I find Simon in Acts chapter 8, an interesting character.
He lived in Samaria and so amazed the people with his magic that all said he was the 'power of God'. Such was his fame till Philip came along preaching Jesus the Messiah, and backing up his message with miracles of all varieties. Of course, Simon was enthralled, so much so that he was baptised then followed Philip wherever he went.
All went well till the arrival of Peter and John and subsequently the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands by Peter and John. Simon had missed out so offered Peter and John money so he could receive the Holy Spirit also. Then Peter let him have it saying that Simon was 'in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness' and he needed to repent ASAP or else...........
This is where I differ from Peter, bearing in mind that I wasn't there. Simon's magic was obviously real and God was mentioned somewhere in there as well, but when Simon saw a better quality 'magic' in Philip, naturally he would have wanted to upgrade to the latest model. In today's world, surely a loving explanation would have been sufficient but when Peter got stuck into Simon as well, somewhere along the line Simon didn't or wouldn't understand what these men were telling him. I think he didn't understand because this message of the Messiah Jesus was all so new and different.
Previously I have commented on the woman who only needed to touch the hem of Jesus's coat so she could be healed, and in my mind, I would call that pure superstition, but Jesus didn't. He took her seriously, praised her for her faith and immediately healed her.
People come to Jesus from all sorts of 'places' and it is not up to us to judge where they are at, but to help and encourage them on their journey of a relationship with Jesus. It takes time for this relationship to develop and this may even be different to our relationship with Jesus. This is the work of the Holy Spirit and we should not hinder this work because of any preconceived ideas we may have.
We don't read any more of Simon after he asked Peter to pray for him but what a change from that confident Simon at the beginning of the chapter to one who now sounds very unsure of himself. I do like neat and tidy endings so I like to think that Simon continued to be a follower of Jesus even though it cost him his livelihood and reputation.
An interesting character was that Simon.
He lived in Samaria and so amazed the people with his magic that all said he was the 'power of God'. Such was his fame till Philip came along preaching Jesus the Messiah, and backing up his message with miracles of all varieties. Of course, Simon was enthralled, so much so that he was baptised then followed Philip wherever he went.
All went well till the arrival of Peter and John and subsequently the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands by Peter and John. Simon had missed out so offered Peter and John money so he could receive the Holy Spirit also. Then Peter let him have it saying that Simon was 'in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness' and he needed to repent ASAP or else...........
This is where I differ from Peter, bearing in mind that I wasn't there. Simon's magic was obviously real and God was mentioned somewhere in there as well, but when Simon saw a better quality 'magic' in Philip, naturally he would have wanted to upgrade to the latest model. In today's world, surely a loving explanation would have been sufficient but when Peter got stuck into Simon as well, somewhere along the line Simon didn't or wouldn't understand what these men were telling him. I think he didn't understand because this message of the Messiah Jesus was all so new and different.
Previously I have commented on the woman who only needed to touch the hem of Jesus's coat so she could be healed, and in my mind, I would call that pure superstition, but Jesus didn't. He took her seriously, praised her for her faith and immediately healed her.
People come to Jesus from all sorts of 'places' and it is not up to us to judge where they are at, but to help and encourage them on their journey of a relationship with Jesus. It takes time for this relationship to develop and this may even be different to our relationship with Jesus. This is the work of the Holy Spirit and we should not hinder this work because of any preconceived ideas we may have.
We don't read any more of Simon after he asked Peter to pray for him but what a change from that confident Simon at the beginning of the chapter to one who now sounds very unsure of himself. I do like neat and tidy endings so I like to think that Simon continued to be a follower of Jesus even though it cost him his livelihood and reputation.
An interesting character was that Simon.
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