Acts 8 - The Church Persecuted and Scattered - Philip Does Signs and Wonders

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The Church Persecuted and Scattered

Verse 1 says, "Saul approved of their killing him." In a few chapters we will see one of the most important conversions in the history of Christianity, but at this point Saul was in favor of killing Stephen, the first Christian martyr. 

Stephen's death was only the beginning of massive persecution against the early church. Only the apostles stayed in Jerusalem as the rest of the believer were scattered abroad. The word "scattered" had important meaning. 

According to Boice, there are two different words in the ancient Greek language for the idea of “scattered.” One has the idea of scattering in the sense of making something disappear, like scattering someone’s ashes. The other word has the idea of scattering in the sense of planting or sowing seeds. This is the ancient Greek word used here.

Philip in Samaria

Philip went out preached and also healed and cast out evil spirits. Many took note and found great joy in his ministry. 

Philip came presenting the gospel, with signs and wonders following as an impressive confirmation. When the people found Jesus, there was great joy in that city. - Guzik

Simon the Sorcerer

The fact that Simon was a sorcerer shows people believed in the supernatural. People esteemed his a man who wielded God's power, yet when Simon heard Philip and saw the things he was doing, he realized he was witnessing the real deal. He knew what he was preaching and doing was powerless, and he longer for real power, which he found when he believed in Jesus and was baptized. 

The next passage is very interesting and one that could be open to varying interpretations. When Peter and John came to Samaria, after they heard what had happened, they saw these new converts had not received the Holy Spirit yet. I am not sure how they would have come to this decision. But the apostles laid hands on them and they did receive the power of the Holy Spirit. 

The laying on of hands was often a way people received the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit usually comes someone when they come to faith in Jesus. John's gospel describes this as "being born again". Born not of the natural, but born of the Holy Spirit.  There is no one way people receive the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. Some would argue that these believers already had the Spirit and they were receiving some additional gifts, but the context seems to imply that the apostles didn't think they had received the Holy Spirit at all. 

Simon, when he saw the Holy Spirt being bestowed on them wanted to pay money to get this special power. So though Simon believed and was baptized, he still struggled with his old way of living. This often happens when someone becomes a new Christian. They are tempted to "go back to their old ways!" In the end Simon seems to be repentant when he asks the apostles, "Pray that nothing you have said will happen to me." But others think he was only interested in saving his own skin and that he was not really interested in true repentance. 

Philip and the Ethiopian

Philip was led by the Spirit to go South, where he ran into an Ethiopian eunuch. He had gone to Jerusalem for Pentecost and was now on his way home. We see he was a seeker of the truth as he was reading the book of Isaiah. We know Isaiah had a lot of passages predicting the Messiah. 

Philip knew at that moment that God had given him an open door, a prepared heart. Plainly, God had arranged this meeting between Philip and the Ethiopian; this is a wonderful example of how God opens doors for evangelism. God directed Philip because God had already arranged an open door. - Guzik

What was a "eunuch" in Jesus' day?

A eunuch is a man who has been castrated for the purpose of trusted servitude in a royal household (see Esther 1:10; 4:4; and Daniel 1:9). A king would often castrate his servants to ensure they would not be tempted to engage in sexual activity with others in the palace (specifically, the royal harem) or to prevent their plotting an overthrow (eunuchs were incapable of setting up a dynasty of their own). Eunuchs have been employed in many civilizations, including the Ancient Middle East, Ancient Greece and Rome, China, Korea, and Thailand. Jesus mentions them in Matthew 19:12.

Philip explained to the eunuch how Jesus fulfilled these passages from Isaiah about the Messiah. As they came beside some water the eunuch asked to be baptized. Although we don't necessarily hear that the eunuch came to faith we can probably assume he did because Philip baptized him. As you can see coming to faith, being baptized, and receiving the Holy Spirit didn't ever seem to happen in the exact same order with everyone. This is why we need to be careful to not create formulas or hoops for people to become believers. God's ways are higher than ours, and they are often mysterious to us. This doesn't mean people don't need faith in Jesus to be saved, but the way a person's salvation is manifested can vary from person to person!