Acts 8:1-25

The incident with Stephen resulted in great persecution of the church. Much of the church was scattered to Judea and Samaria, with only the apostles left in Jerusalem. It is not clear why the apostles remained there. Saul began his "reign of terror", going around persecuting Christians. We know how things worked out in the end, with Saul becoming Paul, the great evangelist.

The persecution had some immediate benefits, resulting the further spread of the good news. Philip, another of the seven, was one of the main players in this. He performed various signs, cast out demons, healed people, and people paid attention to him. Unlike the religious leaders in Jerusalem, the people of Samaria reacted with great joy.

In Samaria there was a man called Simon who attracted a following because of his sorcery. We may be inclined to scoff at the naivety of the people for believing this sort of stuff, but we should be careful. For in modern times people like Uri Geller have attracted attention for carrying out similar acts.

Many people were baptised, including Simon. This raises a number of questions. The first concerns the Holy Spirit, for the people did not receive the Holy Spirit at this point. Only when Peter and John came and prayed for them did the new believers receive the Holy Spirit. From this it is clear that "receiving the Spirit" was not a theological nicety, for the people knew they had not received the Spirit before the Peter and John came, and everyone knew they had received Him after they were prayed with.

It is not clear why the Holy Spirit did not come upon them initially. It may have been to cement unity between Jewish and Samaritan Christians, for Israel had a pretty low view of Samaria.

Simon saw the Holy Spirit as a means of making money and wanted the ability to lay hands on people and see them receive the Spirit. This presents some interesting issues. For the implication is that Simon himself had received the Spirit, yet he was capable of such unworthy behaviour.  Peter rebukes him sternly, and Simon asks for forgiveness. Simon needed to be set free from many things, bitterness and captivity to sin in particular. Just because someone believes and receives the Spirit does not mean the job is done.