On Acts 8 and
the Samaritans Receiving the Holy Spirit Before Water Baptism:
For a proper understanding of what took place in Samaria when Peter and
John prayed over and laid hands upon those baptized, wherein they received the
Holy Spirit, one needs to revisit what took place at Pentecost. In that event
the apostles “were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). Nowhere is it said that
the apostles were baptized in what today would be termed the sacramental sense.
They could not possibly be baptized in a “normal” manner because there was no
prior baptized person to baptize them. Thus, when the Spirit came upon them at
Pentecost, they were “baptized,” in that, they were interiorly cleansed of sin
and transformed into the likeness of the risen Christ such that they became
adopted sons of the Father. In this apostolic Pentecost baptism, the apostles
were thus empowered to sacramentally baptize others. IN baptizing the apostles
on Pentecost, Jesus was enacting his name, that is, he was being YHWH-Saved,
for through baptism the apostles repeated the salvific benefits that Jesus merited
through his death on the cross and in his glorious resurrection.
Moreover, through this outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Jesus also
further empowered them “to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance.! Thus, within this Pentecost event there resides both the
institution of the Sacrament of Baptism as well as what came to be called the charismatic
or spiritual gifts of the Spirit, such as speaking in other tongues. For Paul,
all Christians, having been baptized in the one Spirit, become one body in
Christ. Within that body, God has appointed “first apostles, second prophets,
third teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers,
administrators, speakers in various tongues” (1 Cor [12:]27-28). All of these gifts,
whether they be ecclesial offices, such as apostles, prophets, or teachers, or
spiritual gifts that are freely given to others, such as the ability to enact
miracles or to heal, etc., are all for the upbuilding of the body. On Pentecost,
the apostles, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, were both baptized and the
beneficiaries of the charismatic or spiritual gifts, such as the ability to
work miracles, heal, and to speak in other tongues. In giving these charismatic
gifts to his apostles, Jesus empowered them to more fully enact his name,
YHWH-Saves, for now they could fully replicate Jesus’s own earthly ministry.
Again, through the apostles, Jesus continues to fully enact his name,
YHWH-Saves, not only through the Sacrament of Baptism, but also through the
Spirit’s charismatic gifts. Thus, when Peter and John came to Samaria and prayed
over and laid hands upon those who were baptized so that the Holy Spirit might fall
upon them, they did so that they might receive their share in the spiritual or
charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit. The apostles, in the persons of Peter and
John, wanted to ensure that the Samaritans acquired the full benefits of Pentecost—the
receiving of the Holy Spirit through Baptism and the Spirit-filled, charismatic
gifts as well. The apostolic experience of Pentecost is to be the same
Pentecostal experience for all who come to faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
What was one unified Pentecostal experience for the apostles, that of being baptized
and of receiving the spiritual gifts, became two distinct, though related,
experiences or events for subsequent Christians. (Thomas G. Weinandy, Jesus
Being Jesus: Theological Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles, 2
vols. [Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2025], 1:137-38)
The above interpretation is later confirmed, but in a reversed order.
Cornelius who was a devout man, received a vision of an angel. The angel told
him to send men to Joppa, and they were to bring Peter to him. Peter, in turn,
had a vision of all kinds of animals which he was to kill and eat. Peter responds
that he has never eaten what was unclean. A voice told Peter that what God has
cleansed is no longer unclean. Although Peter was perplexed, the men sent by
Cornelius came and requested that he come with him to Caesarea where Cornelius
lived. Peter went with them, and he preached the gospel to Cornelius and his
entire household. “While Peter was still saying this, the Holy Spirit fell on
all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who came
with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out
even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling
God. Then Peter declared, ‘Can anyone forbid water for baptizing these people
who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’ And he commanded them to be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:44-48). . . .
The most theologically significant thing that Peter declared in the
above is that Cornelius and his household “have received the Holy Spirit just
as we have.” The experience that the apostles had on Pentecost is the exact
same experience that they now had. As the Holy Spirit was poured out on the
apostles, so now it fell upon them (Observe that Peter and John prayed over and
laid hands upon the Samaritans, “for the Spirit had not yet fallen on them”).
Moreover, as the apostles spoke in tongues, so now Cornelius and his household
spoke in tongues. Because of this pouring out and falling upon the Holy Spirit,
Peter declares that there is no reason why all these people cannot be baptized,
Cornelius and his household have been subsumed into and so share in the entire
apostolic Pentecostal experience.
This same Pentecostal pattern is found later in Acts. When Paul came
to Ephesus and found that some of the people only received “John’s baptism,” and
so did not receive the Holy Spirit, he had them baptized. “They were baptized
in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands upon them, the Holy
Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:1-6).
As with the apostles on Pentecost, the Ephesians attained the Spirit. Moreover,
with the laying on of hands, the Holy Spirit fell upon them whereupon they
received the spiritual or charismatic gifts—that of speaking in tongues and prophesying.
For Jesus to be Jesus, YHWH-Saves, he must bestow the full benefits of the Holy
Spirit—those contained in Baptism and those attained through the laying on of
hands—the spiritual gifts. In so doing Jesus, is being Jesus. (Thomas G.
Weinandy, Jesus Being Jesus: Theological Interpretation of the Acts of the
Apostles, 2 vols. [Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America
Press, 2025], 1:138 n. 20)
On Acts
10:44-48 and Cornelius et al.:
Theologically, what is one to make of these conjoined and yet reversed
events? Peter recognized that, although the Holy Spirit had fallen upon the
Gentiles, they still needed to be sacramentally incorporated into the church,
the ecclesial apostolic community. That sacramental incorporation can only be
achieved through water baptism. Thus, he commanded that they “be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ.” This sequence of events is in keeping with what took
place after Peter’s Pentecost discourse. Having completed his proclamation of
the gospel, Peter declared that those who believe must repent “and be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins,” so that they might “receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:37-38). Having been baptized, “there were
added that day about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41). The present Gentiles
are to be baptized that they might sacramentally obtain the definitive and
transforming gift of the Spirit, whereby they are numbered among the members of
the apostolic community. (Thomas G. Weinandy, Jesus Being Jesus: Theological
Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles, 2 vols. [Washington, D.C.: The
Catholic University of America Press, 2025], 1:178)
