Philip and the Man from Ethiopia

“And the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing.” — Acts 8:39

One day an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip. “Get up and go south, to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

That was a strange thing to say. Philip was busy in Samaria, where crowds of people were coming to believe in Jesus. Why would God send him away to an empty desert road?

But Philip got up and went.

On the road, Philip saw a chariot. In it was an important man from Ethiopia, a country far away in Africa. He was the treasurer for the Queen of Ethiopia, in charge of all her money. He had been to Jerusalem to worship God, and now he was on his long way home.

As his chariot rolled along, the man was reading out loud from a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that chariot and stay close to it.”

So Philip ran up to the chariot. He heard the man reading from Isaiah. “Do you understand what you’re reading?” Philip asked.

“How can I,” said the man, “unless someone explains it to me?” And he invited Philip to climb up and sit with him.

This is what the man was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to be killed. And as a lamb is silent before the one who cuts its wool, so He did not open His mouth.”

“Please tell me,” said the man, “who is the prophet talking about? Himself, or someone else?”

Then Philip began with that very part of the Bible, and told him the good news about Jesus.

Do you remember Isaiah’s Servant, in the third book, who was pierced for our sins? Philip explained that Isaiah was talking about Jesus. Jesus was the Lamb who was led to be killed. He didn’t fight back. He died for our sins, and then He rose again.

As they travelled along the road, they came to some water. “Look, here’s water!” said the man. “Is there any reason why I can’t be baptised?”

So he ordered the chariot to stop. Philip and the man went down into the water, and Philip baptised him.

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away. The man didn’t see him again. But he went on his way home to Ethiopia, rejoicing!

God sent Philip all the way to a desert road for just one man. God cares about every single person. And through that one man, the good news about Jesus went all the way to Africa.

The promise kept: The man was reading Isaiah 53, “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter” (Acts 8:32). Philip “began with this very Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus” (Acts 8:35).

Read it in your Bible: Acts 8:26–40

Dear God, thank you that you care about every single person. Help me to listen to you and go where you send me, like Philip did. And help me to understand the Bible and explain it to others. Amen.