my history with this text:
i grew up as a christian...over the years, i've had to change my mind about lots of different ideas (theologies).
the interpretation of this text has played a key role in a few spots for me related to a key theology set.
Acts So Far: Rejection By The Jews
Acts 1-7 is about the Gospel being presented to the Jews.
*** Were the Apostles Successful? ***
1. Some believed...but most did not.
2. Things are getting bad - the Jewish leadership has come down against Christ and has managed to start organized crackdowns/persecution.
If the goal is the conversion of the Jewish nation, the Apostles have failed.
However, this doesn't seem to be their goal.
In both of Peter's speeches, he expresses more concern faithfully proclaiming Christ than about pleasing men.
Stephen's speech, delivered once hostility has already started, consists of him truthfully declaring God's point of view *without
regard for consequence.
Consistently, Acts presents the church as concerned with representing Christ over the reception of the messsage.
that does not mean they attempt both goals (see peter's first sermon)
but when the goals are in conflict, accurate representation of christ wins.
Acts moves away from the Jews now...
Stephens death serves as the closer on Luke's section on the Jews.
They have forcefully rejected the Gospel; Luke now moves on o the next people group.
Text
1. Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began
against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria,
except the apostles.
2. Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him.
3. But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women,
he would put them in prison.
4. Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.
Restatement
A --> Stephen's death is the start of general persecution against the church; Saul is a notable participant.
he was present at stephen's death, and afterwards drags christians out of their homes and tosses
them in jail.
B --> The result of this persecution is that the church flees; but they preach the gospel as they go.
This is the transition away from the section on the Jews (Acts 1-7)...
5. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them.
6. The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw
the signs which he was performing.
7. For 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.
8. So there was much rejoicing in that city.
9. Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the
people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;
10. and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, "This man is what is
called the Great Power of God."
11. And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts.
12. But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ,
they were being baptized, men and women alike.
13. Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs
and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.
14. Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,
15. who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
16. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
17. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.
18. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,
19. saying, "Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
20. But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain
the gift of God with money!
21. "You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.
22. "Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention
of your heart may be forgiven you.
23. "For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity."
24. But Simon answered and said, "Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what
you have said may come upon me."
Summary:
A --> Philip flees north to Samaria; he proclaims Christ there, accompanied by miracles.
about philip: one of the deacons introduced in chapter 6 (like stephen)
about samaria:
ick.
way back, after solomon died, israel split into two.
2 tribes (judah and benjamin) became known as judah; the other 10 became known as 'israel'.
because the temple was in judah, israel's rulers opted to 'encourage' their people to worship 2 golden calfs
instead of going to judah.
after a few centuries, god sent assyria to judge israel for their accumulated sins.
assyria utterly destroyed israel, and repopulated the land with foreigners.
so...to a jew...samaria meant idolatrous, bastardized (esp w/ religion) half breeds.
jews would avoid walking through samaria (they'd go around); serious dislike for these folks.
for that matter, samaritans probably hated jews (the jews destroyed their temple in 128 BC).
note that luke doesn't make all that big of a deal about this. probably because his gentile audience didn't know/care.
B --> Many in the city believe, including Simon, a magician.
about simon: called 'the great power of god'
everyone in samria (not exactly a metropolitan area, but not outer siberia either) was impressed by this guy.
philip shows up, preaches the gospel, and wows the socks off of everyone, including simon.
C --> Peter and John cruise up to check out the new believers (who haven't received the Holy Spirit yet)
D --> Peter and John pray for the new believers that they might receive the Holy Spirit, which they do.
E --> Simon offers Peter/John money for the ability to bestow the Holy Spirit as well.
F --> Peter curses Simon for his desire (bad intention) and tells him to pray for forgiveness.
20. But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!
21. "You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.
22. "Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.
23. "For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity."
accurately paraphrased by one as, "to hell with you and your money."
G --> Simon tells Peter to pray for him.
24. Simon answered and said, "Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me."
Warning...
This is a tricky passage - there are a few questions that tend to come up that overtake the point of the story.
We'll look at what I think common questions are (e.g. what questions come up in my mind) and how they relate to (what i think is) the point.
The Holy Spirit And Samaria
the apostles journey up from jerusalem because the holy spirit hadn't fallen on these believers. how did they know?
- because the holy spirit only come through the laying on of hands?
well...he does here and in acts 19:6. he doesn't in acts 2...
nor does that come up anywhere else in the bible.
so...probably not.
