And the apostles who were in Jerusalem, having heard that Samaria had received the word of God, sent to them Peter and John;
News of Philip's preaching in Samaria reaches Jerusalem. The apostles answer by sending two of their own to a place Jews avoided. Why did they get involved at all, and why these two men?
The report that reached Jerusalem was not about crowds. It was about a word received. One writer shows how striking that is, given the long history between the two peoples:
"Samaria had received the word of God" — I think that is a beautiful phrase. The Jews had been trying hard to make them receive the law, but it had been a complete failure. That was the reason why "Jews have no dealings with Samaritans." What the law failed to do, the sovereign grace of God accomplished. The whole city received the word. "And there was great joy in that city." It was one of the triumphs of grace.
No one in Samaria asked for help. The apostles still acted, because these new believers belonged with them:
This shows that independence between congregations is as far as possible from the will of God. There was no holding aloof on the part of the leaders in Jerusalem, though we hear of no request for their intervention from the Samaritans. The apostles felt as members of the one body of Christ for the fresh objects of divine grace.
They could have reacted very differently. Philip's work looked irregular, and his converts still lacked something:
They did not give way to natural prejudice. They did not denounce Philip as irregular in what he was doing. They did not seize on the absence of the gift of the Spirit as a reason for discounting the whole work at Samaria, or even disowning it altogether. They bowed to the sovereign grace of God. From their own number they chose two who ranked among the very chief of the apostles — Peter and John.
The Samaritans had welcomed the word, yet they had not yet received the Spirit. One writer traces the delay to a danger God meant to head off:
Here, as it appears to me, is why divine wisdom led to this striking difference at Samaria. The need was to prevent that independence to which even Christians are so liable. Samaria was especially open to this evil, so it called for a much greater guard. How painful it must be to the Spirit of God if the old pride of Samaria were to rise up against Jerusalem! God would cut off the very appearance of this. His Spirit acted freely toward Samaria without the apostles, yet the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of their hands. That solemn act was not only an old sign of divine blessing, but of identification too.
The two men sent were the last pair anyone would expect to go:
The Spirit did not fall on them at once, as on the company in Caesarea in Acts 10:44. Instead the Samaritans waited for this blessing until Jerusalem spoke through Peter and John. God openly showed that the Church, whether planted in this city or in that, is one. … The choice of instruments, too, was remarkable. Peter was the conservative Jew, who had always judged it unlawful to visit or keep company with a man of another nation (Acts 10:28). John was the son of thunder, who once asked his Lord whether he should command fire to come down from heaven and consume the Samaritans.
The Samaritans were genuine believers before Peter and John arrived. Kelly insists on a distinction that the whole passage turns on:
God so ordered it that the Holy Spirit should not at first be given to the disciples at Samaria. I do not mean only to men like Simon, or to false believers, but even to those who were true. They could not have believed the gospel without the quickening work of the Holy Spirit. But we must distinguish between the Holy Spirit giving life and God giving the Holy Spirit Himself.
Kelly then warns readers not to make this a standing practice:
To a thoughtful believer it will be plain that the reasons for this do not hold at the present time. I say this only in case anyone concludes that men commissioned by God must now lay on hands to give such a spiritual blessing.
- Received — the word of God did in Samaria what the law never could. Grace won where legal pressure had failed.
- Responded — the apostles did not ignore the news or question Philip's odd methods. They sent two of their chief men.
- Restrained — God held back the Spirit. Old Samaritan pride was not to rise up against Jerusalem under a Christian name.
- Related — laying on hands meant identification. The two chosen were the strict Jew and the man who once wanted fire on Samaritan heads.
- Reserved — believing brought life by the Spirit; receiving the Spirit Himself came after. And the delay served that hour, not ours.
who, having come down, prayed for them that they might receive [the] Holy Spirit;
Philip had preached in a Samaritan city, and crowds believed and were baptized. Something was still missing, so Peter and John came down from Jerusalem — which raises two questions: what more could these believers receive, and why the wait?
The phrase does not describe becoming a believer. It describes a Person coming to live in someone.
Now, to receive the Holy Spirit is to be indwelt by Him (Rom. 8:9), and so such people are no longer in the flesh but in the Spirit, and their bodies become His temples (1 Cor. 6:19). Does the term "receiving the Holy Spirit" mean simply divine power coming on people? Old Testament saints had known that, but of none of them do we read that they received the Holy Spirit. Was it a supply of spiritual gifts, such as tongues, miracles, and so on? Some who had received the Spirit could share in these, and at times did. But in truth it was far more. What they received was the Holy Spirit.
So the Samaritans could be real converts and still be waiting.
From such a fact we gather the clear distinction between the gift of the Holy Spirit and His working. It is that working which enables a soul to repent and to believe the gospel. There is no question that most of the Samaritan converts were real believers. Simon was not. Even so, the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on any of them.
Luke is precise about the content of the prayer, and the wording repays attention.
