Ministry in Samaria
TRANSLATION
(5) Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. (6) When the crowd heard Philip and saw the miracles he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. (7) With loud cries impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. (8) So there was great joy in that city.
(9) Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in that city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, (10) and all the people, from the least to the greatest, listened to him, saying, “This man is rightly called ‘the great power of God.’” (11) They followed him because he had amazed them with his sorcery for a long time. (12) But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the Good News concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were all baptized, both men and women. (13) Even Simon believed and was baptized. He continued following Philip and was amazed at the signs and great miracles he performed.
(14) When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had welcomed the Word of God, they sent to them Peter and John. (15) When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers to receive the Holy Spirit, (16) since the Spirit had not yet filled them because they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (17) When they laid their hands on them, they received the Holy Spirit. (18) When Simon saw that the Spirit was being given by means of the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, (19) saying, “Give me this power as well so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” (20) But Peter said to him, “May your money perish with you because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money. (21) You have no part nor share in this ministry, for your heart is not right before God. (22) Repent of this wickedness and pray that the Lord might forgive you for having such an evil thought in your heart, (23) for I see that you are full of bitterness and entrapped by sin.” (24) Simon said, “Pray for me to the Lord so that none of these things of which you have spoken may fall upon me.”
(25) Now when they had testified and spoken the Word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming the Gospel in many Samaritan towns.
OBSERVATIONS
From Stephen’s powerful testimony in the previous chapter, Luke’s focus shifts in this chapter to the impact of Philip’s ministry in Samaria. As in much of the Acts of the Apostles, proper names predominate in this segment. “Samaria/Samaritans” (vss. 5, 9, 14, & 25), “Philip” (vss. 5 & 6), “Simon” (vss. 9, 13, 18, & 24), as well as “Peter” (vss. 14 & 20) are found multiple times as are references to “Jesus, the Christ, the Lord” (vss. 5, 12, 16, 22, 24, & 25), “God” (vss. 10, 14, 20, & 21), and “the Holy Spirit” (vss. 15, 17, 18, & 19). Other repetitions included “sorcery” (vss. 9 & 11), “amazed” (vss. 9, 11, & 13), “great” (vss. 9 & 10), “believed” (vss. 12 & 13), “baptized” (vss. 12, 13, & 16), “receive” (vss. 15, 17, & 19), “lay(ing)…hands” (vss. 18 & 19), and “pray” (vss. 22 & 24).
OUTLINE
I. Philip traveled to Samaria to proclaim the Gospel and received a joyful response. (5-8)
II. Simon, a well-known sorcerer, was attracted to Philip’s ministry and believed the Gospel. (9-13)
III. Sent from Jerusalem, Peter and John prayed for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit. (14-17)
IV. When Simon offered money to purchase the same ability, the apostles rebuked his error. (18-25)
IDEA STATEMENT
Because of Philip’s success in Samaria, Peter and John went to pray for the new believers to receive the Holy Spirit, a confirmation that the Gospel was now spreading beyond the confines of Jerusalem.
APPLICATION
On the Day of Pentecost, the birthday of the church, the coming of the Holy Spirit empowered the believers to proclaim the Gospel first in Jerusalem and then into ever-expanding areas of the world. When the Gospel first came to Samaria due to Philip’s evangelistic ministry, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was delayed so that the apostles, Peter and John, when they arrived to pray for and lay hands on these new Samaritan believers, might see that the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit just as believers in Jerusalem had on the day of Pentecost. This deliberate postponement demonstrated to the early church that it was God’s will to include Samaritans in what had been, until now, a church made up almost entirely of Jews.
This should not have come as a surprise. Jesus had already made forays into Samaria, devoting time to spreading the Gospel in the Samaritan city of Sychar (John 4). When he told his disciples to “lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest” (Jn. 4:35), he had made it clear that the message of salvation was not limited to Jews but would eventually be embraced by every nation, tongue, and tribe as the Gospel spread through the entire world.