Acts - Week 4 / Thursday

Reading for today: Acts 8:4-25

Philip was one of the 7 chosen to help administrate the Church back in chap. 6. Persecution caused the believers to be scattered, which was great, because everywhere these believers went, they took the gospel with them and shared it.

It is interesting, and a bit gutsy on Philip's part, that he went to Samaria. The Jewish people avoided travel in Samaria and viewed Samaritans with contempt. But the gospel of Jesus Christ helped to break through the prejudices. And so it was, that Philip took the gospel to Samaria, and great miracles took place through his ministry there.

These miracles caught the attention of a man named Simon, who was a sorcerer, or magician. Simon's magic was so well known that a statue of him was erected in Rome. Simon had watched Philip with the professional eye of a magician and had to come to the conclusion that these miracles were real. Simon also came to believe Philip's message, and is baptized.

When Peter and John came to Samaria to help, they prayed for the Samaritan believers to receive the Holy Spirit. Clearly the apostles believed the baptism in the Holy Spirit was important for everyone. Something about this experience caught Simon's eye. The thing that makes the most sense is that he witnessed these believers speaking in an unknown tongue, and he wanted the power to make that happen.

Simon gets a blistering rebuke from Peter, and Simon repents. We don't know exactly what happened to Simon, whether or not his repentance was genuine, or just an attempt to appease God's wrath against him.

In any case, due to his actions, we now have the word "simony" in our vocabulary, which means buying a place of authority or an office in the church. That's not exactly the kind of epitaph you would want on your tombstone, is it?

Tomorrow: Philip races a chariot