“You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” So Jesus told His apostles right before He ascended to heaven (Acts 1:8). We have seen, in Acts 2-7, the apostles (and others) preaching in Jerusalem. Beginning in chapter 8, they will begin to go to Samaria and “the end of the earth.”
Acts 8 begins by again mentioning Saul (the future apostle Paul) and the “havoc” (v. 3) he made on the church, arresting both men and women and “committing them to prison.” He apparently wasn’t the only one as “a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem” and the saints were “all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles” (v. 1). But “devout men” found time to bury Stephen and make “great lamentation over him” (v. 2). He was indeed a great man who deserved such.
Interestingly, rather than bemoaning their fate of being persecuted, “those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word” (v. 4). They used their persecution as an opportunity to spread the gospel. It shows the kind of people they were. Philip, one of the seven mentioned in Acts 6, went to “the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them” (v. 5). He had great success: “multitudes” obeyed the gospel “seeing the miracles which he did” (v. 6). Keep in mind that, before the New Testament was written (none of it had been yet), the miracles were used to confirm the word (Mark 16:20). Once completely revealed, confirmed, and recorded, the miracles were no longer needed. It’s the Word of God that produces faith (Romans 10:17), not the miracles.
But the miraculous evidence was necessary in the beginning and Philip used it in Samaria in various ways (v. 7). Salvation produced “great joy in that city” (v. 8).
Verse 9 introduces a man we call “Simon the Sorcerer.” He was just that, a sorcerer, a trickster, a magician if you will, who had had great success building a name for himself in Samaria, and apparently had quite a following (vs. 9-11). But he knew that the miracles Philip was doing were genuine (Simon’s weren’t), so he also obeyed the gospel and became a Christian (v. 13). He was “amazed” at what Philip was doing. Too amazed, as it turns out.
Word reached Jerusalem that “Samaria had received the word of God” (v. 14), so Peter and John went to that city. They prayed for the people “that they might receive the Holy Spirit” (v. 15). This is a bit confusing until we understand the various ways the Holy Spirit worked (and works). Every person, upon obeying the gospel, receives what we might call an “indwelling” of the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:32). “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you” (I Corinthians 6:19). All Christians have that, but this “measure” of the Holy Spirit doesn’t give us the ability to perform miracles. It didn’t even do that in the first century (cf. I Cor. 12:29-30).
But “Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given” (Acts 8:18). This “laying on of hands” enabled people to work miracles; interestingly, even Philip couldn’t pass on this power. Peter and John had to go from Jerusalem to Samaria to do it. Thus, we have a second activity of the Spirit, i.e., the working of miracles. Paul discusses this in detail in I Corinthians 12-14, the various “gifts,” how they were to be used, how long they would last (until the word of God was completed, chapter 13), etc. Simon wanted that power, i.e., the ability to lay his hands on people and give others the right to work miracles. Probably, more than even that, he wanted the ability to work genuine miracles himself, rather than being the shyster that he was. He offered Petere and John money to have the power to transfer the Holy Spirit to others (vs. 18-19).
Peter seriously rebuked him, and told him to repent and pray so that “perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you” (vs. 20-22). Simon didn’t need to be baptized again (baptism being for the initial “remission of sins”, Acts 2:38); repentance and prayer were sufficient to again receive God’s pardon. It’s instructive for us as well. When a Christians sins—and we all do—we can follow Peter’s word here. Repent and pray for forgiveness. Simon apparently had a problem with greed, but he also apparently had a good heart and asked Peter to pray in his behalf as well (v. 24). This is all we know, in the Scriptures, of Simon.
The apostles soon returned to Jerusalem, but, on their way, preached the gospel “in many villages of the Samaritans” (v. 25). Philip’s work in Samaria was finished, but his story continues in the rest of this chapter.