In Acts 7, Stephen offers his defense before his Jewish accusers by recounting much of Jewish history. They listened to Stephen until he got to the part about Jesus being the Messiah. Then they stoned Stephen to death. We’re told as this was taking place, a young man named Saul was watching over their coats and nodding with approval. This young Saul was soon to have his own encounter with Jesus as we will see tomorrow!
Acts 8 tells us after Stephen’s death a great persecution broke out against the church. Much of it was led by Saul. The good news in the midst of the persecution was it forced the believers to leave Jerusalem. Phillip went first to Samaria, where he led people to trust Jesus as Savior and Lord. One of the new converts was a “sorcerer” name Simon. Peter came over from Jerusalem when he heard the news and when they laid hands on the Samaritans, they received the Holy Spirit! This was big news, because the Samaritans had been considered “half-breeds” by the Jews. We’re also told Phillip witnessed to an Ethiopian eunuch, who received the good news with great joy, and was baptized immediately. The Holy Spirit took Phillip away to another place after this.
As we return to Matthew 3, we read of John the Baptist’s ministry and his baptizing Jesus. The chapter is short, but it sets the stage for Jesus’ entire ministry. John’s proclamation was, “Repent! (or turn away from your sins and back to God) The Kingdom of God is at hand. This would become Jesus’ message as well. While John and Jesus were radically different in their methods, their message was the same.