Acts 8 reminds me of “Chicken Fights”. That’s what we called battling in the pool with someone sitting on our shoulders while trying to knock the others down. I mostly remember the wonderful feeling of lightness afterwards, swimming without carrying someone else’s weight. Today’s chapter is about relieving the burden. We begin with the “great persecution” against the church in Jerusalem. Saul attempted to “destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison”. So, “all except the apostles were scattered”. Those that fled Jerusalem “preached the Word wherever they went”. What did they say? “Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there”. He preached to the Jews in the region that steadfastly following the rabbinical laws of righteousness in search of atonement. When Phillip “proclaimed the good news”, he explained that Jesus Christ fulfilled every requirement of the Law of Moses. To those unable to defeat sin, Jesus promised, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest… For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). I believe Phillip taught them that peace with God was available to all, through the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Christ. “When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed… there was great joy in that city”. This good news is for everyone bound up in religious duties, and for all those that have given up trying to be good enough.
Next we meet a man named Simon that had amazed the people of the city by practicing “sorcery”. We do not know if he was a follower of the occult, but we do know that “He boasted that he was someone great” and claimed to be the power of God. Short-cut Simon heard Phillip proclaim the good news, and saw men and women getting baptized, and “Simon himself believed and was baptized”. Simon then followed Phillip, and was “astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw”. At that time, the apostles in Jerusalem heard of the transformation taking place in Samaria and came to pray “for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit”. When “Peter and John placed their hands on them… they received the Holy Spirit”. Simon observed their elation and perhaps he saw this as another trick to add to his show. He offered to pay the apostles for this knowledge. “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit”. Peter scolded Simon, warning “Repent of this wickedness… For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin”. God’s Spirit cannot be earned or purchased, it is a gift.
The chapter ends with Phillip’s visit to a deserted road. He met “an Ethiopian… an important official in charge of all the treasury” who had gone to Jerusalem to worship. All we know for sure is that he was “sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah” and struggling alone. Phillip heard him reading Isaiah 53: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth”. Phillip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The Ethiopian replied, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” “Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus”. The Ethiopian was so excited, he asked Phillip, “Here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” Position and power did not give him Peace with God. He had to surrender to the Savior. They both “went down into the water and Philip baptized him”. Afterwards, the Ethiopian “went on his way rejoicing”. My friend, do you have joy in your life? It’s time to put down the burden and experience something new. Friend, what is it that is keeping you from enjoying peace with God?