“Moments with Morley” #13

Today, the Ethiopian eunuch meets Philip and also his saviour…

Acts 8:26-38

 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 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, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”  30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 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. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.    Who can speak of his descendants?    For his life was taken from the earth.”

34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

36 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?” 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

Morley’s Comments

This is a remarkable story of the faithful and effective witness of the Gospel.  The evangelist, Philip, because of his earlier knowledge of the Old Testament, was ale to meet the Ethiopian eunuch on common ground, using Isaiah 53 to lead him to Christ.  That man became the first missionary to Ethiopia where soon a thriving church developed

TTFN