At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. Acts 8:1b–5
The events of the eighth chapter of Luke’s documentary of the early church find their setting at the beginning of a campaign of intense persecution against Christians in Jerusalem. For now this persecution was directed solely under the auspices of the high priest and his subordinates, but it would not be long until the civil authorities joined in as well (Acts 12). Before this persecution, few Christians strayed far from Jerusalem, but at its outbreak the disciples scattered everywhere, carrying the gospel with them.
Everywhere the gospel went, peace went with it. In Edward Gibbons’ classic work on the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, the author tells how the olive tree “followed the progress of peace, of which it was considered as the symbol.” When Rome established its authority in the western world and ended the constant fighting that ravaged most of Europe and west Asia for generations, people began to cultivate this “useful plant,” as well as others like it, and the quality of people’s lives dramatically improved. When Jewish Christians like Philip brought the gospel into Samaria, the hatred that had existed for more than 700 years began to subside. The gospel crossed racial lines when Philip preached Jesus to the man from Ethiopia (Acts 8:27). Paul affirmed that the gospel had the power not only to make peace between Jew and Gentile, but even to take the two and make them one (Ephesians 2:14–18). The peace that Rome brought would not last forever, but the peace that accompanies the gospel is one that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7) and never fades away.
The gospel brought more than liberty from old prejudices. For the Samaritans, it brought victory over deceit which had been perpetrated on them for years by Simon the sorcerer (Acts 8:9–11). For the Ethiopian it brought liberty from the ignorance that vexed him as he read the enigmatic words of Isaiah (vv 30–35). For some it brought freedom from physical suffering (v 7), and for many more it brought freedom from spiritual anguish (vv 12, 35–38), not to mention a fountain of indescribable joy (vv 8, 39).
Whether you are looking for peace, liberty from your bondage to sin, answers to your questions, victory over your fears and shortcomings, or a joy that has real substance, you can find it in the gospel. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, your level of education, the color of your skin, or the value of your bank account: the gospel is for you! Paul said that he was not ashamed of the gospel, because it is “the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). The gospel still has the power to save you today. Will you accept it?