Hence, Peter’s harsh rebuke, which reminds me of the harsh rebuke that Peter himself at one time had received from Jesus (Mark 8:33 Matt 16:23). Simon, even though he had been baptized, still did not have the mind of Christ. The Bible, in other words, connects sacrifice and mercy, with priority given to the latter, as it is especially revealed in the incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus. It is a historically unique and essential revelation of the Bible that connected religion to morality, love of God and neighbor (see John Oswalt, The Bible Among the Myths). That was left to the political leaders and philosophers to establish in the name of societal order and stability. It was focused on personal or collective fortune and success, similar to the ways people still go through certain rituals to bring themselves good luck even today-like the kid on a baseball team I helped coach who refused to wash his pants! Ancient pagan religion was not connected to morality. For the pagan in the ancient world, religion was centered on attracting the favor of the more powerful forces in the universe. Simon was still thinking like a pagan, not like Christ. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone 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 neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Nonetheless, when Simon say how the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands of the apostles, his true mindset and state of heart was revealed. This was the case when the Gentiles, Cornelius and his household, would also later receive the Spirit just as the apostles had on the day of Pentecost (Acts 10-11). The reason they were delayed in receiving the Spirit is not stated, but it might be so there would be apostolic witness to this momentous event as the promise of Acts 1:8 and Acts 2:39 was fulfilled. Peter and John came to pray for the Samaritans to also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. As the story later reveals he witnessed a power greater than what he already had and he wanted it for himself seemingly to only enhance his already great prestige and personal glory. That is he professed faith, but for the wrong reasons. Now the great Baptist preacher Adrian Rogers insisted here that at this point Simon was really an unbelieving believer. Yet when he heard the preaching of the Christian evangelist Philip, and saw the sign and wonders that Philip performed, Acts 8:13 tells us that, even Simon himself believed and was baptized. I’m sure he promised to bring the people of Samaria great fortune, but it was he himself who prospered the most. His craft brought him great prestige and fame among the Samaritans. Then and even with these types of practices today, these beings were not necessarily all viewed as evil among pagans, although some were. His craft probably also included invoking the favor of powerful spiritual beings, known in the ancient world as daemon, the Greek word from which we get the English word demon. Simon was into spells and incantations of the variety that would bring people fortune and success, perhaps also practices that would bring misfortune to one’s rivals (i.e. The type of magic here referred to doesn’t mean pulling off tricks by slight of hand like pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Luke tells us that Simon practiced magic. Luke, the author of Acts, the sequel to his Gospel, tells us that the Samaritans had been under the spell, literally, of a sorcerer named Simon.
Acts 8 tells the story of Samaritans receiving the word of God, and eventually the Holy Spirit once the apostles, Peter and John, came to pray for them.
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