Ep 400 – Acts 8:14-25

One of the greatest barriers the gospel faced in the early days of the church was the spirit of animosity that existed between the Jews and all those they considered Gentiles, or non-Jews. As the church began to grow and the gospel began to spread outside the confines of Jerusalem and Judea, more and more Gentiles were coming to faith in Christ. One of the first groups to be reached were the Samaritans, and this particular audience raised some critical concerns among the Jewish disciples. Samaritans were considered half-breeds by the Jews, because they were descendants of Jews who had intermarried with pagans hundreds of years earlier. They were still God-worshipers, but were viewed as damaged goods by the Jewish Christians. And yet, here was God opening up the door of the gospel to these very people, and they were going to respond in great numbers. This left the church having to deal with what appeared to be a conundrum. How would they treat these newfound brothers and sisters in Christ? Would they accept them or continue to view them as second-class citizens? One of the greatest miracles to happen in the early days of the church was not speaking tongues, but the unification of those who had long held each other in contempt. The Spirit of God was building the church, creating a new family out of those who had nothing more in common than their shared faith in Christ. And it would be their growing love for one another that truly set the church apart and gave proof that they were disciples of Jesus.