Acts 8
Verse 1-3 “THE ARCH-NEMESIS OF THE CHURCH
Dr. Luke wants to make certain that the reader is aware of Saul’s presence and
attitude regarding the mob execution of Stephen. Some have assumed that Luke is
declaring that Saul had an actual vote in the Sanhedrin, but I really doubt that this is the
intent of Luke’s statement. I believe he would have stated explicitly that Saul had actually
been permitted to vote.
However, the death of Stephen somehow creates boldness within Saul as he begins
acting as an agent of the Jews and intensifies persecution by arresting and casting into jail
men and women of faith. The same “lynch mob” mentality which had permitted the
execution of Stephen seemed to take ahold of Saul. Later, he would describe his activity
during this period of his life as “exeedingly mad.” (See Acts 26:11) (Greek word is
emmaninomenos = fierce rage).
Verse three appears to offer a contrast between Saul’s behavior and that of others.
Some commentators believe that the godly men mentioned in verse 3 were devout Jews. In
fact, the same word that Luke uses of Simeon in Luke 2 to describe his dedication to the
Lord is used to describe these “godly” or “devoted” men. Why do they appear to be Jews?
If men from the church had buried Stephen wouldn’t Luke have said so? These appear to
be Jews who were distressed by the action of the Sanhedrin and those who stoned Stephen.
Like Joseph of Arimathea, they come forward and take his body bury him in an act of
compassion.
The very fact that they mourned for Stephen indicates a likely open attitude
towards the Christian faith or a knowledge that Stephen was innocent and undeserving of
his fate. These devout men mourned deeply for Stpehen. Hebrew writings and culture
forbade open mourning for someone who had been stoned, burned, beheaded, or otherwise
executed under the judgment by the Sanhedrin. The Jews were told that that they were
only permitted to mourn within their heart for such a “sinner” who received such a tragic
execution. These men took a chance by mourning openly and publicly.
The contrast between Saul and these men is a powerful contrast. These men are
mourning what happened to Stephen and Saul has used what happened to Stephen as
justification to do more evil against the church. He is wrecking havoc and doing his best to
destroy the church.
What amazes me about Saul’s attitude is that it is exactly opposite of his own
teacher’s statement in Acts 5:34-39. Gamliel’s position was a hands-off policy regarding
the Christians. If Christianity was not of God it would be a movement that would quickly
burn out and go away. If it was of God, why would the Jews be against it? Saul’s
approach is in direct opposition to his famous teacher’s position. Saul felt that he was
acting as some sort of divine exterminator, stomping out what he viewed as heresy with
nothing short of brute force.
Is it Saul’s youth which leads him astray? We are told in Acts 7:58 he is a “young
man” but the Greek word could signify someone between the ages of 24 and 40 so he
needn’t be as young as we might think from an initial reading. There is a transformation
that takes place in this man’s life between 7:58 and 8:3. He is a delegated onlooker and a
witness in 7:58 but he has become the chief persecutor the church.
Do you know what an arch-nemesis is? This is the name given to the ultimate
enemy of a particular person or group. An example from comics would be Batman and his
arch-nemesis, the Joker. Or Lex Luthor from the Superman comics. Although these
heroes often fight other villains, these particular villains are considered the ultimate enemy.
Saul has transformed from a witness to the ultimate enemy of the church, the arch-nemesis.
Nobody hates the church and Christianity more than Saul. Of course, this makes his later
conversion so much more miraculous, doesn’t it?
For further study you may wish to look at Philippians 3:4-6 for a brief
autobiography of Saul, who later became the Apostle Paul.
Verses 4-8 “REVIVAL IN SAMARIA”
The King James Version hits a really good point here, one which is missed by the
New International Version of the same text. Luke connects the persecution of the church to
the evangelism of Samaria. The King James versions uses the word “therefore” to create
the transition. In the Greek, Luke uses men oun which means “then,” “so”. Luke sees the
persecution of the church as driving the people from Jerusalem into other areas where they
preached.
One of the first areas preached in was Samaria. The Jews despised the Samaritans.
