By Jay T. Robertson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Mobile
BAPTIZING
Acts 8:26–39
Acts is the unfolding story of the people of God filled with the Spirit of God engaging in the mission of God. In our lesson this week, we learn how the gospel made it to Ethiopia and began transforming lives. People are saved through the gospel, and the heart of the gospel is the salvation orchestrated by God.
Intersection (26–29)
God was working mightily through Philip in Samaria, and yet an angel of the Lord told Philip to “get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
The next words are astounding: “So he got up and went.” He didn’t argue. He didn’t seek to form a committee. He obeyed the command from the Lord immediately. Philip couldn’t have understood why he should leave such a successful evangelistic campaign (vv. 5–8), but he obeyed the angel of the Lord. Understanding can wait; obedience cannot.
The journey would have taken several days on foot, but he continued heading south into the desert. There, out in the middle of nowhere, was an Ethiopian man who was a eunuch, an important political figure who served as treasurer for Candace, queen of the Ethiopians.
This man had made the long trip to Jerusalem to worship, and now he was returning home. He was in his chariot reading aloud from Isaiah the prophet, which allowed Philip to hear what he was saying.
The Holy Spirit told Philip to approach the man and engage in conversation. This was no accident; it was a divine appointment. Their meeting was not because of human ingenuity but because of God’s sovereignty.
Illumination (30–35)
Walking in obedience to the Lord and being sensitive to the Holy Spirit, Philip was intentional and bold in the encounter.
He overheard what the man was reading and asked him if he understood. Here we learn a life-changing reality: God has chosen to use Christians to share the gospel with unbelievers. How did you get saved? Someone in your life explained the gospel to you. This is how God desires the gospel to be shared today.
The Ethiopian man needed someone to explain the Scripture to him, so he invited Philip to sit with him in his chariot. The man was reading Isaiah 53:7–8.
Here we see the beauty of God’s providence. Isaiah 53 is the pinnacle of Old Testament prophecy that emphasizes that the Messiah would come as a substitute, becoming the sacrifice for the sins of those who would trust in Him. This prophecy about the Messiah being silent before His accusers was fulfilled when Jesus remained silent before Pilate (Matt. 27:14).
The eunuch was confused and asked Philip who the writer was talking about in the verse. Beginning with Isaiah 53, Philip told him the good news about Jesus. He took the Word of God and explained Jesus to the Ethiopian man.
Saving people is God’s work, but proclaiming the gospel is our work. Philip showed the man that the Lamb of whom the Scripture spoke was none other than the Messiah, who would be the ultimate and final sacrifice for sin.
Affirmation (36–39)
As they approached some water, the man expressed to Philip his desire to be baptized. It is evident that Philip had explained the gospel so that the man understood the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and the significance of following Jesus in baptism. So Philip and the new believer went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
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