Previous to Philip's arrival, a certain Simon had practiced magic in the city, posing as a famous man and dazzling all the Samaritans with his wizardry. He had them all, from little children to old men, eating out of his hand. They all thought he had supernatural powers, and called him "the Great Wizard." He had been around a long time and everyone was more or less in awe of him. But when Philip came to town announcing the news of God's kingdom and proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ, they forgot Simon and were baptized, becoming believers right and left! Even Simon himself believed and was baptized. From that moment he was like Philip's shadow, so fascinated with all the God-signs and miracles that he wouldn't leave Philip's side. When the apostles in Jerusalem received the report that Samaria had accepted God's Message, they sent Peter and John down to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit. Up to this point they had only been baptized in the name of the Master Jesus; the Holy Spirit hadn't yet fallen on them. Then the apostles laid their hands on them and they did receive the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the apostles by merely laying on hands conferred the Spirit, he pulled out his money, excited, and said, "Sell me your secret! Show me how you did that! How much do you want? Name your price!" Peter said, "To hell with your money! And you along with it. Why, that's unthinkable—trying to buy God's gift! You'll never be part of what God is doing by striking bargains and offering bribes. Change your ways—and now! Ask the Master to forgive you for trying to use God to make money. I can see this is an old habit with you; you reek with money-lust." "Oh!" said Simon, "pray for me! Pray to the Master that nothing like that will ever happen to me!" And with that, the apostles were on their way, continuing to witness and spread the Message of God's salvation, preaching in every Samaritan town they passed through on their return to Jerusalem.
Acts 8:9-25 (MSG)
Even Simon himself believed and was baptized. From that moment he was like Philip's shadow, so fascinated with all the God-signs and miracles that he wouldn't leave Philip's side.
Peter then rolls into town, anointed, but not necessarily the kindest dude on the block. You'll never be part of what God is doing by striking bargains and offering bribes. Change your ways—and now!
He tells Simon to go to hell, and Simon's reply is:
"Pray for me! Pray that nothing like that will ever happen to me."
All it took was one correction to cause Simon the Magician to repent.
And then the apostles left town. I guess I just look at this and see a missed opportunity...Simon was wrong, and probably a knucklehead, but appears from the text to be so open and teachable...following Philip around, repenting after Peter lays into him. Then the apostles leave. We can only hope that the Holy Spirit worked inside of Simon to continue his conversion.
To me, the interesting part of this passage is it seems like Simon was just in it for the power that he saw the apostles displaying. That greed for gifts is indicated by the fact that he was willing to pay for the power to receive them.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how often people do that in the church today. They get attracted to a particular movement, church, or minister simply because they see that entity's gifts as being transferable to them. If people are attracted to a movement just to receive some sort of hidden power or gift from another person, aren't they doing the same thing that Simon did?
Also, particularly in the seed-faith movement, the implications of the message are that if one sows seed, they will receive untold benefits from God for doing so. My personal opinion is that this type of pandering for money essentially encourages congregants to take the position of Simon and sacrifice money for gifts and blessings.
The real question then is: who is bringing correction in the modern church?