They considered them a hodge-podge of race and religion. The animosity between these
peoples extended as far back as when Solomon’s son split the kingdom with his threats of
ruling with an iron hand. It extended through periods of idolatry and finally into the exile
period when Israel was exiled into Assyria, an exile from which they never really returned,.
The Jews felt superior and blessed by God because they had returned from the exile in
Babylon, while only a few of the Israelites were able to drift and mix in with the peoples
who took over their homeland during the Assyrian exile.
Phillip finds himself preaching in a city in Samaria and theme of his message is “The
Christ” or Christ as the Messiah. We know from Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan
woman at the well in John 4 that the Samaritans were looking for the Messiah. We also
know that they believed in the law of Moses as well. Phillip’s message was met positively.
Phillip’s preaching, like that of Stephen, was backed by miracles of healing and deliverance
of people from demonic possession.
Verses 9-25 “THE ‘GREAT POWER’ MEETS GOD’S POWER”
Simon the Sorceror is indeed a puzzle. This man was held in extremely high esteem
by the Samaritans in what appears to have been either a form or worship or at the very
least near worship. They considered his power to be “divine” in origin and they felt he was
a messenger of God (possibly even worshipping him as GOD). He had been able to
perform supernatural acts and had the people convinced of his power and the importance
of his person. They were devoted to following him.
It must have been wonderful when Simon believed and was baptized, but we quickly
see that his focus was not on Christ, but rather the works that Phillip was doing. He
followed Phillip about in astonishment of the signs and wonders. It is likely that an
important person like Simon choosing to be baptized and converted also led many others to
do the same.
Do you note a difference here? The people of Samaria believed Phillip’s preaching.
Simon the Sorceror focused on Phillip’s signs and wonders.
When the church at Jerusalem hears that the people of Samaria were receptive to
the preaching of the Word they sent Peter and John to Samaria. It is my firm belief that
their calling to the brief ministry at Samaria was confirmed by the other apostles, especially
since we see that they were SENT.
I am quite concerned when I read about the coming of the Holy Spirit being
connected with the laying on of hands by the disciples. We are told plainly that these new
believers had done nothing more than believe and be baptized. Paul asked the believers in
Ephesus whether they had yet received the Holy Spirit (see Acts 19). The work of the Holy
Spirit in the believer’s life is a matter of stepping forward and being open to the working of
God in his life. It is not enough to have the Holy Spirit that is planted within us through
receiving Christ as our Lord and Savior, we must be prepared to step forward in
obedience. This appears to be the case with these believers in Samaria and later in
Ephesus. There was a fresh commitment to moving forward with the Lord and it was
accompanied by the laying of hands and a sinere committment and an outpouring of God’s
Holy Spirit.
In order for the Samaritans to move forward from their paganism, idolatry and into
righteous living it was important that the Holy Spirit be poured out on them in a quick and
meaningful manner. Thus God could begin to work true and valid discipleship among
them.
Such was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in this case, that Simon offered money to
be given this “gift.” It isn’t the money being offered that is the problem with Simon’s
action, but rather the motives of his heart. He wanted this “power” to be under HIS
control. He wanted the ability to summon the Holy Spirit at will.
Peter’s response to Simon’s request seems very, very harsh. He sees no reason why
Simon should be redeemed. Peter is very clear that Simon’s heart is not right at all.
Simon responds to Peter’s declaration of judgment and call to repentance with a simple
request that the apostle would pray that those consequences would not fall upon him.
It is clear from Simon’s request that he was unwilling to go any further with God at
this point. Peter encouraged him to pray for forgiveness, but Simon wants Peter to work
some magic with God and keep these things from coming on him. Simon was not just a
babe in Christ, he was a rebellious child. He was unwilling to repent. His focus remained
on the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit and off of God’s will. He saw the Holy Spirit’s
work as nothing more than a very powerful kind of spiritual “magic” and wanted Peter to
reveal its secrets unto him.
Was Simon a true believer? I cannot say. Peter was able to pronounce him as being
caught in sin’s power. Peter was able to confront him and point out that his heart was
clearly NOT right. Peter proclaimed that if he refused to repent he would suffer dire
circumstances. All of these can happen to a child of God. It is not for us to decide if Simon
was a real believer, but he appears to me to be the sort who comes to the Lord for selfish
and wrong reasons. Perhaps he is a type of a counterfeit Christian.
