Acts 8:9-13 (NIV)
Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power known as the Great Power.” They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
Simon was someone who today would be called a magician. That is, he performed tricks and “wonders” not by power, even demonic power, but merely through illusion and sleight of hand. But, just like the street magicians of today, the “tricks” that he did caused people to believe that there was real supernatural force behind his ability.
But when Philip came to town and began doing real miracles, the people turned away from Simon, believed in the Jesus that Philip preached and were baptized. It is one thing to be able to make a coin disappear and reappear, but it is a different thing altogether to heal the sick and infirm and to cast out demons, leaving the formerly possessed person sane and healthy.
Even Simon was amazed by what Philip could do. He watched his every movement, listened to his every word, as only a person trained in magic can do, and he detected not the smallest amount of trickery or deceit. Not only that, but he knew many of the people whom Philip healed and delivered. He knew that these were not plants placed in the crowd to fake a healing, but genuinely disabled people whom Philip healed with a word or a touch.
This led Simon to believe and be baptized. He wasn’t entirely sure about Jesus, but he was convinced that somehow Philip had discovered a way to tap into real power, power that Simon always wanted, always claimed to have, but that he himself knew was only a sham, a ruse designed to gain authority and notoriety for himself. This mystery made Simon a follower, not of Jesus exactly, but of Philip. He followed Philip everywhere he went in an effort to discover the secret to Philip’s great power.
Father, we have seen before that the purpose of miracles is not for the comfort or convenience of Christians but is to attract attention to Your reality and Your power, and to give credibility to the gospel as it is shared by Your people. But sometimes people in search of power are attracted by the power and not by the message. It was so in Jesus’ day, in the days of the early Church, and in our times as well, and betrays hearts “full of bitterness and captive to sin” (Acts 8:23) in those who are lured merely by the promise of power. Lord, keep our hearts pure and free from that kind of captivity. Instead, help us to always and only seek You through our relationship with Jesus, so that You can be free to do mighty acts and to speak powerfully through us. Amen.
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