Up until the cross the disciples were with the Lord Jesus personally, but God had a greater thing in view for them and us. In John’s Gospel, He tells His disciples of the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who would abide with them forever. This was, and remains, an extraordinary thing—do we truly grasp the significance of it? The Lord, up until that time, had been their personal, immediate resource. He was, however, about to return to the Father. Another would come from the Father to abide with them forever (John 14:16). Everything hinged on the Lord’s departure which, as we know, was by way of the cross. They had witnessed mighty miracles done by the Lord, but they would do greater: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father” (John 14:12).
The abiding presence of the Spirit of God on this earth gives Christianity its defining character. In Acts we read of it first with the disciples (Acts 2:1-41And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1‑4)), and then the 3000 (Acts 2:38-41); this is followed by the Samaritan believers (Acts 8:17), the Apostle Paul (Acts 9:17), Cornelius and those with him (Acts 10:44), and the proselytes of Ephesus (Acts 19:6). The activity of the Holy Spirit is seen everywhere in-between. Truly, it has been suggested that the Acts of the Apostles may be better named the Acts of the Holy Spirit. In fact, the Holy Spirit is especially seen in this book as a Divine Person acting according to the Divine will: “Then the Spirit said unto Philip” (Acts 8:29); “While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him” (Acts 10:19); “the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul” (Acts 13:2).
When the Samaritans first received the Holy Spirit, the apostles prayed for them and laid hands upon them. “Peter and John ... when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost ... Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost” (Acts 8:15, 17). It might be asked, isn’t this an example of prayer for the Holy Spirit? We do not read of the Samaritans requesting this; it was on the initiative of the apostles. The way it took place served a unique purpose at the time. The Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans (John 4:9). It was difficult enough for a Jew to eat with a gentile (Gal. 2:12) but the Samaritans were an altogether different story. Not only were they gentile, but their national religion was a corrupt version of Judaism. The Samaritans, having rejected Jerusalem, made Mount Gerizim their center of worship (John 4:20). They were truly despised. To be brought into the same body of believers by the Holy Spirit was a difficult thing for a Jewish believer to accept. One can, therefore, understand the profound significance of Peter and John praying for and laying hands upon those whom they had so long despised and shunned. There was the very great potential of churches being formed along national lines, but this was not to be. Paul, writing to the Colossians, declares that all national identity is set aside in Christ: “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all” (Col. 3:11). It is by the Holy Spirit that we are all brought into that one body: “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13).
The physical laying on of hands is a statement of identification (Acts 13:3; 1 Tim. 5:22). Peter and John, in laying hands upon the Samaritan believers (and that, in connection with the receiving of the Holy Spirit,) openly identified them with the nascent church in Jerusalem. There would be one body spiritually and one body in practice. It should be, therefore, with great sorrow that we note that many so-called churches have arisen along national and sectarian lines—I say so-called because the common usage of that word (church) is inconsistent with its scriptural meaning.
When we come to Cornelius and his companions, there we read: “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word” (Acts 10:44). One might ask why not the laying on of hands in this instance? The text gives the reason plainly enough: “They of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 10:45). Those Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter were completely surprised; the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out without intervention of any kind. The Jew could not claim superiority over the gentile. The receiving of the Holy Spirit was independent of them; it was from God alone. The Apostle Paul constantly encountered hostility from the Jews for his work among the gentiles (1 Thess. 2:14-16). For the gentile to be brought into blessing outside the fold of Judaism was, for the Jew, intolerable. For this reason, circumcision was often pressed upon early Christians; a circumcised Christian was more acceptable than an uncircumcised one (Gal. 2:3-5). It brought him into the fold of Judaism. This was, however, a corruption of the gospel and the Apostle Paul strongly denounced it (Gal. 1:6-9; Phil. 3:2-3). The events on that day, among the gentile believers, paralleled the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost among the Jewish believers. Indeed, Peter recalls the occasion when he recounts the conversion of these gentiles to his Jewish brethren in Jerusalem (Acts 11:16).