How, then, were they to share in all the fullness of blessing, and the display of it, along with their brothers in Judea? They must receive the Holy Spirit before becoming instruments for the display of His power. The apostles therefore prayed, not that He should fall on them, but that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
Samaria and Jerusalem had a long history of religious rivalry. Commentators widely agree that this history explains the unusual delay.
With the Samaritans, things did not follow the order Peter set out in Acts 2:38. God arranged this, we believe, for a special reason. Jerusalem and Samaria had a religious rivalry, as John 4 shows. So there must have been a strong pull to carry this old prejudice into the new conditions. That would have meant a Samaritan church independent of a Jerusalem church, if not in rivalry with it. Any practical expression of the "one body" would then have been in danger, before God had even revealed the truth of it. As things were, they only received the Spirit when Peter and John came down and laid hands on them. That step linked the apostles and the church in Jerusalem with these new believers in Samaria. This preserved the oneness of the church.
The apostles' journey settled a question that could have been raised against the mission itself.
Samaria was the last place a Jew would go to preach, so great was the jealousy about it. And there is no jealousy so bitter as religious jealousy… But God had not yet given the Holy Spirit. The reason was that He had determined to set His seal on the work in the most striking way. Those at Jerusalem might have said, We cannot vouch for this work. Who sent Philip there? … But Peter and John go down to Samaria in clear recognition of the work.
Does this set a rule for today?
To a thoughtful believer it will be plain that the reasons for this do not hold at the present time. I say this only in case someone concludes from it that men commissioned by God must lay on hands now to give such a spiritual blessing.
The letters to the churches show the normal order.
In all other recorded cases, God gave the Spirit without laying on of hands. At the first preaching to the Gentiles, God gave the Spirit the moment they believed, but in every other case as a separate event after belief. The usage of the epistles shows that the first preaching to the Gentiles gave the pattern meant to be permanent. The rest were exceptional events, for special reasons tied to the start of the new faith. But here in Ephesians 1:13 is the most definite passage on the subject. They were sealed with the Holy Spirit "on believing".
- Rivalry — Samaria and Jerusalem were old religious rivals. God acted to stop that prejudice from splitting the church.
- Delay — Real, baptized believers waited for the Spirit until the apostles came. Believing and receiving the Spirit are two different things.
- Prayer — Peter and John asked for the gift itself, the Spirit who comes to live in believers, not for a display of power.
- Unity — Their hands on the Samaritans tied the new work to the old, and marked Philip's mission as God's.
- Exception — This event was exceptional. The letters set the lasting pattern: believers are sealed with the Spirit when they believe.
for he was not yet fallen upon any of them, only they were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus.
A city in Samaria heard the gospel from Philip. The people believed and were baptized. Yet something was still missing. Two questions follow. What had these believers not received? And why did God wait until Peter and John came?
The verse does not say the Samaritans lacked miraculous signs. It says the Spirit Himself had not fallen on any of them. One writer draws the line between the outward signs and the Person behind them:
It was not simply an absence of the signs that then followed those who believed. It was not only that the gifts failed, but the "Gift." Signs of the Spirit normally showed that the Spirit was present. Here they were missing. And God had not given the far greater Gift — the Spirit Himself.
Their faith was not in doubt. Yet one writer marks what they still lacked:
Believers they were. Children of God they had become. Saved souls they certainly were. But they had not yet shared in belonging to Christ (Rom. 8:9), or in being members of His body (1 Cor. 12:13). These spiritual blessings depended on receiving the Holy Spirit. Peter and John prayed for that. Then they laid their hands on the disciples, and they received the Holy Spirit. So we see that people may be believers and yet not be what Scripture calls sealed (Eph. 1:13) — that is, not yet partakers of the gift of the Holy Spirit. But God does not want to leave anyone in that condition.
The same distinction reaches back before Pentecost. The gift waited on redemption:
The Samaritan believers were saints then, and children of God, but God had not yet given them the Spirit. The Old Testament saints did not have it either. They were born of the Spirit, yet never received that great gift. It could not come until redemption. Then God sent out the Spirit of His Son into hearts already renewed, crying, Abba, Father.
Baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus was no empty ceremony. A name stands for the person:
His name is the expression of what He Himself is. He was called Jesus, because He would save His people from their sins. Philip preached "concerning the name of Jesus Christ" — that is, he preached Christ, the truth of what He is. The Samaritans believed, and were "baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." They identified themselves with that truth he had declared.
One writer traces the delay to the old quarrel between the two places:
There had been religious rivalry between Jerusalem and Samaria, as John 4 shows. So there must have been a strong pull to carry that old prejudice into the new conditions. It would have meant a Samaritan church independent of a Jerusalem church, if not in rivalry with it. Any practical expression of the "one body" would have been put at risk before the truth of it had even been revealed. As it was, they received the Spirit only when Peter and John had come down and laid hands on them. This formally identified the apostles and the church in Jerusalem with these new believers in Samaria. The oneness of the church was preserved.
