We need to remind ourselves what had just happened in Jerusalem. Stephen had been stoned to death.
Read Acts 8:1-3
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
Prison in those days was not a punishment; it was simply to hold prisoners before their trial – and probable execution. There was a panic to leave Jerusalem, but where could they go?
Read verses 4-5
4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.
Who was Philip?There were two Philips. Philip the Apostle who was called by Jesus to follow him the day after he had called Andrew and Simon (John 1:43-46); and this one who was then known as Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven Deacons (Acts 21:8).
What do we know about Samaria and Samaritans? Traditionally Jews did not associate with Samaritans, yet when Jesus preached to them, many had believed (John 4:9, 39-42). (They were people who believed in the same God as the Jews, but with different doctrines and practices – perhaps with tensions similar to those that have existed in some places between Protestants and Catholics.)
We are told in Acts 21:9 that Philip had four unmarried daughters so it was sensible for him to move his whole family out of trouble, and Samaria was an obvious choice. But he was no secret disciple and empowered by the Holy Spirit he began to preach and minister to the people there.
Read verses 6-8
6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralysed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
Obviously the Sanhedrin had no authority in Samaria and so Philip was free to preach, and the people were free to respond, to his message of salvation through Jesus. And note the result: ‘there was great joy in that city’. However this freedom from religious control led to other problems:
Read verses 9-11
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practised sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, ‘This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.’ 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery.
In Jerusalem he would have been quickly dealt with by the authorities. Here though he was acclaimed by ‘all the people, both high and low’.
What is Sorcery? The use of magic, especially black magic - satanic.
We are not told what form his sorcery took but it was so amazing that people were attributing his counterfeit powers to God. How could Philip confront this obvious error? He didn’t have to:
Read verses 12-13
12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptised. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
The Sanhedrin’s response to people who would not ‘toe the line’ was to kill them. God’s response is to offer them eternal life. Simon’s experience was astonishing – both for him and also no doubt those who knew him!
Read verse 14
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria.
The Apostles themselves needed to be weaned off the belief that the Messiah had only come to the Jewish Nation, and the Samaritans provided a good half-way-house to their full understanding that Gentiles too could be saved. But for now this news was new and confusing, so their chief men were sent to check that what they had heard was true.
Read verses 15-17
15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus.
17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Well now, these three verses are going to be difficult, but I’ll do my best!
First let’s look back at Acts 2:38-41 38 Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.’
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ 41 Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Baptism was an outward sign of repentance and faith and was performed by people to one another. But the coming of the Holy Spirit was from God alone and was the seal of their acceptance, their adoption into God’s family. Many believe that at the moment of our conversion we are ‘in Christ’ and he is ‘in us’
(For more on this see the study on ‘being in the Vine’: John15c),
and verse 38 above suggests that conversion, baptism, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, went together.
In 1 John 3:24 we read: ‘The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: we know it by the Spirit he gave us.’
But it seems that here the Holy Spirit had not yet been given (v16), so perhaps the people had simply repented and been baptised like Apollos in Acts 18:24-26, and the disciples in Acts 19:1-7.
It has also been suggested that the coming of the Holy Spirit here had been deliberately delayed in order for the Apostles to take a full part in the conversion of Samaritans and their subsequent acceptance into the Christian church.
(Here is a link to a sermon by John Piper which I found helpful.)
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/what-does-it-mean-to-receive-the-holy-spirit
Read verses 18-19
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, ‘Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’
Simon had previously performed ‘signs and wonders’ as a magician. Here though, he saw the amazing, life-changing results of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and he thought he could simply purchase the trick from the Apostles.
Read verses 20-24
20 Peter answered: ‘May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.’
24 Then Simon answered, ‘Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.’
Were Simon’s motives bad?
Was Simon’s conversion real?
Did he simply have a lot to learn, with the Lord having plenty of sanctifying work still to do?
Is it true that some people experience a dramatic change in their lives at conversion, while for others it can be a long struggle?
Read verse 25
25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
For Peter and John this whole trip had been an eye-opening experience, and they were now happy to evangelise Samaritans as they made their way back to Jerusalem.
Next we are introduced to the Gospel reaching out to a Gentile:
I'll read verses 26-28
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go south to the road – the desert road – that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’
This was the road that left Jerusalem heading south-west towards the coastal town of Gaza – and Philip then was at least 20 miles to the north! But that didn’t deter Philip: ‘27 So he started out’
27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means ‘queen of the Ethiopians’). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet.
What can you tell me about this man?
Ethiopian: person from Ethiopia, a country south of Egypt on the Nile River.
Eunuch: technically a castrated man, but could also mean court official.
Important official: rich and powerful – he had a chariot and driver(s) v38. (But an important official may well have had a retinue of others accompanying him and his supplies)
To worship: as an Ethiopian, and a eunuch, he would have been barred from taking a full part in the Jewish religious ceremonies (Deuteronomy 23:1) but he certainly had a strong desire to worship God: the Journey by road would have covered roughly 4000km / 2500 miles (Addis Ababa to Jerusalem by Nile boat and coast road) and would have required considerable planning and supplies.
Reading: obviously able to read and speak several languages – (here and v30).
Book of Isaiah: scrolls were rare and expensive, not the sort of thing individuals would normally own. Was this his own copy? Had he borrowed it from the palace library? Had he bought it in Jerusalem? The journey could have taken four months – he needed some reading material!
Why are we introduced to him here? The Gospel was spreading (v1) as predicted by Jesus: ‘first to Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’ (Acts 1:8) so it is appropriate to now hear about an Ethiopian – from the ends of the earth!
Read verse 29
29 The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’
The Ethiopian’s party would have probably travelled at walking pace so it wasn’t a problem to walk along beside it.
Read verses 30-31
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ Philip asked.
31 ‘How can I,’ he said, ‘unless someone explains it to me?’ So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
Philip ‘the evangelist’ was quick to start the conversation!
Read verses 32-34
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: (Isaiah 53:7-8)
‘He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.’
34 The eunuch asked Philip, ‘Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?’
The Spirit has again demonstrated impeccable timing, bringing Philip at that exact moment.
Read verses 35-36
35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptised?’
All restrictions of Race or Law are swept away – nothing can prevent anyone from coming to Jesus in faith and repentance.
Where is verse 37?
Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ The eunuch answered, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’
Eight texts dated between 4th and 9th century AD do not have this verse. The earliest text with it in is dated to 6th century. This verse seems to have been added by a later editor to conform to their ‘modern’ baptismal question and answer practises.
Read verse 38
38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised him. 39 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.
A brilliant end to this story!
Read verse 40
40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and travelled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
The Lord knew that the Ethiopian could easily have encouraged Philip to return to Ethiopia with him as his personal Rabbi so to avoid any difficulty he simply ‘took Philip away’ !
Azotus was a town on the coast road heading north from Gaza. From here Philip could travel north with little hindrance from the authorities in Jerusalem. This he did, preaching the gospel as he went, and he finally settled with his wife and daughters in Caesarea (Acts 21:8-9).
