Acts 8:20-25 - May your money perish with you!

8:20-23

Peter was not interested in making money. This should be a sharp rebuke for those who seem to see the gospel as means of making money! You cannot buy the gift of God with money. Peter then tells him straight that his heart is not right with God. However, he does not leave him there, but commands him to repent. Peter makes it clear that Simon’s thinking is completely wrong, completely evil, and completely contrary to the ways of God.

“For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin”. Peter saw the root of the problem in Simon. Simon was captive to sin. His motivation seems to have been to maintain his celebrity status, his sorcery skills were what gave him meaning, or so he thought. If we are to truly receive the benefits of the gospel we need to realise what our true problem is, and that is sin, and we need to want to be free of that problem.

8:24,25

Simon asks for prayer, fearing the things that might happen to him. It is not clear whether this is out of fear of the consequences, or a genuine change of heart. There is no indication of whether or not Simon did truly change, nor of what happened. So we should take this episode as a warning against having a wrong attitude towards spiritual gifts and dramatic happenings that might accompany the gospel.

The apostles proclaimed the word of the Lord, testifying about Jesus.  Peter and John then returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages along the way.