A Study of Acts: Simon the Magician; Peter and John Travel to Samaria
A Study of Acts: Simon the Magician; Peter and John Travel to Samaria
Acts 8:9-24 - Are you looking at the signs and wonders or at the source of your salvation? Are you promoting yourself or are you humbled before God?
“Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts.
But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.
Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.
Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
Acts 8:9-24 NASB1995
The people of Samaria had been paying heed to a magician named Simon for a period of time, who awed them with amazing works of magic, so much so that they said he had the Great Power of God. But Philip has now garnered their attention, preaching the good news about the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus, so they were baptized (both men and women). Notice that this does not say that children and infants were also baptized. As a former member of a mainstream denomination that still practices infant baptism, I am now strongly against this and believe that baptism, as a public declaration of faith, should not be done through surrogates or parents and should reflect your own reasoning that led to faith at an age when you can declare it. As we all should know, the act of Baptism itself does not save you, but it is an important way to demonstrate commitment to obedience and faith in salvation.
Simon the magician was also baptized and he believed (or did he?). He followed Philip around and was amazed at the signs and wonders that were taking place. So what’s the difference between magic and miracles? The great resource gotquestions.org has a good answer:
Magic and miracles might mean the same thing to some people, but there is actually a vast difference between the two terms. It is proper to say that Jesus worked miracles, but it would be wrong to attribute His works to magic. Basically, magic and miracles differ in their source: magic has either a human or demonic source, but miracles are a supernatural work of God.
There are two different kinds of “magic,” and it is good to distinguish between the two. Entertainers who use sleight-of-hand and illusions in their performance are often called “magicians,” but they are actually illusionists, which is what most of them prefer to be called. An illusionist’s audience does not consider what they see to be “real” magic; they understand it is a trick, and they delight in the fact they cannot figure out how the trick is done. The other kind of magic is what some might call “real” magic; it draws on occult, demonic power. The Bible speaks of “lying wonders” in 2 Thessalonians 2:9. The Antichrist’s coming “will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie.” This type of magic, sometimes spelled magick to distinguish it from sleight-of-hand, is associated with divination, conjuring, and sorcery and is condemned in Scripture (see Deuteronomy 18:10–12). Of course, the Antichrist will claim that his power comes from God, but that is a lie, too (see Revelation 13:2).
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Another difference between magic and miracles is that magic does not glorify God, but miracles do (see Mark 2:12). A good example of a magician’s self-promotion is found in Samaria. “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 rightly called the Great Power of God.’ They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery” (Acts 8:9–11). Note that Simon was boastful about his “power” and went by a blasphemous title. Simon had the ability to amaze the crowds with his magic, but it was not the power of God. Simon’s performances were all about himself and enriching his own life. Later, Simon the magician sees a true miracle performed by Peter and John, and he offers to buy from them the “secret” to their trick (verses 18–19). Peter immediately rebukes Simon; in Simon’s sinful heart, he had equated the power of the Holy Spirit with his own sorcery (verses 20–23).
People have always been intrigued by magic tricks or illusions. Someone who can do really good card tricks, with sleight-of-hand, will get a crowd gathered in no time. An absolutely superb movie about stage “magicians” or true illusionists is The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan (it came out in 2006 and stars Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman and Michael Caine). It tells the tale of rival illusionists in 19th century London who try to outdo each other in the impossibility of their tricks (they have a long-seated animosity towards each other). The Michael Caine character Cutter (an engineer who creates magical tricks) explains the prestige (from IMDB quotes):
“Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige".”
I won’t give away the end of the film, but suffice to say that true sorcery (from an intriguing scientific source) leads to tragedy.
One can imagine that Simon, who by all appearances, seems to believe, is probably really trying to understand the “magic” by which Jesus was resurrected from the dead and is also intrigued by the signs and wonders that Philip performs. He wants to know what led to the ultimate “prestige”. He is looking at the miracles, likely thinking that they are magic or sorcery. He is not looking at the source of the miracles or to his own sinful nature. I love this explanation from John Piper:
The simplest way I can think of to illustrate what went wrong with Simon is an experience every mother of toddlers has had. Suppose you have a one-year-old child sitting on your lap and suddenly in the window there is a beautiful bird and you hold out your hand to point at the bird and say, "Look, look at the bird." What does the child look at? He looks at your hand and the sign you are making with your fingers. He might even try to imitate the sign by putting out his index finger.
