Acts 8:9-25 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 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.Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria.When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them moneyand said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. ”Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me. ”After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
In Samaria, Philip, full of the Holy Spirit, proclaimed the gospel of Jesus with signs and wonders following him. The people listened to Philip carefully because of the miracles manifested in their midst. Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did. (Acts 8:6) These miracles were important because they caused the Samaritans to stop and consider Philip’s words. Many of them were baptized (in the name of Jesus), both men and women. But Philip was not the only one in Samaria who could amaze the people with supernatural happenings. Simon was called by the Samaritans the Great Power of God. As a person dedicated to the devil, he could do many things that astounded the Samaritans. As with the magicians before Pharaoh during Moses’ time, they could imitate many of the miracles that Moses performed before Pharaoh. Sorcerers have power. When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he tempted him with things he could really do for Jesus; otherwise, he would have been merely lying to Jesus. But Jesus knew God could quell any act the devil put before him. He dismisses Satan with these words:“Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ (Matthew 4:10) Simon, a Christian in name, desired to be considered someone great in the Samaritan society. He wanted them to continue to recognize him as a man of Great Power, performing the works of God. He wanted people to come to him when seeking answers from the supernatural. Philip’s ministry was validated by miraculous signs, and many were saved, but the Samaritans had no knowledge concerning the Holy Spirit. Philip had power from the Holy Spirit; Peter and John when investigating the events in Samaria realized the people needed this power. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Simon observed these two pillars of the church laying their hands on the believers to receive the gifting of the Holy Spirit. Simon was impressed by this act of receiving the Holy Spirit through prayer. To maintain a place of deference within the Samaritan community, Simon thought it would be great if he had this power of giving people the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them moneyand said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. He knew if he had this power, he would still be considered a Great Powerof God. With this power, people would ask to receive the Holy Spirit from his hands. As with all sorcerers everywhere who dispense supernatural gifting to people for money, he could earn a good living by selling the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter’s anger raged against Simon's desire to buy the ability to give the Holy Spirit. May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.Simon still had the heart of a sorcerer; his very existence to this point came from his ability to perform supernatural acts, now he had to repent of that mindset. He beseeched Peter to pray for him: Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.
Sorcery is the work of the devil. Supernatural powers of the devil become evident in a society when people seek witchcraft and magic. The proponents of this alternate way of bringing God or supernatural events into their lives, see it as a positive, enlightening experience. However, the confusion of the demonic world brings mental anguish, fear, and suicidal thoughts as is evident in Jesus’ confrontation with Legion, a man possessed by many demons, who was violent and lived naked in a cave. Many societies in the world are saturated with demonic worship; many religions in the world combine demonic worship in their search after the living God. In these societies of darkness, the power of God has to be manifested in the ministry of Jesus Christ. We find this in the book of Acts. The church spreads into the world because of the persecution of the believers in Jerusalem. Believers fled Jerusalem, but actively preached the Good News, THE WAY, in their dispersion throughout the area. They entered a very dark world, one controlled by the devil. Paul describes this darkness as being consumed by sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery,idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions,envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. The battle between this darkness and the light of The Way in every community and nation was very intense. Believers experienced persecution and even death in this dark world. However as the truth of the light of God penetrated these lands, the power of God delivered people from their sicknesses, demon possession, and disabilities such as blindness and lameness. In direct confrontation with the devil, we see Paul on the island of Cyprus confronting a sorcerer, Elymas,who was trying to prevent the governor of Paphos from accepting the gospel message. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, Paullooked straight at Elymas and said,“You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. (Acts 13: 9-11) Through God’s manifestation of power on the island of Cyprus, many people came to Christ, finding release from slavery to the devil. In Philippi we see Paul casting out a demon from a girl who was making money by fortune telling. This demon in the girl was interfering with Paul’s mission in Philippi by disruptively announcing that Paul and Silas were doing God’s work. She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. (Act 16:17-18) In these confrontations with the devil, the Holy Spirit succeeded in releasing people from the devil’s hold. In addition, in these victories whole communities found freedom from Satan.
Phillip was ministering in Samaria, a land of the apostates according to the Jews. But in this land a great revival broke out, so Peter and John had to see what was happening in Samaria. When they realized these people had not received the Holy Spirit, they prayed for them who once were considered apostates to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We seethe apostles fulfilling the mission of loving your enemies. Jesus illustrates that kind of love by telling the story of the Good Samaritan. A teacher of the law wanted to know who is his neighbor, for the law is fulfilled in loving your neighbor as yourself. Jesus points out to him that even his enemy should be his neighbor. Then He tells how a Samaritan takes care of his enemy, a Jew, who had been beaten and robbed, left for dead on the side of a road. The Jew’s religious leaders passed him by on the other side of the road, not willing to help this man who was lying half dead on the other side of the road. But an enemy came along and rescued this nearly dead man, bandaging his wounds, feeding and housing him. He was also willing to pay the money needed to restore this Jew to health. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ (Luke 10:35) Jesus asked this teacher of the law, who was this Jew’s neighbor. Of course the answer was the Samaritan. He fulfilled the purpose of the law, not the Jewish religious leaders. The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”Now, in today's focus, we see Phillip and the Jewish disciples going to their neighbor the Samaritans and rescuing them from their half-dead, desperate lives. The truth of God’s salvation plan to redeem all men and women through Jesus Christ’s work on the cross was revealed in the community of Samaria. They were hearing in plain words the truth of the gospel that Jesus came to die on the cross, to rescue mankind from the slavery of the devil. This message of truth was accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit. As Paul said, My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. (1 Corinthians 2:4-5) These people in Samaria were seeing the power of God; their ears were now open to the truth of God’s mystery of salvation from the beginning of time. Often people, even believers, get confused by their fixation on this world and its events. Instead of fixing their eyes on the truth of eternal life in Christ Jesus, they place their interest on temporary events that will disappear into history. This kind of wisdom and knowledge about world events will garner no truth about eternal life, for it is based on the wisdom and knowledge of the flesh. In Samaria we see the Good News being spread throughout the land, freeing them from their way of worship, their ideas, their philosophies, all of which lead to eternal death. No longer will they rely on their own wisdom and knowledge, but on the truth of God and his light. For the Samaritans and for all believers, our focus on life should be in Christ. If not, we are like the sorcerer, trying to find another way to God other than the gate; Jesus Christ. We do not place our lives in the wisdom of this age or in the rulers of this age, that will profit us nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:6-7) God’s redemption plan, the mystery of God from before time, is where our lives should be focused. The knowledge of the rulers and the power structure of our day will never satisfy our spiritual needs, will never comfort our hearts, and will never lead us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Only the truth of the gospel has power to do that as we see in today’s focus. Who is your Samaritan today that you cannot love or accept? If you have someone in your life that you need to love, turn away from your unbelief and turn to God. No longer say to Jesus, Lord, Lord and then fail to do his will. This is unacceptable to the God of the grace and mercy that you have received without limit. Embrace this God of kindness and generosity and present him to all people for the sake of the Good News of Jesus Christ and him crucified.
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