The Holy Spirit and the Samaritans - Acts 8: 14-17

My own translation from the Greek:

v.14.

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

At the beginning of Acts 8 we are told that, following the murder of Stephen, there was violent persecution of the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem. The Apostles remained in Jerusalem, but others left and went into the surrounding areas of Judaea and Samaria where they spread the news about Jesus. In particular we are told of Philip’s effective evangelism in Samaria where he preached, healed and performed miracles, just as Jesus had done. What an exciting time!

Until now it seemed that the new movement was centred around Jerusalem and the temple and was thought of as a sect (or an aberration, in the minds of people like Saul) of Judaism. Even Peter’s preaching to people from different countries on the day of Pentecost and the three thousand added to the numbers of the followers of Jesus on that day did not seem to prompt the Apostles to think about making any effort to spread the news outside the Jews. But the Spirit had used the persecution to force the good news further afield. And it was the despised Samaritans who had accepted it with enthusiasm! What a shock that must have been. It’s not surprising that they decided someone should go and find out exactly what was happening in Samaria. Peter and John were asked to go.

I wonder about any significance of it being Peter and John who were sent. They were two of Jesus’ ‘inner core group’ who he tended to take with him when he did not take all the twelve or other disciples. I would assume they might still be considered leaders of the group of apostles. So, did the apostles’ group send two of their ‘heavies’ to check out what Philip had been up to in Samaria? Or was the conversion of Samaritans considered such a momentous step that it was appropriate for two of the main leaders to go to give the event credibility? Had the Jerusalem group an inkling that in Samaria the Holy Spirit was bringing about something very significant? Or was it realised in hind-sight and told to Luke in this way when he was gathering material to write his book about the beginnings of the church? Whatever may be the case, the story does indicate to us that the spread of the gospel was the plan and work of the Spirit, not of human beings and that the Spirit will take advantage and use even situations that seem to us to be disasters and can bring the most unlikely people into relationship with God.

I also note that Peter and John, or anyone else, being leaders of the group of believers, did not take it upon themselves to rush off to Samaria to see what was going on. They were sent by the whole group of apostles as representatives of the believers in Jerusalem. It is still important that Christians act in obedience to the church and not as independent individuals in spreading the gospel. God’s work is done by his church, sometimes through individual people, but on behalf of the church as a whole. God’s work belongs to God and not to human beings.

v. 15.

The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit

The first thing that Peter and John did was to pray for the Samaritans, for the filling of the Holy Spirit. Prayer was the first priority. Peter and John had been taught well by Jesus. They knew that he had done nothing without first going to prayer.

Receiving the Holy Spirit was considered very important for these new converts. It was not simply assumed that because they said they believed, they must have received the Spirit. In congregations I have belonged to, this step has generally been overlooked. People are encouraged to believe in Jesus, to publicly acknowledge him as Lord – and there it has stopped. When the Holy Spirit is mentioned, it is apparently assumed that he has entered the lives of people who have acknowledged Christ as Saviour and Lord and who have come to worship God. This may be so, but Peter’s and John’s prayer for the Samaritans suggests that we should not make that assumption and that a further step is needed.

v. 16.

(for as yet the Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus).

These Samaritan converts were definitely Christians. They had acknowledged Jesus and had been baptised in his name and accepted publicly into the group of believers. But they had not received the Holy Spirit. Does this mean that the Spirit had not become a part of their lives, or that he was there, but not acknowledged? The gift had been given, but not received? Was it something like a deposit being put into my bank account, but never drawn out and used? It would be there and available, but what would be the use of it if I did not know it was there and take it out and use it?

If the receiving of the Holy Spirit is not an acknowledged event in some churches, how many Christians are out there, possessing a gift from God that they are not aware of and are not making use of?

Was ‘being baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus’ considered by the early church in a similar light to the baptism of John the Baptist, who said he baptised with water, but that the one who was to follow him would baptise with the Holy Spirit? [Luke 3: 16]

Quest Study Bible note, p 1419. This phrase [ baptism with the Holy Spirit] refers to the Spirit coming to dwell within believers, empowering them to be witnesses for the Lord and to live holy lives. [Luke 24: 48-49; Acts 1:8; 2:1-21]. There are basically two views: [1] Some say we are baptised with the Holy Spirit when by faith we accept Christ as Saviour and become members of his body [1 Corinth. 12:13; 6:19-20]. [2] Others say believers can be filled with the Spirit in a deeper, more powerful sense following salvation [Acts 8:14-17].

v. 17.

Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Peter and John completed the process by laying on hands and the Samaritan believers received the Holy Spirit. I wonder why Philip had not done this when they were baptised. We know that there were questions in the early church as to whether non-Jewish believers needed to be circumcised and to become Jews before they could become Christians. [Acts 15] Maybe Philip had some kind of similar doubt that it was possible for Samaritans to become fully followers of Christ to the same extent as Jews. Perhaps it needed Peter and John to come and ‘validate’ the position of the Samaritans as equal to Jewish believers and therefore eligible to receive the Holy Spirit.

 

How often do we need extra proof that the work that God is doing is really the work of God, especially when things happen that are not according to our own plans? When God takes over his own work and moves on in spite of us, we often need an extra ‘shove’ in order to catch up with him.

New Bible Commentary, p 1079. It is, of course, delightful that John, who once wanted to call down the fire of judgement on a Samaritan village [ Luke 9:54], was one of those who was now calling down the Holy Spirit!