Commentary on Acts 8:8-12

By Bob Myhan

⁸And there was great joy in that city.

There is a whole family of words—pleasure, delight, joy, and enjoyment among them—that “mean the agreeable emotion accompanying the possession or expectation of what is good or greatly desired. Pleasure stresses a feeling of satisfaction or gratification rather than visible happiness.” “Delight usually reverses this emphasis and stresses lively expression of obvious satisfaction.” “Joy may imply a more deep-rooted rapturous emotion than either pleasure or delight.” (The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms, page 292)

In the New Testament, the verb form of the word for joy appears 72 times and the noun form appears 60 times. In the epistle to the Philippians, Paul uses the word at least 14 times in a variety of forms. Clearly, the New Testament is a book of joy, which certainly implies that Christian discipleship is to be joyous. Whatever else may be said about the life God expects of a saint, one cannot deny that it should be full of joy. (Phil. 3:1; 4:4; 1 Thess. 5:16)

Joy always accompanies the gospel wherever and whenever it is preached to those with honest hearts. This joy is manifold. There is the joy of the gospel, the joy of fellowship, the joy of service and the joy of bringing joy. The joy of the gospel may be further divided into the joy of the new discovery, the joy of receiving the gospel, the joy of believing the gospel, the joy of tribulation and the joy of affliction.

The shepherds are an excellent example of the joy of the new discovery in the announcement to them by the angel about the birth of Jesus. (Luke 2:8-20) In our present text, the Samaritans were obviously joyous over the many who were either released from demonic possession, healed or both; but they also felt the joy of the new discovery.

⁹But 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, ¹⁰to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the great power of God." ¹¹And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time.

Simon was a common name in the first century. There were two “Simons” among the apostles—Simon Peter and Simon the Zealot (Matt. 10:1-4 NASB, ESV). There was Simon the leper (Matt. 26:6); Simon of Cyrene, who was compelled to bear the cross of Jesus (Matt. 27:32); Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50); Simon Iscariot, the father of Judas (John 6:71); one of the Lord’s half-brothers (Matt. 13:55); Simon the tanner, with whom Peter stayed in Joppa (Acts 10:6); and, of course, Simon the magician. The word for “sorcery” is translated “magic” in the ESV. There is no suggestion of Simon having supernatural power. He had the power to “amaze” (ESV), but so do many modern day magicians such as David Copperfield, Chris Angel and others. The difference is that modern magicians do not claim to have supernatural power as did Simon. We are not told by what feats Simon held them under his “spell” but they were not genuine miracles, as we shall see. Nor are we told for how long he had astonished them.

More will be said about Simon in the next issue of Faith Builder.

¹²But 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.

It was implied in verse 6 that the people believed the message Philip preached. Here, it is explicitly stated. It was not his purpose to merely amaze the people; nor did he claim to be someone great. His message did not center on him at all but on “Christ,” or “the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.”

They believed Philip because he preached salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life and he confirmed his words with miracles. As stated previously, this was the purpose of the exercise of supernatural power by Jesus, His apostles and certain other first century disciples.

And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:30-31)

And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. (Mark 16:20)

Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? (Heb. 2:1-4)

Philip did not merely astonish the people but fed their souls. He told them about the kingdom of God and how to enter therein. He told them of their need to be “born again ... of water and the spirit.” (John 3:3-5) Therefore, “both men and women were baptized.” They obviously saw a clear difference between the magic of Simon and the supernatural power wielded by Philip.

(To be continued)

The Lord’s People Part #6

By Bob Myhan

Jesus the Master teacher also used a variety of figures involving vineyards: the parable of the laborers, a tale of two sons, a parable of wicked vinedressers and the metaphor of a vine and its branches. Before we briefly analyze those figures, let us consider some basic principles of viniculture.

First, there are the laws of plant propagation, which God established on the third day of creation week (Gen. 1:11-12), and the conversion process. Each original plant created by God contained its own seed, and each plant reproduced after its own kind. Agriculturists apply this science by sowing the seed of the plant they wish to reap. Because it is unconscious, vegetable life has only a passive role in procreation. Meteorological and geologic forces [rain, wind, gravity, etc.] must be brought to bear for vegetation to reproduce “after its own kind.” In certain cases, animal or insect intervention is necessary [hence, “the birds and the bees”].

That which is sown in “the vineyard of the Lord” is the word of God (Luke 8:11), which is “the doctrine of Christ” or “the gospel” (2 John 9; Mark 16:16). The soil in which the word of God is planted is the human heart (Luke 8:12); not the physical but the spiritual heart, consisting of mind, emotions, conscience and will. God’s word must be planted in the heart because obedience is “from the heart” (2 Thess. 1:8; Rom. 6:17).

Just as some soil is unsuitable for producing physical fruit, some hearts are unfit for producing spiritual fruit (Matt. 13:19-22; Luke 8:12-14). The heart represented by the “way side” soil is slow to understand, giving Satan the time to remove the word before he or she can “believe and be saved.” Those hearts signified by “stony places” and “thorns” initially believe but do not endure to the end, apparently because each fails to count the cost (Luke 14:25-33).

The good and honest heart, however, not only hears the gospel, initially, but also bears fruit with patience. Having counted the cost of discipleship he is ready for the challenge presented by the various tribulations, persecutions, temptations, cares, riches and pleasures of life, rises to the challenge and overcomes (Luke 8:15; Matt. 13:23; Rev. 2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21).

Second, we reap what we sow, both in the physical and spiritual realms (Gal. 6:7). In the parable of the tares, Jesus pointed out that a man who sowed good seed in his field had an enemy who sowed tares, which appeared together with the wheat (Matt. 13:24-30). Tares were reaped because tares were sown. The word of God, sown in the human heart, will produce only Christians. Likewise, denominational doctrine will produce only a member of that particular denomination. Methodist doctrine, for example, will never produce a Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Catholic or a Christian. Similarly, the word of God alone will never produce a member of a denomination. The doctrines and commandments of men are necessary for that, but they will always and only result in vain worship (Matt. 15:9).

The child of God must be careful what he sows in life, because “he that soweth to his flesh shall…reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall…reap life everlasting” (Gal. 6:8). One sows to the Spirit by seeking “those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God” and by setting his “affections on things above, not on things of the earth” (Col. 3:1-2; Rom. 8:1-6).

A third law that applies equally to physical and spiritual vineyards is that reaping is proportionate to sowing; the more you sow the more you reap (2 Cor. 9:6). If we diligently sow the word of God, we will reap, not only an increase in our faith, but also the seven “Christian graces:” Virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity, or love (2 Peter 1:5-11). If these things abound in us, we will receive an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom.

In the parable of the laborers (Matt. 20:1-7), Jesus is pointing out that it does not matter at what point in time one becomes a laborer; he will receive the same pay, which is illustrative of eternal life. In the tale of two sons (Matt. 21:28-32), Jesus shows that eventual actions are more important that initial intentions. Though one might have refused to “go work” at first, he might afterward repent and go. And one who might have, at the outset, given lip service (“I go, sir”) might never begin to labor.

In the parable of wicked vinedressers (Matt. 21:33-43), Jesus is warning the Jews who had rejected Him that the privilege of being the people of God was soon to be taken from them and given to others.

Finally, in the metaphor of a vine and its branches (John 15:1-8), He is pointing out that His disciples cannot accomplish anything of a spiritual nature apart from association with Him, and that those who try will be eternally separated from Him. &