Sunday Acts 8:9-13

Philip encounters a sorcerer in Samaria.

Click here for an online Bible. Acts 8:9-13

Philip preached the gospel in Samaria. He encountered people that were of a very different culture than he was used to in Judea. The people followed a sorcerer named Simon. He amazed people with his magic and they considered him to be very important.

This probably couldn’t have happened in Judah. The Jewish people would not have tolerated a sorcerer. The Law of Moses was very clear about the prohibition against sorcery and magic. Looking to magic for power rather than God would fall under the category of chasing after false gods and idolatry. From God’s perspective this is spiritual adultery. Many of the Jews had lost sight of God. They practiced a religion rather than a relationship. But sorcery was way out of bounds.

The Samaritans had been drifting away from God since they separated from the southern kingdom of Judah about 930 BC. They set up idols pretty quickly and fell further and further away from God’s word over time. After the Assyrian conquest of 720 BC, they mixed with the pagan religions even more. So, by the time of Philip coming to Samaria in about 34 AD, sorcery was no big deal.

Simon amazed people with his magic. They said he was a divine power called “The Great Power.” So, the people attributed his power to God. We know that demonic power was at work since Philip was casting out demons. Satan masquerades as an angel of light, so it is no stretch to believe that Simon had real power, although it was demonic in origin.

When the power of God and the truth of the gospel come up against the power of Satan, many people will turn to God. That is what happened in Samaria. Many people turned to the truth of God and believed in Jesus. They were baptized in the name of Jesus. Even Simon himself believed and was baptized.

A question about Simon continues to be debated. Was he truly saved? Did he really turn to Christ and experience new life, or did he just get caught up in the excitement and profess a belief in Jesus that was not real? His behavior in the next section is problematic. But it may not mean that he was really not a believer. It may just mean that he still had the enormous baggage of his past and culture. We can not say for certain.

There is also a lot of mythology surrounding Simon. A Samaritan sorcerer named Simon Magus is a figure in history. Is he a real person, or just a fictional action that was built up from this biblical account? Everybody has their opinion, but we can’t say for sure. Simon Magus supposedly had magical powers and was confronted by Peter in Rome. Simon allegedly was one of the early Gnostics who believed that they had special knowledge of God that only a few were privy to.

What we do know is that the power of God is superior to the power of Satan. We know that the truth of the gospel can liberate people from the darkness of cults and false religions.

We also see the world has very different standards from what we find in church. When Philip went into Samaria, he found people who knew nothing of the truth of God. They accepted as normal and good things which God had clearly set out of bounds. God is not a big killjoy who delights in stifling our fun. He care for our wellbeing and sets things off-limits which are dangerous. Magic and sorcery open people to demonic influences and powers. This is so dangerous that God labeled it unacceptable in no uncertain terms.

In our world today, we see the acceptance and even celebration of values and practices that are so clearly beyond the limits that God has given us. Just as they called the demonic Simon “the Great Power of God,” people today call sexual immorality freedom and individual expression. They call abortion reproductive choice. They call occultism spirituality.

Like Philip, we have to leave the safety of the religious culture and get our into the world. We should not despise the people who have embraced the values of the world. They don’t know any better. We must share with them the truth of the gospel with love showing the power of Christ in our own lives.