- none of the above?
honestly, i'm not sure how they knew.
probably some sort of supernatural manifestation of the spirit was normal to the church, and this hadn't happened in samaria yet.
corallary:
should we have easily recognizable manifestations of the spirit (some kinda miracles when we receive him?)
well...this text at least doesn't say so. if you want to make a case from somewhere else, great.
at this point i'm not buying the idea that every believer should have a supernatural manifestation though.
the apostles journey up from jerusalem because the holy spirit hadn't fallen on these believers. why hadn't the spirit come?
- because the holy spirit's coming is something not part of salvation?
incidentally, that is a key charismatic belief.
(nerd hat on - only certain readers want this)
the holy spirit does come after salvation here and in acts 10 (the first gentile believers).
some interpret acts 19 to be the coming of the spirit separately from salvation; but it's at the same time as their
baptism/belief in the name of the lord jesus... so i don't buy it.
again...this doesn't come up anywhere else in the bible.
lots of great friends/brothers/sisters believe that the holy spirit (indwelling?) comes separately from salvation, per this text.
definitely we can say that a part of the holy spirit that can be received by the spirit can come after salvation.
i am not comfortable to say from this text that:
- every believer should have an additional receiving of the holy spirit post salvation.
- every believer should have obvious/external signs that the holy spirit has come.
(nerd hat off)
- because god wanted the jewish apostles to recognize the validity of the non-jews as believers
well...the text doesn't explicitly state this.
and it is always risky to say 'WHY' god does something or another.
but...
perhaps god wanted the apostles/church leaders to see/feel/touch/validate the faith of the samaritans.
there is also visible manifestation of the holy spirit when the first gentiles believe in acts 10.
perhaps for each each new people group, god wants to show his blessing?
The Point:
God is interested in spreading the gospel beyond Jerusalem and Jews.
Forgiveness is extended to samaritans as well, as is membership in God's family/community.
God visibly seals and identifies these new believers as his own.
Basically, this is an anti-prejeduce message.
Luke doesn't focus too much on it here though - he waits until the bigger moment in acts 10 when the Gospel spreads to the gentiles.
What About Simon:
Is he a real believer?
the text does say that he believed.
but...the other side is that he doesn't seem to receive the holy spirit.
personally, i'm not sure the text is trying to tell us about simon's eternal state, so i'm in favor of letting that be an unknown.
Did he have bad motives in trying to buy the holy spirit?
well...it doesn't say what his motives were.
but it seems likely that he had some bad motives given the strenght of condemnation he received (he wasn't gently corrected...)
Does he repent at the end or not?
text doesn't say. luke's statement about simon's response isn't clear - some say he did repent, some say he didn't.
The Point:
(short version: the gospel is not for sale)
money is nice and fun.
money buys nice things. accept it.
- a new boat, fancy jeans, a ski trip, great food, air conditioning, and shiny new houses on the east side.
peter's attack on simon is not a statement that money doesn't buy great stuff.
money does not buy god.
"May your silver perish with you, because ***you thought you could obtain the gift of god with money!***"
why such a strong reaction by peter?
not sure...but there are a few things seriously wrong worth thinking about.
1. God does not make his grace accessible to the rich only.
if anything, the poor are preferred; christ says of the rich that it is easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven (luke 18:25).
we prefer the rich (subconsciously?) :
our preference for the rich is telling of our incorrect priorities.
we respect/prefer those with money over those without; god does not (and nor should we).
we often fail to see humans like god does.
god sees people as valuable and worth suffering for.
that's true for jews (his people), samaritans (ewww), rich, and poor.
if that's how god sees people, then we need to do the same.
application tips:
- think of kids as having as much value as rich, impressive adults.
- (pretend they are rich, impressive adults if you have to).
- think of employees / service people / waitresses / etc as worth suffering for.
- think your spouse as worth suffering for.
2. You may give to God; you may not buy from God.
you have nothing to offer god that he wants, except your allegience.
- god doesn't have any needs.
"the god i believe in isn't short of cash, mister" (bono)
you gravely misunderstand god if you think he needs your resources.
- you don't have anything god needs
the only thing god wants from us is allegience (obedience, praise, love).
magic and compulsion:
god can not be compelled into anything, regardless of your sum of money, magic, or anything else.
backing out...god is in charge
1. god allows persecution to strike his church...
but works miracles as well, showing that he is powerful over nature itself.
evidentally, god is willing to allow the church to suffer.
2.god grants his holy spirit...even to samaritans.
but if you think you have something he needs in return, you're wrong.
micah 6:8
6. With what shall I come to the LORD
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?
7. Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams,
In ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8. He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?