Acts documents how the gospel first came to Samaria. After the martyrdom of Stephen, Saul of Tarsus began persecuting the fledgling church, causing many “brethren” to be scattered “throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria.” God used this to advance the gospel as the scattered saints preached wherever they went.
Having left
Judea, Philip traveled to the city of Samaria and began “proclaiming the Messiah.”
Under his preaching, demons were exorcised and many of the “lame were healed.”
As a result, many Samaritans responded positively to the gospel – (Acts 8:1-25).
THE MAGICIAN
One of the new converts was a man named Simon. He was
known for using “sorcery” to “astound” the city’s residents. The
“least to the greatest” men of the city paid heed to him since they believed that he exercised the “great power of God.”
Yet even Simon found the gospel irresistible, or
at least, he was greatly impressed with the miracles that accompanied Philip’s
preaching.
And a great many Samaritans were “baptized, both men and women…in the name of the Lord Jesus,” including
the Magician. However, his fascination was with the “signs and great miracles wrought” by
Philip (“and he was amazed”).
Upon hearing the news, the apostles sent Peter and
John to confirm the reports from Samaria. Upon their arrival, they found something
missing from the faith of the Samaritans, and so they “laid hands on them
and they received the Holy Spirit.”
Simon was impressed, for he “saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given,” and he attempted to bribe them to grant him the same power.
In the passage, the stress is on the fact that
Simon “saw” something when someone received the Spirit. Precisely what
he “saw” is not stated. Perhaps, as on the Day of Pentecost, he saw “tongues
of fire” appear or heard men as they began to “speak in tongues.” But
that is conjecture based on what occurred previously in Jerusalem.
WATER BAPTISM
What the text does say is that the Samaritans
received the Spirit AFTER they responded to the gospel and AFTER
they were “baptized in the name of Jesus.” Moreover, the Spirit was dispensed
through the “laying on of the apostle’s hands.” Why that was necessary is
not explained.
Logically, it does not follow from the incident
that the intervention of an apostle is necessary to receive the Spirit. On Pentecost,
the Spirit fell on all 120 disciples without anyone laying hands on them. And
later, the Spirit will fall on Gentiles gathered at the house of Cornelius
while Peter is still preaching, and again, without the laying on of hands – (Acts
10:44-48).
And it does not follow from this that believers must be
baptized “in the name of Jesus” before receiving the Spirit. Again, at
the house of Cornelius, the Gentiles received the Spirit and they “spoke in
tongues” BEFORE they were baptized in water.
As for the “sign” of the gift, what Simon “saw”
most plausibly was the Samaritans speaking in “other tongues” when they
received the Spirit. However, the passage does not state this.
But we cannot ignore Simon’s reaction. He was a
man who had practiced the magical arts for years, and presumably, he was not
someone easily impressed. Something out of the ordinary must have occurred, not
only to get his attention but also to cause him to attempt to buy that same
power.