Day 1075: If you believe - Acts 8 vs 32 – 40

32-34 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.

36-38 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. Acts 8:32-40 English Standard Version

An angel of the Lord had directed Philip to a desert place where he met an Ethiopian man on his way back from Jerusalem. The man was in a chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked if he understood what he was reading, and the man invited him into the chariot. Some parts of the Bible are not easy to grasp, especially the prophets. Some years later the apostle Peter said: “Keep in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:15-16) We mustn't be embarrassed if we find parts of the Bible difficult, and we mustn't be too shy to seek help to understand. What’s the important lesson we can learn from Philip in vs 35?

He took the Ethiopian to the heart of the message of the Bible – he told him about Jesus! The section the man was reading is one that is full of the sufferings the promised Messiah would go through, so it was easier for Philip to tell of Jesus. But the truth is, we will find things about Jesus throughout the Old Testament. On the very day Jesus rose from the grave, He appeared to two lesser known disciples who initially didn't recognize Him. But as they walked on the road from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus, the gospel writer Luke tells us that “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:27)

Isaiah had told how the Messiah would go humbly, even silently, to the cross. Justice was denied Him, yet He willingly laid down His life for sinners. Philip, no doubt, would’ve gone on to tell of Christ's glorious resurrection and accension, and how forgiveness was promised to all who repented of sin and embraced Jesus as Saviour and Lord. We see this from what followed in vs 36-38. We're not told 'how deep' the water was, but the fact that baptism in the New Testament was usually associated with 'plenty of water' – as it says in John 3:23 – suggests that baptism wasn't a few sprinkled drops. But whatever we think about baptism, what was the response of the Ethiopian to believing on Jesus? (vs 39)

Important as baptism is, it's not the act of baptism that saves us - but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, it's not even our faith – but Christ's sacrifice for our sins that is the grounds for our reconciliation to God. Faith and baptism are our response to His perfect, finished work. That's why a believer can go on his, or her, way rejoicing. The Bible doesn't give the details of Philip's 'transportation' from Gaza to Azotus – over thirty miles away – but the important thing is that he continued proclaiming the gospel wherever he went.