Sorcerers charged money for their services, and as a businessman who was used to dealing with supernatural powers, Simon would not have offered money for something that was not plainly evident as being supernatural, for Simon knew that it was people’s craving for the supernatural that attracted the crowds. However, if the only evidence of being filled with the Spirit had been speaking in tongues, Simon would never have offered money for that; for he knew that no one would pay to come to his meetings to be given a supernatural language to speak that they couldn’t even understand. And so, it had to be the other aspects of being filled with the Spirit, such as experiencing the tangible power of God and laughing under that power, that Simon knew would attract the crowds, and be willing to pay him money for that experience. It was on this basis that Simon offered Peter and John a significant amount of money for this gift, because he saw it as a business opportunity for himself. Peter knew Simon’s motivation for wanting this particular gift, which is why Peter rebuked him so sharply for wanting to make money through the gifting of God, and warned him that he was very close to blaspheming the Holy Spirit with all the dire consequences that entailed. And so, we learn from this account that the Holy Spirit can also be given through the laying on of hands, just as the healing anointing is imparted through the laying on of hands. We also learnt that every believer that Peter and John laid hands on received the Holy Spirit, i.e. none were left out. Also all the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit after they had already been born again, and there was obviously very clear evidence of the disciples being filled with the Holy Spirit, other than just speaking in tongues.
Michael E.B. Maher
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