Friday 18 January 2008

Background

The scattering of the Christians after Jesus's death,resurrection and ascension led to the most significant step forwardin the mission of the Church.

As the Christians moved to new areas they found a ready response tothe gospel from the Samaritans. The preaching of Philip in the cityof Samaria was accompanied by the kinds of signs which had beenseen in both the ministry of Jesus and the Apostles.

The Samaritans were a people whom the Jews cordially hated andregarded as heretical and the feeling of hostility was mutual. Tothe Jews, the Samaritans were not Gentiles, but part of the 'losthouse of Israel', as some Samaritans claimed to be descendants ofIsraelites who escaped deportation during the Assyrian exile of722BC.

Behind this story we glimpse the overcoming of the hostilitybetween the Jews and Samaritans through their common faith inJesus. This was perhaps all the more remarkable since the people towhom Philip was preaching had previously been under the spell of aman known as Simon Magus - a magician who in early Christianliterature became infamous as a Gnostic heretic (a follower of apopular religious sect around the time of Jesus).

To Ponder

We cannot shy away from the reality of differentemphases and interpretations of the Christian faith. How can wefind ways of honouring one another in light of this?

How do we set an example of celebratingdifference in our communities?