However, history tells us a bit more about this Simon character. Simon is
commonly believed to be the founder of the gnostic faith and a leading heretic who
consistently led away believers from the early church. Justin Martyr, a Samaritan himself,
wrote that the Samaritans had worshipped Simon as the highest god.
Justin Martyr wrote that Simon Magus went to Rome during the reign of Claudius where
he corrupted and became the popular leader of a large portion of the Christians there. Apparently,
Simon Magus’ teachings was that their human leader was in place of God and he further promoted
the use of statues for worship. Justin writes:
"There was a Samaritan, Simon, a native of the village called Gitto, who in the reign of
Claudius Caesar, and in your royal city of Rome, did mighty acts of magic, by virtue of the art
of the devils operating in him. He was considered a god, and as a god was honoured by you
with a statue, which statue was erected on the river Tiber, between the two bridges, and bore
this inscription, in the language of Rome."
This may have been tradition that was handed down to Justin Martyr. An excavation
unearthed such a statue, but its Latin inscription was not a reference to Simon but rather to a
Sabine deity known as Semo Sancus.
Other early church writers follow Martyr’s lead and describe Simon as corrupting
Christians in Rome. Of course, some of these writings read like mythological materials,
even describing a battle between Simon and Peter in which Simon flew under the strength
of demonic wings until Peter took power over the demons and caused them to fall. In other
words, they have become legend which means that there are some truths in them. Likely,
Peter and Simon crossed paths again. Simon appeared to continue to gain a great deal of
attention, so much so that legends have grown up about him.
Verses 26-40 “PHILLIP MEETS AN ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH”
It must have seemed strange to Phillip to be called to leave Samaria, where revival
was going on. The people there had been extremely responsive to the preaching of the
Word. Phillip proceeds in obedience and meets the Eunuch.
Candace, by the way, was not a name, but a title, much like Pharaoah was the name
of Egyptian kings. The Ethiopian kings were considered to be too special to be involved in
the administration of the ancient Ethiopian kingdom (which is NOT modern day Ethiopia,
but closer to modern Nubia, fairly close to Egyp). Candace is a term which means QUEEN
MOTHER, and these women were given charge of the kingdom for most business.
This court official is interested in the Word and is carefully reading from the book
of Isaiah (chapter 53) when Phillip approaches. Isaiah 53 is known as the “Suffering
Servant Song” and is perhaps one of the greatest evidences to the Jew that Christ came as
the Messiah and fulfilled Scripture.
Phillip draws near at the leading of the Holy Spirit and takes advantage of the
opportunity given to him. The Eunuch invites him into the chariot and soon Phillip is
showing him the truth from Scripture.
Why was the Eunuch so ready to believe and receive? Well, the fact that he knew of
baptism indicates that he knew that baptism was an outward sign of conversion to the
faith. The fact that he was reading Isaiah is another indication that he was probably one of
many people who had come to the Jewish faith such as those who were in Jerusalem on the
day of Pentecost.
The question about hindrances to baptism may have more underlying it than is first
apparent. Under the law a Eunuch could not enter the temple area. However, in
Christianity NOTHING prevented him from entering into full fellowship with other
believers and being an equal citizen of God’s kingdom. The Jewish faith had serious
limitiations. Perhaps the Eunuch was testing Phillip. Maybe this is why Phillip responds
“If you believe you may,” and receives an affirmation from the Eunuch is his faith in Jesus
as the Son of God.
Phillip and the Eunuch are quick to enter the “baptismal” and conduct a baptism.
At times, we hesitate to so quickly baptize a new believer, but this is important that a
sincere believer be led through the baptismal waters.
While the Eunuch responded to his baptism with great joy, Phillip was caught away
to other places that God had for him to continue preaching. While there is a time for
rejoicing with the new believer there is also a time to move on and continue with the work
that God has called each of us to.
God always responds to our obedience to His command with MORE
RESPONSIBILITY. A mark of reward for the believer is to experience the continued
leading, prompting and assignments from God. The disobedient child of God does not get
to experience the joy of the mission accomplished.
