Persecution and growth - crisis and opportunity (Acts 8)

The stoning of Stephen begins a violent wave of persecution against the early church.  Saul the persecutor leads it.  He goes door to door, rounding up Christians, and throwing them in jail.  

The believers in Jerusalem scatter throughout Judea and Samaria.  The apostles, however, stay behind in Jerusalem.  The text is silent as to why they do this.  Perhaps they think that God will send other angels to release them from prison.  Alternatively, they rejoiced at being flogged, so they might rejoice at the idea that Saul might punish them some more.

The early church is dispersing and this crisis gives God the opportunity to expand the Gospel to the Gentiles.  Acts 8 records two such anecdotes which involve Philip the food distributor (not the apostle, who remained behind in Jerusalem).

Philip goes through Samaria where he heals cripples and casts out demons.  He encounters a sorcerer named Simon, who is more popularly known as Simon Magus.  Simon Magus performs a lot of acts of sorcery and has group of followers that think he is divine and worship him.  Philip shares the gospel with Simon Magus who believes and is baptized.  

The Apostles Peter and John hear of Philip's evangelism and go to Samaria to baptize his new converts with the Holy Spirit.  It is stated that this is a second baptism, separate and apart from a water baptism.  Thus, Christians can receive salvation, but without a full Holy Spirit baptism.  This also shows that Peter and John were supervising the expansion of the church since Philip is a subordinate.

Peter and John lay hands on some of Philip's new converts so that they might receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  This shows that a Holy Spirit baptism comes from prayer, not water.

Simon Magus sees this and offers Peter money in that he might receive a Holy Spirit baptism.  Peter was probably going to pray for Simon anyway and it is interesting that Simon was not in the original group to receive the Holy Spirit baptism.  Perhaps Peter had questions about the depth of Simon Magus' faith and did feel comfortable with it.  After all, Simon Magus was a renowned sorcerer.  

Peter is repulsed by Simon Magus' offer and rebukes him.  Simon Magus' reaction is ambiguous as he asks Peter to pray for him that he might not be punished.  An open question in the Bible remains is if this showed repentance on the part of Simon Magus.  This is the last that we see of Simon Magus in the Bible.

However, extra-Biblical sources indicate that Simon Magus continued in sorcery.  Early Christian authors trace the Gnostic group Simonians to Simon Magus.  Likewise, in the Acts of Peter, a non-canonical book, Peter encounters Simon Magus again years later in Rome.  Simon Magus is using sorcery to levitate above a crowd when Peter rebukes him.  Simon Magus falls and breaks his leg.  The crowd then turns on Simon Magus and stones him.  The church of Santa Francesca Romana in Rome is built on this location, which suggests that the Catholic tradition believes that this story is true.

Back to Philip in Acts 8, an angel directs Philip to head south where encounters an Ethiopian reading from Isaiah 53.  This is the same chapter about a man who is crucified for the sins of all.  Philip shares the Gospel with him and this man is baptized.  

Immediately after the baptism, the Spirit of God whisks Philip away to another region and the Ethiopian did not see Philip again.

This is one of the few places in the Bible where the test suggests teleportation.  Personally, I am comfortable with the idea of teleportation.  I have read other commentaries which interpret this to mean that Philip was then led to another area and the text fast forwards through the travel.

Either way, both accounts of Philip in Samaria and with the Ethiopian shows the expansive mission of the Gospel to go to the Gentiles.  All of this was result of the persecution in Jerusalem which dispersed he believers where they met with Gentiles.