He sees the sign. He is excited because you are excited. He joins in imitating the sign as best he can. But the problem is he never sees the bird. The whole point of the sign is missed. That is what happened to Simon the magician here in Acts 8. He saw the signs that Philip was doing. They were better than his own magical signs. He got excited about them. He followed Philip around and wanted to imitate them. But he never saw the bird in the window. He never saw the ugliness of his own sin, the need for repentance, and the glory of Christ in the gospel who forgives and makes new and clean.
Due to some weird problem with Substack, I was unable to put a caption beneath this second art work. This is “Peter’s Conflict with Simon Magus” by artist Avanzino Nucci, 1620.
So the apostles in Jerusalem hear about the people in Samaria receiving the word of God, so they send Peter and John there. Peter and John pray over the people, because the people have not yet received the Holy Spirit. This is a puzzling sequence of events, as many other passages in the New Testament indicate that when we truly repent and believe and are born again, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So were these conversions incomplete or not real? I think Enduring Word has really good commentary about what this means:
They sent Peter and John to them: When Jesus gave unto Peter (and the other apostles) the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:19) it was really for this purpose. Here they officially welcomed those (the Samaritans) who had previously been excluded from the people of God into the kingdom of God.
For as yet He had fallen upon none of them: Obviously, there was a subsequent experience with the Holy Spirit that these Samaritan believers did not know until the apostles came and ministered to them.
They laid hands on them: Often, the empowering and filling of the Holy Spirit is received as hands are laid on a person and prayer is offered for them (Acts 9:17, 1 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 1:6). We should always be ready to receive whatever special graces and gifts God has to give us through the laying on of hands.
They received the Holy Spirit: We don’t know exactly how this was evident. Perhaps certain spiritual gifts were manifested (1 Corinthians 12:7-10).
Received the Holy Spirit: The fact that these Christians received the Holy Spirit in what seems to be a subsequent experience to their salvation has caused much controversy; there have been different explanations offered.
Some say they were never truly born again (converted) under Philip’s preaching. When Peter and John came, they really trusted in Jesus and then received the Holy Spirit.
Some say they were truly born again. Then, in a subsequent experience, they received the Holy Spirit in a pattern that believers should follow today.
Some say they were converted in response to Philip’s preaching; yet God, in a unique move, withheld the gift of the Holy Spirit until Peter and John could bestow it on them. God’s purpose in this was to ensure continuity between the church in Jerusalem and the new church in Samaria, guarding against division.
Some say they were really born again and did really receive the Holy Spirit at the time of conversion, but were given special gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit at the laying on of hands by Peter and John.
The last option seems to best explain what happened. Whatever the Samaritans experienced, it seems to have been more than the “regular” bestowal of the Holy Spirit at salvation. This is a filling of the Holy Spirit we should always desire and seek.
Other commentary I read that tries to explain the controversy focuses on the fact that the arrival of Peter and John would help with continuity and cohesion of the new church between the different locations (one of Guzik’s thoughts, above). The new believers in Samaria might have “gone their own way” and been separate from the leaders in Jerusalem because of the age-old animosities. The appearance of Peter and John and their laying on of hands (John once asked Jesus if they should call down fire from heaven on a Samaritan town that didn’t believe) helps create that shared feeling of church community. In the next part of Acts, we will see that Philip does, indeed, have the power to bring the Gospel to others.
