Acts · chapter 8 of 28
Updated on
Acts 8 tells how, after Stephen's death, a great persecution scatters the believers throughout Judea and Samaria, and Saul ravages the church. Philip proclaims Christ in Samaria, where many believe, including Simon the magician; Peter and John pray that they may receive the Holy Spirit. Then Philip explains Isaiah 53 to an Ethiopian eunuch on the road to Gaza and baptizes him.
Acts 1:8 announced that the gospel would reach Samaria and the ends of the earth. This chapter takes the first great step: the persecution that followed Stephen's death, instead of extinguishing the church, scatters it and fulfills the promise. The gospel crosses ethnic and social barriers: Samaritans first, and then an African official of the queen of Ethiopia.
Saul approved of Stephen's death. That day a great persecution breaks out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles are scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Devout men bury Stephen and make great lamentation over him, while Saul ravages the church, entering house after house and dragging men and women off to prison. The scattered believers, however, go about preaching the word.
Philip, one of the seven, goes down to a city in Samaria and proclaims Christ. The crowds listen, see the signs and there is great joy in the city. A man named Simon had been practicing magic there, amazing the people and claiming to be someone great; but the people believe Philip and are baptized, even Simon, who follows Philip in amazement. When the apostles in Jerusalem hear that Samaria has received the word of God, they send Peter and John, who pray for them and lay hands on them, and they receive the Holy Spirit. Simon offers the apostles money to have that power, and Peter rebukes him sharply: his heart is not right before God, and he must repent. Simon asks them to pray for him.
An angel tells Philip to go south on the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza. There he meets an Ethiopian eunuch, a high official of Candace the queen, in charge of all her treasure, who was returning from worshiping in Jerusalem and reading the prophet Isaiah in his chariot. The Spirit tells Philip to go near, and the eunuch asks for help understanding the passage about the servant led like a sheep to slaughter. Philip begins with that Scripture and tells him the good news about Jesus. Seeing water, the eunuch asks to be baptized, and Philip baptizes him. When they come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carries Philip away; the eunuch goes on his way rejoicing, and Philip is found at Azotus and preaches in all the towns until he reaches Caesarea.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The believers scattered by persecution went about preaching the word. It was not only the apostles: every believer was a witness, and what seemed a blow against the church became the means by which the gospel spread.
Peter rebukes Simon because he thought the gift of God could be bought with money, and calls him to repent of his wickedness and pray for forgiveness. The gift of the Spirit is grace, not merchandise.
Philip begins with the Isaiah passage the eunuch was reading and tells him the good news about Jesus. It is a model for explaining the gospel: start where the person is, open the Scripture and show Christ.
The eunuch sees water and asks what prevents him from being baptized; Philip baptizes him. A foreigner and a man restricted in Israel's worship by his condition receives the sign of God's people, and the barrier falls.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: He ravaged the church, entering house after house and dragging men and women off to prison. — Acts 8:3
Answer: To a city in Samaria, where he proclaimed Christ. — Acts 8:5
Answer: He offered money to have the power to give the Spirit; Peter rebuked him and told him to repent. — Acts 8:18-22
Answer: An Ethiopian eunuch, an official of Candace the queen, in charge of her treasure. — Acts 8:27
Answer: The prophet Isaiah. — Acts 8:28-30
Answer: The Spirit of the Lord carried him away and he was found at Azotus, where he kept preaching on to Caesarea. — Acts 8:39-40
Acts 8 reminds us that God uses even tragedies to spread his work. The scattered believers did not wait for a platform: they told what they knew wherever they were. In your group, ask where God has placed you today, at work, at school or in a neighborhood, and how you can speak of Jesus there.
Philip also shows sensitivity to the Spirit: he leaves a city with crowds for a desert road for the sake of one person. Ask God for eyes to see those who are seeking answers and for the readiness to approach and ask whether they understand what they read.
Acts 8 ends with Philip preaching in the coastal towns on to Caesarea. Acts 9 returns to Saul, the persecutor, and tells how Jesus himself meets him on the road to Damascus.
The text presents this as a particular situation: the Samaritans had believed and been baptized, but had not yet received the Spirit. Many understand that God wanted to confirm before the apostles in Jerusalem that Samaria was accepted in the church. Christians debate whether this is a pattern or an exception.
The text says he believed and was baptized, but then shows his error. Peter calls him to repent, and Simon asks for prayer, with nothing more told. The story warns that one can be near the church with an unchanged heart.
That verse, with the eunuch's confession of faith, does not appear in the oldest manuscripts, so many translations omit it or put it in a note. The passage's teaching does not change: the eunuch believes and is baptized.