One writer separates the Spirit's work in a person from His sealing, and notes who laid on hands:
The difference between the working of the Spirit and the sealing of the Spirit is very clear. The Samaritans had believed and been baptized, but had not received the Holy Spirit. He had worked by the word in their hearts. Men and women were converted, born again, and had confessed the name of Jesus. But they were not yet sealed. Then it belonged in a special way to the apostles to lay on hands and confer the gift of the Spirit.
Laying on of hands was not the only way the Spirit was given then. C. E. Stuart lists three:
The gift was given in three different ways in the early days. First, the Spirit was poured out on the whole company at Pentecost. Second, many saints, probably most, received the gift of the Spirit by the hearing of faith (Gal. 3:2), believing the gospel of their salvation (Eph. 1:13). Third, others — and these Samaritans were in this last group — received the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of apostles.
- Gift, not gifts. The lack at Samaria was not missing signs but the Spirit Himself, who had not yet fallen on any of them.
- Believers first. They were already saved children of God before they received the Spirit.
- Sealed second. Being born of the Spirit and being sealed with Him are two different things.
- One body. The delay tied Samaria to Jerusalem, so old rivalry could not harden into two rival churches.
- One name. Baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus meant identifying with the Christ Philip preached.
Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received [the] Holy Spirit.
Philip preached in Samaria, and a whole city believed. But the Holy Spirit did not come on them until two apostles arrived from Jerusalem — which raises three questions: what were these believers missing, why the wait, and does the same order hold today?
The Samaritans were not half-converted. Commentators say their place before God was already settled. One blessing, though, had not yet reached them.
Believers they were. Children of God they had become. Saved souls they certainly were. But in belonging to Christ (Rom. 8:9), and in being members of His body (1 Cor. 12:13), they had not yet shared. These spiritual blessings depended on receiving the Holy Spirit... So we see plainly that people may be believers and yet not be what Scripture calls sealed (Eph. 1:13) — that is, not partakers of the gift of the Holy Spirit. But God does not want to leave anyone in that condition.
The laying on of hands did not stand alone. It followed prayer, and that prayer was not a nervous experiment but a claim on a promise already made.
And what could be more fitting in servants of Christ when they came down? They "prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit." God had so far withheld this, the great and characteristic privilege of the Christian. But the apostles in Jerusalem were moving in the current of His will and ways. Peter and John were there. They saw what was lacking and spread it out before God. They did not doubt. They counted on His faithfulness to make good the promise of the Spirit.
The delay was not an accident. Writers point to the old rivalry between Jerusalem and Samaria as the reason.
Jerusalem and Samaria had long been religious rivals, as John 4 shows. So there must have been a strong pull to carry that old prejudice into the new conditions. It would have meant a Samaritan church standing apart from the Jerusalem church, if not in rivalry with it. Any practical expression of the "one body" would then have been put at risk, even before God had revealed the truth of it. Instead, they received the Spirit only when Peter and John came down and laid hands on them. That act tied the apostles and the church in Jerusalem to these new believers in Samaria. So the church stayed one.
So what did the act itself say? It declared that the two sides belonged together, and the choice of these two men made that all the sharper.
The person who laid hands on another declared by that act his oneness and sympathy with him... Peter and John acted for the Christians in Jerusalem. They expressed their oneness with the new group of believers that had sprung up in the city they had always hated and despised... In this way God showed openly that the Church is one, whether planted in this city or that... The choice of men was remarkable too. Peter was the strict, conservative Jew, who had always judged it unlawful to visit or keep company with a man of another nation (Acts 10:28). John was the son of thunder, who once asked his Lord if he should command fire to come down from heaven and burn up the Samaritans.
Here the Spirit came only after the apostles laid on hands. Some have built a two-stage Christian life on that. The letters written to the churches rule it out.
The Samaritans had not yet received the Holy Spirit. He came to them only after Peter and John arrived from Jerusalem and laid hands on them. This has puzzled many earnest students of the Word. It has also led to mistaken teachings, as if a person must receive the Holy Spirit in some special way after conversion... The letters to the churches unfold the great truths and blessings of salvation in Christ Jesus. Not one of them says a word about receiving the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. Not one tells a person who has trusted Christ and is born again to seek the gift of the Spirit afterwards.
The practice itself has the same limit. In every case of this kind, the hands were apostolic.
In all these cases, notice who lays on hands: the apostles, or Timothy. Timothy was an apostolic delegate, so he acted under Paul's direction and authority. That is why no one could practise it now, unless they claimed "apostolic succession." There is not even the shadow of a proof for that in the Scriptures, which in fact disprove it easily.
- Saved, then sealed. The Samaritans already believed and were children of God. The Spirit was a further blessing, and God does not want anyone left without it.
- Delayed on purpose. The gift was withheld until Jerusalem arrived, so that old rivalry could not harden into two competing churches.
- Prayer first. Peter and John did not presume. They asked God, counting on His faithfulness to His promise.
- Hands mean oneness. Laying on hands said "we are one with you" — Jerusalem owning Samaria as its own.
- Apostolic, not repeatable. No letter to the churches tells a believer to seek the Spirit later, or through hands. To claim this practice today, you need a succession the Bible never grants.