Jewish? Disciples.

Pete Kersker - May 25, 2026

"...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8 NIV).

Jesus told his disciples (students) that they would tell others about him, starting in Jerusalem. That began starting at the following Pentecost festival. The Jewish people at that festival learned that Jesus is the Messiah they had all been anticipating.

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food (Acts 6:1 NIV).

Even though they were all Jewish, there were divisions among these new disciples (students) of Jesus. Some of them were raised to be culturally Jewish, learning the Hebrew language and all their customs. Some of them, though, had adopted the Greek culture from the people around them.  These Hellenistic Jews had the Scriptures translated into the Greek and even adopted other parts of Greek culture. Now, they were all disciples (students) of Jesus, but with a dividing line between them.

And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1 NIV).

Stephen was put to death, becoming the first martyr for following Jesus as his Lord. The resulting persecution spread the disciples (students) out to Judea and Samaria. Samaritans were "Jewish" also. However, their fellow Jews didn't always see it that way.

Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city (Acts 8:5-8 NIV).

Samaria became significant in a time when the Israelite nation split into a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom. The king of the north didn't want his people travelling to Jerusalem in the south, so he established both political and religious hubs in the north. One of those hubs was Samaria. The northern kingdom quickly fell away from faithfully following the LORD. In Jesus' day, then, the Jews of the southern kingdom, especially those who were raised with Hebrew as their language and culture, considered Samaritans to be liberal and even sinful. In general, Samaritans were to be avoided.

But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women (Acts 8:12 NIV).

These three groups, the Samaritans, Hellenistic, and Hebraic Jews, did not see eye to eye. Their cultures and religious practices divided them. Some of them wouldn't even associate with one another. This was all about to change, though, because they were all becoming Christ followers. Now they needed to come together as one group of disciples (students).

Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers (Acts 9:31 NIV).

Did you know that the Jewish people of Jesus' day were this divided?
How do you think they overcame these differences once they became Christ-followers?

Do you overcome your differences with other disciples (students) of Jesus? How?