Simon observes this and offers Peter and John money to receive this authority from God for him to give the Holy Spirit when laying on hands. Peter replies this way (repeated here so you don’t have to scroll up to the top):
“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
This is the last we hear of Simon the Magician; we don’t know if he was truly saved or if he had any future dealings with the nascent church in Samaria. Peter believes Simon is in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity. Simon appears to be afraid to pray for himself and asks Peter to pray for him. His name later became a noun (simony) to describe someone who tries to buy ecclesiastical favors (from Wordnik):
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
noun The buying or selling of ecclesiastical offices or of indulgences or other spiritual things.
from The Century Dictionary.
noun The act or practice of trafficking in sacred things; particularly, the buying or selling of ecclesiastical preferment, or the corrupt presentation of any one to an ecclesiastical benefice for money or reward.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
noun The crime of buying or selling ecclesiastical preferment; the corrupt presentation of any one to an ecclesiastical benefice for money or reward.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
noun The act of buying and selling ecclesiastical offices and pardons.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
noun traffic in ecclesiastical offices or preferments
From Precept Austin (R. Kent Hughes) on simony:
Preaching to gain recognition or status is simony. Serving with an eye to advancement in the church’s power structure is simony. Seeking spiritual gifts for the promotion of oneself is simony. Even seeking to be godly so others will think we are godly is a type of simony.
One final commentary - Chuck Swindoll (from Precept Austin) describes how a ministry can end up looking like it might be “simonized”:
1. The ministry exalts a person rather than Christ. You’ve got trouble when you’re in a system (or a church) that exalts a person other than the person of Christ. Simon came on the scene and made exclusive claims to inspire devotion to himself. Spiritualists, magicians, and witch doctors have done this for millennia, creating fear in the community to establish themselves as the sole intermediaries between the spiritual and physical realms. Even today, I see men and women putting on modern-day “magic healing shows,” and while they pretend to give God the glory, they cleverly establish themselves as the “go-to people” for healing and instruction.
2. The ministry draws a following with promises to solve temporal problems. Watch out for any ministry that promises to solve your financial, physical, relational, and emotional problems. Authentic Christianity can certainly make life better all around; obedience to the Lord and His transforming Holy Spirit can work amazing wonders. But no particular ministry can make those hard-and-fast claims. God grants healing and blessings and wisdom and freedom directly. You have a direct line to Him through prayer, and He will deal with you personally. You don’t need to send money. You don’t have to purchase a cloth or oil or water or books or any other token. And you certainly don’t need some particular person claiming great power to pray for you.
3. The ministry exercises a counterfeit power. Beware the magic shows of some television evangelists; they peddle their counterfeit power for donations. The “supernatural” exhibitions of faith healers convince no one but the gullible. They perform their illusions in very controlled environments, and either their “healings” are limited to mild improvements or they claim results difficult to verify.
The miracles of the Bible, like the healing of the beggar in Acts 3, had an immediate and visible impact; no one could deny their truth. The signs and wonders described in Scripture left no room for doubt by even the most ardent skeptics of the day. Nothing we see today fits this category of genuine miraculous activity.4. The ministry demonstrates a preoccupation with the material rather than the spiritual. In phony ministries, you’ll hear a lot of talk about money, material wealth, buildings, private planes, and special equipment, but very little about what purposes they serve. All ministries need certain things to accomplish their missions, but authentic Christian ministries keep spiritual matters primary; for them, physical things serve spiritual purposes. For example, a ministry might want to raise money to purchase a building. If it’s a genuine ministry, the primary beneficiaries of the building will be the people the ministry serves.
Listen to the ministry leader carefully. Pay attention to what is said—and left unsaid. If the vast majority of his or her instruction concerns physical issues, such as health and money, beware! (Swindoll's Living Insights)
Interesting insights! My next devotional examines Acts 8:25-40 - An Ethiopian receives Christ through Philip.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Help me to look beyond signs and wonders to Your redemptive powers. I pray that I am not in the gall of bitterness or the bondage of iniquity but am humble in obedience. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Gotquestions.org was accessed on 9/25/2024 to answer the question, What is the difference between magic and miracles?
John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary. For more than thirty years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis. He is author of more than fifty books, and his sermons, articles, books, and more are available free of charge at desiringGod.org. By John Piper. © Desiring God Foundation. Source: desiringGod.org
Enduring Word commentary by David Guzik is used with written permission.
Precept Austin was accessed on 9/25/2024 to review commentary for Acts 8:9-24
IMDB was accessed on 9/25/2024 to link to “The Prestige” and review quotes from the movie.