⁵Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. ⁶The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. ⁷For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. ⁸So there was much rejoicing in that city.

Paul was introduced to us at the beginning of this chapter as the catalyst of the first expansion of the Christian movement, beyond Jerusalem and Judea and now into Samaria. This follows the broad outline of Acts 1:8. We will see Saul again in chapter 9, describing his conversion and early ministry, but then not much about him again until chapter 13, where he becomes the central character in the story of Christianity’s spread.

Luke’s focus now shifts to the gospel going into the Samaritan and Gentile worlds. This was such a profound break with Jewish culture and traditions that it needed extra attention to demonstrate. This was going to rattle not only the Jewish detractors, but also the Christian believers. So Luke first addresses the gospel going to the Samaritans (who were hated by the Jews) and then, after Paul’s conversion, the detailed record of how God moved the apostle Peter to bring the gospel to the Gentiles (chapters 10–11).

Although Samaria was north of Judea, anywhere away from Jerusalem was considered “down.” Philip, another of the seven servants of Acts 6, went to the “mixed-breed” Samaritans (a race that came about as a result of intermarriage between Jews with Gentiles). The results were amazing, with evil spirits being cast out, crippled people healed, and many other miraculous signs. The people were overjoyed and came out in droves to see and hear Philip.

God was using miraculous healings to meet the people’s physical needs (or as some would term it, their “felt” needs). These works by Philip were not conjured up, not psychosomatic, and they were not the machinations of a charlatan. Philip’s clearly stated goal, as recorded here, was to “proclaim Christ.” The response of the people was first to the message; the miracles were secondary. Luke writes that they “saw” those things after they attended to the message. As the author of Hebrews wrote, “[The Word] was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will” (Heb 2:3b–4). God may or may not use attention-getting miracles, but He will direct people to the message. Miracles don’t change lives; the message of the Word changes lives.

Lord, I don’t want to seek miracles but seek the true, unaltered Word of God.