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8:4 Whereas persecution resulted in the death of some believers it also dispersed the disciples over a wider area. Luke described what they did as scattered believers as "preaching the word"(Gr. euaggelizomenoi ton logon, lit. "proclaiming good news the word"). The gospel message is in view. Sometimes what appears to be very bad turns out to be very good (Matt. 16:18).
". . . the thrust of the church into its mission after the persecution of the Christian community in Jerusalem is parallel with Luke's portrayal in his Gospel of the spread of Jesus' fame after the devil's assault in the wilderness."352
"As the mission begins to move beyond Jerusalem and Judea, it is useful to distinguish two roles within it: the role of the initiatorand the role of the verifier. The apostles shift at this point from the former to the latter role. That is, their function is reduced to recognizing and confirming the work of the evangelists who bring the gospel to new areas and groups, or to working as evangelists in areas already opened for mission (cf. 8:25; 9:32-42)."353
8:5 Philip was apparently a Hellenistic Jew like Stephen. This was Philip the evangelist who was one of the Seven (cf. 6:5), not the Philip who was one of the Twelve. He travelled north from Jerusalem to Samaria. He followed Jesus' example of taking the gospel to the Samaritans (cf. John 4). The other Jews did not like the people who lived in this area and had no dealings with them (John 4:9). They regarded them as racial and religious half-breeds. They did so since their ancestors were Jews who had intermarried with the Gentiles whom the Assyrians had sent to live there following Assyria's conquest of Israel in 722 B.C. Furthermore the Samaritans had opposed the rebuilding of the temple in Ezra's day and had erected their own temple on Mt. Gerizim in competition with the temple on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. In view of Stephen's depreciation of the Jerusalem temple (7:44-50), it is not incredible to read that Philip took the gospel to Samaritans. The Samaritans accepted only the Pentateuch as authoritative and looked for a personal Messiah who would be like Moses.
We do not know exactly where Philip went because Luke did not identify the place specifically.354It was "down"from Jerusalem topographically, not geographically. Some ancient versions of Acts refer to "a city of Samaria"whereas others have "the city of Samaria."Probably "the city"is correct. This capital town stood a few miles west and a little north of Old Testament Shechem and very near New Testament Sychar (cf. John 4:5). The Old Testament city of Samaria--Sebaste was its Greek name--had been the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. Philip's willingness to preach "the Christ"(cf. v. 12) to the Samaritans demonstrates an openness that had not characterized Jesus' disciples formerly (cf. John 4:9). Sometimes God moves us out of our comfort zone because He has a job for us to do elsewhere. A whole new people-group came to faith in Christ.
8:6-8 Philip also could perform miracles like Jesus and the apostles. He cast out demons and healed paralyzed and lame people. These signs attracted the attention of multitudes of Samaritans and supported Philip's profession that God was with him. Perhaps the fact that Philip had been rejected by the Jerusalem Jews made him appealing to the Samaritans since they too had experienced rejection by those Jews. Again, deliverance brought rejoicing (cf. 2:46-47).
"It is not too difficult to imagine what would have happened had the apostles at Jerusalem first been the missioners [sic] to Samaria. Probably they would have been rebuffed, just as they were rebuffed earlier in their travels with Jesus when the Samaritans associated them with the city of Jerusalem (cf. Luke 9:51-56). But God in his providence used as their evangelist the Hellenist Philip, who shared their fate (though for different reasons) of being rejected at Jerusalem; and the Samaritans received him and accepted his message."355
