The Journey-Jesus Came For Everyone Acts 8:15–As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. I will admit that I struggle with verses 15-17 in this passage. Why is it that the Samaritans who had accepted Philip’s message about Jesus hadn’t received the Holy Spirit yet? Doesn’t 1 Corinthians 12:13 say, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free - and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (HCSB)? To help me wrestle with this, I remember that the Samaritans were looked down upon by the Jews. They were considered a mixed-blood race who were “less than” God’s chosen people. I wonder if Peter and John, who walked with Jesus while He was on earth, had to be the conduit for the Holy Spirit for the Samaritans to show the Jewish believers that God was building a church from people of every tribe and nation, culture and language, including those who were perceived as “not worthy.” Not only t...