Dr Paul Allen

The book of Acts is a favorite of preachers, so you are likely familiar with the showdown in Acts 8:9–24 between Peter and Simon the Magician. Luke tells us that Simon had practiced his magic in a city in Samaria where he had been hailed as “God’s Great Power.” Simon heard the gospel preached by Philip and believed, but later, after Peter’s arrival, he tried to purchase the power of the Holy Spirit from Peter. His name consequently has not been remembered for any great deeds, but for the payment of money for church office (“simony”). But is that all there is to the story? Hardly. Don’t look away now or you’ll miss what’s behind the magic. Simon, God’s Great Power Let’s look at how a first-century audience would have comprehended the episode in its Samaritan setting. That Simon was referred to by the people of the Samaritan city as “God’s Great Power” is significant. That title comes from the Samaritan Targum—an Aramaic translation of the Samaritan Hebrew Bible, known as the Sama...

Jesus sat and spoke to a Samaritan woman in John 4 and it was an interesting conversation.  “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.m 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,n but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is comingp when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ)“ is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”   The New International Version. (2011). (Jn 4...

English: Christ and the woman of Samaria at Jacob's Well (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, 'How is it that you, a Jew , ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?' (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)" ( John 4 :7-9) In John 4:7-9, Jesus crossed three barriers. The first was that which separated Samaritans from Jews. In the eighth century BC, the Assyrian Empire conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and deported the Israelites who lived there. In their place, the Assyrians brought other peoples to populate the land (see 2 Kings 17:24). These Gentiles sought to worship both the gods of their homelands and the local deity, the God of the Israelites, so they mixed the religions. This was a grave offense to the Jews, and over the centuries their hatred only grew as the Samari...

Christ and the Samaritan woman  (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, 'How is it that you, a Jew , ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?' (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)" ( John 4 :7-9) In John 4:7-9, Jesus crossed three barriers.  The first was that which separated Samaritans from Jews. In the eighth century BC, the Assyrian Empire conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and deported the Israelites who lived there. In their place, the Assyrians brought other peoples to populate the land (2 Kings 17:24). These Gentiles sought to worship both the gods of their homelands and the local deity, the God of the Israelites, so they mixed the religions. This was a grave offense to the Jews, and over the centuries their hatred only grew as the Samaritans developed their o...

Appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene after resurrection, Alexander Ivanov, 1835 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Daniel 7:9–14 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him” ( v. 13 ). The title Son of Man appears in the New Testament four times outside of the Gospels . It is used for our Savior unambiguously in three places ( Acts 7:56 ; Rev. 1:13 ; 14:14 ), but whether Hebrews 2:6 intends it as a title for Jesus is debatable. Since it is Jesus’ favorite title for Himself, it seems strange that it is not found more often in the apostolic writings. Maybe the original audiences of the epistles did not know the title’s meaning as well as the Gospels’ first readers. As we continue to study the meaning of this title, we must first consider what it does not intend to convey. Popularly speaking, many Christians look at “Son of Man” as a reference to the humanity of Chr...

The Good Samaritan by Aimé Morot (1880) shows the Good Samaritan taking the injured man to the inn. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:31 A traveler was walking along a road when robbers suddenly attacked him. They tore his clothes, beat him, and left him to die. Eventually a priest walked down the same road, but when he saw the man, he passed on the other side. Later, a local man came upon the scene, but he, too, passed on the other side. Finally, a stranger from another land walked down the road, noticed the beaten man, and rushed to his aid. He bandaged the man’s wounds, helped him onto his own donkey, and transported him to an inn to take care of him. The next day he paid the innkeeper to look after the man. You are no doubt familiar with this story of the Good Samaritan ( Luke 10:30–37 ). Have your children heard it, too? Jesus told the par-able to show us who our neighbors are—everyone around us—and how we should lovingly respond to their n...

English: Christ and the woman of Samaria at Jacob's Well (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Two thousand years out, it’s easy to miss how shocking the salvation of the Samaritans would have been to the Jewish Christian community . The Samaritan people were neither Gentiles nor were they Jews ; they were a detested third entity.  The route from Jerusalem to Galilee was through the land of Samaria , but Orthodox Jews would take a much longer route, just to avoid being defiled by an “unclean” people. The Samaritans , in turn, despised the Jews, claiming the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible ) as their own but changing words and sacred places to fit themselves. In John 8:48 , the Jews, seeking to slander Jesus , accuse him of having a demon and being a Samaritan. And now we read how God scatters the young church into Judea and Samaria ( Acts 8:1–4 ). The spread of the gospel beyond the boundaries of Jerusalem may seem inevitable from our point of view, but it took tragedy...

Damian. "Jesus Christ and St. John the Apostle". A detail of the Last Supper fresco from Ubisi, Georgia (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The twelve apostles included “John” ( Matt. 10:2). Seek to maintain a proper balance between truth and love. Some people picture John as overly sentimental and egotistical, lying with his head on Jesus ’ shoulder and constantly referring to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved .” But that’s not an accurate characterization of this “Son of thunder”! He loved Jesus deeply and was amazed that Jesus loved him—especially after he wanted to burn up the Samaritans and then secure a prominent place for himself in Christ ’s Kingdom. Calling himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (e.g., John 21:20) was simply his way of marveling over God ’s grace in his life. As much as he loved Jesus, John never allowed his love to deteriorate into mere sentimentalism. In fact, the proper balance between truth and love is the hallmark of his ministry. In ...

Imagine that a counselee, parishioner, or spiritual friend came to you with the following story. “I’m struggling. I’ve been married five times. Now I’m with another man. I feel like I just have to have a man. I’m desperate and Image via Wikipedia  empty without a man in my life.” If we were ministering in the 80s and influenced by the counseling climate of the day, we might diagnose this woman with a “co-dependency issue.” Ministering in today’s counseling environment, we might determine that she has an “addiction issue.” A Worship Disorder Jesus determined that she had a worship issue. The woman, of course, is “the Samaritan woman” of John 4 . Many people miss the connection between  John 2:23-25 , John 3 , and John 4. The end of John 2 should be like a flashing neon light. “Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.” Jesus knows us universally and internally. He is the div...