Acts 8:9-24 (New King James Version)
9 But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, 10 to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” 11 And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. 13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.
14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”
24 Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”
The story of Simon the magician is one that fascinates me. It is one of the biblical stories that I think many of us just want to gloss over without delving into and looking at both the details and the ambiguity that it contains. It is easy enough just to kind of paint Simon as a two-dimensional character who was greedy and only wanted to profit from the power of God. Like so many Biblical characters, we look at Simon and judge his actions harshly. “Of course he was evil,” we say “he tried to buy his way into having the power to pass on the Holy Spirit.” Why would that matter to us? It isn’t as though someone today is going to be foolish enough to think that they can buy their way into Christianity.
I think that there are a couple of questions that the bible doesn’t answer for us. Wasn’t Simon a believer? It says that he believed. It doesn’t say that he saw what Philip was doing and wanted in on the racket. It says he believed and was baptized. He began to follow Philip and was amazed at what he saw.
Also, in the story, it isn’t until he sees that the Holy Spirit is passed thought the laying on of hands that he offers money to be given the power. He had followed Philip and seen him heal the sick, cast out demons and perform other miracles and the bible doesn’t say that he tried to gain Philip’s power. But there was something about passing on the power of the Holy Spirit that made Simon want the ability that the Apostles had.
Peter rebukes Simon on two counts. The first is for thinking that he could obtain a gift of God through money. The second is for the “intent of your heart.” Peter tells Simon that his heart isn’t right before God.
The story ends with Simon making a rather odd plea for forgiveness, but doesn’t tell us what happened next. He doesn’t seem to be immediately struck down and doesn’t go on to become important enough to be mentioned again. The only things we “know” about Simon after this episode are legends and accounts given in writings at least one hundred years later.
Personally, I think the problem with Simon was that he had never gone from belief to faith. When he met Peter and John, he was still thinking in terms of the world. He had the outward appearance of a follower of Christ, but his heart wasn’t quite there yet. I think he succumbed to a temptation. Church tradition holds that Simon only followed Philip to gain power. But if that was the case, what lesson could we learn from this?
In my view, Simon believed and probably really thought he was doing what was right. But he was depending on Philip’s faith. He was following Philip and not the Lord. Peter saw this. His rebuke isn’t to get away from him. He didn’t call Simon evil. He tells Simon to repent, to ask forgiveness and to seek the grace of the Lord.
The story of Simon is a warning to us. If Simon wasn’t a bad guy, then he was a misguided one. And who among us can’t occasionally be misguided? How often can we convince ourselves that we can obtain God’s gift through our tithes, our morals, our witness or our works? We need to know that a simple belief isn’t enough to turn our hearts to the Lord. We must move beyond a belief to actually following the will of our Savior or we will all be in the bond of iniquity.