Grappling with the Word

Acts 8:9-25

⁹But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great.

¹⁰They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.”

¹¹And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.

¹²But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

¹³Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

¹⁴Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John,

¹⁵who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,

¹⁶for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁷Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,

¹⁹saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!

²¹You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

²²Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.

²³For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.”

²⁴And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

²⁵Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

I’ll just admit it up front and we can move forward from there. This passage is filled with questions for me. Who is this guy? He seems to “believe” and then he doesn’t? And why didn’t the Holy Spirit come in the baptism performed by Phillip? “And pray to the Lord that, if possible, … you may be forgiven.” What? If forgiveness is possible? See what I mean – questions.

So for me the answer is to allow for questions to remain unanswered and grapple with the text as best as possible. First let’s deal with Simon. He’s called a magician. That could mean a couple of different things. He may have been a simple illusionist, such as we see on TV today. There’s nothing supernatural happening in these magic tricks. It’s sleight of hand and distraction. Or, he could have been connected with evil and have actual powers such as the magicians in the court of the Pharaoh back in the book of Exodus. Either way he had the people convinced that he had powers and they held him in the high position of one having been sent from God. We track with Simon throughout the story as he is amazed by the display of power at the hands of Phillip as he heals people and casts out demons. Simon recognizes true power when he sees it and the text reports that he becomes a believer himself. When Peter and John show up (we will need to discuss that later) Simon wants to buy into their power source. Clearly he doesn’t truly understand what is going on here at all. The buying and selling of church offices and favored positions in the ministry came to be known as simony. The word comes from the name of this man who tried to buy a share in the apostolic ministry. What happens to Simon after this remains a mystery for he is never mentioned again in the Scriptures.

Now, Peter and John hear of the work of Phillip in Samaria and go there to check out the situation for themselves. What they find is that the Samaritans are indeed embracing the Gospel and they have been baptized by Phillip. But they have not received the Holy Spirit. Honestly, I stumble here. I don’t have a good answer for this situation. In every other baptism story in Acts we find that the Holy Spirit arrives with baptism. He is not limited to baptism but it is a doorway for the Holy Spirit to enter a life. Clearly, the Lord wanted Peter and John to come to Samaria for they needed to see for themselves that the Gospel goes to ALL people, not just the Jews. These two men were instrumental in moving the church forward just as Jesus had commanded upon His Ascension. So maybe this was so that their eyes could be opened to the global impact of their message.

Obviously, I have not provided answers to these questions. They still remain. And that’s okay. If I knew it all I wouldn’t have to study anymore and that would be a sad day indeed. There is a little excitement in the idea that this passage continues to need attention and meditation. That’s how it’s supposed to be! So I will stand before the throne with this Word in my hands and ask God for more clarification and a deeper understanding. Looks like it will be a good day.