What Ever Happened to that Guy?

What will happen to us?

Scripture Reading: Acts 8:9-24

              Simon the Magician shows up in Acts 8 and then disappears. Other than retelling the story of Simon, one wonders what the point is? Why did the Holy Spirit of God choose to include this narrative in the Book of Acts? (I believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures. So, while Luke wrote Acts, the divine Author is the Holy Spirit). Simon seems to have had a conversion experience of some sort. It tells us that “Even Simon himself believed,” (Acts 8:13). But we are left to wonder about the sincerity or reality of Simon’s conversion.

              The thing that seems to have moved Simon is the miracle-working power of the apostles. Simon was something of a miracle guy himself, although his miracles were more akin to the sleight of hand of a Houdini than the spiritual power of a Peter. And Simon could see the difference between what he had been doing and what the apostles did. He wanted what they had. He wanted it so badly that he was willing to pay big money for it. But why?

              Peter sees through it. Simon wasn’t just making an honest error, the faulty thinking of an immature Christian. Peter calls what Simon was doing “wickedness.” He tells Simon he is enslaved to iniquity. He implies Simon was on the path to hell when he said, “May your silver perish with you.” Perishing is what lost people do. These things don’t seem to suggest Simon was born again.

              The Simon saga does seem to end with the magician seeking true absolution. The last thing we hear from him is him asking Peter, “Pray for me, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” End of story. Whatever became of Simon? We aren’t told. We are left hanging. We might make our guesses, but we don’t know. So, what is the point?

              I think stories like this are peppered throughout the Scriptures as a warning and as hope. We aren’t told what happened to Simon and it could have gone either way. He could have truly repented and come to genuine faith in Christ, or he could have continued in his twisted ways and been lost forever. And that is the point.

              We all face these kinds of moments in life – forks in the road that lead us to one destiny or the other. These are moments of warning and hope. They warn us against choosing the broad road that leads to destruction. They give us hope because we can choose the narrow path that leads to life. We don’t know what became of Simon, because that isn’t the important question. The important question is what will become of us.