Let the Walls Fall Down
The Falling of a Wall
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. — Acts 8:5
Do any walls bisect your world? There you stand on one side. And on the other? The teen with the tats. The boss with the bucks. The immigrant with the hard-to-understand accent. Or the Samaritans outside Jerusalem.
Talk about a wall, ancient and tall. “Jews,” as John wrote in his gospel, “refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans” (John 4:9 NLT).
Jesus, however, played by a different set of rules. He spent the better part of a day on the turf of a Samaritan woman (John 4:1-26). He stepped across the cultural taboo as if it were a sleeping dog in the doorway.
Jesus loves to break down walls.
That’s why he sent Philip to Samaria (Acts 8:5-7, Acts 8:12). And when the city broke out into a revival, both men and women were baptized. Peter and John heard about the response and traveled to Samaria to confirm it.
Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. — Acts 8:15–17
But why hadn’t the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit when they were first baptized? Why delay the gift?
Simple. To celebrate the falling of a wall. The gospel, for the first time, was breaching an ancient bias. God marked the moment with a ticker-tape parade of sorts. He rolled out the welcome mat and sent His apostles to verify the revival and place hands on the Samaritans.
Let any doubt be gone: God accepts all people.
~Outlive Your Life
Excerpted from God Is With You Every Day by Max Lucado.
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. — Acts 8:5
Do any walls bisect your world? There you stand on one side. And on the other? The teen with the tats. The boss with the bucks. The immigrant with the hard-to-understand accent. Or the Samaritans outside Jerusalem.
Talk about a wall, ancient and tall. “Jews,” as John wrote in his gospel, “refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans” (John 4:9 NLT).
Jesus, however, played by a different set of rules. He spent the better part of a day on the turf of a Samaritan woman (John 4:1-26). He stepped across the cultural taboo as if it were a sleeping dog in the doorway.
Jesus loves to break down walls.
That’s why he sent Philip to Samaria (Acts 8:5-7, Acts 8:12). And when the city broke out into a revival, both men and women were baptized. Peter and John heard about the response and traveled to Samaria to confirm it.
Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. — Acts 8:15–17
But why hadn’t the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit when they were first baptized? Why delay the gift?
Simple. To celebrate the falling of a wall. The gospel, for the first time, was breaching an ancient bias. God marked the moment with a ticker-tape parade of sorts. He rolled out the welcome mat and sent His apostles to verify the revival and place hands on the Samaritans.
Let any doubt be gone: God accepts all people.
~Outlive Your Life
Excerpted from God Is With You Every Day by Max Lucado.
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