a bit to see how it happened that the Samaritans believed the word about Jesus. What did Philip tell them about Jesus and where did it start?

 

It all began with the heavy persecution of the church in Jerusalem, in which Paul played an important role. As a result of this persecution, all the members of the church, except the apostles, were scattered all over Judea and Samaria. One of them was Philip. This was not the apostle Philip, but Philip the deacon. He was one of the seven deacons chosen, as described in Acts 6:1-7. We read that a prerequisite for the office of deacon was that they were to be men full of the Spirit and full of wisdom.

 

Philip, therefore, full of the Spirit of God came to a Samaritan city where he immediately started proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. He encountered some competition in a person called Simon. The people in that city held Simon in great esteem, as he hoodwinked them by what they perceived to be magic. However, even he was not able to resist the powerful message of the kingdom of God. In God’s kingdom, real miracles happened when evil spirits were driven out, and paralytics and cripples were healed.

 

The kingdom of God, as proclaimed by Philip, was about the establishment of God’s power over evil powers and different illnesses. People were drawn by what they heard and what they saw. Thus, they started believing and were baptised. To God be the glory.

 

Prayer: Lord we pray that you will make us understand, every day, how powerful your kingdom is. Amen