Acts 8:26-40

    Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road--the desert road--that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."

    Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.

    "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 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.

    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.

 

This is one of the most strange, interesting, and intriguing passages of Scripture. It begins with an angel’s instructions and ends with the Spirit whisking Philip away – not too many people these days have such experiences! But sandwiched in between them, and following them, is a picture of the kind of witnesses any of us can be regardless of whether the Lord adds such amazing experiences to our lives or not.

 

After the angel told Philip to go south to the desert road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza, Philip did just that. He went. And just as happens with us when we are traveling, Philip happened to cross paths with someone else. God directed all this, of course, but look how ordinary most of it seems to be.

 

The other day as I was walking downtown, I saw Louisville’s mayor walking past me in the other direction. Philip saw someone important, too: an Ethiopian eunuch in charge of all his queen’s treasure. This man had come to worship in Jerusalem. He was returning to Ethiopia in his chariot, reading from the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit directed Philip to walk near the chariot. So he did.

 

And he overheard the eunuch reading from Isaiah, so he politely asked whether the passage was clear to the eunuch. The eunuch seems to have been a humble man. He was more than glad to have Philip climb into the chariot to explain the Scriptures. The eunuch wanted to know who was being talked about in the passage he was reading.

 

So Philip told the eunuch about Jesus. He told him about the man who had been sent to earth from God, a blameless man without sin, God’s promised anointed King. He told the eunuch about Jesus’ trial and sufferings, how they matched the description found in Isaiah. Philip told about the end of Jesus’ blameless life in between two criminals. And I’m sure he told the eunuch about Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to heaven, from where Jesus now reigns. He preached Jesus to the eunuch.

 

The eunuch believed Philip, for as soon as he saw water, he asked to be baptized. So they went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

 

After that, things got strange again. The Spirit took Philip away to Azotus and the eunuch did not see him anymore. But as believers who have been saved by Jesus Christ do, the eunuch rejoiced as he went on his way. And as believers have been called to do by their Lord Jesus Christ, Philip shared the gospel with people as he walked along from Azotus to Caesarea.

 

The angel’s guidance and the Spirit’s act of transporting Philip help us to see clearly that Jesus Christ was guiding Philip along his way. But what would this story be without Philip doing ordinary things in obedience to God? What if Philip hadn’t walked from Samaria down to the road from Jerusalem to Gaza? What if Philip hadn’t gone up to the chariot and walked alongside it? What if, when he heard the man reading from Isaiah, he hadn’t kindly offered to make sure that this official understood what he was reading? What if he hadn’t shared the gospel when this man asked about whom Isaiah was talking? What if he had refused to get down out of the chariot to baptize the eunuch? What if, after finding himself at Azotus, Philip had not continued to share the gospel as he traveled from there to Caesarea. Without these ordinary things, the story would be empty, even if it was spectacular.

 

There would be an angel’s guidance, the Spirit’s guidance, and the Spirit’s supernatural transportation. All these things are amazing! But without the “ordinary” parts of the story, there would have been no redemption and no salvation! The most important part of this story is found in the simple things Philip did to share the good news about Jesus Christ with a man he encountered as he walked.

 

Father, forgive me for undervaluing the gospel. Forgive me for being too shy, afraid, or ashamed to just tell people that Jesus, whom we have all rebelled against, is the King. Forgive me for not taking advantage of the opportunities you give me to tell people that this King is coming back to judge His enemies. Forgive me for not sharing with them the good news that Jesus would rather have us all admit and confess our sins, pledging allegiance to Him again as we seek His forgiveness, than judge and destroy us. This ordinary thing that you have equipped me to do – talking to people about Jesus – help me to do it! Help us all to do it! Without the gospel, there is no redemption. Without Jesus, there is no salvation. Without warning people, we condemn them to Your wrath! Lord, help us not to read this story as an excuse, but as an encouragement to sharing the gospel. Whether directed by an angel or not, whether transported from place to place by the Spirit or not, all of us can follow the impressions the Spirit lays on our hearts to go up to people, to search the Scriptures with them, and to tell them about Jesus. Make us, Your people, faithful!