Acts 8, Philip, Peter & John

Stephen has just been stoned for blasphemy.  One of the supporting onlookers is a Pharisee named Saul.

Act 8:1-4, Saul attacks the church in the Jerusalem
And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.

In the first chapter of Acts, Jesus has told his followers to speak about him, in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria ... and they do so now, spreading out under persecution.

It is easy for me to see this persecution, through the lens of time, as valuable for the growth of the church. But as it occurred, people grieved and "mourned deeply". Believers lost good friends and lovers to this persecution and, for a time, Evil seemed to reign.

Act 8:5-8, Philip ministers in Samaria
Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. So there was great joy in that city.

Proclaiming "the Christ" is to announce that the Messiah has come. The movement of the ministry into Samaria is the first step to reaching out to Gentiles, as the Samarians were only partially Jewish and did not have the same beliefs about worship.  (See Jesus's conversation in John 4:19-26, for example.)

Philip's ministry is accompanied with unusual signs.

Act 8:9-13, A sorcerer names Simon

Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.

But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed  Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

So someone "great" (well-known) has become a believer.  Is this good?

Act 8:14-17, Peter and John check on the Samaritans

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

The people of Samaria are "not quite" Jews.   They are an ethnic group that lived in the area prior to the return of the tribe of Judah from Babylon.  They are not quite Gentiles either, so this represents a half step towards embracing Gentiles with the news of the Jewish Messiah. 

The confirmation (not described here) that the Samaritans could receive the Holy Spirit, is early evidence that the gospel is to expand beyond the Jewish people.

Act 8:18-24, Sorcerer Simon attempts to buy this power
When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." 

Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you  thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin."

Then Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me."

Simon, the magician, has not understood the real message.  Peter has no problem confronting this, even though Simon is someone "great".  One hopes that Simon's response indicates true repentance and humility?

Act 8:25, Peter and John also preach in Samaria
When they had testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.

The church leaders recognize that God is moving among the Samaritans.

Act 8:26-40, Philip meets an Ethiopian

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road--the desert road--that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.

"How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth."

The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

In verse 27, the word translated "Ethiopian" was used to describe someone from the upper Nile region.

The quote in verse 33 is from Isaiah 53:7-8.  The Ethiopian is probably reading from the Septuagint version of Isaiah, slightly different from the ancient Hebrew scroll of Isaiah.

There is no verse 37 in the NIV translation.  Some late manuscripts add (say the NIV footnotes) after the Ethiopian asks, "Why shouldn't I be baptized?", the sentences "Philip said, 'If  you believe with all your heart, you may.' The eunuch  answered, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' "  The most ancient texts of Acts don't have those two sentences; if they were not in the original document, they may have been added at a later date as an explanation of steps to belief.  

(Someone asked on christianity.stackexchange about the omission of these two verses. The question and answer is here.   "Is there is a stackexchange on Christianity?" you ask.  Yes, there is a stackexchange on everything!  Wikipedia and Stackexchange.  How did anyone learn things before?)

In the next chapter, Saul pursues the believers to Damascus.