This week's Bible study will be part 3 of Acts chapter 8

The Apostle Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

[Acts chapter 8, verses 31-40]

For better small screen viewing, or to view this on my website, click here :-)

Last week when we left off at verse 30 of Acts chapter 8, the apostle Philip had just heeded a command from the Lord to go near a certain chariot by running up to it and inquiring of the occupant, an Ethiopian eunuch. It seems the eunuch was reading from the Book of Isaiah, but he could make no sense of what he was reading (“'Do you understand what you are reading?'”....), so he gladly accepted Philip's offer of some interpretation and invited him to come and sit with him. So let's take up where we left off last week, beginning at verse 31.

“'How can I', he said, 'unless someone explains it to me'? So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. The eunuch was reading from this passage of scripture: 'He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.' The eunuch asked Philip, 'Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?' Then Philip began with that very passage of scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” (Acts 8, verses 31-35)

Allow me to reiterate one point about this that I made in last week's Bible study, and that was the racial and cultural differences between the Ethiopian eunuch – a Black man – and the apostle Philip, a Middle Eastern Jew. Contrast this with the segregated churches in the USA, which are situated mostly in the very wealthiest or the very poorest neighborhoods. I would say that if the apostle Philip were to walk into a wealthy church in a wealthy American neighborhood, he could and most definitely would shock the entire congregation with a fire and brimstone sermon that would have them all frozen in their seats!! Contrast that with the apostle Philip walking into an inner city Black church in any given American city. I can only imagine the power of the Holy Spirit making itself known in such a service as that, with the African-American community having a far richer Spiritual life than many of their white counterparts. Trust me on this one, I play keyboards in a mostly Black church in an inner city neighborhood in Atlanta. Having been raised in an ultra-conservative all white Catholic church, I can definitely tell you the difference is simply tremendous!

The passage the Ethiopian eunuch was reading was from Isaiah 53, verses 7 and 8, where Isaiah prophesied about Jesus before Pilate (“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth....”), and of Jesus' subsequent crucifixion (“Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”). Since the eunuch was Ethiopian, he could not have known about Jesus, so Philip gladly explained it to him, being filled with zeal for the Lord Jesus (“Philip began with that very passage of scripture and told him the good news about Jesus”). How well did the Ethiopian eunuch take the Gospel to heart once the apostle Philip presented it to him? To find out, let's move on to part 2 of this week's study.

“As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, 'Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?' And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.” (Acts 8, verses 36-40)

As you can all clearly see by the actions of the apostle Philip and the eunuch, the presence of the Spirit always removes procrastination as it quells fear and hesitation, just as Christ went to his death on the cross fearlessly and without hesitation. But more than that, Philip had just won another soul to Christ while his new convert, the Ethiopian eunuch, sought baptism at the first opportunity! Shouldn't this be the way we should embrace our faith as we embrace – not merely express our belief in – the Prince of Peace, the very redeemer of our souls? Those who have not, or whose faith lacks any progress in developing one's relationship with Christ, you have your work cut out for you. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to scold anybody! You've made it this far in your walk with Christ, and Jesus has been right there with you every step of the way. So I want to encourage you all to continue to pursue your walks with Christ, and to continue to seek his endless love and compassion. “Work out your own salvation”, the apostle Paul once wrote, “with fear and trembling before the Lord”. This is even more true now than when Paul first wrote it.

“When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.” I can't help but admire the Ethiopian eunuch. He was both astute and humble enough of an individual to know that he had a problem understanding the Scriptures. But more than that, he was not ashamed to ask for help, and he had no problem allowing Philip to board his chariot to explain it. And when the apostle Philip was suddenly taken away by the Spirit of the Lord, the eunuch didn't complain, wondering where Philip had been taken to. He “went away rejoicing”, and I suspect he converted quite a few people when he got back home to Ethiopia. And Philip appeared in Azotus, which is in the southwest part of modern Israel. Literally. All I know is “Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.”

I refuse to speculate on how this may have occurred. If God told any of us how Philip got to Azotus as it actually happened, we probably wouldn't understand anyway. One thing is for sure – Philip's means of transit was not by way of a “transporter” like we saw on “Star Trek” episodes of the 1960's. The apostle Philip was instantly transported a distance of approximately 62 miles by an unknown means that came directly from God. I have no reservations about this whatsoever. All we can do for now is to look forward to the day when, in a flash and the twinkling of an eye, we shall find ourselves instantly transported a much, much further distance away so that we may hear those sweetest of sentences, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” And next week we'll start on Acts chapter 9.