NEW TESTAMENT: Acts 8: 14 - 17 (RCL)

Acts 8:14 (NRSV) Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit 16 (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Notes

h/t montreal anglican

Philip was one of the seven chosen by the Church to ensure that widows received basic rations:

he has travelled to Samaria to preach the good news there: the first known evangelism outside Jewish areas

Usually in Acts, converts receive the Holy Spirit at baptism (see 2:38 and 19:5-6) or before it (see 10:44), but here they receive it some time after being baptised, and only when the two apostles, representatives of the mother church, come.

Samaritans were despised by Jews, because they had intermarried, claimed to be the true heirs of the covenant, had their own version of the Pentateuch – which they claimed to be the true version – and had their own Temple (on Mount Gerizim). By this time Samaritans share with Jews a belief in the coming of a messianic figure, the “Returning One”

The quotation from Simon suggests that he was already more than a magician (Latin: magus), a monger of gnostic thought. [NJBC] From this passage he is known in later Christian literature as Simon Magus

“laid their hands on them”: Laying on of hands expresses both the giving and receiving of a gift
The term simony, the buying of church offices, comes from this verse.




GOSPEL: Luke 3: 15 - 17, 21, 22 (RCL)
Luke 3: 15 - 16, 21, 22 (alt. for Roman Catholic)

Luke 3:15 (NRSV) As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Notes

h/t montreal anglican


John has condemned those who seek his baptism with no intention of reforming their ways (v. 7). He has warned that being Jewish is no assurance of being part of the renewed Israel. Failure to respond to his call to repentance can lead to condemnation at the end of time.

John tells them that “one who is ... coming” (v. 16) is so great that he is unworthy even to “untie ... his sandals”, a task done by slaves

The Holy Spirit, always with Jesus, is seen descending on Jesus, marking a milestone in Jesus’ career. People really see the event (“in bodily form”). The Holy Spirit seems “like a dove” – a bird symbolizing the hopes of humans for love, life and union with God – hopes now realized in Jesus

Fire often indicates the presence of the Saviour-God. Fire has prominence in the liturgy where humankind meets its saviour

“Beloved”: “Beloved” refers to an act of will, rather than a feeling.